Loombucket's Paradise on earth

[a. boozer]

Loombucket. Have you paid the Architect for drawing up the plans and got a receipt for such? If so they are yours to use as you choose.

[Loombucket]

It seems that the Architect has charged us for drawing the plans. He is demanding further payment so that we can actually use them because he has retained the copyright. It is possible that this man has never had a Father! Having spent the afternoon in the government offices and most of the evening on the telephone, I am forced to agree that we have been rooked left, right and center and must chalk this one up to experience. According to the government office, the Architect is acting within Thai civil law. Unfortunately, Mrs LoomB has already paid him.

However, under that same law, we can build a very close copy of his plan and get away with it. A bit like rewriting 'Stairway to heaven' in another key with a few notes missing and sung in Slovakian with a tone deaf choir.

We are meeting with a Malaysian, English speaking and working in Thailand, Architect in the morning but he sounded ok on the telephone. As the new house will use the same size footprint, the Builder can get started and move his camp in. The phone line is down at the house so I will share photos with you next time.

[Ciaphas]

Good luck with finding a new architect. I look forward to seeing the build when it starts. As I discovered things are never easy in Thailand!

[SEA Traveler]

It seems that the Architect has charged us for drawing the plans. He is demanding further payment so that we can actually use them because he has retained the copyright. It is possible that this man has never had a Father! Having spent the afternoon in the government offices and most of the evening on the telephone, I am forced to agree that we have been rooked left, right and center and must chalk this one up to experience. According to the government office, the Architect is acting within Thai civil law. Unfortunately, Mrs LoomB has already paid him.

However, under that same law, we can build a very close copy of his plan and get away with it. A bit like rewriting 'Stairway to heaven' in another key with a few notes missing and sung in Slovakian with a tone deaf choir.

We are meeting with a Malaysian, English speaking and working in Thailand, Architect in the morning but he sounded ok on the telephone. As the new house will use the same size footprint, the Builder can get started and move his camp in. The phone line is down at the house so I will share photos with you next time.

Good that you received the official Thai govt office read on the situation. It stinks but you can now proceed with piece of mind. A little upset understandably but you seem to be in the right frame of mind to get over it. good luck and carry on.

[Texpat]

Four most important words for a farang building a house here.

Just pay the man.

[georgem]

Q con AAC Blocks and Panels quality and well priced all euro standards and fast , plus easy to work with. Tell them I sent you.

[Loombucket]

Right, here we go again.

First picture of the new 'Archie'. He came, he sat, he babbled and then left. In between he explained that sometimes, farrang get caught by people with insuficient scruples and he tried hard to make me feel at ease. After he had presenting me with various promises, on different bits of paper, we talked about the internet, sewage and Malaysian hookers. His English was very good, thankfully.




Next up we have the new Builder. A fine man with a good reputation and plenty of well buit houses under his belt. He can't speak a word of English but he carries one of those translator things around in his car. After a few moments of frantic typing, he came up with 'Thailand is great places'. I shall enjoy working with him.



Having got the promise/contract signed, the above gentleman was quick to get the first of his 'stuff' on to the site. Sheds for the workers, planks for the shuttering and some form of Thai 'portaloo'. I can't wait to see that, up and running (or is that sitting).



Building will commence at 08.39 on Wednesday 28/05/08. We have a Monk. I will be there with my trusty camera, a chair, an umbrella and a large jug of water.

[Marmite the Dog]

Building will commence at 08.39 on Wednesday 28/05/08. We have a Monk. I will be there with my trusty camera, a chair, an umbrella and a large jug of water.

Glad to hear it.

[More Volts Igor]

Sheds for the workers, planks for the shuttering and some form of Thai 'portaloo'. I can't wait to see that, up and running (or is that sitting).

If ever there was an image demanding photos, this is it. 'In use' of course

[Loombucket]

Sheds for the workers, planks for the shuttering and some form of Thai 'portaloo'. I can't wait to see that, up and running (or is that sitting).

If ever there was an image demanding photos, this is it. 'In use' of course

No promises but I will do my best, cheers.

[Loombucket]

Now we begin on the building of some storage sheds for the cement and some temporary housing for the workforce. About 50% will be from the Builders own yard and the rest will be local 'craftsmen'. The chap with the specialist equipment is Khun Orn.



The Head man, of the Moo Baan, then came to give us his blessing. I played 'dumb farrang with camera', as I remember lying to him, two years ago, that I was not going to buy this land for myself. His only concern was about the ammount of whisky he could count on, as some sort of bribe.




Let me introduce Khun Chinee and her collection of S.C.E.G.A. That's Self Contained Eating Grass Apparatus. Well, we can't afford a strimmer at the mo and these little darlings leave a small deposit where ever they go. It seemed churlish, not to leave the gate open every now and then.




I asked if they all had names, but I am now used to that blank look. A cross between WTF and is he dangerous? Name is Cow, I was reliably informed.

[buad hai]

Great to see that it's going again. You do nice photography and I'm looking forward to a nice long thread here. Best of luck.

[DrAndy]

It seems that the Architect has charged us for drawing the plans. He is demanding further payment so that we can actually use them because he has retained the copyright. .

That is normal practice insofar as he retains the copyright

but you don´t have to pay to use the plans he gave you

you would have to pay if you wanted the CD with the plans on, for instance. Just using the plans should have no extra costs

[Loombucket]

It seems that the Architect has charged us for drawing the plans. He is demanding further payment so that we can actually use them because he has retained the copyright. .

That is normal practice insofar as he retains the copyright

but you don´t have to pay to use the plans he gave you

you would have to pay if you wanted the CD with the plans on, for instance. Just using the plans should have no extra costs

He put a note on each page to say that the house could only be built using his Company. Otherwise we would have gone ahead. His Company owns the original buiders and half a dozen other firms. He telephoned again to say that he would settle for 50k Bht but Mrs. LoomB blew his ears off. I sent him a large tube of KY jelly.........

[DrAndy]

cheeky bastard. However, as the plans were commisioned by yourself, and as they do not constitute a contract, ignore that stupid note

he does not have the right to post that unless that is what you agreed when hiring him to do the drawings

[jaiyenyen]

Really good photo's LB.
This thread has all the makings of a classic.

[Loombucket]

I missed the Architect this morning. By the time I made it to the site, everything had been marked out with boards, string and little pegs painted red. A quantity of sand had also arrived, to help with leveling out.



Meanwhile, the boys were hard at it, making a shady place to bend the bars, keep the cement and chill out from the suns heat. Note the homemade tressel.




By the end of the afternoon, it looked like this from the small soi behind. The room on the right is the boss's bedroom



This is khun Ek, Master shedmaker. I don't think he is used to smiling at farrangs but he did a good job for me. Khun Pon did his best to hide. I will catch him later, when he thinks I have forgotten.



With the shed up, we needed a little power to start cutting the metal work. Khun Udon supplied the basics and screwed them to a handy pole.



Here is the rebar cutter in action. Time to start work on that, all important, first pillar.


No news on the 'portaloo' yet, but they seem to have all the right stuff.

[buad hai]

I know this is a construction thread, but you really get great people shots. Nice work.

[Loombucket]

I know this is a construction thread, but you really get great people shots. Nice work.

Thanks very much. I just hang about and laugh a lot. Sometimes I bribe them with ciggies but after i have gone 'yim yim' a few times, they usually put me out of my misery. Children take the best pix, they are easier to bribe.

[Loombucket]

We all got up early and made our ways up to the site before breakfast. In accordance with traddition, we put down mats and laid out a simple meal. The 'old man of the village' then came and lit some candles. I was under strict instructions not to photograph anything before the post went up. I sneeked this shot of the meal, before we all sat down. Note the 'special' Christmas bowls.



Two ceremonial pillars were constucted and then adorned with string, young Banana plants, some cloth, three colours of some sort of gauze, some money and, of course, gold. Every one gave a big cheer as they were lifted into position and then supported on poles.



Each of the decorations has a great significance. The Banana is the symbol of fertility and new life. The string is for the church, the money for an offering and the cloth for the people. I'm not sure about the gold, but it did look good in the sun.



All of a sudden, it was all over and they all went back into the shade to eat. The boys then rushed out and started digging like crazy.



After 1 1/2 hours, it was starting to look like a hole.



Meanwhile, back in the shed, the girls were assembling the metal parts that make up the pillars. Khun Sarapon,



....and Khun Eugh



Now you have met all the staff, we will leave them in peace, for a while, and see what they have done by tomorrow.

[SEA Traveler]

Khun Loom,

Oh how I can appreciate the ceremony for the blessing of the land and work site. I enjoyed it tremendously when we did ours back in January '08. Your up close and personal photos are a nice feature to this submission.

Best of luck with the progress.

[Loombucket]

As you can see, the most important building on the site is up and functioning and nicely hidden behind a handy tree. Mind you, it's a long walk from the shed if you are in a hurry. It must be hell if you are in bed and need to go. To get a shot of it in use, however, will require subtifuge as it is only a few feet from the fence and there is no cover on the other side. It will be a challenge.

[mrsquirrel]

Dirty bastards have left splatter marks already.

[Loombucket]

We had a nice pile of bricks waiting for us this morning, possibly to make it obvious that this was now a working site. Despite this, the rebar truck drove straight past three times, when they finaly got here.



It was jolly hot all day and the boys were complaining that the ground was very hard. So hard, in fact, that we had to borrow some water from next door...




...and soak the ground to make it a little softer.



Meanwhile, the girls were having a great time making up base plates for the bottom of the pillars. They go in upside down and are cemented into the pillars, forming secure plates.



It wasn't long before my lovely site was starting to look like we were making fox holes for a small war. Soaking and digging was working, though, and towards the end of the day, it looked like this.



Here we see a hole that is ready for the next stage. Notice the change in earth colour as it goes under the fill. One down, another fifteen odd to go.



We waited all day for the rebar to come. The truck broke down, got lost, went back to base and my a miracle, managed to arrive only five minutes after we called them and told them not to bother. It was then unloaded, counted and paid for. When I asked how much, they all agreed that it was six kilometers??? I think that's plenty.



They reckon to have all the holes done by tomorrow, so we may see a pillar up.

[buad hai]

What fun. Great photos again. Keep 'em coming!