This thread post is based on actual events. As only some of the events that lead up to the final outcome of this project have occurred and others have yet to occur, the progress updates where be periodic. Comments and constructive suggestions welcomed.

As far back as 1997, the decision was pretty clear that the retirement residence for Mr and Mrs "MTSINTERNATIONAL" would be in Thailand. The question was, "where"? Being from BKK with resident family members there, the spouse was more inclined to want to reside in or close to BKK. I, on the other hand, prefer some solitude and for that reason alone, let alone the long and endless list of other reasons, prefer having my residence out of Bangkok. So, until we had a joint consensus of where the Mr & Mrs "MTSINTERNATIONAL" Thai residence should be, we looked, but took our time. We looked in BKK, we looked near BKK, we considered Prachenburi area, and we looked in Hua Hin. There was no apparent evidence of reaching or getting closer to a consensus and since it is just the two of us, we were looking for something that we could both live with.

We were then living and working outside of Thailand but in another Asian country which was only about a 5 hour plane ride away so we were not in any hurry. Anyways as time passed and we got closer to the planned retirement date of 2008, our efforts to find the future location of the retirement “dream house” location became our dedicated mission, beginning in 2005, during our many and frequent trips to Thailand. By then, we had made many trip to the Rayong and Sattahip area of Thailand. Both Rayong and Sattahip, as most readers of the TD forum are well aware, are both on the same side of BKK as the new airport. Additionally, the highways between Rayong/Sattahip area and the new airport and BKK were planned with major portions completed and others still in the process of being completed. So, with the commute time between BKK and a site where we were both content on setting up our residence reduced to a time and distance that was far enough away to provide the desired privacy yet close enough which we could go on a 1 day road trip, we agreed on the Rayong/Sattahip area. Great. We would be near the water, near the golf courses, close enough to restaurants and city stuff yet had plenty of undeveloped land, and we had some family in the area but not so many or so close as what the family members would be had we lived in the BKK. Don’t get me wrong, I love the family but having some distance so that visits are not unannounced or an everyday/ever night occurrence is best for all involved. Enough said. So, Rayong/Sattahip area it was.

During our many visits to Thailand during 2005 and 2006, we looked at land lots inside a development and land with no association with a development we looked at prebuilt houses and floor plans for a house to be built on our own land.

We were flexible about some things and no so flexible about other things. We preferred a single floor house. I was not so sure that I wanted to be taking steps 20 years or so from now but we did not rule out a 2 story house floor plan.

I wanted a swimming pool and that was pretty much a given.

A small garden was something we though we wanted but not a mandate.

I wanted a wall. Not one of those 1 meter high walls or a wall that could be seen through. As I said before, I wanted some privacy and with the swimming pool, I thought it best to be able to have a wall to a height that I determined and not of a height that I was limited to because of the rules of the development.

Anyway, we looked and looked and looked. The wife and I are pretty much in tune with what each of us like and don’t like so after walking out of place after place that we looked at, we had a good idea that neither one of use particularly thought it was for us.

We saw some beautiful places that we liked but they were either out of our established price range or there was something that did meet our established criteria. No pool, or the pool was only the size of a hot tub or the color of the pool tiles were hideous; or the development had restrictions on how high the perimeter wall could be; or the land was too close to a major road; or the land was too close to the Navy installation where explosives were assembled; or the lots of land were smaller than we desired and when we expressed interest in purchasing 2 lots next to one another, one or the other lot was not available or the developed required that a house be built on each lot. For one reason or another we were unable to immediately find what we were looking for.

We did find one development that met our criteria. The houses were well constructed, they each had a pool, option for building either 1 or 2 story house of the builder/developers design which we liked the designs, and a wide choice of lots. We picked the lot that we liked and not being a couple to rush into anything, decided that we would discuss and think about it for a while. We wanted to keep our options open and wanted to look around a little more. We ended up going back to this development site multiple times but were still not ready to commit.

While driving around one day in an area slightly North East of Pattaya, we did see a house for sale that was appealing. We called the number on the sale sign and within minutes we were granted access to the house to look around. Perfect. Everything was perfect. The pool, the size of the land and the individual rooms. The colors of the paint were appealing and the house floor plan was perfect. The kitchen was western and it was hard to find anything really wrong with the house. All was perfect except that the location of this house was closer to Pattaya city than what I desired and the access road from Pattaya to the house was narrow and heavily traveled with motorcycles. Anyway, we looked at the house no less than 3 or 4 times and in each case, we (it was mostly me) walked away with the same conclusion of the house is nice but the location is not exactly what we want. The spouse was convinced as well as I was able to explain my logic for not particularly caring for that exact location. So, we decided to look some more.

Next day, were are visiting at the spouse’s father who happens to be staying at one of his houses, this one in Sattahip. After, making that friendly visit we head off in the direction of Utaphao, Ban Chang and Rayong province. After looking at a few housing developments in that area we passed Pala Beach area headed toward Sukumvitt, I think it is highway 3 as well. Anyway, a sign, looking what I thought said “Land for Sale” in Thai, caught my attention and I put on the car breaks. The spouse confirmed my intuition and indicated that the sign did indeed say “Land for Sale”. We proceeded up the small coconut tree lined soi to check things out…..

This is what we saw:




This is the sub soi leading up to land site lots that were for sale. Beginning just to the right in this picture where the banana tress are located up to about 1 kilo there were lots of approximately 100 sq meters. Only a few lots had been purchased and only one lot had a house already built. On the left side of the sub soi, the empty lots started after approximately 250 meters up to the same 1 kilo distance. As I recall, the pricing of the lots ranged from a high of 5000 baht per sq meter for those lots closer to the primary soi to 3500 baht per sq meter for those furthest back from the primary soi. Lots in between were priced at 4500 baht per sq meter. As the site of these this land lot sites are not way upcountry, the price per sq meter may seen a little high but in reality, after doing considerable research, found that the lot prices were extremely fare and reasonable.

Upon entrance to this sub soi, the area looked like a preferred area in which to build. It was quiet and off the main and secondary soi up the sub soi. There were 2 golf courses within 3 -4 kilometers, seafood restaurant and a non tourist beach 1.5 kilo down the 2 lane coconut lined secondary soi, and not too distant from LOTUS Shopping and highway access. Things were looking up.

(more on this project to come)