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  1. #1
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    A sprawling home in Bangkok

    My family like many other falang/Thai families had bought a starter home many years ago here in Bangkok. But now what happens when the family has grown and it is time for the house to grow also?

    This thread will show the ups and downs of expanding a home in Bangkok. But first some background. I have talked about my mooban (or for some of you a village or neighborhood) before. Basically, it was setup by the Thailand Queen about 40 years ago. The original idea was to have an environment in where the poor, middle-class and rich could live together.

    As you can imagine, the poorer people have sold out and now the mooban is middle-class to multi-million baht homes. We are on the lower end.

    Our original home (50 sq. wa) was bought for 1.8 million baht. Now the same home is close to the 4 million baht mark. Luckily we were able to buy the home (60 sq.wa) next door for only 2.6 million baht.

    Now comes the tricky part of combing both homes so that the end result does not look like a trailer park add on. Here we go!

    First, a view of both homes and what I will be dealing with. Uh, my old home is on the left of the pictue.


  2. #2
    Not a Mod. Begbie's Avatar
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    This should be interesting.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by hillbilly
    Now comes the tricky part of combing both homes so that the end result does not look like a trailer park add on.
    begs the question, why would that be a problem ?

  4. #4
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    I want the Ying-Yang feel, not the Yuk-Yuk look.

  5. #5
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    First we had to get rid of the existing fence. Actually, I did much of the removal. It is amazing what one can do with a sledge hammer and a hangover.



    Listen to the sweet sounds of a hammer drill.


  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by hillbilly
    The original idea was to have an environment in where the poor, middle-class and rich could live together.
    good thread btw.
    Last edited by hillbilly; 15-10-2009 at 10:52 AM. Reason: LM laws are very rigid in Thailand.

  7. #7
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    Time to mix some concrete.



    Here we are bulding a fence to seperate us from the neighbors. Why you may ask? The house next to us is owned by the neighbor across the street from us. He rents to anyone. Well, if they want to pay B20,000 per month that is. Our experience has shown that these renters can be a pain in the butt.


  8. #8
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    The 12 year-old daughter of the contractor is quite pleased to be on the building site with her family.



    Her mom doesn't seem to mind as much.


  9. #9
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    Now what the hell is going on? It seems as though the wife and I did not communicate on this issue.

    Last edited by hillbilly; 15-10-2009 at 11:23 AM.

  10. #10
    The Dentist English Noodles's Avatar
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    Should be fun.

  11. #11
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    bloody expensive for what you get!

    nice thread though

  12. #12
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    Can't wait to see the finished result and how it all came together.

    Looking forward to it HB.

    If it's anything like your house thread should be awesome !

  13. #13
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    It seems as though the first concrete blocks have arrived.



    The youngest son of the contractor does not seem to mind the hullabaloo around him.


  14. #14
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    2.6 was a good deal in your Moo Baan

  15. #15
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    looking at 3 for my neighbours
    so would rather build for 3 up in the hills
    should get about 6 bedrooms for that
    nice for all the family

  16. #16
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    Once again, it seems like the construction materials never stop arriving.



    In this shot you can see the fence is well on the way. However, what concerns me is this guy in the blue shirt talking to the main boss. This conversation is going to cost me some baht.

    Perhaps, it is my big mouth. I had mentioned to my wife that we should have a garage with an automatic door. In my outburst I had mentioned that surely in 2009, Thailand had such a device like America had 40 years ago. Two days of silence followed by this guy showing up. Can't be good.


  17. #17
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    This company has got be be official, right? Afrer all they do have a decal on the truck. What also concerns me is, the helper's camera is way better than mine.



    This hand gesture basically says "falang, can afford it".


  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by hillbilly
    This hand gesture basically says "falang, can afford it".


    and havent we seen that on more than one occasion !

  19. #19
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    This is where the new front door to our sprawling estate will go. One small problem. We can only have guests over that are less than 6ft. tall.

    Back to the drawing board.


  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by hillbilly View Post
    This is where the new front door to our sprawling estate will go. One small problem. We can only have guests over that are less than 6ft. tall.

    Back to the drawing board.

    Most thai's are less than 5ft so what's the problem?Her family can get in.
    And you can use the back entrance (pun intended)

    Cheers
    /Archer

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer
    And you can use the back entrance (pun intended) Cheers

  22. #22
    Cacoethes scribendi
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    This is shaping up to be a good project and a jolly nice thread Hillbilly. Keep it coming.

  23. #23
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    One other teensy problem is what is shown in the photo below. What you see is the old neighbor's stuff. I had said that we would give them a month to move all their stuff out. I got in a hurry.

    Have I mentioned that I bought this home from a Thailand Policeman? What you see is his baby sister's household goods.


  24. #24
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    The bedroom in where my daughter will reside is starting to come along nicely. However, the way Sara has been acting as she begins the tweens age, I am thinking about putting up cement blocks on all four sides.


  25. #25
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    Now let's get back to the automatic garage door argument. What the wife has done since I wanted something fancy (like an automatic garage door) is to build a skylight roof over our backyard terrace.

    I have been in discussions with these builders all afternoon.


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