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  1. #1
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    Building a mini-resort in Phuket - The City Resort

    OK, I've split up my existing thread about building a couple of mini-resorts in Phuket into two separate threads. This thread follows the build of what I will call The City Resort, because the location of the project is suburban and only about 250 metres from Phuket International Airport.

    If you want to follow the progress of my other project, (which is owned by my ex), check out the thread 'Building a mini-resort in Phuket - The Country Resort'

    To recap from the previous, combined thread about these projects, here's a photo of the City Resort location:



    The land is bordered on 2 sides by a small road, and the building in the background is accomodation for airport workers. As can be seen, my land is quite flat, and already cleared and ready to build on.

    The timeline for the City Resort project is lagging that of my ex by about 1 month. This is because the funding for both projects comes from the sale of our joint ownership of Phuket Airport Hotel. My ex sold out a few months ago and I sold out only about 5 weeks ago.

    For the City Project, the land lease contract is now signed and registered with the land office. The electricity authority have been asked to install the 3 phase supply and meter on the land, and this should start to take place in a week or two. The well (for supplying water to guest showers and toilets) will be dug in the 1st week of October, since the well-diggers have just completed construction of the well at the Country Resort project.

    The first task is to build a boundary wall around the land, and the workers will start this task next week, after they finish building of a similar wall at the other project.

    The plans for this project have been given to the OrBorTor and payment made - and formal approval of the plans is expected in about 2 weeks.

    After wall and well construction starts next week, I'll take some more photos.

    Simon

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    Subscribing ! Thanks for all the precious info.

  3. #3
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    Good luck with the projects mate!
    What are you doing about water filtration?
    I have run a water filtration based business in Thailand for over 6 yrs and offer commercial and domestic solutions in and around Thailand.
    PM me with your email and I will introduce myself and company to you!
    Cheers

  4. #4
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    Hi Bagwain

    As with my previous little resort, we use the well water only for showers and toilets. In north Phuket, well water is not discoloured nor smelly - it is clear and without smell. So we store it in our header tank, then pass it through a filter to remove any sand/sediment, before piping it to the guest rooms.

    For guest drinking water we supply (free of charge) bottled water in their minibars, and for water used in the kitchen/cooking we use the large water bottles (12 baht each) which are delivered each week.

    Simon

  5. #5
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    OK, finally the remnants of the typhoon that hit the Philippines have finished, and the rain has stopped. This was the first chance for work to start on the City Resort.



    Well it does not look much, but it's a start! The well-diggers have started their work, and the first 3 concrete rings are in position. They will start to dig out the well tomorrow, (if it doesn't rain). They reckon from digging previous wells in this locality that they will hit water at quite a low depth, perhaps 5 metres.

    The OrBorTor thinks he will finish the project plans next week, and I need to chase the electricity company again to get the 3 phase supply (and initial builder's supply) installed.

    There is more action over at the other project - The Country Resort - and I'm updating this with photos right now - have a look

    https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...ry-resort.html (Building a mini-resort in Phuket - The Country Resort)

    Simon

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    Well as long as your build stays behind your ex's build you will get a first hand look at the quality work being done before they mess up on your place.

  7. #7
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    Well as long as your build stays behind your ex's build you will get a first hand look at the quality work being done before they mess up on your place
    Yes, that's true. These are mostly the same workers who built my last hotel about 6 years ago. Those buildings are still standing

    Where these workers really fall down is in the fitting-out and finishing-off of the buildings. They are great at all the structural work, but plumbing, electrical work and decorating/painting is not their forte - actually they are totally crap at it. So this is where I step in and make sure that they clean their oily fingers before dipping it in the pipe glue for the water supply and waste pipe work.

    For the electrical work, I won't let them anywhere near it. I prepare all the cable runs inside yellow pipework and they simply have to install the pipes in the correct position in each room. I then complete the final connections and do the electrical checks.

    My City Project is lagging behind the other project because I do not yet have an electricity supply on the land, which is needed to power the cement mixer etc. On Monday, I'm off to the electricity company again to chase them up on this, (probably delayed by the bad weather over the past week).

    Simon

  8. #8
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    No photos today because of the rain. But ignoring Health & Safety rules about not forcing your staff to work when it's pissing down, I got 2 of my Burmese workers to dig all the holes for the boundary wall concrete posts. (The ground is not rocky, so it was not a difficult task, and they were duly fortified by several M-150s...)

    If the weather is hot and sunny tomorrow, then they will be installing the posts and I'll run off a photo or two.

    The electricity company will be visiting - assuming no rain - on Thursday to see what they need to do to get the 3 phase supply installed. But to ensure that the well diggers can use their pump and the other workers can use the cement mixer - I have bought a 3KW generator. This is a cheapy Chinese model (10,000 baht), but will also come in handy during any power cuts after the resort is open for guests.

    The generator is in the back of my car for safe-keeping, together with 2 litres of petrol - the atmosphere inside the car could cause an explosion if someone drops a heavy fart

    Simon
    Last edited by Simon43; 11-10-2011 at 06:56 PM.

  9. #9
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    The weather has been good for a couple of weeks now, and so I've made some progress with this project:



    This photo doesn't really show all the progress since my last update. The electricity company came and installed the 3 phase supply, so the workers are able to use their electric cement mixer etc.

    The lazy well diggers finally completed the well. I've installed the pump and we now have well water that looks clear and does not smell. It's likely that I will install a sand filter to remove any sediment from this water supply.

    The boundary wall to the property is not yet completed, but good progress has been made.

    The photo shows the location of the first building, which has 3 guest rooms. (There are 2 other identical buildings to be constructed ==> 9 rooms total). In the photo you can see that the foundations have been excavated, ready for the rebar and cement work. The blue pipes are for the toilet and shower wastes, since these pipes have to be embedded into the floor of the bathroom. The yellow pipes house the wiring for the electrical wall plugs, and these will also be embedded into the room walls as they are built.

    Simon

  10. #10
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    Here's the latest update for this little project.



    Actually, it's difficult to see much progress since my last photo. But the concrete foundations are now in place and you can see the rebar for the vertical columns all in place. The wooden moulds that will surround these columns, (to enable pouring of the cement), are lying on the ground, but as of last night they are now in place and ready for cement pouring.

    In the foreground you can see some of the roof metalwork ready for installation. This has been painted with anti-rust paint. These small metalwork will support the smaller roof tiles that are placed at the front of the building. Larger metal supports (out of view), will be placed on the rear part of the building.

    Simon
    Last edited by Simon43; 05-11-2011 at 07:39 AM.

  11. #11
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    It's a sunny Tuesday afternoon and here's the latest photo of progress on this mini-resort.



    For the first 3-room guest building, the cement has just been poured into the column moulds. Whilst this is drying, the workers have already laid out and excavated the holes for the columns of the building that will house the small restaurant/kitchen, reception area and my own bedroom, (complete with a private garden area where I can sunbathe naked with a cold Chang (the beer, not the animal).

    The team are working well with a rhythm where they work during the day on my project, and then work in the evening on my ex's project. We only have 6 workers now, but even so, progress is going OK because the projects are small and rest periods are forbidden

    I'll pop over and take a photo of my ex's project and progress.

    Simon

  12. #12
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    It's the end of a very hot week, so let's look at progress:



    The building at the front, which is restaurant, reception area and a bedroom for me, now has the rebar in place for the columns. The guest building columns are complete and the wooden moulds can be removed and placed in position around the rebar on the restaurant building.

    In the foreground, you can see the yellow 'snake' which contains the electrical wiring for the power points that will be positioned all along the internal wall of the building.

    Next week, the metal in the photo will be used to construct the roof of the guest building, and there are 2,000 small tiles (out of view) ready for placing on both buildings.

    Simon

  13. #13
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    The latest photo is taken from a different angle than before. I'm looking towards the airport, which lies about 300 metres to the right of the palm tree.



    The tiles have now been installed on the roof of this 3-room building. On the right side is the restaurant/reception building. The concrete columns have been poured, and the workers are ready to install the metal roof supports.

    Note the various power and telephone lines. They actually come close to this second building. The telephone cables can be pushed aside, but the power lines (above) are a different problem. Although they are only 220 volts (not high voltage), and although they are covered with insulating rubber, I will call in the power company if our roof ridge line lies too near to them.

    I think we'll be fine, but I will test this by using Burmese to install the roof supports (JOKE!!)

    Simon

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43
    you can see the yellow 'snake' which contains the electrical wiring for the power points
    that is in early!



    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43
    I will test this by using Burmese to install the roof supports (JOKE!!)
    why joke, that would work

  15. #15
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    [at]DrAndy - the yellow piping that protects the electrical wiring for the power points goes in very early because it is embedded in the structural concrete for the walls. Each side wall is fitted with these 'snakes' and the electrical cable then runs to the consumer unit which will be fitted on the interior of the rear wall of each room.

    I put a pull-through string in each pipe, in case I need to run extra cabling.

    as of yesterday, the walls are finally being built and the wire 'tails' for each power point are now visible in their correct position on each wall, ready for fitting of power point backbox.

    Simon

  16. #16
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    One issue that had been causing me headaches on this project was the issue of the Building Permit. This is generally issued prior to the start of building work, but hey TiT!

    The local OrBorTor office had no problems to issue the permit, but they were not happy to do this with a foreigner's name on the plans. Although there is nothing in Thai law that says a foreigner cannot be the project 'owner', this seemed to be a matter of national pride, and I knew that no level of bribe was going to make them change their minds.

    The land lease contract was issued in my name only, so it seemed reasonable to accept that the building permit would be issued in my Thai wife's name. Since we are legally married, this hotel project is owned equally by us both, regardless of whose name appears on what document.

    The limited partnership company that will operate our hotel is a partnership between myself and my wife, so this also strengthens the equal ownership.

    After I agreed to her name being on the building permit, the processing of these documents proceeded without problems, and with a reduced bribe payment, (you were not expecting the bribe money to be completely removed now, were you??).

    The building permit papers were issued yesterday, just it time since completion of the buildings is not far off.

    Having issued the permit, and having seen that the roof tiles are already in place, the OrBorTor is being very helpful, stating that the new Tabian Bahn can now be issued. This document establishes the address of the hotel, which enables me to apply for a telephone/internet service etc. More importantly, it also allows me to apply for a yellow Tabian Bahn, which is issued to foreigners. This document could be important for me in the longer term, in case I wish to apply for Thai citizenship, (that's another story, but on paper at least, in about 3 years from now, I will seem to have enough points to be eligible to apply for Thai citizenship).

    Simon

  17. #17
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    Time for another update:



    Progress has been slow, primarily due to the lack of available workers, who must be shared between this and the other project.

    This photo is taken from the boundary public road. On the right side is the first guest building. Roof tiles are complete (except for the ridge line).

    Behind that building is my radio mast

    The building in the foreground that is being worked on will mainly be the restaurant/breakfast area (on the left), with 2 metre wide entrance in the centre (between the cement columns that are 2 metres apart), a reception/counter area, and then on the right side is a bedroom for me.

    Behind that section of wall on the right side will become a tiny private garden for me/my wife - sometimes it is nice to relax with a cold beer out of sight of guests.

    The white car is parked in an area that provides off-road parking for our 2 cars. We also have a much larger area out of view on the right side of the hotel, which we rent from a neighbouring house. It's not a formal rental, just month-on-month, and provides a large area for vehicles/taxis to turn or to wait whilst they pick up guests etc.

    You can see that this restaurant building has a roof pitch that is rather low. The reason for this is because of the electricity cables that pass overhead. (The lower cables are TV/telephone). Rather than having to relocate these cables, we opted to lower the roofline by 20cm from that of the guest rooms.

    With a low roof pitch, one can run into issues of rain entering the building. Roof tile manufacturers quote a minimum pitch for each tile type. In our case, the minimum recommended roof pitch is 15 degrees. For our restaurant building, the calculated roof pitch is 24 degrees, so I'm fairly happy that we will not have a rain issue.

    Simon

  18. #18
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    Right - new camera, new photos!



    This is the first 3-room guest building. (A second building is about to be constructed on the opposite side of the land).

    The sliding dark glass doors have just been installed and my highly skilled foreman is admiring this work. (He did not construct or install these doors BTW...)

    Inside the guestrooms all electrical wiring to consumer units and wall plugs is completed. The bathroom walls are being tiled, and I can install toilet, basin and showers probably next week. I still need to apply undercoat paint to the room walls, (I was waiting for the doors to be installed in case of rain...)



    Here's a view from one corner of the land plot. The guest building is on the left and the second building houses a small (very small) kitchen on the right side (with car parking next to it), then a small eating area (with tiled external sitting area), entrance/reception area (with the main hotel entrance visible at the back), and my bedroom on the left (with a windowless window...)

    Rain guttering is already installed, but the roof ridge tiles and edging tiles are not yet installed.

    On the right side you can see the second guest building area laid out ready for construction. I'm going to open the first guest rooms and start building the second guest room building in a couple of months.

    Obviously from these photos you can see that the garden area is about the size of a pocket handkerchief! (There is further garden area about 7m x 24m out of view). My plans were always to model this little resort on a Moroccan or Turkish style of guesthouse, with interior 'secret' garden.



    This is a view of the outside of part of the restaurant/reception/bedroom building. It's not yet painted and resembles a French farm building I think, On the right side is the end view of the guest building, with my amateur radio antenna mast in the background. The boundary wall follows the curve of the road on the right side. I still need to improve the appearance of this building by adding some more 'dimension' to the wall, such as a small porch roof over the entrance, fake gothic windows on the walls etc etc (still thinking what to do here...)



    This is a view of the main entrance into the reception area. I still need to clean up and varnish the doors, as well as making the entrance look more impressive by placing some statues/plants etc etc either side of the door.

    I cannot remove the ugly electricity pole on the left, but it is likely to suddenly change colour overnight..... possibly acquiring some hanging flower baskets...

    With the building roof installed, I have already applied for and received the blue Tabian Bahn book for this project, complete with street address. with that book, I have ordered a telephone line and internet service from ToT, so should soon have wi-fi operational.

    Simon

  19. #19
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    I like those doors
    Where did you get them from ?

  20. #20
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    I suppose you mean the wooden doors, not the glass sliding ones?

    There is a shop on the Phuket bypass which sells them, (well, they have 1 pair of doors left since I bought mine). They cost 20,000 baht, are made of Mai Sak, look very old (but were probably made in north Thailand last year!), and resemble the sort of openings that you find in Spanish Paradors, (not Matadors)

    There is also a shop in the Phuket Homeworks building that sells very ornate doors imported from India, with a 'discounted' price of 90,000 baht!

    Simon

  21. #21
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43
    the sort of openings that you find in Spanish Paradors
    Yep, they don't look thai style at all.

    Did you go in and ask for a paradors?

  22. #22
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    Well, after busting a gut (or two) to get this little business ready for guests, we finally opened our doors for business today (20th Feb). Happy to say that we are fully booked tonight and bookings coming in for this month and the next

    The Country Resort project is a few weeks away from opening, (so I started building my little project after my ex had started her project, but I still managed to pen for business first!



    Simon

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    well done Simon, good work and good luck

  24. #24
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    A fine start to your business Simon, when you get an opportunity i would love to see photo's of the finished project.

    Best wishes for the future

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    Any pictures of it?

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