Building in Thailand
What was this site created for and who was is designed to help ?
This website and the accompanying discussion forum was created as a resource for anyone that is considering building a house or undertaking remodeling or renovation of an existing residential structure in Thailand.
If you are considering building in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos you will still find a lot of value in much of this information.
The information provided on the site is intended principally for an owner that is intending to approach their build either as an “owner builder” or a “project monitor”
We define an Owner Builder as an owner acting as the project manager coordinating and contracting out the various trades and part of the overall build to smaller teams.
BTW we would NOT recommend the Owner Builder approach in SE Asia if you don’t have a very very good understanding of construction concepts and more preferably a strong background in the building trades or as a building professional in your home country.
More preferable perhaps is acting a “Project Monitor” – a owner that will be managing the build from arms length through a General Builder – looking at the project from a quality and progress checking point of view without being hands on with the actual construction planning itself.
In any event we hope that the information we are presenting on the Building in Asia site will be of some value for everyone considering building in this beautiful part of the World from complete novices that wouldn’t know a spirit level from a glass of spirits to the seasoned building industry professional that intends to undertake the entire build hands on.
Ok so where do we start ?
One of the biggest lessons that I have learn’t about building in SE Asia is its a heck of less stressful for everyone if you try to address as many potential problems as possible before the work is commenced, before a single hammer blow is struck.
Now that might sound like “common sense” but I can assure you the concept of common sense is not the rule of law here by any stretch of the imagination and if you approach building here based on what would be common sense at home – what you would expect an American or Europe Building Professional would do then you will only end up in “tears”
We have found that doing far more “due diligence” than you would ever do at home and understanding exactly what is being planned done – all the way down to the type of door and door hardware that is going to be hung in the bathroom before the work begins is the key to a successful build.
We say “as many as possible” because issues will always arise as the project progresses, that is just the nature of this business, however
This “micro planning” concept might seem painful to some however I have never found a builder in this part of the World that is not willing to undertake a job in a particular way using a specific standard of materials and workmanship ( unless you are trying to fix price the project ) if its is understood exactly what is desired before the work commences at the time the price is being negotiated.
The general the real problems start when you assume that a job will be done a certain way, find out it has been done the SE Asia way and want it fixed.
One of the best analogies I can offer you here is that of the custom made suit.
Comparing a house constructed in most parts of Europe or America according to US and European Building Codes and Quality Practices to a house constructed in most parts of SE Asia is like comparing a custom made suit made in one of SE Asia ‘s famous tourist strips to what what you would pay for a custom made suit in say London’s Saville Row.
Nothing from the quality of the cloth, lining, thread and buttons to the care with which it was constructed, “ready in 8 hours” offers a fair side by side comparison of what it actually cost. Beyond broadly calling it a “custom made suit” there is little to connect the two.
The challenge is that most SE Asian “Tailors” think they are constructing a “custom made suit” and they are right, right ? Perhaps worse are the 1000?s of expats that a deluding themselves that what they have purchased is a custom made suit, far cheaper than what you could back home.
Do not take this the wrong way, I have purchased many shirts and suite over the years in SE Asia and been very, very happy with them but I understand that a custom made suit can always be made more cheaply.
One of the biggest myths that exist in expat circles around SE Asia is that its very cheap to build here. Whilst its is certainly true that the “cheques” you will be signing are going to be lot less than you would be signing in America or Europe anyone that has had any measure of real world experience in Building in America or Europe would quickly attest to the fact that in reality they build cheaply in SE Asia.
There is a huge difference between these two conditions.
Its cheap to build here VS they build cheaply here.
