Building a House in the country

[TotallyOz]

I have a Thai friend who builds houses for people. He is good at it and I was looking over the last house he build in some photos he brought to show me. It looked lovely. I asked him about how much it cost and he said about 100,000 baht. I was a little surprised at how low this was and wondered for those of you that have build homes for the families of your loved ones how much did you spend?

[Gaybutton]

he said about 100,000 baht.

I haven't, but I've talked about it with many Thai people. 100,000 baht is a little bit more than US $3000. You wouldn't get much of a home for that. From what I have been told, out in the boondocks a home the Thais consider acceptable and nice would cost anywhere between US $5000 to $15,000. Still quite low, but not many of the rural Thais who are poor are looking for a house up to farang standards, even if a farang is willing to pay for it.

 

I have a feeling that if you are considering building a house for a Thai b/f and family, by the time you're done with everything you will have spent a good US $25,000 to $30,000.

[Jason1988]

My friend decided to build a house in CM for his bf. By the time they were finished with the construction the final cost was around $48,000 US. Not that cheap and they were out in the woods.

 

I'd rather have a condo in Pattaya or Jomtien!

[dapitt]

My friend decided to build a house in CM for his bf. By the time they were finished with the construction the final cost was around $48,000 US. Not that cheap and they were out in the woods.

 

I'd rather have a condo in Pattaya or Jomptien!

 

Thanks for this post, Jason1988, as I have an interest in Chiang Mai. I wonder, do you by chance know any of the specifications of the house...principally, the size? And do you know the cost of the land? Thanks!

[mahjongguy]

I agree with GB. I know several married farang who have built houses up-country and the cost was always a bit under a million baht, roughly $25,000.

 

These were houses in which the farang husbands intended to live, so they were built with Euro kitchens, etc.

 

A typical Thai country house which is intended more as a gift to in-laws would be a lot cheaper.

[Guest]

I am a city guy and this is in no way a home for me. It was a home that was built by Thais for Thais. I was just surprised at the low cost of 100,000 baht and wondered if it was accurate. I'll ask his permission to post a photo here when I see him.

[colmx]

I have paid for my BF to build a house (and a subsequent extension!) on his land in Buriram

 

The initial 100,000 that your friend menations above would barely even pay for the foundations to be made for the house!

The general rule of thumb is that a house costs 6000B per sqm

So the 100K house will be 16sqm (12 ft by 12 ft)

 

First step in building any house is ~100 trucks of soil to build up the height of the site... A good builder will then leave that soil 6 months to settle before starting to build on it

At 400-500B per truck - at least half of the budget is blown already!

 

Its quite cheap to throw up a house with bare blocks and a tin roof after that

The expensive parts are the finishes:

-Plastering

-Painting

-Ceilings

-Electrical install

-Doors @1000B each

-Windows @1000B each for teh wood

-Glass for teh windows

-Tiling (price depends on the grade)

-Sanitary ware (farang toilet costs a lot more, as does a real sink versus concrete box)

-Paths around the house

-Electrics (circuit breakers, Switches, sockets, Light fixtures)

-Gutters + drain pipes

 

And don't forget the party with the 9 monks to bless the house

 

 

i think 500,000 is the cheapest that you would get away with for a reasonable size house with:

2 small bedrooms

Living room

Indoor bathroom

Outdoor Kitchen and Terrace

 

And that pre-supposes that you own the land already

[colmx]

Some pics of Phase 1 of BFs house below

 

Note that this part of teh house had no kitchen or internal toilet

I reckon this phase cost ~400,000B

 

Its had to tell as it was built over a number of phases:

 

-Initial foundations

-Sails (supporting Columns) and Roof

-Walls

-Window and door frames

-Plastering

 

The family moved in at that stage... Boarded up the windows and various holes to the elements

 

Next phase was putting in the doors, tiles and windows

 

Following that it was the Actual Glass in the windows, Painting and Ceilings

 

Finally the electrics (Thai Style ie. not hidden cabling)

 

Was it worth it?

Well ultimately it was one of the main factors in hm getting his first Irish visa... so definately worth the effort and money!

[Guest TOQ]

Colmx, you are right on the mark for what I paid for the house up here in Khlong Lan.

 

The truck loads of dirt along with the backhoe, bulldozer and labor came to about 80,000B

 

The house itself for just the material ran right at 400,000B. The contractor charged me

 

a flat fee of 60,000B for his labor and another 10,000 for the electrical work. I have a

 

2br house with a bath in each bedroom, living room, large kitchen and nice size patio.

 

Then you have to furnish it.

 

Choa now wants an outdoor "fry kitchen" that is when I have an extra 20,000 Baht

 

I would say that the total cost of just the house was about 600,000 or a little less

 

john

[Guest]

Fascinating stuff.

 

If you are doing one to live in yourself, it must be tempting to find some cash for roof insulation, to keep the heat out on hot days?

[Guest fountainhall]

If you are doing one to live in yourself, it must be tempting to find some cash for roof insulation, to keep the heat out on hot days

I live on the top floor of an 8-storey condo block. My air con would have a hard time keeping the temperature down had I not put in insulation when I moved in.

[Guest naughtybutnice]

I have a Thai friend who builds houses for people. He is good at it and I was looking over the last house he build in some photos he brought to show me. It looked lovely. I asked him about how much it cost and he said about 100,000 baht. I was a little surprised at how low this was and wondered for those of you that have build homes for the families of your loved ones how much did you spend?

 

Two years ago I paid for a house to be built in Chiang Mai for b/f's family (b/f lives with me in Bangkok). It is a three-bedroomed house and built to their specification with the choice of fittings left to them to select, so fairly standard Thai style fittings, no western style kitchen, no bathtub but good sized shower/wetroom. There was no restriction on the cost -within sensible limits- and the complete project including cost of land, legal fees and other ancilliary expences came in at just under 740,000 Baht.

 

They are delighted with the house and the quality is superb, all the work was done by local builders and the fittings sourced locally.