3 million Thai Bhat new build home?

You could build a very decent sized home for this budget.

Here is a link to land prices in UT which are likely at least 25% over value.

https://www.ddproperty.com/en/property- … %3Anull%7D

Good luck with the holiday home project

Thanks for the link and reply.
I've looked at the land prices and I'm guessing land will be greatly cheaper in Nong bua lamphu.
My wife owns a farm but it's a bit out the way, so we are reluctant to use this land to build on as with it being a holiday home it would be left vacant most of the year. It's a shame because it would have given us more cash to spend on the actual house.

Surely it would not be left vacant if her family are in the area?

Like holidays in NE Thailand then?

I'm sure it has appeal, I live in khon kaen and before that kalasin which are in NE too. I like a bit of beach air on a holiday and I like the quiet narrow stretch of beach in mae phim just east of bkk. Quiet, overlooked by most tourists I think as beach is narrow maybe? But ideal to unwind and get that fresh beach air in your lungs.

Hopefully end of next month we will take our first family holiday there.

That sounds wonderful, I've never heard of mae phim, I'll check it out. A sea breeze is definitely more appealing than living near to the jungles on Nong bua lamphu but the wife wants to be close to her family so that's how it is, and a happy wife means less stress for me!
The family already have decent enough homes so they'll be no need for them to occupy our home whilst we are not there.
Saying that if 3-3.5 mill can build me a home with a pool then I'm sure the family would take full advantage of the pool facility.

Yes we love a Thailand holiday, try our best to get over at least once a year. Couple weeks with the family then head south.

Enjoy your family holiday. 👍🏼

I only opt for mae phim as it's very quiet and with a child in tow it's fairly accessible from bkk in less than 2 hours. Lovely place all the same. Koh lanta is nice too in the south

Some decent youtube videos on house builds in thailand. Stuff you just would not think of normally IMO. Like pipes to house. Explains why so many properties are built so close to main roads which I never understood. People don't want the extra pipe costs so build as close to main roads as possibble. That's one reason anyway.

If your not going to be present for the build maybe it's a couple of years in the making and you need to find the right stretch of land first.ask your Mrs or you even, to check out kaidee and search for houses for sale in those locations you are after. That should render some house builders in the area. It will provide you a decent foundation to begin looking into it but I reckon if you are not in a rush and you want something tailor made;  doing it in parts. (Land purchase) then build may be the best option. The builders will obviously try to be a one stop shop but definitely worth checking out other options especially with it being a holiday home.

Thank you very much for the information, it's much appreciated.
We are at the very early stages of this house building dream, basically we've got a decent budget saved up, we've chose the location (well the wife did) so before we jump in I've got a lot if reading and learning to do, and that one about the pipes is a great shout, I've always wondered that myself.
Trying to see photos of what 3-3.5 mill can build you is not as easy as I thought it would be.
We are under no illusions that this is going to be a long process with lots of ups and downs along the way but hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end.

We've been to koh lanta, it's a nice place. All this Thailand talk has me thinking about booking some flights and escaping this uk miserable weather.

Geordie farang wrote:

That sounds wonderful, I've never heard of mae phim, I'll check it out. A sea breeze is definitely more appealing than living near to the jungles on Nong bua lamphu but the wife wants to be close to her family so that's how it is, and a happy wife means less stress for me!
👍🏼

FYI ! Visiting Thailand, on holiday, with your Thai wife, is a totally different scenario, than living together with her, long-term, in Thailand.

In the UK influenced world that we come from, the husband and children of the wife, are her first family priority. However, when a Thai woman marries a western (not Thai) man, both he, and the children they've made between them, will always take a back-seat position, where that Thai wife's extended Thai family (Mama, Papa, brothers, sisters, Aunts/Uncles & cousins) is concerned. 

The books that have been written on this topic, depicting your exact same circumstances, and covering a period of 50+ years, were written for a reason.  

If you know, what we know, then you'll buy that plot of land, at least one-hour of driving distance away from the nearest member of your wife's (Thai) family, instead. Other-wise, you'll eventually come to seriously regret, not having done that,........guaranteed! 

Also, try, and keep in mind, that it is probably your hard earned money, that's being spent. Best you begin to "think" a little more like a Thai-bloke would, and buy land where you get that "sea-breeze" that you'd more prefer to have, for many years to come, instead of having bitter regrets in the future.

Wifey will adjust to not living in close proximity to her "family", with far better aplomb, than you'll adjust to the (eventual) realization, that you've made a monumental mistake. In addition, wifey will have more respect for you, in the long-term, but only if you stick to your guns, in that regard.

Btw, get a lawyer @ BRIT_LAW in Pattaya, or your own-found English-speaking Thai-lawyer, for the purpose of protecting your interests in the real estate. And remember, that discussions held between the menfolk, always remains between the menfolk, only. Ok? Good luck

These house builds are more of a traditional insurance policy for the wife than a holiday home and many fall into disrepair through neglect and poor oversight during the building process.  A swimming pool would be a disaster without constant maintenance.  My advice would be to stay with relatives or in nice hotels until you are really ready to live somewhere.  In my experience, if you are not onsite everyday of the build you will be very disappointed with the outcome.

Though generally I agree with the common notion of living as far as possible from the relatives I have not personally had any problem with any of mine.  My success in navigating life in a village should be seen as the exception and not the rule, however.  Please delay as long as possible and think long and hard before beginning this house build.

ARB360 wrote:

Geordie farang wrote:

That sounds wonderful, I've never heard of mae phim, I'll check it out. A sea breeze is definitely more appealing than living near to the jungles on Nong bua lamphu but the wife wants to be close to her family so that's how it is, and a happy wife means less stress for me!
👍🏼

FYI ! Visiting Thailand, on holiday, with your Thai wife, is a totally different scenario, than living together with her, long-term, in Thailand.

In the UK influenced world that we come from, the husband and children of the wife, are her first family priority. However, when a Thai woman marries a western (not Thai) man, both he, and the children they've made between them, will always take a back-seat position, where that Thai wife's extended Thai family (Mama, Papa, brothers, sisters, Aunts/Uncles & cousins) is concerned. 

The books that have been written on this topic, depicting your exact same circumstances, and covering a period of 50+ years, were written for a reason.  

If you know, what we know, then you'll buy that plot of land, at least one-hour of driving distance away from the nearest member of your wife's (Thai) family, instead. Other-wise, you'll eventually come to seriously regret, not having done that,........guaranteed! 

Also, try, and keep in mind, that it is probably your hard earned money, that's being spent. Best you begin to "think" a little more like a Thai-bloke would, and buy land where you get that "sea-breeze" that you'd more prefer to have, for many years to come, instead of having bitter regrets in the future.

Wifey will adjust to not living in close proximity to her "family", with far better aplomb, than you'll adjust to the (eventual) realization, that you've made a monumental mistake. In addition, wifey will have more respect for you, in the long-term, but only if you stick to your guns, in that regard.

Btw, get a lawyer @ BRIT_LAW in Pattaya, or your own-found English-speaking Thai-lawyer, for the purpose of protecting your interests in the real estate. And remember, that discussions held between the menfolk, always remains between the menfolk, only. Ok? Good luck

I believe the chap lives in the UK with his wife full time and he wants the property as a holiday home when they visit thailand.

Geordie farang   Yesterday 19:48:33
Udon Thani, Changwat Udon Than

Deleted most of what i had written... It's your money, so do what you want...

Best of luck... Kindly...

Hi guys
Thanks for all the comments, any postitive & negative feedback is appreciated either way.
My wife and I have been together for 15yr, she originally moved to the uk to study and has been here full time ever since, she's highly educated and one of the most caring people you could ever wish to meet. We both have good jobs which alllows us to have a good standard of living & lifestyle and also the opportunity to save a little bit of money to build a holiday home.
My family have had several holidays to Thailand over the years to visit my wife's family and visa versa, my wife's mother and sister have been over to the uk a couple of times to visit us.
In 15yrs the only time my wife's family have had anything from us financially was when we paid for the flights on the 2 occasions when they've been over to the uk to visit us.
I get along very well with my wife's family and likewise my wife does with my family. With my work I can be overseas for long periods of time and while I'm gone my wife takes good care of our family in the uk.
The relationship my wife and I have is not the standard Thai women/western man relationship, it's a bit cringe worthy to say this but our relationship is perfect and has been from day one.
With this said I can't see any issues ahead when it comes to building a holiday home close to my wife's family.
We have had holidays at least once a year in Thailand for the past 15yrs. The  partying days in lively resorts are long gone for us, chilled out family time is far more appealing.
Having a holiday home close to my wife's family is and will be ideal for us. My wife has only seen her family once or twice a year for the past 15yrs which if the tables were turned I would struggle with that scenario.
So yes I would like the sea breeze but I think that would be a selfish act on my part as my wife deserves to opportunity to spend as much time as she can with her family especially with her mother giving that she is in her twilight years.
The holiday home would also be available for my family to use anytime they wished, which I know they will take full advantage of that opportunity.
One day will will relocate to Thailand on a permanent basis so this holiday home is just a stepping stone until the day arrives.

We have already spoken to my wife's uncle to see how he would feel about overseen any future build, which he has gladly said yes too. Obviously we can't be there to oversee the build due to our working commitments so having someone we know to project manage the build on our behalf can only be beneficial to us.

I greatly appreciated the information provide regarding the lawyers.

The swimming pool point has been taken onboard and I agree with you that we might have to do without due to the constant maintenance required.

Cheers again guys.

Have a great day.

Thanks for the additional background information.  You stand as good a chance as anyone of making it work, given your situation.  Just remember you will most likely be unable to recoup even a small amount of the money put into this build and it will continue to be a drain on finances for many years to come, with maintenance and continuing projects.

When we started our house roughly eleven years ago, the basic build costs were in the range of 10 to 15 thousand baht per square meter.  Of course that did not include furniture, household appliances and a variety of additional projects over the years.  Budget for substantial overages on the initial quotes just to be safe.  You will either be irate or bemused by the results, especially since you won't be there to catch things as they go wrong, so just take a deep breath and go with the flow.

I'm currently building a 200 SqM 1 story house near Rattanaburi. The 10-15,000 THB/SqM range is looking plausible so far.

We've chosen to build with 20 cm thick AAC concrete block for insulative value and termite resistance. This is not common here, and that presented some challenges. As I'm a retired builder, I have been able to deal with the issues.

I can post more if anyone is interested.