Should I start building my house in Thailand now or wait until I move there?

Past experience, stay away from suspended ceilings. My first home in Thailand I was away working periodically in Vietnam. Left the project managing to my other half. My fault in hindsight, I forgot to tell the builder I didn't want suspended tile ceilings. Came home after it was finished and the village the house was in, the road at the front was the Red dirt road. Pickups kicked up clouds of dust, which made its way into every room in the house through the ceilings and the aluminium window frames. Forever cleaning, although the family being farmers a dirty environment was normal for them.

OK, so I'm going to be the dissenter. IF you have the right builder, you can do it in absentia. I am. I do go back periodically; I was there for the foundations. My builder sends photos via LINE frequently and the building progress is WAY ahead of payment. Trust works both ways. We don't even have a contract, all done by handshake. Now... I did do extensive background on my builder and his reputation is golden, having built 90% of the farang villas in the neighborhood (Ao Nang, Krabi. Near Chanapha Residence, which he also built).

A full stop would help to understand what you want 🙏

I got cracks in walls they pour concrete pad on top of clay no sand barrier to allow expansion & shrink wet & dry season sucks just one of the 100s of things that your won't find out till long after handover .

Use PPR water pipe too stay away from pvc .

Be very careful mate I got burnt never moved in the home once home was finished lost contact with not been able to own it not much u can do

Wait until you are there to oversee everything.

I am a builder in Thailand

U are in for a bumpy road even if U are here to see over the build.

One piece of advice ( imo ) don't use Ur partners family to build.

Anything wrong she will never side with U.

I've built many houses and knock down houses here and Thai builders build how they want not as U want.

U need to constantly watch them

Omg newbie to Thailand good luck 🤞

From experience...wait until you are actually there.

Id wait once you move to thailand with a visa you can get your name on the land

Rent in the area for one year.

Then decide if it is where you want to live.

Many many build and then realize it's not the place they can live.

Visiting and living are worlds apart

Turn up every day at least 1 time , also alternate your visiting times .

As others have advised have a set deal for what & when payments will be made upon completion of selected works .

Wait til Ur there 100%

I had similar experience that came out great. We were spending half of each year in US so we selected a trucked in wood house and a matching guest house since we would not be there during construction but would be there for installation. We had a pool built during our absence by a European contractor. Everything worked out great. One contractor oversold his abilities and had to be replaced and some electrical work had to be redone.

If you are at the jobsite, you will get to experience watching your instructions being ignored first hand.

From what uve been reading - Wait until you're there. The work will need direct supervision to ensure things are done correctly and in a timely manner

Your better off waiting until you arrive..to be here for your house project..you need to be on site with the workers..

Here in the US we have registered contractors and inspectors. Because they are registered they are accountable for quality and honesty. In case of shenanigans a lien can be placed on their contractors license.

Do they have the equivalent in Thailand?

What recourse is availible for shoddy work?

Do not build until you are ready to move and never do it if you can’t personally on site and oversee every day.

Reputed builders are much easy to trust, do not do anything without a signed contract.

My renovation project was a complete disaster even I was in Thailand but different provinces.

Being a woman, alone was a big disadvantage,the construction workers were stealing everything they can whenever they want . Many items keep missing, even my agricultural equipment/items which stored in and around the storage area.

The contact must stated the date clearly, if the progress is not meet the deadline DO NOT pay.

I’ve renovated two homes using two different builders and both do not go well …..

If you have just raised you need to rest the land ( as a Thai person will say) for at least 12 months. Before doing anything get a ground survey for compaction as you’ve used fill on the block

From personal experience building my house years ago, a reputable builder will ask you for payment in 4 stages the last payment on completion, when you are happy with the finished house.

Give time for any faults before last payment, ie cracks ,plumbing, drainage, etc.and yes if your wife or family don't know the builder be on site during the build

I haven't seen anybody mention this and I am sure you will know this and had it checked already, but just in case...

The chanote for the land needs to be the correct one, or you might run into problems in the future.

My advice would be to not do any building until you're in Thailand. But before you even think about that you need to employ a Thai architect to produce the full set of architectural drawings which have to be signed off by the local Or Bor Thor office to get a building permit. Don't build something from a rough plan. I paid a Thai architect 10,000 baht to produce my drawings. Only then did I think about construction.

From personal experience Be on site with your wife Oversee the work As nice as it sounds don't employ her aunties brothers son who builds houses. Their is a reason he's cheaper

Rent don’t buy

You need to be there and keep your eyes on everything done every single day . Also, even if you are married, you need a lease from your wife for the land, you own the house but the land is hers. I would recommend depending on your age at least a 35 year lease if not longer any attorney can handle that for you, it’s very common and protects you even if you get divorced, you can still live in the house for those 35 years or whatever time is designated .

Just finished building here in korat

I would not be building anything till you are here

It's different here to where ever you come from

1)Firstly have a house plan

2)find a good builder talk to few the quality varies and so does the price

3) have a budget set out remember you get what you pay for cheap is sometimes nasty

4) once you start building you will need to have a look over project often and voice your concerns that way you end up with a good build

Goodluck

Good luck old chap. You'll need it

Wait till u are here and make sure u do bank transfer and keep all records of payment for future

My partners uncle was a retired master builder so employed him to check on my new build, been in it 17 years so he did a good job

Try these two groups Building in Thailand group Residential Construction for Expats Thailand you will gdt better answers. But basically i would say no unless you have someine you really trust. You need to be there. Rent somewhere near

There is a great book building in thailand that will explain all the pitfalls here.

We have had our land 5 years now and still in planning stage. Research is key

Up to you..

This is not from any personal experience I have, but from reading many posts on the subject.

1) Wait until you are in Thailand so you can oversee and check, and check constantly if not be seen on the site every day.

2) Do not pay upfront. Set very specific waypoint steps in the contract. For example: Foundation is laid and walls are up, receive 25% of the pay. Roof goes on, receive the next 25%, etc. You can pay upfront for the materials or even order them yourself, but do not pay everything up front, and do not listen to any sob stories or excuses about why they need the money before finishing a certain point, as it's in the contract. This is how people end up with a half built house after paying for the entire project. It's their job to figure it out because they agreed to it in the contract.