Building in Thailand 2021 Edition

So, what will you find here?

Firstly, I am a retired government employee not a builder, so you won’t find a very specific how-to building book full of technical details. However, what you have bought is a very detailed 884-page coverage of how an enthusiastic amateur like me survived the Thai building challenges and ended up with a wonderful home that I still find hard to believe I have achieved.

Although the house we built is unique to us and may not be anything like the style of dwelling you plan to build, you will find many of the processes, frustrations and hints I share very relevant to almost any domestic construction project in Thailand. Topics covered such as creating a cool house, planning and design tips and specific topics like septic and water solutions are mostly likely generic to your situation, or parts of them will be, so will be a useful addition to your research material.

You will find lots of photos in this book, and many are repeats of the same view at different stages of the construction. I haven’t done much in the way of culling these because they are central to telling the story of the build and help you understand what various stages looked like for us. There will be a similarity to your build in some, if not most of the images, I am sure.

I have tried to make the book a good read and not just a dry list of dos and don'ts. It is written in a casual style as though I was chatting with you, and I hope that makes it more engaging. In each chapter you will live every individual day of the build with us plus some other events and activities and share our excitements and frustrations. Even if you aren’t about to build in Thailand, I believe the book includes enough interesting material of one farang’s story to hold your attention.

Because most of the descriptive words were written at the time, they often capture small events or milestones that might have been missed if the book was a post-build project. It is also a very personal story, and you will get to meet my lovely wife, still lovely even after seven years of living with me 😊, her Thai family and some characters involved in the build as we go along.

The book doesn’t end when we moved into the house, but continues to offer a lot more. I think equally important are the chapters that talk about the experiences and observations after moving into the house.

I have included sections on establishing a beautiful tropical garden, which gives us as much pleasure as the house itself. The book follows the progress of the garden from builder’s site to the lush oasis it has become.