Before buying/building a house

If you are trying to replicate the pace and feel of your previous life, Chiang Mai would come closer to filling that bill in my opinion.  On the other hand if you are looking to step out of your comfort zone and immerse yourself into a life altering adventure where nothing is familiar and everything you do takes effort and thought, then Chiang Rai might have fewer western offerings to distract you from your adventure.

I feel perfectly safe up here and we live 55 kilometers from town.  Most of the earthquake activity of recent years has been in the Mae Chan area, not in Chiang Rai town.  We don't feel anything but the biggest quakes and while we have never suffered any damage, others have.  There really are no building codes but almost all the condos have been built recently so probably have a better standard than old buildings.

I haven't been in any of the condos, though have heard they are a bit small, but I am guessing they are not expensive since it is a fairly new market.  There is a lot more to do in Chiang Mai and a lot more choice if you want city life but there is a lot more traffic as well.

VillageFarang, Thank You for your information. I don't like crowded places either. what about building your own house?  Can you design it yourself?  I was thinking condo because I don't like insects, & when am gone I can just shut the door. What is there to do up there? Do you mind if I ask you how old you are?  Am soon to be 65 in January.  My wife is Thai, but we met in California, where she worked & lived for 40 years, so her Thai is a little rusty. But she has a big family in Bangkok, all or most of them are busy taking care of there grandchildren, so not much time for us. But this is the tradition in Thailand. Where are you from?  Do you miss your family & friends at home?  Am from the San Francisco bay area, & I just got back from a 4 month visit. It has got to be more crowded, more traffic, & more expensive. We are thinking about buying over there so the Grandchildren can go to college over there. But 1bedrooms are 250,000 dollars. That is a lot of money when you are retired. So we just don't know, we are looking at other options. Thanks again for your feedback. Happy Holidays to you.  Patrick

I am 62 and my wife is 42.  We have been together for more than 19 years now.  I spent 30 years in Bangkok before moving to Chiang Rai nearly 10 years ago.  Perhaps you should take a look at my blog if you want more information about me.  I believe there is a link on my profile page.  I don’t write much these days but my story is there.

If you like to travel, condo life is easier and more secure.  We did that for several years before building the house which I now lovingly refer to as my gilded cage.  A house and animals require a lot of attention.

To California4me

I was reading the above. You asked about bugs. My landlord recently had an exterminator spray around the foundation of the building. The chemicals were strong enough where I had to leave the house for a few hours to let the fumes dissipate. I also have an insect spray which I haven't had to use since the exterminator sprayed. My last place i had to be careful because of ants. No ants at this house. My landlord said that the spray is effective for 6 - 12 months. Even the gecko's aren't around because there are no bugs.

My first choice of any place in the US is the San Francisco bay area. At one time it was down town SF. Now, it's above San Rafael. But like you infer the cost of living is so high that I can't even entertain the idea of living there.

Bill

This might give you an idea how I live in Thailand.

Hi Bill, if we buy something we could always do a house exchange.  Before we left in November we almost bought 2 places.  One was very small 1 bedroom 700 square ft. the owner was asking 250,000 so we gave him what he was asking, the place needed a complete remodel. It didn't go though because the appraisal came in at 225,000, and the owner wanted us to pay the difference out of pocket, so we let it go. The second one was a 1.5 bedroom condo already remodel , with all new appliances. This owner was asking 260,000 it was 1000 sq. ft. we gave him what he was asking, then he changed his mind and said he wanted 20,000 more, because he felt like he wasn't getting enough money to because of the remodel. we said Ok, then the appraisal came in at 255,000, 5000.00 less than his original price. He also wanted us to pay the difference, so we backed out. But of these sellers were very selfish people.  But both of the units are still for sale. I think we are going to have to search outside of the Bay area in order to find anything we can afford .  Patrick

Villagefarang, that is a great picture of your animals in Harmony, would make a great Christmas Card. I would love to know more about your house, did you build it yourself?  Do you own the pond too? It looks very peaceful.  Can I ask how much you paid?  It looks like a peaceful place.  What a wonderful lifestyle.  Patrick     PS. What is your 1st name?

Sad tale. I think 2008 has changed just about everyone, and not necessarily for the better.

I bought a house, not a manufactured home, in Arizona in an active adult community. I do not like the political climate in the state. However I rent out the house during the snow bird season for four months, to one tenant. I retain the garage and store my car and personal things in it. I charge a little less on the rent looking for appreciative tenants, in contrast to demanding tenants. The proceeds almost cover my expenses while I am in Thailand and gives me a base to call home and chill out.
I just thought I would share this strategy.
Bill

Bill, that is a good advice, we had though about buying a condo in Bend Oregon & renting it out during the snow season, thinking that it would cover most of our home pymt. for the year. But we changed our mind after losing a good friend that lived up there.  Just have to be open to all options. see what happens in March.  Patrick

Hello everyone,

Please note that this new thread has been created from some of your posts on the Thailand forum, as they were somewhat off-topic on the thread initially posted.

You will better interact on this one.

All the best,
Bhavna

I would love to hear what kind of situations people have where they whatever live in Thailand. I would also love to hear about building a home in Thailand. That one post from Chiang Rai area looked really great. I would love to a lot of topics opened up for discussion with living in Thailand.
Maybe one topic could be - what interested you or brought you to Thailand? I know one answer in Chiang Mai "economic refugee's" from the US.
As long as we can all enjoy.
Bill

More information on building homes would be helpful.  Happy holidays to everyone.

@California4me, Considering the nature of social media I don’t use any personally identifiable information other than pictures.  Across all platforms I am VF or Village Farang.

My wife drew up the floor plans with some input from me and then we took that to an architect for the blueprints.  We hired a local contractor to do the work.  We built on a five rai plot and dug that one rai pond you see, using the dirt to build up the land for the house.

I don’t like to discuss cost, the way prices change so rapidly and we built nearly ten years ago.  Generally we swapped our small condo in Bangkok for a house seven or eight times bigger.  That was just the beginning, however, and there have been many projects over the years.

This is a shot looking out from the house.

Wow, Great Pictures, Thanks for Sharing.  It looks very beautiful up there.  Thanks for the information.   Take care,  Patrick

That looks really wonderful, and who wouldn't want to live in a setting like that. Even Dick Chaney's heart would melt with that panorama. I hate the cold blooded sucker that he is now.
I assume that your wife is Thai?
What can I say, I would just love a small piece of that with my next cocker spaniel.
Bill