# building in thailand



## tape8

Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


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## creck

*Luck to you*



tape8 said:


> Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


Tape8 Hi!

The techniques in use here are different. Many houses are wooden, and in the towns tend to be concrete frame on side bearing (driven) piles. No cavity walls are used commonly. I don’t know how much of your skills and knowledge would be useful without some time to see the local methods.

I really see this as quite difficult. Even building your own house would require a work permit. Unless you can speak Thai you are on your own very restricted in what you can do and how to start. 

A visa without a job or wife restricts your time in Thailand and requires you to exit and spend time outside before returning – it is aimed at a tourist. 

If married you will find financial restrictions on gaining a visa. Get to know your girlfriend for a long time and her family very well before you jump! Investigate at the Thailand consulate all the restrictions.

Sorry to sound so down but many tourists forget that living here long term is very different. Even so many people do manage it, and maybe you have much more experience than I am assuming.

Good luck to you. 

Creck


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## oddball

*build a house*



tape8 said:


> Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


 What you are asking may seem like a simple question needing a few simple guidelines , that is not the case , as you are talking Thailand is where you wish to build your house , simple answer , you cannot own a house in Thailand . 

You can pick up a lot of good info for many things here on this forum , but the complexity in what you want to achieve in Thailand is quite an involved proccess starting with your visa , this alone can take several directions on what is required to obtain the suitable one for what you wish or intend to do .

I would respectfully suggest you log on to thaivisa and peruse the sections that cover your requirements , please come back and tell us your thoughts , we learn as we go also .


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## tape8

thanks creck and oddball, I know visa restrictions are very complex, hopefuly I'll be married before I start the build, even so I'm ok with the house being in her name, I wouldn't expect much in the case of divorce. Not that I'm expecting divorce! I would be using thai builders, relying on there knowledge of local practices, but I wondered if its possible to have a building business in Thailand, or any business for that matter


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## pannyzero

It is possible to do a business in Thailand but foreigners are not allowed to have their shares more than 49%, or something like that(you may need to double check with a lawyer). 
Tell you the truth, construction industry in Thailand is very tricky, a lot of scam, too complex political involvement. This bussiness is all about who do you know(connection). 
I'm sorry to say that but your idea is not new in Thailand cuz I've just heard the same business model from friends(multi-nationality, Thai-US) who are buying a house in Bangkok. They went to talk to a developer about their house and have been told about a subdivision which is developed for expats only. 
But it is a proof that your idea may work in Thailand...
Good luck


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## Mweiga

*I did build in Thailand*

Five years ago I did build a house here in Thailand. 

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly , it all went extremely smoothly and I ended up with as good, if not better , as what I'd been planning in my head for some years previously. I'd been living and working in Africa for 30 years prior to the Thailand move.

I can give you give you the following pointers based on my experience :

- as a foreigner you cannot own land , so it needs to be in a Thai's name. There is a mechanism for joint Thai / farang ownership with at least 51% being Thai but this is full of pitfalls and risks. I wouldn't even go there.

- once you bring money into Thailand , don't expect to ever be able to get it out again.

- deal direct with the Thai owner of the land. This is the person who's name appears on the land Title Deed , nobody else. Don't deal with land or property companies , some are OK , many are just crooks and all of them are out to make as much money as they can at your expense. If ever the maxim "caveat emptor" was coined for a particular business , it was was for land and property companies in Thailand. 

- be very careful on your choice of building contractor. I used a Thai architect and Thai contractor and they were both excellent , but there are a lot of very sub-standard builders and as many crooks also who will pocket up front payments and disappear.

- be prepared to accept the cultural differences in work practises.

- keep the atmosphere friendly. Never display anger should you see something being done not to your liking as it seldom achieves anything. Your Thai partner can sort all this out in the Thai way with quiet discussion and smiles.

Hope this is of some use.

On setting up your own local building business this is also full of pitfalls but can be done. I'd suggest you talk to some farangs already in this business in depth first to give you the picture - there are many in Thailand.








tape8 said:


> Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


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## Song_Si

Mweiga said:


> - once you bring money into Thailand , don't expect to ever be able to get it out again.


Curious what you mean on this one; I transferred money from an NZ bank to my Thai Kasikorn bank mid last year with a view to buying a property, changed my mind and a few months later having decided not to buy here at all, simply went into Kasikorn for an international money transfer. An over the counter transaction with a small service fee,


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## Mweiga

*Thai exchange control*

... as long as the funds were kept in a foreign exchange account you should have no problem - your bank is able to verify funds originated abroad and forex transfer approval is normally just a formality.

If the funds requested to be tranferred overseas are in a Baht denominated account then the bank has to verify these funds originated from outside Thailand. If the Baht funds have been lying there untouched for a lengthy period banks can be difficult over this verification process and the required forex transfer approval.

I once tried to buy USD cash with baht at a bank and was told I could only be given the forex if I could prove the baht I had originated from an official foreign exchange transaction.

You either had a forex account at Kasikorn or your funds were in a baht account which was recent with easily verifiable origin.








Song_Si said:


> Curious what you mean on this one; I transferred money from an NZ bank to my Thai Kasikorn bank mid last year with a view to buying a property, changed my mind and a few months later having decided not to buy here at all, simply went into Kasikorn for an international money transfer. An over the counter transaction with a small service fee,


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## Mweiga

... what I really intended to convey was that once money brought into Thailand has been converted to bricks and mortar , and then things go wrong for whatever reason , the chances of re-converting back into money and getting it out of Thailand again are drastically reduced.

This no doubt might seem common sense to you but I'm constantly amazed at the rash and patently daft decisions armies of farangs out here , both tourist and expat alike , make concerning their financial lives.


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## Andrew Hicks

tape8 said:


> Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


A good start could be by acting as a facilitator/project manager for farang wanting to build a house. As you develop your local expertise, bridging the gap between the client and the local team could be extremely useful to both. It would necessitate minimal equipment or investment and so be ideal.

I have experience of going in blind to have a house built. There are four chapters on it in my book, "My Thai Girl and I" about it and my story could teach you something of the potential nightmares. The book's available in all good and bad bookshops in thailand.

Good luck with your idea.

Andrew


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## mikecwm

tape8 said:


> Hello all, I'm an Irish builder with a thai girlfriend. At some stage I want to build a house over there. I was thinking of making a business building homesfor expats. My girlfriend's cousin is in constuction but I know the legal situation is tricky. Any ideas?


Try coolthaihouse.com for a great website dedicated to Farangs building in Thailand.


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## tape8

thanks for all the info guys, I know things can go wrong in thailand, same in any place I guess, though people tend to be extra suspicious about that country.
I wont be rushing into any project for a while but am lucky cause my girlfriend's family has land to build on, I realise there's little chance to get money back if anything goes wrong, but it is very cheap to build. the website cool thai house is full of great stories


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## aridion

Hi TAPE8.


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## aridion

I think that there is another farang builder in Thailand. I think he is from England.
I guess you would need to set up your own company and have the Thais doing the building and labour work.
I believe that there is a market here for a foreign builder as many of my friends who have built in Thailand before had problems with Thai work men. Also a foreign builder would be able to finish a house to a high western standard and communicate properly with the foreigner that wants the job done.


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## mikecwm

I think a good command of the Thai language would be essential. Otherwise forget it.


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