# Reading Thai Survey Plans



## outdoorbloke (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi all my girlfriend has just bought some land i know the land is around 1700 square meters but i cant work out the distances of the property boundary's could anyone give me a hand I have attached the survey plan that was on the tittle.

Also does any one know what the rules are regarding required offsets from the property boundary for the house


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## cooked (Jan 30, 2011)

outdoorbloke said:


> Hi all my girlfriend has just bought some land i know the land is around 1700 square meters but i cant work out the distances of the property boundary's could anyone give me a hand I have attached the survey plan that was on the tittle.
> 
> Also does any one know what the rules are regarding required offsets from the property boundary for the house


maybe you want to put the question to coolthaihouse.com


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## wazza (Apr 4, 2010)

I dont think the thai local gov have set building guidelines and boundary set backs ,one tip thou let her do all the dealing with them or it will cost more ,


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## Mweiga (Sep 24, 2010)

outdoorbloke said:


> Hi all my girlfriend has just bought some land i know the land is around 1700 square meters but i cant work out the distances of the property boundary's could anyone give me a hand I have attached the survey plan that was on the tittle.
> 
> Also does any one know what the rules are regarding required offsets from the property boundary for the house


From my own experience buying land eight years ago , you need to go and physically check the land dimensions yourself to be absolutely sure the official title deed drawing agrees with what's actually there. If there's one issue in Thailand that's the basis for endless scams and generates major legal disputes , it's land.

Go along to the plot with a surveyor's tape measure and measure straight line distances between each of the concrete markers , which must have the official land office stamp imprinted in it , that demarcate the land boundary at each corner. Draw the dimensions out on a piece of paper to scale as accurately as possible , then from your own drawing you can work out the actual land area as well note the real boundaries.

I did this and found my own physical measurements agreed exactly with the title deed drawing , so went ahead with the purchase , but it still didn't stop an attempt by the owner of the surrounding land to claim I'd taken part of hers. She paid a land office guy to come out on a Sunday with his tape measure to check my piece of land - all was correct so no problem. Turned out the official title deed for the 37 odd rai adjacent land was wrong - it was recorded as being two rai larger than it actually was and the dimensions on the title deed were incorrect. Could have been just a mistake but I tend to think it was the aftermath of some previous land sale scam.

As for building offsets from boundary I'm not aware of regulations for this - many recently built houses I see everywhere cover almost all the land area right up to the boundaries , leaving little or no space for garden. Check anyway to be sure.


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

boundary disputes - especially with older properties where measurements not so accurate; one of my partner's brothers wanted to sell his inherited part of the farm, not one of the boundaries they were using was correct, and in some cases involved a lot of area eg a 3m wide road was not shared but clearly within one sister's land area, over a 500m stretch that is valuable cropping land lost.

There was boundary dispute on a neighbouring farm early 2011 involving 'creeping boundaries' where one farm had planted over their historical, but not recently surveyed, boundary. Alcohol, an argument, a gun and one death, the shooter in jail, poor result for both families involved.

My partner has recently bought land here in a new subdivision; paid 10% deposit only as the local govt surveyors don't go to do the final map, boundary pegs, till 29 May, and we have been told we can go along that day when they are there. Seems a good idea, and re-check when they issue the title deeds (told this takes another 6mths).

Building offsets - something we'll be asking the survey people about; we lease a property at present, there is just a 1m strip between the sidewall of our garage and the neighbour's house. Wouldn't want that on all sides.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

IN THEORY

Your house has to be a minimum of two metres away from your bounderies, that is what the Thai laws say!

IN PRACTICE

Your plan has to be compliant or you need to re-submit. What you really have built could be different. But I have not yet tried/had to find out how much different it can be from the approved plan! If you have a narrow strip of land like where my current house is in Thailand, the two metre limit means you end up with a half the house you want, so you need to do what I had to! Basically I had to ignore the laws. The price I paid to get what I needed was a small fee at the local Planning Dept! I am not proud of breaking the laws in this instance but I speed where I can get away with in UK LOL. But the house and the plot look sux.

CAUTION:-

Check who your neighbours are before you ignore your approved plan or their feelings. Setting off your neighbours by such issues, you may have disputes on hand or much worse. Ask them first. Even offer that you will not even open certain doors/windows, if needs be.

Technically, I never plan for this house to be mine. I have been such a control freak/perfectionist from hell when it is something to do with bricks and mortar, so I never paid attention about the look and the plan, I was never once in Thailand while it was being built! 

IF THIS BUILD IS GOING TO BE YOUR PERMANENT HOME, do get a VERY good architect or you end up with an unbearably hot house or worse. You may even need your architech to get reliable builders in. I only know a good one in Bkk, unsure if he actually travels far! But if you know what you are doing, good luck! But don't just use any local guy who can do a plan for you really cheaply with no training or experience. It is false economy. It is best and cheapest to do it right, starting from the plan! I am not a snob, but fussy person, I think that with careful considertaion and proper research, architectural services are one of the best investments, based on my experience.

How I wish I insisted on using a good architect to do the plan!!!


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