We have had a number of meetings with our builder on the design and scope of the project. He has been refining the design layout based on some further changes, updating and adjusting the BOQ (build on quote list of building materials) document & finalising the construction contract, after some negotiations on pricing & payment schedules.
Site Survey
On the 1 April the project engineer (also our builder) came to site to do the correct land, house location & elevation survey. This took many hours including to stake out the house footprint with colored rope, to designate the area for further build site clearing & digging of the 1st & 2nd foundation post holes the following day.
Site Preparation
On Monday a contractor with a backhoe (called a Macro in Thailand) arrived on site. He needed to clear the ground of the house footprint for building, dig the foundation holes for two post (the rest will be done after Songkran (Thai new year) on 17 April. I found it very interesting to watch how a skilled operator can maneuver his machine around the site to complete clearing & digging. We also had him dig out some old remaining tree stumps around the perimeter that had been cut down many years ago.
Property Backfill & Clean Up
Since clearing our build site in January 2024, it had seen some resurgence of vegetation. The previous banana forest was starting to grow back up along with a sundry of other matter. While the total property size is just over 3 rai of land, around just under 2 rai are cleared as the main property & building site.
We noticed that trucks full of dirt were running up & down the road beside our build site. Ace followed the trucks to find the dig site and after speaking to the boss of the project was able to secure a deal to deliver good ground soil for 350 THB a load (that included delivery & site grading). All in all we ended up with 200 loads of dirt & by all accounts this is a good price in the area.
Just over half of it was used to level the front of the property to be level with the front road, then one side adjacent to the side road was filled and levelled. The remainder of the dirt was stock piled at the back of the property to be used to complete backfilling once the house foundations are in. The foundations will be built into the original solid ground and raised about 60 cm – the house will be another 70 cm higher. Once the foundations are in then the ground around the house can be filled in to 60 cm depth, compacted & levelled. The house will then sit 70 cm off the new ground height – (if all that explanation & math makes sense).
The tractor operator was very interesting character. Very skilled younger guy – lives not far from our house. Aside from levelling dirt he also pushed down the old barbed fence lines on 2 sides of the property. There was mixture of rotting wooden posts & some concrete posts that had fallen over.
It was necessary to clean up the boundary to properly backfill the land level the new ground with the road heights. The property looks much better now, but will require another landscaping project.
In the process I have obtained a drone to take pictures with during the build – more of a retirement hobby I think. While I have been practicing my pilot skill there is a long way to go for proficiency. Also one needs to edit the videos for better viewing – all a skill to learn.
Here is an early flight with a view of our property from the drone.
Structural Build Team
While all this happening some of the structural build team was moving onto site. Other members of the team will join later, after Songkran. While the formal building will not commence until about the 17 April, there was site preparation & set up to arrange. Also due to the 4 of April being the auspicious day for the first & second post ceremony there was agreement from the builder to support the preparation of requirements to facilitate the first post ceremony. The construction team erected their basic campsite for sleeping, cooking & amenities. They also put up an enclosed shed for tools & valuable construction materials. The site has been wired with remote CCTV as well.
It was amazing how quick they completed their facilities, but how basic these builders will live during construction. They work hard in the hot sun all day to only have the minimum of living for their off time. They seem to be happy with this arrangement and having full time work.
Supervision Monitoring
Of course during all this activity there was a need for our supervision & participation by Ace & I. For the loads of dirt that were dumped onto the property we had to hand out – tickets – to the truck driver that allowed for them to get paid by load & for us to know how many trucks in total we received. There was a need to direct where dirt was to be dumped in consultation with the tractor driver. We also met with the builder and the structural build crew for introductions.
The land clearing and site set up has attracted the attention of all the locals. Our two closest neighbors have been around to offer advice and suggestions. One neighbor was kind to offer some plastic chairs for us to use while truck monitoring. One of them collected all the old wooden fence posts. We even had a drinks cart and the ice cream vender come by with treats that we could not resist.
On Monday 2 April we went for dinner with our building contractor and Ace signed the building contract. It is all locked in now. The builder told us that the talk of the town (That Phanom) is that there is “farang” building a house in the countryside nearby. Amazing how small town chat gets around. The date for build completion is scheduled for 27 November 2024 – with an official building start date of 17 April 2024 – about 7 months in total. This seems a fair build time for what is planned.
YouTube Videos– You can also see some of this site preparation in action on my channel – Land Preparation Video
Auspicious Ceremony
Thursday April 4, 2024 was considered as an appropriate day for the auspicious Buddhist ceremony to raise the first & second house columns (posts). It is a traditional ceremony conducted prior to building a new house. It involves asking for permission from the mother of earth to build, seeking her to leave the build site and blessing the main house pillars, as well as seeking good luck and prosperity for the build and the house occupants. The day started early in the morning with offering & chanting at the spirit house of our temporary home, organised by Aces mom
Earlier in the week we had attended a local Wat just down the road from us to discuss with the Abbot his support for the ceremony which he agreed & offered himself and 3 other monks to conduct the rituals. Ace’s mother and the neighbor across the street ( a retired policeman & temple volunteer) were key to preparing and executing the ceremony process with the monks. Protocols dictate a series of materials required for this event, such as:
- incense and candles and a lighter
- holy water and 1 handful of ya kha
- small roll of saisin thread (white string)
- 3 colours of satin fabric for covering the pillar
- 1 banana shoot
- 1 sugar cane shoot
- 1 bowl of popped rice mixed with marigold petals, jasmine flowers and orchids, to be scattered into the foundation pit around the ceremonial area.
- 9 auspicious types of wood
- coins
It was all very ritualistic and most interesting how this ceremony is carried out. I was involved to some degree in walking to the 4 corners for blessings, tossing coins and flowers into the foundation. It is serious business in Thailand and very much so in Isaan. No house can be built without this procedure.
Our builder, Khun Mann, was also involved this morning getting his team to set things up for the ceremony & taking a few pictures with his Drone & camera. He had a project sign erected at the sight this morning – unfortunately the house color on the poster is not the final look. The building team also made their blessings and asked for a safe built.
The first two posts are now in and ready for the build come 17 April, following Songkran.
YouTube – You can see the ceremony on the channel – Here.
Donating Lunch & Water
After the morning first post ceremony we headed over to our local temple (Wat Kularb Phatthanaram) for their regular chanting rituals & to donate lunch to the monks, water and some funding. After going through the formal ritual processes of donation & serving the monks, we had lunch Thai style – everyone on the floor except me – sitting on a chair (the old legs don’t bend to sit like Thais’ do.
Plans for the next few weeks
We get to have a break from the past weeks very busy daily activities and enjoy Songkran and some area exploring over the next 2 weeks.
We will also start to explore our fencing project options & some landscaping considerations, such as checking out some mature trees to plant, amongst other things. Figuring out the landscape look will be as much fun as planning the house – but will be a work in progress for many years I believe. We have already had offers to source and lay lawn sod. Ace plans some considerable market garden planting that includes fruit trees, grapes & the usual greens.
Cheers for now,
Retirement Reimagined: Thailand - My Journey 