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Two Years On In Thailand US$1 equals 40.15 Thai baht ~ by John P. Seely

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We’d been regular visitors to Thailand for years, so when we finally decided to make a permanent home here we had an idea what we were letting ourselves in for. The low cost and the high standard of living attracted us, as well as the warm welcome offered to foreigners. We decided on the mountainous northern section of the country, because it offered the best climate for us, and was unspoiled and undeveloped. At the same time, it had all the modern conveniences we needed and was easy to get to. So, three years ago, for $13,000, we made an offer on 20 acres of a quiet corner of a mountain, 3 miles outside the regional capital, Chiang Rai. It was what we had always dreamed of. Surrounded by hills and farms with not another house in sight…within minutes of a modern shopping center…good medical facilities and an international airport…it seemed perfect. We couldn’t wait until it was ours..

John's land in Thailand

Whoa. Not so fast.

Buying land in Thailand is very complicated. There are five levels of ownership, and to make things more difficult, non-Thais cannot own land at all. We have to use a proxy.
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When we bought, we had a list of both previous owners, their sale contracts, and the original registration papers. We also had our deal witnessed by attorneys. We visited the forestry department to check it wasn’t restricted land, and also visited the village headman to verify that the person selling really was the owner. Our area is now being upgraded, and we’ve been told that in another year or so we will have clear title. This is doubly good news, not only because we will have the extra security of title, but also because the value of our land will rise as it can then be used as collateral with a bank.
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Previously, our farm was used to grow dry rice and corn. Nobody lived there. It wasn’t even fenced, the boundary being marked by clumps of bananas and bamboo. There were no amenities, and the road was a dusty track. The road is still dirt, but everything else has changed. We dug a deep well, installed a pump and tanks, brought in electricity from a mile away, and had telephones installed. We planted trees, built a house, and then wondered if we’d not made a terrible mistake.  Giant Lizards And Cobras Friends advised us to do something with the land straightaway to show that we were planning to use it, as the government was moving against speculators sitting on unimproved property. We decided to build a simple bungalow that we could easily rebuild if we wanted. I was working in Taiwan then, so we couldn’t spend a lot of time with builders and architects. In fact, we copied the locals and did without an architect altogether. We said: “We want a house so big with so many rooms.” The builders then turned up one day and said: “Right, we’ll start here.”  For $6,000 we got a three-bedroom bungalow with a paper-thin roof that is unbearably hot in the summer. We also have termites chewing at every doorpost, because the foundation is too thin. Giant lizards slip through the gap between the walls and the ceiling, and cobras get in the kitchen. But it is functional, and we spend most of the day outside anyway. If we’d been less rushed, we would have orientated the house to avoid the afternoon sun while catching the cool night breezes from the mountains. At present, we have the opposite.

This year, we decided enough was enough and are in the middle of replacing the roof and installing insulation. We’re having an extension built as well, in case we want to start a farm-stay B&B. Again, we did not employ an architect, reckoning we could plan it ourselves—a big mistake, as misunderstandings have been rife. What was going to be a three-month project is now well into its fifth month and is still only half done.

Everything is possible here, but a great deal of patience and perseverance is needed to get what you want the way you want it. We hardly dare leave the site, even for a morning, because we fear something will go wrong if we do.

A plus to living here is the lack of planning restrictions. We bought a hill, built a house, and planted an orchard on it. We didn’t have to get planning permission and could have built a castle had we wanted. Of course, there’s nothing to stop someone building a piggery or outdoor karaoke bar next-door either.

We have planted more than 700 lychee and mango trees, among others, as the start of a farm. We have high hopes that in another two years or so we will have enough fruit to start selling commercially, and who knows, we may even make a profit one of these years. 

We would think twice about buying so much land again though. Not because we know as much about farming as we do about building space rockets—looking out over the rows of healthy trees gives me great pleasure—but because of the difficulty getting reliable labor and the sheer amount of work that has been involved.
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.We would hire laborers, and for a few days all would be well. Then they wouldn’t turn up because it rained too hard during the night, or because someone had a birthday, or because the second cousin of their mother’s best friend had died and they had to go to the funeral for three days. There is a casual approach to work here and it takes getting used to. Meanwhile, the trees need care and the grass is overrunning everything.  We spend most of our time pottering on the farm, which is what we wanted. We didn’t come here to sit on the balcony and slap at flies all day, but we also didn’t want to be tied down to a 9 to 5. The low cost of living means we can live well on the rent we get from our house in England. The farm provides us with plenty to do and the prospect of a good income in the years ahead, as well as a place to spend our retirement. And we can take off whenever we want, when we’re not building. When we need a change, we take off to Bangkok or Singapore or one of Thailand’s unspoiled islands or beaches..

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We have full-time help living on the farm for just $120 a month. Aaw helps in the house and with our animals, while her husband, Oowun, does most of the farm work. If we go away, we leave them in charge.

Patience Is A Virtue

Since we’ve been here we’ve had no really bad experiences, though there have been plenty of petty annoyances. Thailand is a developing country, so we can’t expect the same standards that we would in the West. I sometimes forget this and get myself needlessly worked up. Still, most of our experiences have been positive, and we feel comfortable here.

A Three-Day Funeral…etc.

It would have been simpler to buy an existing property with utilities already in, rather than starting from scratch. Although we had visited the area many times at different seasons, we should have followed International Living’s advice and rented for a year before we bought. This would have given us a better idea of the pros and cons of different areas. We were shocked by the noise from river traffic at some seasons, for example, even though it is a mile away. Noisy all-night fairs are held nearby, and we have found that April, as well as being very, very hot, is also unbearably smoggy because of the fires lit by farmers clearing their fields. Entire hillsides can be in flames, and the air thick with smoke and cinders. 

I’ve never felt any resentment about my being “One of those damn foreigners, coming in and buying up our land.” Nearly everyone living here is from somewhere else. My neighbors include an American, an Italian, and a Frenchman. Another is from Pakistan. Down the road is a hostel funded by a Japanese charity. Nearby, an extended Yunnanese family live next to immigrants from Laos and the south of Thailand. Hill tribesmen from Burma make up the bulk of the local village. With this sort of ethnic mixture, why should I feel an outsider? It’s not as if everyone can even speak Thai well, which makes me feel a lot better about my feeble attempts at the language.
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