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Updated: 13 July 2024
It was June of 2017 when the adventure started. The erecting of the major concrete pillions had to be on June the 9th. Why? I never really found out other than it was an important date that would bring good luck to the building and for the people who would live in the finished house.
Let me say that the house is being built in a small village in Isan, about 12 kilometres from the nearest town.
A group of men from the village gather at the site and the 20 or so concrete pillars were innocently lying in wait. Holes had already been dug and head man of the village was there ready to make the blessings before each pillar was placed in a hole and cemented in. Into each hole was placed white flowers, gold leaf and small coins as the headman chanted and read from an ancient text. As the only “farang” for kilometres around, I took photos and pretended to know what was going on. After the last pillar was put in place, fireworks were set off and everyone sat around and ate before heading off to their homes.
The skeleton of our house was up and this was to dictate everything that followed where the split level floor would be placed along with the walls, doors, windows, everything. We had strong ideas of what we wanted, a house that reflected modern western design blending with a traditional Thai feel. Being a Thai and western couple, we wanted a blending of our cultural backgrounds and lifestyles to be reflected in the house we are going to share.
We had no blueprints or plans other than rough floor plan drawings and a head full of ideas. Maybe, not a good way to build anything, but the adventure had started. There was no turning back now.
Over the following months the foundations were poured and the walls started to grow.
Everything was done by hand with only one Thai relative doing most of the work. No cement mixers or modern methods were used. Everything was done by hand using buckets, hoes and a large tub to mix the concrete. All the work was done by a guy who is a 100% perfectionist. Work progressed slowly, but progressed.
Neither of us could be on site for more than a day or two as we worked in Bangkok and with my Thai language skills being limited most of the discussions were done by my partner, but a house was beginning to appear on the edge of the village.
Our ideas were in place; our budget was in place, well so I thought. Anyone building a house knows budgets are totally flexible, never going down, always increasing along with my levels of frustration. Ideas changed, layouts changed but progress was being made albeit painfully slowly.
It is more than three years since the first pillar was put in place and the house is still not finished. One of the two bathrooms is fully functional, we are at lock-up stage and have metered power connected. Livable? Not really and still months away from being totally finished.
What have I learnt? I have learnt to be flexible and above all very patient, neither of which are my strong points.
It will be finished and we will be living in a house that we totally were involved in designing from scratch that reflects our cultures and lifestyles in a blended and beautiful home surrounded by rural views of rice paddies and fields with grazing cows and buffaloes. I have learnt that dreams take time and hard work, but moving in is in sight and I can’t wait.
