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Building a teak houseThe skill required to make a Central Thai wooden house is considerable and specialist builders and craftsmen need to be found. There is a thriving business in the construction of these houses in Ayutthaya. A drive around the outskirts of the city will give you plenty of choice of builders.Traditional Thai houses are divided into 'hongs' or rooms. Each hong is 3 meters long by 3 or 4 meters wide; 4 is considered aesthetically more pleasing. The maximum number of hongs in a house is 3 and the minimum is 2. There is also a 2.5 meter wide covered verandah running along the front of the house as show in this simple diagram:
If you want more space you build more houses in the form of a courtyard.
A rough indication of the cost would be that for a house of 2 hongs, 3 meters wide with a 2.5 meter wide covered verandah (the smallest size possible) the cost would be around 1,300,000 baht. A house of 3 hongs, 4 meters wide with a 2.5 meter wide covered verandah (the largest size possible) would be around 2 million baht. These prices would not include the cost of building the foundations, and a concrete base, although this would not be expensive. Also the house would not be made of teak exclusively. Wherever possible a cheaper
hardwood such as red wood or Mai Tabek would be used, such as the floor or any
area that is not exposed to the elements or that is not carved. Teak is the
most expensive wood and is the only wood that can withstand the sun and rain,
and also is soft enough to carve. If the house was to be made exclusively of
teak the prices would be considerably higher. There would be additional costs
too depending on the specification of the house, such as the staircase, paint,
electrics etc.
Buying an existing houseThis is not as cheap as it was in Jim Thompson's day. The costs in baht are as follows:
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