I have just recently bought a house south of Hua Hin and am in the process of some minor works. My experience has been mixed but the overiding lesson is that there is a Thai Price and a Farang Price and the two can be worlds apart. Works have including internal painting; garden clearance; landscaping and timber decking. Prices quoted from local companies or tradesmen have varied from the simply outrageous to the acceptable.
My wife (Thai) now insists that she alone meets or talks with such companies before they see me or see the house - in this way we have secured competitive Prices. It is good to report that the Quality of work has been excellent in every case.
Unfortunately the next Task is a new kitchen and I fear the worst..............any advice would be welcome!
TMT - this maybe Thailand
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berlinmichael
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Re: TMT - this maybe Thailand
I used a guy that was really good and fair. Khun Boy. +668-1720-8988 Good luck. It sounds like you have the right ides using your wife up front.berlinmichael wrote:I have just recently bought a house south of Hua Hin and am in the process of some minor works. My experience has been mixed but the overiding lesson is that there is a Thai Price and a Farang Price and the two can be worlds apart. Works have including internal painting; garden clearance; landscaping and timber decking. Prices quoted from local companies or tradesmen have varied from the simply outrageous to the acceptable.
My wife (Thai) now insists that she alone meets or talks with such companies before they see me or see the house - in this way we have secured competitive Prices. It is good to report that the Quality of work has been excellent in every case.
Unfortunately the next Task is a new kitchen and I fear the worst..............any advice would be welcome!
I wouldn't have to manage my anger if people could learn to mange their stupidity!
Re: TMT - this maybe Thailand
How on earth do you get a price quote without them seeing the house or the job to be done? I (my Thai wife) rarely could get an upfront quote of cost even with them seeing what had to be done/fixed.My wife (Thai) now insists that she alone meets or talks with such companies before they see me or see the house - in this way we have secured competitive Prices.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
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berlinmichael
- Specialist
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- Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 7:31 pm
Re: TMT - this maybe Thailand
It's not possible in every case - you're right. However, for example, we had new grass laid and my wife called a number of firms and asked for a Price per m² as an estimate. Once we had this we could Keep the Price under control. We did the same for timber decking. It's not perfect but when I think of some of the Prices we received once our house had been visited............!!How on earth do you get a price quote without them seeing the house or the job to be done? I (my Thai wife) rarely could get an upfront quote of cost even with them seeing what had to be done/fixed.
Re: TMT - this maybe Thailand
Try that with a roof, plumbing, electrical, or painting replacement/repair job and you'll find them at your house admiring it if it is Western style with $$ in their eyes (or I guess that would that be ฿฿ in their eyes 
), the bigger and nicer the house, the higher the price difference for the same amount of work in a more Thai home. 
At least most professional paint crews will give an estimate up front so you can get several and compare (they're the only ones I found who would), but it took us seven years (and as many paint crews) with many outside paint jobs done to find a crew that actually did quality work that lasted. That's why my wife painted the entire inside of the home by herself the one time it needed it. We'd had such bad results from so called professional painters here that she didn't trust them to paint inside.
), the bigger and nicer the house, the higher the price difference for the same amount of work in a more Thai home. At least most professional paint crews will give an estimate up front so you can get several and compare (they're the only ones I found who would), but it took us seven years (and as many paint crews) with many outside paint jobs done to find a crew that actually did quality work that lasted. That's why my wife painted the entire inside of the home by herself the one time it needed it. We'd had such bad results from so called professional painters here that she didn't trust them to paint inside.My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?