PART III

© Andrew Truswell

9    The Building Contract

I started writing the building contract in the air on a trip to California. There were many detailed parts I wanted to clarify. There were now a number of changes since the drawings. I wanted to be as clear as possible. For example, the smaller house wasn’t big enough for a 3 metre balcony to be built using its timber, so a different design was needed. I also wanted to clarify how the sleeping area upstairs could be made bigger and for a day bed area to be built on the western side of the balcony. When I got to San Francisco, I included scans of the drawings into the actual building contract, as I had amended them by hand, and pictures I had taken. The building contract slowly became a working manual for the builder.

Will translated the contract into Thai.

At that time, the political situation in Thailand came to a head. While Prime Minister Thaksin was in New York for a UN Meeting, the army under General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin seized the opportunity, and the tanks rolled into Bangkok in a peaceful coup. The Western leaders somewhat patronisingly announced how this was a major step in the wrong (i.e. undemocratic) direction for Thailand, which of course, was true. Thaksin’s record of interfering with judicial appointments for political ends, his rough treatment of the Muslims in Southern Thailand, the way he had rushed to the polls with limited campaign time earlier in the year, the shady Shin Corp-Temasek deal and a long list of other self-serving tactics had not endeared him to the people, in Bangkok in particular. While Thaksin resigned from Thai Rak Thai (his political party) whilst in exile in London, the military established a council for democratic reform and appointed a new Prime Minster, Surayud Chulanont and a bunch of new judges, including Panya Thanamrod as Constitutional President. General Sonthi had said that the coup had received endorsement from the King, and that a new constitution with fresh elections would be held in a year.

In the meantime, in Sydney, I had another meeting with my step-father, the retired engineer. I asked him for his professional views about the foundations. This time, I was concerned about the foundations being strong enough to support the house through the wet season. I was concerned about the weight of the ceramic roof, the salt air and its corrosive power, and I was concerned about the house not blowing over in a storm.

My step-father and I discussed the foundations at length. This was not a difficult exercise for him, as he had consulted on major building projects throughout his professional life, building all sorts of things from office towers, bridges to unique private houses where engineering was a challenge. We discussed a number of things unique to the site, including the composition of the soil (a mixture of sand and clay), the very heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, the fact that the site had now been cut and filled by the earth mover.

His conclusions were simple. The piers had to be sunk as deep as possible. They needed reinforcing with steel. A frame of reinforced cross-beams needed to join the beams near the soil surface. The piers should be single poured concrete from their starting position in the earth to where they were to join the timber uprights supporting the frame of the house to protect the house in a storm. The steel reinforcing should be galvanised and have concrete clearance of ideally 75mm to reduce the risk of concrete spalling. Ideally, galvanised steel bracing should connect the piers at 45 degree angle, and this bracing was to be fitted at floor level. This engineering consultation was extremely valuable and somewhat reassuring.

Will and I rang the builder, Kaveewat to talk about the contract and confirm arrangements for meeting in Phuket to proceed. Kaveewat seemed to know what to do. I explained, through Will, that the piers needed to be sunk deeper where the land had been filled after being graded. Kaveewat understood this.

By the time I returned to Thailand about 2 months later, I had two copies of the contract bound and translated ready for Kaveewat’s signature. I had also made some pen and ink drawings clarifying the earlier computer drawings.

At that time, the global warming awakening film by Al Gore (Vice President under Bill Clinton) had produced called “An Unfortunate Truth” was having its impact. It was a very frightening warning on global warming. It predicted melting of the solar ice caps and sea levels rising 20 to 40 feet. This frightened me, and just about everyone who saw it – as it would cause my dream house to be under water.

I arrived in Phuket from Rome via the new, vast and chaotic Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. I had been at a meeting in Boston and had taken a ‘round the world’ ticket. I was met at the airport in Phuket by Nan, Chia and ‘A’.

The first stop was to the ‘Spirit of Siam’, where ‘A’ had taken me last time, to arrange for payment of the balance owing for windows and doors and shipment to Laem Pho. When we got there, I found 2 very good old solid doors which would be very nice back doors – so I added them to the collection.

We then found another second hand shop, where the guys started buying up all sorts of stuff. ‘A’ bought a neon Pepsi sign, Chia bought a large cooler for ice cream, and Nan bought a whole lot of tables and chairs for Gecko Bar. I bought 2 rectangular basins for the house.

We met Kaveewat and went over the revised drawings and the translated contract. I gave him a deposit, and we signed in a café in Phuket Town Central Shopping Mall.

Last stop was a shop selling used building materials from the Tsunami. I bought bathroom fittings, and a big mirror which we piled on to the truck.

We headed back to Krabi stopping for a great dinner in Pang Nga. So – finally the building project was underway.

The following day I did nothing and re-charged, after all the flying, at the Krabi River Hotel, where the owner, Chai, now recognised me.  Chai has a garden in the old town of Krabi. He agreed to get fruit trees for me to plant on Koh Pu for the garden. That night we met three government officials for dinner at ‘3 Mango Trees’, and they looked at the building drawings.

After dinner we went to listen to local Thai live bands. I was the only farang there.

10    Official Business

Next day, Nan had business in Koh Lanta. He agreed to stop at the government offices in Laem Kruat on the way.

I had brought a copy of Will’s passport to identify him for official papers. We provided a copy of the revised drawings to the government and they prepared the consent for the construction of the house or “Baan”. We gave a copy of the survey produced at the time of sub-division of the land. This was attached to the Por Bor Tor Ha, which was now recorded in Will’s name. The village chief for Koh Pu – or Gam Nan – was at the government office. He signed the land papers.

The Gam Nan wanted to talk to me about selling me 2 Rai of land at the coconut beach headland. I was reluctant, but said we could talk more. I then paid the BHT60 land tax on the land. After all this official business I agreed to pay Nan a further payment for the land. Later on the beach on Koh Lanta I found a beautiful ornate carved piece of timber which would fit well in the house.

That night I stayed at Nan’s house at Laem Kruat for the first time. I got to see SiRaDa again, now walking and much less shy.

The Gam Nan came and stayed too – he told me where his land was. I knew it would have a good view, and if it was a good price, waterfront and fairly steep, it could be an answer to the global warming ocean rise fear.

The next morning I drew up a hand-written contract which Nan and I signed for the next payment. Then we headed to Nakhon.

11    Return to Nakhon

Joy drove Nan A and me to Tha Sala to meet the owner of the big house, and the dismantling contractor. The balance was paid and a price agreed for dismantling the beautiful big old house.

We then went to Joy’s family for a drink and a chat. Later we did the same transactions for the small house.

After that I had a swim at the same place as last time as the locals drank the ‘Regency’ Thai whiskey.

We met Nan’s Mum for dinner in Nakhon, then checked into a local hotel and went to see an excellent southern Thai live band. The hit song “Sip See” (14) – was sung with great feeling. I loved it.

The following morning I met the guys for breakfast. Since Will now had pretty clear title, I transferred some more money to Nan for the land. I had now paid him 5/6ths of the price.

Nan showed me a very old Southern style monastery dwelling house. He said he used to play there as a kid. It had a very beautiful ceramic roof. One of the best preserved in the region.

We went back to the monastery, Wat Se Ma Muang, Nakhon – where I had bought the doors and I found two more for the bedroom. Joy’s brother would collect them for me.

We needed to collect the engine, but they had to get it ready for a test run. So we went shopping first. We got life jackets for the boat from a big shopping mall, and a cute pink dress for SiRaDa.

We had a delicious lunch at a local place built above a big fish pond. The Tom Yum Plah was very fresh and tasty.

The last task was collect the boat engine. The engine was wired up and started for us. It sounded good to me. It was loaded up on the truck.

We headed out of Nakhon in a huge rain storm lasting hours. The engine was getting a clean!

Joy dropped me at Laem Kruat pier and I took the boat to Koh Pu arriving late.

I was met at the pier by Joe, who had found long timber pillars for me. He had also prepared a drawing for a relaxation deck for the beach front. I told me we may need to think of building a boat house as well.

He needed to go to Satun (near Malaysia) in the morning, so we agreed to look at the timber early in the morning.

I slept that night in Ann and Nat’s new bungalow. It was made ready the day before and I was the first person to sleep there. It is so nice with a sleeping area in the roof looking out to sea. The bungalow occupied a spot where a previous building had been taken by the Tsunami.

12    Saat

The Gum Nan dropped me back at Lubua Hut and joined us for lunch. We enjoyed some fish and ‘sweet and sour’ vegetables, with rice.

There were 5 of us for lunch, Ann and Nat, Gum Nan, Saat and me. Saat, a local kid from Klong Tom, has no father, two sisters, and only his Mum in his immediate family. He was then about 15 years old and working for Ann and Nat.

Saat was very shy. Ann told me he had done a great job getting the new bungalow ready in 1 day when Jo had told them I was coming.

I needed the front area of the land cleared – between the house and the beach. Also I wanted Saat to clear and plant the fruit trees which Chai was getting for me. Saat and I shook hands on both. I paid him for clearing the front of the land.

I took the boat back to Laem Kruat. The boatman was Saat’s uncle.

I met ‘A’ and Chia at ‘3 Mango Trees’ in Krabi, which although closed, the owner opened specially for us.

I gave ‘A’ some money for the extra boat engine fitting costs. I showed him the bathroom drawing.

They dropped me at the airport and I headed back to Sydney via Suvarnabhumi.

Siam Sea Change – Part II

PART II

4    Conceptualising the House

I got back into the swing of work in Sydney and elsewhere. Koh Pu and the dreamy tropical beach would stay in my head.

I bought some graph paper and started sketching out an idea for a house. Basically 2 rooms with a balcony facing the beach, all high on stilts. One room for eating and sleeping taking 2/3rds of the living space, the other a bathroom, toilet and clothes washing area. Because Koh Pu already has bungalows, there is no need for a big house with many bedrooms. Really all I wanted was a kitchen, bathroom and area to sleep the immediate group.

The walls only needed to be one thickness. There would be no need for double brick in the tropics. The houses on Koh Pu have no air-conditioning, because there is a sea breeze, and power is sourced from generators or solar cells. At the time of writing, they had no no refrigeration. Instead, they had ice boxes to keep the drinks cool, and to store food for a day or so. Water is sourced from the rivers, the mountain or wells. There is no fresh milk. The newspapers are always yesterday’s.

At first I thought of an inexpensive tin roof with a straight pitch, like a simple Australian country cottage. The walls would be wood – maybe weatherboard style and the floors timber also. I imagined the windows to be aluminium louvers. The roof would have gutters to collect rainwater, and solar cells to generate a little power, perhaps even enough to have a small water heater in the shower. The house would be on stilts set back from the beach.

I had a few conversations with my Thai friend Will. He suggested a ceramic roof would be better – cooler and much more attractive. He also suggested an Ayutthaya style Thai roof.  I had seen these roofs at a visit to Ayutthaya a few years earlier and they can be seen in Bangkok at the Jim Thompson house near the National Stadium, and at Muang Boran on Bangkok’s outskirts.

I started looking in Thai architecture web sites. Those small unglazed Thai ceramic tiles, develop a unique look with age. They become black and green and start to look very beautiful against the tropical jungle. This style of architecture has evolved over time and is well suited to the heat and rain of the tropics. The western style of windows filled with glass would be too stifling.

I wired the first payment to Nan, telling him I hoped to be back in Krabi in about 6 months time to hopefully start building.

I sent Nan a first drawing of the house. Very basic. It required 12 x 5 metre upright wooden posts. I asked him to see if he could obtain these and have them delivered. He ended up getting 16 delivered, which turned out to be the number required as the design became a little grander.

Like all of my Thai friends in Krabi, at the time of writing, Nan had no e-mail address, so getting information to him was slow.

During the time I was in Sydney, the Thai parliament dissolved and a general election was held. This snap election became a political crisis. Although the Government had support in rural areas, the people in Bangkok were out on the streets protesting. The claim was that the Thai Rak Thai political party headed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had called a snap election for their own political benefit. Banners saying “Thaksin Out” were seen on Thai TV every night. Not enough time was given for the country to prepare for the poll. There was a large mass of people protesting in a public park in the centre of Bangkok. There were all sorts of scandalous allegations made against the Government and the PM. The election came and went, but was later declared by the Courts, after a meeting between the King and the Judges of the three highest Courts, to be undemocratic and unconstitutional. A new election would not take place for a number of months – political gridlock – meanwhile no effective government. This all meant that any progress on land title upgrading on Koh Pu would be stalled. I decided that since this was a matter beyond Nan’s control, that I would release the second 3rd of the purchase price to him. I wired him the money and sent him a document reflecting this variation to the first contract, but he failed to receive it at his Krabi post office box twice. I realised that the only sure way of getting documents to Nan (or anyone in Krabi province really) was by taking them there myself.

I made a clearer drawing and asked Will to add Thai translations to it, so I could explain what I wanted.  Although this drawing evolved considerably, and further modifications were made during construction, the basic house design can still be seen in it.

I had lunch with my stepfather, Max, in North Sydney a week before heading back to Thailand. He is a retired structural engineer. I showed him my sketches and asked him about foundations and footings. He asked about the soil base. I said it was sand and clay. He asked if the soil held or fell in if a perpendicular cut was made. I remembered the well on the land which holds water with no wall. He felt that this was a good base for foundations, but neither of us really took into account the wet season and the amount of rain which falls on Koh Pu.

I came back to Krabi about six months after my first visit. I came down from Bangkok. Before heading down, I paid a visit to Muang Boran south of Bangkok. Muang Boran, or ‘Ancient City’ is a site dedicated to the architectural styles of regional Thailand. It is laid out on a large piece of land resembling the shape of Thailand. It contains replicas or copies of buildings built in the style of the different regions of the country. Sort of like a Thai architectural Disneyworld. I was keen to find out if the Andaman coast had a particular style like that of Sukhothai or Ayutthaya. I was also interested to see how the traditional high ceramic roof was built. There was not a lot to see at Muang Boran specific to Krabi or Phuket, but there are plenty of beautiful buildings. They were constructing an old house in the traditional method. Under this method, old houses have cut post and rail timber joints rather than modern bolts and rails. It gave me plenty of ideas. A pile of small unglazed ceramic tiles were sitting ready to be used for the roof. I took two to show Nan. Muang Boran is really worth the snarl through the Bangkok traffic to visit the place.

The evening before heading to Krabi some friends had a big dinner. One of them whose family has a resort on Koh Lanta warned me that it was all shut for the rainy season or ‘green’ season as they call it. That night I looked at the world weather on cable TV – black monsoon clouds were heading from India towards the Siam Peninsula.

Nan met me a Krabi airport. We went to his house by the Krabi river at Sai Thai, Laem Pho. It is a beautiful old place, made from large slabs of wood, with direct river frontage, but (at that time) with no running water. He suggested I take a shower before dinner. This meant throwing buckets of cold water over oneself. This basic method of washing oneself works in the tropics, although hot running water is one Western sophistication that I feel really makes a difference.

I told him I wanted a simple house with a Thai style ceramic roof. I showed him the tiles from Muang Boran.

He suggested we would need to buy a generator in order for tradesmen to use power tools. He said the guys from the village would construct the house. He also thought we should buy some timber and perhaps pre-fabricated concrete footings the following day.

But first there was a concert with a live reggae band at Gecko Bar at Railay East. This was the same band which had performed at the big party on my last night six months before. He said I should come with him and we could look at some private houses at Railay West the next morning. The concert was great. The next day we looked at the private houses. There was one which was quite similar to what I had in mind.

While I was there I changed the drawing somewhat. Since the roof was going to be a big construction exercise, I thought the building it covered ought to be a little larger.

That afternoon we went to the timber yard. Of course, without a builder, I had no idea how much timber of what dimensions to buy. This approach may seem to be unprepared. But actually I have found the approach the Krabi people who have spoken with me about the house to be generally pretty practical. Where we have taken it slowly as it has evolved, we have reduced mis-communication and u-turns along the way. Nan did not know what I wanted to build before I arrived back for the second visit, because I myself didn’t know. The idea was not settled. If I just wanted a bungalow shack, the village guys would have been up to the construction task. The village houses on Koh Pu are all built by the local tradesmen. As it became apparent, that I wanted a building with a particular design, it became clear that a specialist carpenter was needed. It was also clear that a draftsman’s drawing would be necessary.

Having been inspired by the house under construction at Muang Boran, the plan for the Koh Pu house was now based on a square 9 metres on each side, with footings and stilts every three metres. From my memory, I drew the frame which formed the basis for the house at Muang Boran.

The timber yard showed me some kit homes. These seemed attractive from the point of view of not needing to be specific about every detail in a foreign country, where the language is an issue.  The price for these kit homes was reasonable. But they were just not attractive architecturally. Also they seemed small and pokey. After a few phone calls we were driving to see a draftsman, who could turn my rough sketches into a multi dimension set of drawings which a builder could then consider and provide a quote on.

My drawings were taken to the draftsman with much explanation.

In my anxiety to make some progress, I was keen to buy concrete footings and the timber for the joists and bearers for the floor. The draftsman said the drawing would take a week. But he gave us the dimensions and numbers of timber to start with the foundations.

There was another party at Railay the next night with the same live band. This time Karin and SiRaDa came, and Nan finally signed the document evidencing the second payment made three months earlier in Karin’s presence.

The next day we headed to Koh Pu after picking up a generator, some petrol, ordering the timber and 20 concrete footings which were to be delivered to the island the following day. We also brought a lot of alcohol and a group of 5 of us set off to Koh Pu drinking on the wooden ferry across from Laem Kruat pier.

When we arrived at Koh Pu village pier, I saw Stefan, with his wife and Thai friends, including Nit. He was unloading bags of rice, crates of beer and frangipani trees for planting.

The road across the island was very boggy after the rain. The bridge just before the beach had been washed away. The bungalows were all closed except Ann and Nut’s ‘Luboa Hut’. Bonhomie had closed the week before.  There was one bungalow with a coconut leaf roof which could keep the occupant dry, which I took. The guys slept at the main restaurant hut. “Luboa” means many water channels coming from the mountain, which is the Thai name for the beach at Koh Pu, which is known as Luboa Bay.

We all got together and laughed and drank that night as the rain fell.

6    Building Materials

I hadn’t actually thought how the timber would be delivered.  The next day we went to the land to figure out where to erect the building. The land being about 20 metres wide, we found the site and marked out 10 metres by 10 metres. The land was very wet and soft underfoot. I was concerned about foundations holding in such a wet soil base.

It was to be about 50 metres back from the beach. After the Tsunami, Thai law now requires that no habitable building be erected within 20 metres from the beach.

We took the generator and tools to a small fisherman’s hut on land next to mine. This is the home of Bao and Kwan.

I saw that Nan’s timber uprights had arrived. All 5 metres long square dressed timber. They were starting to warp in the sun and damp heat. They would need to be stored above the ground and covered.

After lunch I was taking a nap. I woke to see the guys out in the sea. I went to see what was going on. The timber, ordered the previous day, had been off-loaded by boat at the beach, and was being dragged up onto the beach. It was a strange site, but, because of the weight of the hardwood, the most practical solution.  We started to take the timber up to stack it next to the fisherman’s hut. It was very heavy. The larger joists needed 2 people to carry them.

I noticed that the concrete footings had also been delivered. Nan told me that they needed to be carried across the island in two trips, otherwise they would have sunk the boat.

Nan asked if I wanted the building site graded by a bulldozer. I said ‘yes’ absolutely. The site was slightly sloping from left to right and front to back. It would be far better if it was cut and filled to make it flat. He said that the local guys clearing land for planting rubber trees would bring their bulldozer over if the rain stayed away for a day or so.

I discussed my preliminary plans with Stefan. He thought they were good. He liked the ceramic roof. He said he had a whole lot of ceramic tiles delivered to the beach, but they had been taken by the Tsunami. He showed me his plans, which Joe – who had studied construction in Bangkok, and who has a bar on the beach, and some land on Coconut Beach nearby – had drawn. Joe was to become a major player in the house building project. Joe and his wife Olay would end up living next door and become essential to Piman Pu. Stephan’s house design was, in his own words pirate-Lannai style. A very beautiful two story house with a high and elaborate, multi-tiered roof.

Stefan showed me his new 23 rib longtail. It was having its timbers caulked for sealing it against leaks. A beautiful boat. It started to occur to me that I would need a boat to bring building materials to the beach and get around.

It was now clear that we needed a skilled builder. Nan said he would make contact with carpenters he knew from Nakhon Si Thammarat.

That night Yim, the owner of the land on the left of mine (and about 200 rai on Koh Pu elsewhere) and Kwan’s father joined us for dinner.

The local government official was also at dinner that night. I discussed the preliminary plan for the house with him. He reinforced the 20 metre from the high water mark law.

The next day Nan needed to get back to Krabi. He had to organise plane tickets for him, Karin and SiRaDa who were going to Zurich for 2 months the following week. On the way back through Koh Pu village to the pier I rejected the idea of aluminium louvers for the house, in favour of wooden windows without glass, on aesthetic and practical grounds. The aluminium would clash against the timber and ceramic tiles.

Nan dropped me at a hotel in Krabi town. I went shopping buying some tools and basics and a large plastic container, so I could leave some clothes and stuff on Koh Pu. I also stacked up on alcohol for the return trip.

The next morning I woke up early. I had another idea for the house. It would be great to have a small place to sleep in the roof above the bathroom and toilet area.
Later that morning I climbed Wat Tamsuea. It is a sacred place, high on top of a steep mountain, allegedly having a footprint of the Buddha. The Thais have erected a large statue of the Buddha facing south over Krabi province high on the mountain.

It is a very steep climb – about 1,000 cement steps to the top, made more difficult, in my case, with a rain shower for the last ¼ of the climb. But the view from the top and the special sacred feeling of the place makes it well worth the sweat and puffing to reach the summit. And you have to spare a thought for the monks who built it.

I had arranged to meet Nan and Siam (or ‘A’, as he is known) at 11.30 that morning. I was a little late. The hotel staff had seen all the whisky and wine I had bought the previous day and had told Nan I would be in bed with a hangover. He was surprised to see me emerge out of a minivan from the Temple. We had lunch at ‘Muueng Saam Ton’ or ‘3 Mango Trees’ in Krabi – (on the upriver end of town) The best spicy southern Thai food in Krabi, known for its excellent Tom Yum Plah – with the draftsman present as well.

I said to Nan that I would really like to find old timber for the house in preference to new. He said there was none in Krabi, but it could be found in Phuket. A was going to Phuket that evening for a couple of days to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday. He offered to drive me. Nan said the drive was only 3 hours and I could meet the carpenter from Nakhon that evening in Phuket, as he was there doing a job. This was a good idea of Nan’s. Again local knowledge was helping me realise my dream. And this was where I got to know ‘A’, who is a man of few words, but has since become a firm friend. In the back of my mind was always the beautiful Jim Thompson house. Of course I had a budget and was also thinking of finding some second hand building materials from Tsunami fire sales.
We went to see how the drawings for the house were progressing.  The drawings were well advanced on the computer. The roof was very impressive 4 metres from the base to the apex of its pitch. I made some edits to a print-out and paid a 50% deposit. Siam said he would collect the completed drawings and bring them to Koh Pu the following week.

We arrived in Phuket at about 9.00 that evening. We talked along the way about our common love of old pieces. I said I really wanted an early original picture of the King to hang in the house. There are hard to find now.

When we got to Phuket, we met the builder over a spicy dinner. He took away the draft drawings. I explained that there were a few changes, most importantly the upstairs sleeping area in the roof.

I spent the evening reading a book on the Andaman Style. There are only a few classic timber buildings left in the southern provinces of Thailand. This is due to at least 3 factors: the severe tropical climate, and many termites; the lack of respect for architectural heritage meaning much plundering and re-use; and the fact that there were not too many substantial wooden buildings built in the first place due to the nomadic nature of the early inhabitants of the peninsula.  Many fisherman shacks are still constructed of bamboo walls and coconut leaf roofs.

The following day ‘A’ and I drove all over Phuket town looking for old timber. There were shops selling old toilets and washbasins from hotels taken by the tsunami, but nice old doors and windows were in scarce supply. It seemed that the good building materials from the Tsunami had already been snapped up.

I bought some plastic to cover the timber already on site at Koh Pu from the rain, and some more tools.

We had lunch with his girlfriend. I was starting to think we would find nothing. Then I saw a second hand shop called “Spirit of Siam”. We pulled over and they had almost everything I needed.  I got 4 wooden windows for downstairs, one for up in the roof and one for each of the toilet and the bathroom. I found a wooden louvered door for the toilet and a beautiful old light which ended up in the main bedroom. I measured and photographed the purchases and paid 2/3rds of the price. We drove around asking if there was a shop selling solar cells, but we couldn’t find it. It turned out there is a solar/ photo-voltaic supplier based in Hua Hin.

I took the bus back to Krabi and ‘A’ stayed to celebrate. At 6.00pm the national anthem played (as it does every night). All the Thais stood to attention many in yellow shirts in support of the King.

7    A 23 Rib Longtail

I was very happy with the building materials we had found in Phuket. I had dinner with Nan that night in Krabi. Nan said that he wanted to show me a longtail which the owner of Gecko Bar was selling. It was new, never used, but needed an engine. He said I should buy it – the price was good. This was an example of a situation where I could see the need for a purchase down the track, which was brought forward because a good deal was to be had.

The next morning we took a speedboat over to Railay, and I looked at the boat. It was beautiful and in good condition stored under a tin roof. Nan showed me a tree in the bay where the longtail had been picked up and deposited by the Tsunami. It had sat in that tree for several months. We laughed. Of course I needed a boat eventually. So I gave him 50% of the price for him to give to the owner in Bangkok a few days later. The boat was being sold by his landlord. I hadn’t figured out how to store or maintain the boat. We took the speedboat from Railay to Koh Pu – a journey of about 22 miles and an hour with the sea being a little rough.

When we reached Koh Pu, we re-stacked the big upright timbers on the concrete footings – so the rain could wash beneath them. I asked if the bulldozer would be ready to grade the site, and he said it would be tomorrow (provided there was no rain).

The next morning Nan and his friends returned to Krabi, and in his case, to Zurich via Bangkok.

I went to ask the farmers if they were ready to grade my land. The bulldozer required a replacement as one of the massive moving steel parts connecting the blade to the tractor had broken and a new part needed to come from Krabi. They said tomorrow at 9.00am (provided there was no rain).

Miraculously there was no rain the next day. At about 10.00 still no bulldozer. I asked Joe to come with me to talk to them. They were happy to bring the bulldozer over, but it was bogged in the river bed. The ground was too soft to get is out. We cut up a lot of trees to put beneath the tank like treads. I asked Joe to take me up the mountain the next day if it stayed dry. After an hour I left them to get some lunch and have a swim. The best time to swim is high tide, and it was high tide.

An hour or so later I heard the roar of the bulldozer coming from up the beach. I went to see. Unfortunately just as I got there an old coconut palm was falling under the blade of the bulldozer. I gesticulated that I wanted the trees pruned and not destroyed. There are three old cashew nut trees surrounding the building site. I wanted to keep them. I asked Sak – who has land on the side of the mountain – to prune the trees. Then the bulldozer was free to grade the site and the right of way as well.

I was happy to have got the land graded especially during wet season. The site was now ready for foundations. The foundations would not be started until my next visit, but this gave the building site land time to settle.

A’ was due to come down the day after next with the carpenter and the final drawings.

Next day Joe, Olay Bao and I climbed the mountain. We took a full frontal assault, which got us to the top in a sweaty and exhausted state in three hours. It was a beautiful day, and I could easily make out the land and the beach below.  The views from the top are well worth the climb. The view south over the Koh Jum side of the island and on to Koh Lanta is breathtaking.  Joe says it is the third highest peak in Krabi province. It was a 2 hour descent. I hadn’t prepared for trekking and had left my running shoes in Krabi, so I went up and back in $1 plastic flipflops. This is not recommended!

The next afternoon ‘A’ arrived with the carpenter. We discussed the final drawing now with
upper storey sleeping area. But the builder was reluctant to give me a price, even a ball-park figure.

The drawings are very clear and the building contemplated, if it could be built, it would be beautiful. The roof-line drawn was elegant and traditionally Thai. The centre of the roof had shifted to have the pitch above the centre of the main room which was an improvement over my sketches, as it would give greater height and air. The interior space was ample, but not vast. The house can be opened to allow breeze and closed to protect against wind and rain. The house was elevated to afford some protection against future Tsunami and take maximum advantage of the sea view and sea breezes. The floor plan was simple. The main room being a square of 6 metres by 6 metres. The building would take advantage of the site. It is elevated but not steeply so. The views to the mountain and the sea, once completed, should be stunning and unique – even for Koh Pu.

It was also apparent that the pre-fabricated footings were not going to be strong enough. So that was the first u-turn. But not a big deal. I wanted to build a raised wooden platform (Sala) at the beach, and asked Joe to make a drawing using these existing footings. Also Ann and Nut would buy 6 from me for a new bungalow. The pre-fab footings could be used somewhere later.

The drawings required some very tall timber uprights to support the roof pitch – 8 metres tall. I asked Sak to try if these could be sourced from natural timber from the island. The local farmers in land behind the beach were clearing the land to plant rubber trees. There was some timber to spare. Sak said he would try to find what I needed. I especially wanted the central upright in the middle of the main room to be natural timber as a feature.

Back in Krabi with ‘A’ over another excellent spicey meal at Mueng Sam Ton, I suggested that on my return in 2 weeks we should go to Nakhon to look for old timber and an engine for the longtail.

But first we needed the builder to identify how many pieces of each dimension of timber we needed and hopefully an estimate of cost.

It poured with monsoon rain the day I left Krabi. I sat on the roof of the Krabi River Hotel overlooking the swollen river, and considered the progress to this point. At least now we had a clear design for the house.  The design had been discussed at length with Nan, Joe, ‘A’ and others.  I was thrilled with the design and the drawings, and so were my neighbours on the beach. The house site had been selected and graded, and was ready for foundations. But I had no real idea of cost, nor availability of second-hand timber, nor did I know what actual numbers in what dimensions of timber were required. I wasn’t too sure how keen the builder from Nakhon was to do the job or how much he would cost. I wasn’t too clear if we found timber, where it would be stored.  I wasn’t sure how to maintain the longtail, or who would drive it, or what type of engine would be best suited. Also, I was still unsure as to how quickly Will’s name could be recorded on the title. I was going to need to rely on Nan when he got back from Switzerland to run things. For the first time, I had a little burst of anxiety over the whole project.

8    Old Timber

Nan had said there were two old houses in Nakhon the owners of which were wishing to sell the timber.

While I was away, I had studied the drawings and tried to work out the numbers and dimensions of the floor timbers at any rate. This was really beyond me.

This study was a bit academic for the practical search about to be undertaken.

I flew into Bangkok from Delhi on a ‘red eye’. I arranged to meet David, the supplier of Solar Cells at the Conrad on Wireless Road.

The solar cell supplier I dealt with is in Hua Hin, about 3 hours drive South-West of Bangkok on the gulf coast. I was told I could supply enough power for fans, a water pump, a TV, a stereo, a 20 litre bar-fridge, and maybe even an instantaneous hot water system for the shower (if I got a couple of extra batteries) with their smallest domestic system. David said he would arrange for an electrician to come and wire up the house with lights and points as well. The system could be mounted on the balcony roof facing South.

The next morning I got up early to take the flight to Krabi.

‘A’ met me at the airport and we headed to Laem Pho (Nan’s house) for lunch. That afternoon Joy, ‘A’ I headed to Nakhon, about 3 hours drive. Joy is from just south of Nakhon. I said that apart from looking for old timber and a long-tail engine, I really wanted to see the Wat Phra Maha That Worawihan. ‘A’ didn’t know that it is the oldest Buddhist temple in all of Thailand. It is Sri-Lankan in style.

I had given more thought to my desire for second hand timber. What I really wanted was character in the house. To achieve this I really wanted old timber in the floors, doors and windows. If I could find timer for the walls and roof supports, that would be a bonus. Also if I could find a few pieces with age and character, that would be better still.

I also wanted the timber upright (at least in the centre of the house) to be a natural tree trunk.

We approached Nakhon and drove north to Tha Sala, about 40 kilometres in the direction of Khanom (where at Don Sak, you can take a short boat-ride to Koh Samui). We went off the main road and down some dirt track, asking local people along the way.   Then this big old timber house appeared. It was big, but was it big enough? I got a measuring tape and figured out that it would probably be enough timber for the house and possibly the upstairs as well. The floor areas were spanning 3 metres like my drawings required. There were also some good timbers which may be strong enough to support the roof. The floor was in good condition. The walls were weatherboard. The windows in the house were small, but nice old style and there were plenty of them. As I’d already found some nice bigger ones from Phuket, these would be perfect extras, for up in the roof, for instance. Unfortunately, the roof was concrete tile – not attractive. As it turned out, when the house got dismantled the most of the roof was too old to ship, the rest ended up being Joe’s roof (when he built on Nan’s land).

The owner was doing some business in Surat Thani, so I couldn’t meet her. I asked ‘A’ if she could meet us that night in town. He said we would have to go back to the house to meet her if she returned before I was due to fly out. He said old timber houses were getting much harder to find because entrepreneurs from Bangkok were always on the hunt for old timber and because local provincial Thai people also were starting to value old wood for themselves.   It seemed there was a strong demand for building materials.

There was another small house selling timber also at Tha Sala. We took a look, but the timber was too short. But in the house, and covered in dust, A found an early framed picture of the current King, at a very young age, in boy scout uniform. This would have been personally given by him to a boy scout leader maybe 40 or 50 years ago. The owner sold the picture to me for a very cheap price and gave us 2 durian and a bunch of mangosteens. This was very good luck. The fact that the King had touched the picture, and the fact that it was original made it a very special piece, although small in size. I would leave it at Laem Pho until the house was ready for it.

That night we went to Joy’s family for some excellent home cooked southern Thai style spicy food at their home near Lan Saka. But before dinner I had a swim in a dam at Ban So where the mountain looks like a Monk lying down. There were half a dozen kids jumping into the water. They thought I was a bit strange joining them.

At dinner there was much talk about the big house at Tha Sala. Joy’s brother mentioned that another house with good wood was being sold not too far away, but another person was due to come and look at it tomorrow as well.

I got up early the next morning. If I was to buy the house from Tha Sala, I would need a contract where I would pay a substantial deposit and dismantle the timber for shipping to Koh Pu a couple of months later. I went to an internet café and drew up a simple contract with blanks for completion.

I met ‘A’ and Joy for breakfast, asked ‘A’ to translate the “Sale of House” agreement into Thai and made a number of photocopies. We then went to inspect this second house not far from Lan Saka. This house was smaller and not quite so old as the Tha Sala house. The span of timber was 2.8 metres. But the timber was good. It had some windows which were ok, but the glass above the opening sections was not so beautiful, and the windows themselves not so old. The walls were weatherboard like the big house, but less tall. The roof was concrete sheets.

This second house would satisfy all timber requirements (provided we could also get the Tha Sala house), if the proposed front balcony were shortened by 200 centimetres.

We sat down with the vendor of the house and completed the contract I had written that morning, signed it, paid the deposit and the house was sold.

Next was to find an engine for the long-tail boat. These are not easy to buy in Krabi. As it is a much larger city of about 2 million people, Nakhon has a much wider selection. I was looking for a powerful engine, but not too heavy. I didn’t share the Thai love of a noisy motor. I had debated whether or not the engine should be fitted internally or mounted externally. While not too fond of the prospect of a huge firing outboard between my legs on the 50 minute crossing to Koh Pu, it occurred to me that it would be very much more difficult to get the boat above the high water mark for safe keeping on the island, if it had the extra weight of an internal engine. So my thinking was towards an external engine and got a 2800 turbo charged Isuzu, a couple of years old. This could be collected at the same time as the timber.

After a delicious lunch we headed for the temple. Having seen many temples in South East Asia, I can say that the Wat Phra Maha That Worawihan is a most sacred and beautiful place to visit.

When I was there, although it was pretty crowded, the chanting by the monks added a special feeling of tranquillity and holiness to the site. I regret to say that it is not entirely true (as Nan had told me) that the Chedi casts no shadow, but I guess the spire on the top casts almost none. The base is rather wide, and – yes, there is a small shadow.

stupa

Beside the Chedi is a very ancient shrine, with huge pieces of painted timber and a stunning roof. The museum next to the shrine is well worth visiting – having many beautiful pieces unique to the Siam Peninsula, including some stunning ancient buddhas, some lovely china, and some rather wonderful early coconut scrapers, which took my interest.

A received a call to say that the owner of the Tha Sala house was due back later in the afternoon. So we would drive back and see her.

Before that, Joy wanted to show me another Wat. This one was not well known, and in need of some care. A went off to find a toilet and came back quite very excited, saying he had spotted some beautiful doors. A total of 6 doors, with beautiful hand cut panels. But this was a temple, not a shop.  The doors were just what I needed for the front of the house. We’d been looking for such doors in Phuket. I asked ‘A’ to ask the head monk if we could have them in return for a donation to the Wat. A was not entirely comfortable with this. The monks command respect. Nevertheless the monk agreed and I gave him some cash. We drew a simple sketch of the doors and the monk signed it. We now had doors for the house and a great story, if people ever admired them, as to where they came from.

We returned to Tha Sala. The vendor of the large house didn’t write much more than her name. When ‘A’ explained the sale contract to her, she was a little intimidated. She came round, and we signed a deal just like with the smaller house that morning.

contract for big timber house at Tha Sala

Joy looked around the house. He found a small pendant of King Chulalongkorn. It meant good luck. He gave it to me, as a token of respect.

We had achieved everything and more with the trip to Nakhon. The next morning I adjusted the drawings by hand to accommodate the smaller balcony, the addition of the solar cells, and the fabulous doors from the monastery. I made a couple of copies for ‘A’ and for him to show to Kaweewat, the builder.

We drove back at high speed to Krabi so I could get the flight back to Sydney.

9    The Longtail Agreement

Chan was heading to Bangkok from Sydney the following week. In Don Muang airport, I withdrew the balance due for the long-tail boat, and drafted the agreement transferring ownership. Chan agreed to take the balance in cash with him from Sydney together with a contract signed by me to be signed by the Kasem, the vendor transferring ownership to me. He would meet the Kasem in Bangkok the following week and conclude the deal. I would need a signed contract, if I were to get the boat registered.By the following week the title to the boat had transferred and I had a contract clearly stating so, in both languages.

"Piman Pu" - day 1 - just jungle

SIAM SEA CHANGE

PART I © Andrew Truswell

1    Google Earth – January 2006

I start to write this book sitting on the beach at Koh Pu in the rainy season. I’ve decided to build a house on the beach in Thailand. I don’t speak any Thai, and I have no experience as a builder. I am a British/Australian citizen, and can never live in Thailand permanently. I can never own land outright as a foreigner. I make the decision to build in Thailand knowing these things.

I want to write this experience down, because I can already see that it is going to show me things I’ve never seen before.

So how did I come to be sitting here on the beach in the sun, looking out over the Andaman Sea to Phi Phi island?

I have been coming to Thailand at least every year since about 1990. I have grown to love the country, the people, the food and the beauty of the coast and islands in particular.

This is the place where I have felt most able to relax. This really hit me when I turned 40 on Koh Samet, one night after dinner sitting by the sea on a warm evening. Sitting under the stars in the warm evening breeze and hearing the gentle lapping of the sea after a great spicy Thai meal is certainly a combination of sensory pleasure conducive to relaxation.

My work allows me to travel. Which is great, but most of the time that travel is to big cities. The travel is still fun, but it is rarely relaxing. I am less interested in cities the more I see them. If you live in one city – the experience is much like another city.

The pace of life in cities is faster and the people are harder and (possibly) less trustworthy, as the community is more fragmented. In towns it is less so. In tourist areas, with their cafes, pirate DVD shops, tour touters and nightlife, it isn’t necessarily better. In the quiet ‘hard to reach’ places, life is still special. The trade-off is less modernity, less access to technology, thereby less access to information. But life in these quiet places can be wonderful and is often less generic with less mass-produced materialism and consumerism. The food and water are fresh. The air is clean. The pace of life is forced to be slow. So, the people are relaxed. The places I’m talking about are like Koh Pu, which is not really on the map. It is marked on the Krabi tourist maps, but is so far, not a destination. Although, developments such as power were coming to the island. When I started writing the story, there was no mains power and no internet connection.

An idea started to grow in my head, that it would be great to see if it was possible to still find a quiet unspoilt place to come and relax. Ever since I was a student I dreamed of building my own house. My dream always involved my own design. There’s something magical about a house on the beach. My grand-parents had built a beach house where I spent holidays as a  child. I had later taken a ¼ share in a beach house in Australia, but had a falling out with one of the co-owners. The beach house has a special place in my dream space.

If I hadn’t studied Law, I would have studied Architecture.  I am interested in the way human beings relate to the space they inhabit and how that is realised differently in different parts of the world and in different climates and often as a result of those different climates. For example, most buildings in Sydney or San Francisco are solid brick or timber to insulate against a winter albeit a mild one. On the Andaman coast, houses have walls of single thickness of bamboo grass or wood (more recently concrete – regrettably due to the high cost of timber), they often have only cold water often from tanks or cisterns and often not piped, and often where electricity is obtained from generators or solar power, and no glass in the windows so as to maximise air flow.

So – life is short – why not give my dream a shot?

This is where Google Earth comes in.

It is not completely by chance that I ended up on Koh Pu. My search started with an Atlas of Thailand bought in Bangkok. I was looking for beautiful unspoilt beach-front land that was accessible within reasonable distance from an airport. The land had to be absolutely on the beach, had to be affordable, and had to be quiet and unspoilt, with a good prospect of remaining so. It had to be accessible from a regional airport all year round, without too much driving and sea crossing.

I looked at the islands on the Cambodian side of the Gulf Coast first, but these seemed to be quite developed already or too remote. I looked at Hua Hin, but although close to Bangkok, I was told was not so good for swimming year round. I looked at Ranong – but it didn’t seem to have too many beaches, and I looked at the area around Surat Thani including further north in Chumpon province.  Chumpon is very beautiful, but is not currently served by a commercial airport. I considered Phuket, but it is too busy, with its Go Go bars and 5 star palaces. Then I thought about Krabi province.

I bought the lonely planet book on Thailand’s beaches. There was some information about Railay, Ao Thalen, Ao Nang, and Koh Lanta. Koh Pu had a very brief reference. It said Koh Pu was a very quiet spot with a few bungalows, where you may want to stop for a night on the way to Koh Lanta, but facilities were basic and it closed down during rainy season. It was suggesting that Koh Pu was a little ‘too’ quiet. The internet had some websites for some bungalow resorts. Sounded interesting to me.

I then looked on Google Earth. As if in a low flying plane I searched from my Sydney apartment. I could see the airport and the town. I could see Railay and Ao Nang. I could see Koh Lanta. And between Krabi and Koh Lanta, there was Koh Pu. It looked like a great spot, I could see the mountain Toh Seh Phu Kaow. It was not too far from Krabi airport. It had a good long beach facing to the Andaman Sea. It was close to Phi Phi. It looked pretty much undeveloped. Google Earth is so sharp that you can see the roads and buildings, and there were none to speak of on Koh Pu.

I printed the maps of Koh Pu from Google Earth to take to Thailand. I also looked up some basic first questions about Thai land law. The different types of title, and the way land is described in ‘rai’ – the basic unit of measurement, being 1,600m2.

So I bought a plane ticket to Krabi. I was in Malaysia for work. I though I would give myself ten days to try to find some land, possibly on the beach on Koh Pu.

2    Nan

I flew into Krabi from Singapore about one year after the devastating Boxing Day Tsunami. It was a tourist flight in January – the high season. I could see construction was well underway for a new Krabi international terminal. At that time the old terminal building was the only one in use. So, despite the Tsunami, construction and development in Krabi province was still continuing.

I had booked myself into a small bungalow resort on Railay West. Railay West has the sandy beach and the sunsets. I took a longtail from the Laem Pho pier. I was amazed by the beauty of the limestone bluffs spectaculary thrusting from the water on the short ride to Railay.  Railay is on the mainland, but because of its impressive topography, is only accessible by boat.

Railay Beach West

The previous year I had visited Vietnam. If it were possible to buy land in Vietnam I would have been interested, but it seemed that the Vietnamese government throws up more roadblocks than the Thai administration, but more of that later. In my trip to Vietnam I had spent a night on a junk cruising around Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is very beautiful, but after the end of my first fleeting visit, I felt that Krabi province surpasses even the beauty of Ha Long. There are three places in the world where tropical water meets limestone bluffs or karsts as they are known in Thailand. One is in China, one is Ha Long in Vietnam, and the third is Krabi province. The last of these is different to Ha Long in that the karsts are scattered less regularly and interspersed with mangroves, jungle covered mountains, coral reefs, river estuaries and sandy beaches.

In the previous year I had also visited Pattaya. I had been told that Pattaya was once very beautiful. If that is true, it is sad to see it now. So many buildings with no aesthetic appeal, so much concrete, dirty sand, go-go bars, trashy tourist shops crammed together, noise and grime.

Krabi is blessed with natural beauty. The islands dotting the sea are spectacular above land and in the coral reefs below.  The islands a mere 20 minutes from Ao Nang (Ko Poda and Ko More) give a very accessible and fast impression of the beauty of this province. There is a famous spit of sand connecting two islands in this group which is particularly beautiful – it is in every post card shop – called ‘miracle beach’.

Ao Maya at Koh Phi Phi Le (where the Leonardo di Caprio movie “The Beach” was filmed) is stunning despite the numbers of visitors it receives each day. But there are many islands much quieter and with their own charm, and many long-tail boatmen who would he happy to show you.

I only hope that the onslaught of tourism and the pace of construction does not destroy the fragile balance that is still evident in many parts of Krabi province.

I was dropped from the longtail at Railay East. I figured out that I had to cross the narrow isthmus to reach Railay West. It was faster to cross this narrow strip of sand on foot than for the boat to come around the headland. Lumbering a large backpack (the Thais would never carry half the stuff westerners consider essential), I found the resort half way up the beach. It was very hot in the mid-day sun. I felt like a dip in the sea. My bungalow wasn’t ready, so I sat for half an hour waiting. When I finally got settled and looked around, I found the place to be quite crowded with tourists from all over the world – Europe – Asia – America. The bungalows were packed a little too close for my liking. I got to the beach. It was as beautiful as the guidebook had described. Vast natural cliffs at each end of the beach. Islands visible offshore. The longtail boats parked on the sand with coloured cloth on their timber prows, the beautiful green-turquoise water.

As afternoon grew towards evening, the Thais working on the beach got together for a game of soccer. I watched them. They seemed pretty serious in their game.

After dinner, I walked back to Railay East. As the guidebook had explained, this is where the bars are. I went to the first bar that seemed to have a good atmosphere. The guys were starting a fire for a barbeque. The bar was also a cliff climbing business. I asked one of the guys if he knew anyone selling land. I was told to ask for Nan at the ‘Gecko Bar’ at the far end of the beach.

I found the Gecko Bar, a Bob Marley reggae bar. The music was playing, but no Nan.

I had a drink somewhere else, and came back an hour or so later. I met Nan. He had long dreadlocks and a beard. He was wearing a big loose rasta shirt. His English was pretty good and he was friendly.

He said he had some land for sale on the beach on Koh Pu. He showed me where his land was on the map I had brought from Google Earth. It was at the far end of the beach facing south-west. The part of the island closest to Krabi, and furthest from Koh Lanta. I was interested. He said the land was about 7-8 rai, with 40 metre beachfront. The land was about 460 metres deep, so long and relatively thin.

He said there was enough land for a resort with bungalows. I said I was only looking for land to build a beach house and that I really didn’t want that much land. We started talking about sub-dividing. There was no way he would have sold me the land at the front and retained the back. But he said he would consider splitting the land in half down the middle, so each piece would end up with 20 metre beachfront, but still run the full 460 metre length.

It was a very good first conversation. The land was coincidentally exactly where I had been surfing on Google Earth a month or so earlier.  It was about the right size, although I really only needed one or two rai, but it was relatively affordable. I told Nan that I had appointments with Real Estate agents on Ao Nang in 2 days time. We agreed to take a speedboat to Koh Pu the following day.

That morning I took a longtail to the closest islands off shore. The colour of the water, and the views back to the Railay peninsula captivated me.

On the way across to Koh Pu Nan told me why he was selling. He had suffered financially after the drop in tourist numbers in the year following the Tsunami. The Tsunami had brought death and destruction to Thailand and other parts of South-East Asia, especially Ache in Indonesia, but this had been made worse by the fall in tourism. Tourists had abandoned places like Railay and Koh Phi Phi in favour of the ‘safety’ of Koh Samui and Koh Samet on the gulf side of Thailand. As a result, small business owners like Nan had suffered in a huge drop in their revenues. In Nan’s case, his landlord had not reduced the rent, so Nan had ‘gone into the red’ in a pretty big way through no fault of his own. It struck me that he didn’t really want to sell his land. Sub-dividing it would allow him to keep a toe hold on Koh Pu and also clear his debts.

Nan told me he was originally from Nakhon Si Thammarat, where the stupa from the great Wat Mahathat (later copied in Sukhothai, Si Satchanalai and Ayutthaya) casts no shadow.

The speedboat came right into the beach. The beach was beautiful with golden sand and a few black rocks. The tide was high. Towering above the beach to the right was the mountain. Big and green and conical in shape. On the beach a stream was emptying clear fresh rain water out to sea.

Nan pointed out where his land was. We worked out where the 40 metres started and stopped. There were a few markers on the land. It was pretty overgrown. We bashed through the jungle for about 20 minutes to reach the back of the block. It was good land slowly rising in height away from the beach, but not like the mountain side blocks further down the beach.

This north-western end of the beach was hit by the Tsunami, but less so than further down where the beach turns to face west. It had been protected somewhat by the headland.

After thoroughly looking over the land, we took bikes to the local Muslim fishing village, Baan Koh Pu. He chatted to some people. Everyone seemed to know him. We bought a lot of fish and squid to eat that night back at Railay.

The island has two names. This is due to the two fishing villages on the island. Koh Pu to the north, and the larger Koh Jum to the south, each with its pier and connected by a dirt road of about 7 kilometres.

I spoke with the manager of a small low key resort “Bonhomie” a hundred metres or so down the beach. I said I would like a bungalow for a few days 2 days later. I wanted to come back to Koh Pu to relax, whatever happened with Nan’s land.

I told him I was interested. He told me he had papers for the land, but the price was not negotiable. We got back on the speedboat to Railay, both of us were happy in our own thoughts.

3    Por Bor Tor Ha

Thoughts of that beautiful beach-front land filled my head the next morning.

I got a longtail boat to take me to Ao Nang. The next day I met the Real Estate agent, an American ex-pat, who said he had no beachfront land, but could show me some land at Ao Thalen with sea views, but it was smaller and more expensive. Ao Thalen is a quiet spot favoured by kayakers.

I told him about the land on Koh Pu. He said the price was good, but wondered if the title was registrable. The weakest form of registrable land is Sor Por Gor or Nor Sor Sam Gor, and the best is Chanote. I got worried.

Of course foreigners cannot own land in Thailand, only condominiums, and there are many horror stories of foreigners buying land in the name of Thai friends only to find their former friends disowning them and keeping the land for themselves.

I knew this, but didn’t want a condo in a place like Jomtien Beach in Pattaya. My dream was a house on land right on the beach. I have a Thai friend in Sydney, Will, born in Lampang, who had agreed to be the legal owner, sign a trust deed in my favour granting me beneficial ownership, and if the land title were upgraded a long term 30+30+30 registered lease.

The Real Estate agent confirmed that a lease could be registered (provided the title was registrable) for anything from 3 to 30 years. So in the case of a 30+30+30 lease you would need to re-register each renewal.

I called Nan whilst I was sitting at the Real Estate agent’s office. I asked him if the title was Nor Sor Sam Gor. He said ‘no’. It was Por Bor Tor Ha. I asked the Real Estate agent if this was OK. The Real Estate agent said it was not good title. It could not be registered. He warned that he generally advised foreigners not to deal in such weak title.

Nan came to meet me an hour or so later at Ao Nang to talk about the land title problem. He was worried he might lose the sale. He said there was no Nor Sor Sam Gor title on Koh Pu. The whole island was not developed and the title was still effectively village title, where the King had many years previously granted certain rights to the village chief to develop the land for growing food. This land has later been traded, but is not registered – so it is technically not able to be bought and sold.

I said I had to think about it some more. I started to get cold feet and worry that I might pay a large amount of money and lose it with no right to recover it back.

I really wanted the land, but was struggling to find a safe way through the technical legal issues.

Nan said that the title was in the process of being upgraded. He said he would talk with the local government official responsible for Koh Pu to see if we could meet up later that afternoon.

The next morning I visited another real estate agent in Krabi town. This agent was Thai and couldn’t speak any English, but his daughter translated for us in broken English. He had no land comparable to Nan’s land on Koh Pu. He had a piece of land on an island in Pang Nga province which was smaller and had a road running in front of the land between the land and the sea. This was also more expensive. I said I would contact him again if I wanted to see it. I didn’t want to be woken up by the sound of motor bikes buzzing past my house. The land at Koh Pu was so special, because it was so quiet. No road in front.

Later I met Nan at a coffee shop in Krabi town. The local government official joined us. He told me that the title would be upgraded at some point, perhaps within 12 months. We started drinking beer. We then went for a big seafood dinner by the Krabi river, where I met the Koh Pu village chief as well. ‘Pu’ is Thai for crab, so appropriately, we ate a lot of crab that night. Too much as it would turn out – for me at any rate.

The next morning I went to the market in Krabi town, bought a whole lot of fresh food and took the public ferry destined for Koh Lanta.  To get to Koh Pu, you inform the ferry hand to stop at Koh Pu – about 40 minutes by fast sea ferry from Krabi. You are met by longtail boats who take you in to the beach. It is a splendid way to arrive. Most of the backpackers keep going to Koh Lanta.

I started to feel unwell from the crab the night before. Pretty much as soon as I got to Koh Pu I started to get a fever. I went to sleep that afternoon under a mosquito net. I kept the bungalow windows (without glass) open, and was woken up when a monkey came in. We both scared each other. During my rest in the bungalow I started to think about how we could move forward.

Nan arrived the next day to talk some more. He brought fish from the Koh Pu village for a barbeque. I sat with him but ate nothing still feeling unwell.

I suggested we split his land in 2, so each piece had 20 metre beach front. We then stagger the purchase price payment.

He agreed to let me draw up a contract in English, but governed by local Thai law, where he gave me a 10 year lease and an option to purchase for an agreed price upon the title upgrade coming good. The option would be exercisable by my Thai friend in Sydney, Will, on my behalf. The option period would run for 12 months from the date of the title upgrade. Essentially the contract came down to good faith more than anything else. Neither of us would predict a military coup would put a stop to any title upgrade.

The next day the local village guys came to clear the land so as to allow the surveyor to survey the land for subdivision.

The following day the surveyor came with his theodolite from Krabi to draw up a survey. Nan left with the surveyor that afternoon, and I stayed another day to enjoy the peace and beauty of the beach. A Thai guy living on the beach offered to take me on his boat back to Krabi the following day. Everyone was going to a big party near Krabi the following night.

On the morning of my last day on Koh Pu, I met a German guy, Stefan who had bought land on the beach a few years earlier. He was the owner of the boat I was going to get a ride on. I told him about my proposal and the contract based on trust. He said that he bought his beachfront land 5 years ago on a handshake – twice as much as mine in area for ½ the price. It settled my nerves.

A group of 6 of us went from Koh Pu to Krabi on his boat. It was built from a 27 rib longtail hull (longtails are measured by the number of wooden ribs used in their construction) with a wheel house built over an internal Hino truck engine. 27 ribs is very big for a longtail! It was a spectacular hot and sunny day. As we steamed up the coast I looked back at Mount Pu (Toh Seh Phu Kaow) with a strong feeling everything would turn out ok.

Stefan told me about how nice life was on Koh Pu. He also told me about the monkeys, the snakes and the dogs. He told me that the houses built high on stilts almost all survived the Tsunami – the ones on the ground were swept away if they were in its path.

That afternoon, we collected the survey, and I went to an internet café with a printer and drew up the (first) contract in under an hour. We attached the survey to the contract to illustrate the land in question, and we signed it at a local café in Krabi in the presence of his Swiss wife, Karin, and 6 month old baby SiRaDa that afternoon (the baby didn’t sign).
It seemed the whole of Krabi province came to the party. It was in front of a live band and lots of alcohol was consumed.

I saw Stefan there with his Thai friends, very merry and enjoying themselves.

Nan told all his friends about our transaction, which, by making it public, reassured me further.

Of course I would have been happier with registrable land, but the spot I had found, the resolution of the issues of subdivision in the time I had given myself, made me pretty pleased.

In order to avoid future Tsunami damage any house to be built on the beach at Koh Pu would need to be elevated and well back from the high water mark.

I left Krabi deeply affected by its beauty. The aircraft took off and circled south over Koh Pu, on a clear morning, which looked like a jewel in the Andaman Sea below.

Jan 2006 – © Andrew Truswell