Time was, when Thais moved house, they did that literally. Their teak wooden houses would be torn down, loaded onto ten wheel trucks, moved to a new location and rebuilt. Fifteen years ago it was not unusual to see Thai houses on the road in Chiang Mai.
Thailand's teak forests disappeared in the early 1980s. The timber was logged and shipped to Singapore where the industrious Singaporeans made a fortune turning it into furniture for the Western market. So with the teak gone, Thai villagers had to turn to concrete for their houses. Concrete houses have many advantages, especially for building contractors. For example, a Thai concrete house will only last for thirty years whereas a teak house will last for over a 100 years. So the contractors soon convinced the villagers that their teak houses were worthless and that the fashionable thing to do was to replace them with concrete. At the same time hoteliers building resort hotels, and Bangkok people building second homes were buying all the teak houses they could find. These would be either rebuilt in a new location or cannibalized for new structures.
Thailand's teak forests disappeared in the early 1980s. The timber was logged and shipped to Singapore where the industrious Singaporeans made a fortune turning it into furniture for the Western market. So with the teak gone, Thai villagers had to turn to concrete for their houses. Concrete houses have many advantages, especially for building contractors. For example, a Thai concrete house will only last for thirty years whereas a teak house will last for over a 100 years. So the contractors soon convinced the villagers that their teak houses were worthless and that the fashionable thing to do was to replace them with concrete. At the same time hoteliers building resort hotels, and Bangkok people building second homes were buying all the teak houses they could find. These would be either rebuilt in a new location or cannibalized for new structures.
The house seen here (which is part of the Country House estate) was demolished and moved to its present location, 50 kilometres away, in less than a day. It did, however take a lot longer to rebuild.
The Lectures below were prepared to assist people wanting to buy hardwood houses in Chiang Mai.
The Lectures below were prepared to assist people wanting to buy hardwood houses in Chiang Mai.