Women Labourers & Construction Workers

I remember I was really surprised the first time I saw women working as labourers and construction workers in Chiangmai. This was because these jobs are only done by men in Singapore and women are usually employed in less physically demanding work. I later learnt that these women labourers are mostly either indigenous tribal people (known as khon doi in Thai) from the mountains in Chiangmai or from Myanmar. Both had come to Thailand in search of better economic opportunities. Many Myanmar workers are currently working illegally in Thailand.

These women labourers basically do the same work as men; pouring cement, plastering walls, laying bricks, installing electrical wiring etc. The work can be dangerous for them as they often receive little training and have little or no safety equipment.

Toiling under the blistering sun from about eight in the morning until six in the evening, seven days a week, their daily wage is about 300 baht (about SGD 7.50). To beat the heat, they will usually cover themselves up fully by wearing long sleeved shirts and pants. Some even go to the extent of covering their faces with a piece of cloth with just holes cut for the eyes.

Their accommodation is usually at the worksite or at small rented rooms. These rooms are cheap (can be as cheap as SGD 60 per month) and typically come in a size of about 4 metres by 3 metres.

This is real hard work for so little pay. At this rate, when are they ever going to be able to fulfil their hopes and dreams?

Builders & Renovation Contractors

So you need to get some work done on your house. Regardless of what kind of work you want to do, - building, renovation, remodelling, interior design etc, finding the right people to do your job, be it big or small, is important not only for your wallet but also for minimising the risk of heartache and damage to your sanity.

About Thai Contractors

Thai builders and contractors are capable of good quality work (just look at the buildings and skyscrapers in Bangkok). However, like car mechanics, a honest, dependable, and competent building contractor is hard to find. This is especially so if you are living in the provinces and rural areas. This is because the good ones would probably have gone to work in Bangkok or at other places where the money is.

But no matter where you are, here are some things to look out for when engaging a contractor.

Finding a Contractor

Online

These days, the easiest way of doing so is going online, especially in forums such as Thaivisa and Teakdoor. You have the benefit of tapping on the experience of others, so you already know what to expect before you proceed (I have engaged the services of a lawyer as well as visited car workshops through online recommendations and they were pretty accurate and good, like what the reviews said). 

Look Around Your Neighbourhood

If online information is not available for your area, another method you can try is to look around your neighbourhood or apartment block. See if there are any contractors that are currently doing some work. Better still, if they are working on a few places in the same neighbourhood at the same time (besides being a rough testament to their workmanship or prices, this also makes it easier to get them to do rectification works later on). If you like what you see, simply go up to the contractor and ask him to drop by your place and offer a quote.

At the same time, beware if the contractor is working on too many jobs in your area at the same time. Some contractors work on many jobs concurrently as, rather than having potential customers wait and run the risk of losing a job, they will take on all jobs that come along. However, this means that his work is likely to be slow if he has a small setup and has only a limited number of workers helping him.

Look at the Houses Around Your Neighbourhood

If online information is not available for your area and there are no contractors working in your neighbourhood currently, you can try looking for houses here that have had work done on them. If you like what you see, talk to the owner. Most Thais will be happy to give you the contact while sharing with you about their experience with the contractor and the cost involved.

Random Searches

This includes listings online, in newspapers, and through word of mouth. Getting a good contractor can be hit and miss, even if they have a registered company and office.

So if you are going with these sources, ask for references if possible.

Beware of Empty Promises

To get the job, many contractors will promise you anything initially and then give you shoddy work later on, hoping that it is acceptable to you. If it is not, they may rectify the mistakes until:

• A minimum standard acceptable to you is reached. 
• You get so worn out and worn down by the entire process that at a certain point, you give up and accept whatever has been achieved.
• You make them rectify the mistakes until the contractor gets pissed and an argument ensues. This sours the working relationship such that they may either down tools and walk off the job or if not, you run the risk of encountering even shoddier work for the rest of the job.

To avoid all of these issues, think carefully whether the contractor is capable of keeping his promises (look to his past work for an idea). If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Comprehensive Paperwork

Does the contractor provide proper paperwork? E.g. list of works to be done, drawings, timetable for each task, list of materials to be used etc?

Note that not every contractor will have these (especially in the rural areas) but even if these are not available, it will be good to ask them to verbally specify all of these in detail so that everyone has a common understanding of what is involved and is in agreement.

I have also prevented mistakes before, right at the beginning, by simply asking the contractor to do a simply handwritten drawing of what he was going to do. It turned out that his understanding of the job was different from that of mine.

Cost

Always ask for the cost before allowing the contractor to commence a job. This is to prevent misunderstandings and inflated costs later on.

Be reasonable and pay for what you want. If you want luxury, pay for it. If you pay peanuts, do not expect too much.

Do not make a decision solely on cost. Reliability and workmanship is equally important for good work to be done. Bargaining too hard may get you a good price and the contractor might accept the job if he is desperate but you can be sure he will cut corners to save time/effort/materials used in order to justify the amount of money he gets. At the same time, beware of quotes that are too low or too good to be true. If the price is too low, the contractor will find themselves running at a loss later on and they will not be able to complete the job as promised. At this point, it is very likely that they are going to ask you for more money before they will continue.  

While it is often unavoidable that you suddenly think of new things that need to be done in the course of the job, do not expect that the contractor will do all of these for free. If it is minor or a small job (e.g. installing a mirror, changing a light), yes they may do it FOC but if they think that the extra work incurs additional charges and you think that it is reasonable, pay it.

Payment

The contractor will probably need to get an advance from you for buying materials and for paying his workers before starting on each stage of the job. So work out the payment stages with them before work commences. See if the sums to be paid out at each stage is reasonable – some dishonest contractors have been known to disappear after receiving advances. Typically, you will only pay in full when the job is finished and has been inspected to your satisfaction.

Pay on time. The contractor needs to pay his workers and expenses and if you delay payment, he can pack up and leave. However, do not pay if the contractor is unprofessional, slow, or does shoddy work. Do so only when the job has been completed to your satisfaction.

Communication

As what most people know when dealing with contractors, the end result they produce is often different from what you had mind, even if the contractor is a local in your home country and they speak the same language as you. This is going to get worse in Thailand with communication and cultural issues coming into play.

For best results, it is vital that your contractor and his workers can understand you throughout the job. So if you are a foreigner who cannot speak Thai and your contractor has a limited grasp of English, it is important that you have someone close by, who can translate for you, as and when needed.

Supervise Closely

For best results, find time to be around and supervise the work closely. This will help to minimise problems arising from incorrect understanding and miscommunication.

This is also helpful in times when the contractor is unsure of something and he needs to check with you. Otherwise, he may just proceed based on what he thinks you want and the end result might be wrong.

Quality

This concerns two areas, workmanship and the quality of materials used.

Generally, Thais and foreigners have different standards of workmanship. What is deemed acceptable to Thais is often viewed as shoddy by foreign standards. And poor workmanship in Thailand is often due to the lack of attention to detail. Many of the newly built houses I have seen in Chiangmai (even those costing several millions of baht) have poor finishing.

So if you want work to be done to Western standards in the provinces or in rural areas, be prepared to do a longer search for a suitable contractor or even bring in workmen from places such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket etc, where they are used to foreign standards of work.

Regarding the quality of materials used, Thais know that if a contractor does a job for you with parts included in the quote, you are almost guaranteed of getting poor or sub-standard quality materials and items. This is because the cheaper the materials used, the more profits they will get. This is why Thais usually buy the materials themselves (the actual buying can be done on your own or you can ask the contractor to accompany you to the store so that you can get his advice on the spot) and ask the contractor to quote for labour only.

Lastly, it is always helpful to have some basic knowledge of what the job entails so that the contractor cannot hoodwink you. This is not difficult as there is a wealth of information available online.

Rectification Works

In any job, it is unavoidable that a certain amount of rectification work needs to be done. Depending on how professional they are, it can be difficult to get a contractor to come back to do rectification works after the job has been completed. This can be troublesome, especially for jobs with defects that show up only after a period of time.

Therefore, try to find contractors whose homes or offices are nearby or they are working on other jobs in the area. Generally, they will be more willing to come by if they are nearby. 

DIY & Renovation Supplies

In Singapore, if you had a problem with your house or apartment, you would call in a contractor and the problem would be solved (though it was often expensive). In Thailand, the DIY culture is alive and well and many Thais (especially in the more rural areas) are able to do small renovation and repair jobs around the house. For example, my neighbour runs a small minimart and he painted the entire place and fitted the shelves, vinyl flooring, water heaters, and water pipes all by himself.

For DIY tools and supplies, the most famous store in Thailand is perhaps HomePro. HomePro is a massive store that stocks lots of DIY tools and supplies such as hand tools, garden tools, construction tools, ladders, paint, tiles, electrical appliances etc (think of it as a Toys-R-Us for adult men). If you need a contractor for various types of repairs, renovation, or construction works in your house, you can also ask them to make the arrangements for you as they have sub-contractors available, though the prices they charge are often much more expensive than other contractors outside.

Other stores in Thailand that operate with a similar concept to HomePro include Home Sukkapan, Home Expert, Home Improvement, Global House, Thai Watsadu, SCG Home Solutions, True Value.

I have not visited all of the stores above and, as my DIY needs are simple, I mostly go to HomePro. Here is my shopping experience at some of these stores so far:

Product range

All of the stores above work on a one-stop solution concept. However, the range available for certain items will be lesser than what you can find at independent specialist stores outside. Also, what you can find in one store may not be available in another. For example, I find that Thai Watsadu’s products are targeted at renovation contractors more while those at HomePro are targeted more at individual consumers.

But like me, if your needs are simple, you should be able to find all of your stuff at any of these stores.

Service

These stores typically have lots of attentive staff, ever ready to help. In all of my trips to these stores, I have had no problems getting myself understood and having the staff get me the correct item. However, other shoppers have commented that the staff lack product knowledge.

I find that the staff at these stores are generally fine with general product knowledge but in-depth knowledge is often lacking.

Quality

The quality of the products here vary, with international brands sold alongside Thai ones. In my experience, the Thai brands are often cheaper but of lower quality. And they sometimes do not work as promised by the salesman.

So it is always good to do your own research before going to the store and not just take the salesman’s word for it.

Pricing

I am not sure about the pricing across different stores and outlets under the same store as I have never paid close attention to this. But generally, the pieces here will generally be more expensive than those in the neighbourhood stores and those small independent ones outside.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, if your needs are simple, you should be able to find the stuff you need at HomePro or any of these other stores. But even if you do not manage to get what you want, besides being a great way to beat the heat, a window shopping trip will often reveal many interesting items.

Chiangmai's Low Construction Costs

Chiangmai has developed a lot and very quickly in the last five years. Developers are building new buildings, new landed properties, new condos, new shophouses,  new of everything. It used to be that Central Airport was the biggest and only shopping mall (of respectable size) in Chiangmai. But within the span of a few years, three other big shopping malls have been built - Promenada, Central Festival, and Maya (the smallest of the lot).

The boom had drove up construction costs but these costs are still much cheaper as compared to Singapore. An example, someone in my neighbourhood (outer ring area, not in the city) had constructed a two storey shophouse for around 1 million baht (SGD 40000). In Singapore, just renovation costs alone for a 100 square metre apartment would have easily cost you more than half of that.

Another example, just today, I decided that I did not like a fish tank I had as the only view I had of my koi fishes were from the top but the view was obscured by water plants and duckweed on the water surface (these plants were necessary as the neighbour's cats liked to come by to catch my fishes). The tank was built out of cement, about 2 x 2 metres in size.

So I put my fishes into a new tank and called up the contractor to come demolish the old one. They showed up, got their hammers and jackhammers and got to work. They demolished the whole thing in less than an hour, cleaned up the place for me, and carted away the debris to boot. All for 800 baht (SGD 32). They were happy as they got 800 baht for an hour's work (the daily wage is about 300 baht) and I was happy as I felt 800 baht was cheap considering the amount of work they had to do. In Singapore, contractors will bill you SGD 10 to SGD 15 just to drill a hole in the wall and they charge by the hole. So the same job in Singapore will easily run into hundreds of dollars.

At the same time, seeing my unpaved driveway, the guys were keen to tile it for me as well and told me that should I want to do it, the labour cost will be 120 baht (SGD 3) per square metre (raw materials such as tiles, cement, etc to be provided by me). Very attractive price but I told them I will leave it for next time.