Hey everybody! I’m in Thailand for 3 weeks to go to my dad and examine on the progress of the RB40 Villa, my final objective. I wrote a publish about it 12 years in the past. The last word objective is a long-term challenge you possibly can work on for the remainder of your life. I believed I would like one thing to do after taking an early retirement from my engineering profession. It turned out life was actually busy with a child. I didn’t make a lot progress on the RB40 Villa till this yr. Â
The unique imaginative and prescient was to construct a country household compound on the seashore. There could be 10 little huts the place I might host pals and households. Additionally, I lease them out to company. There could be a giant backyard, a standard eating space, a BBQ space, an outside pizza oven, a yoga space, a pool, and different locations the place company can hang around and rejuvenate. Sounds cool, proper? Sadly, I don’t have 10 acres on the seashore. That form of property is tough to return by. I needed to scale down my dream drastically.
Bang Saen
Happily, my household has a property in Bang Saen Seashore as a result of my mother grew up close by. It is a seashore city in Thailand. It’s the nearest seashore to Bangkok. Many households go there for a day journey or a weekend getaway. The seashore isn’t that good, although. The water is cloudy and sandy many of the yr. There’s some plastic trash within the water and across the seashore space. Nevertheless, the trash scenario has improved tremendously during the last 10 years. There was once far more trash all over. They’ve a machine to choose up trash now. I’m positive there’s a seashore cleanup crew as properly.
You need to go additional south for the breathtaking seashores you see on social media. There are just a few foreigners at Bang Saen Seashore. It’s principally Thai folks.
Here’s a image of the promenade.
There are meals stalls all alongside the seashore promenade. In addition they arrange chairs and umbrellas for lease on the seashore. I by no means favored the seashore umbrella association, however I suppose you want it due to the recent solar. Thai folks are likely to keep away from the solar as a lot as they will. I feel the palm bushes present good shade already. This seashore space is about 1.6 miles lengthy.
On Tuesdays, the federal government prohibits any enterprise on the seashore. The distributors needed to take away all the pieces and filter. That is nice. The seashore is so much nicer each Tuesday. Additionally, I feel this seashore is a nationwide park now. No smoking or ingesting alcohol on the seashore.
All in all, Bang Saen will not be the very best seashore city, but it surely isn’t the worst both. The price of residing is cheaper than in Bangkok and Pattaya. The seafood is reasonable and plentiful. It’s a neighborhood vacationer city.
Scrumptious seafood
Each meal with my dad seems like an consuming competitors. He loves to purchase an excessive amount of meals. I suppose he’s overcompensating for a childhood of poverty. There’s a small fisherman market close to the pier in Bang Saen. The fishermen promote contemporary catch within the morning to eating places and distributors. In case you’re fortunate, you should buy some very contemporary seafood. Many occasions, all of the seafood was already bought. The companies reserved a portion of the catch.
 Grilled scallops – We eliminated the heart and ate the remainder of the meat. They have been nice.
 Grilled squids – I prepped these squids myself! We dip contemporary seafood in a spicy chili sauce. They name Nam Jim seafood. Yum.
Mantis shrimps – These have been scrumptious. The meat was succulent and candy. The shell was troublesome to take away, although. My dad acquired 4 kilos of those mantis shrimps from the pier. They price about $5 per pound.
Road meals – There are numerous street-side eating places close by. My dad ordered pork satay, duck rice, bbq pork rice, and wonton soup.
Ice cream – Contemporary coconut ice cream with younger coconut meat. An ice cream vendor cycled by our place and we ordered some. It was scrumptious and tremendous low-cost, lower than $1.
The seashore shack
This property was overgrown with vegetation and filled with rubbish from 40 years of neglect. My dad needed to clear the lot and construct from scratch. He has already spent 6 months on this challenge. The property regarded like an overgrown jungle earlier this yr. You’ll be able to see what it regarded like behind the fence.
After clearing the land, my dad utilized for a home allow. Then he ordered a picket home. Conventional Thai picket home is constructed like a prefab dwelling. They constructed the picket half in 3 sections and trucked them right here. Then, they put it collectively on-site a couple of month in the past. We additionally needed to pour a basis. The soil could be very sandy. A concrete basis is okay for a picket home, however you’d want pilings should you construct a much bigger construction.
Right here is the home to this point.
Initially, there was purported to be a rest room within the picket part. Nevertheless, my dad stated the moist toilet would destroy the wooden. So he’s including a concrete part within the again. This would be the kitchen and toilet. Sadly, the contractor is taking longer than anticipated. The toilet will not be prepared but. That’s why RB40Jr and I are staying in a resort for now. My dad has been utilizing the short-term toilet at a building website subsequent door.
It’s fairly good right here. There’s a breeze many of the day and evening. The home is 2 blocks from the seashore, about 500 meters. I feel it’ll be a pleasant seashore home when it’s accomplished. We might construct just a few extra constructions on the property later. The property is fairly small, although. We most likely ought to put in a backyard quickly. If we don’t plant one thing, the native vegetation will take it again. Weeds are already chest-height in some areas.
The funds for this challenge was $60,000. I despatched my dad the cash final yr. He spent about half of the funds to this point.
Alright, that’s it for the newest replace on the RB40 Villa. I suppose I ought to rename it the RB40 Seashore Shack. That is too small to be a villa. Nevertheless, I might dwell very comfortably right here once I’m older. The price of residing in Thailand remains to be very low evaluate to the US. Â
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