You experience everything in Thailand (34)
We are working on a series of stories from blog readers who have experienced something special, funny, curious, moving, strange or ordinary in Thailand. You may not have noticed, but if you have read all 33 episodes, you can know that the tenor of all stories was positive. It always ends well.
Today, however, a less positive story from our own blog writer Gringo (Albert Gringhuis). He writes about recent storm damage to his wife's family home in Nong Phok in Roi Et Province.
This is his story
A home for her family
When I started living in Pattaya around 2005 with Poopee, a girl from the Isaan, her wish was to improve the family's house. to grow. That happened, I made a detailed report of those construction activities and sent it to family, friends and acquaintances. The story was posted on Thailandblog in December 2010 and was my very first article in a very long series. It has been repeated several times by the editors, most recently in 2018 and if you like, you can read it again here: www.thailandblog.nl/leven-thailand/een-huis-voor-haar-familie
It has become a beautiful house, initially the pride of the neighborhood. I've stayed there many times, but in recent years it's been a bit of a mess. I am not a village person. What I saw over time, that some improvements could be made here and there, but you know that preventive maintenance is an almost unknown concept for Thais. My wife does go there with a certain regularity, because her mother has now come to live alone.
Similarly, about three weeks ago, when my wife and her brother, who also lives in Pattaya, visited the parental home to help with the rice cultivation. Last weekend it was ready and they drove back to Pattaya. Near Buriram, in the car, they received a call from neighbors of her mother, telling them to come back immediately, because something serious had happened to her mother and the house.
A storm with a downpour had partially blown off the roof of the house, allowing the rain to pour into the interior. Her mother had been terrified and passed out, but she had recovered with the help of neighbours. My wife took some photos of the devastation. I don't know the details of the misery yet, only that it will cost a lot of money to repair the damage.
Now you can guess who will foot the bill!
Hello who will pay for this? The insurance 🙂
No idea. The Gringo maybe? 😉
I'm afraid so!
The storm insurance!
Good luck with the negotiations.
Storm Insurance!!!
In my village also 2 houses whole roof blown off with me the dish antenna broken off (2 x) even now properly welded.
The whole village collects money for the people who are homeless and is also jointly repaired by the villagers.
Recently a fire burnt down the whole house also collected money, I also contributed a lot of money to it, that is to say in a village people are willing to help each other financially and with repairing the house.
Saw the whole roof off at gringo's mother-in-law, couldn't see what material was used, but it didn't seem like a tiled roof, it must have been zinc plates or cement plates, because once the wind comes under it, you can forget about it.
But if the village knows that a farang is involved, the farang will have to pay for the costs of repair.
Dear Gringo,
These are events that you certainly do not like to experience. I write from experience.
Completely renovated my apartment in Jomtien. We returned shortly afterwards from staying elsewhere to find our lovely flat like a wading pool. Significant water damage due to faulty sealing in my upstairs neighbour's apartment. A large amount of water had collected there and had come right through the ceiling. Strange sensation when you open the front door.
Despite (own) insurance having to focus on it financially.
Not happy emotionally either: precious and irreplaceable books (heirlooms) have been lost.
Fortunately no serious personal accidents. I hope your mother-in-law is well again soon.
And who will bear the costs? I have such an idea.
But if not taken out, is building/house contents insurance not an idea?
Good luck with the repairs. Hopefully you will soon be able to visit your mother-in-law again in a beautifully restored home. Extra reason to light up a nice cigar.
That was quite an intense story.. I hope that it is well recovered and that the mother-in-law is also doing well.
Well,
Who has to pull the cleaning rag, that is asking for the known way. On the other hand, it is an unfortunate occurrence. Fortunately no injuries.
I don't know if that roof can be made a bit more robust next time?
Strength!
It's called poop.
https://nl.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/de_poeplap_trekken
That is another good example of the quality of Thai construction.
See it regularly around me.
Jan Beute.
Again you can read comments on this blog about the Thai way of building, well, that is very good, there is nothing wrong with it, such winds make whole buildings fall over in America and so it is not too bad here with only the roof, this year also with a violent storm in Nongkhai, resulting in entire roofs disappearing. We were the lucky ones with 15 roof plates to replace.
Might be possible, but I don't know of a home insurance option in Thailand, there may be, go ask that.
Indeed Johannes have been to the USA many times and there they build the houses in the so-called Moo lanes of chipboard with stuco.
No tiles on the roof, but shingles made of roofing felt, not even nails, but staples are used to keep everything together.
But the older houses from before the war were much better built and are still standing. But the construction in Thailand where the walls of red bricks were smeared with cement or even worse of 6 cm thick cement blocks and a metal construction of the roof that was not be properly welded through but bonded only at the corners.
Know everything about construction here.
Jan Beute.
Sorry Gringo, just forgot that you are sitting nicely with the baked pears again, strength and unfortunately this kind of thing also happens in Thailand.
Old email given up, now the correct one.
Dear,
In principle, the insurance is responsible for this. At least if you have taken out good insurance, which also includes storm damage. Insurance costs money and every year if nothing happens, it looks like it's just wasted money. But how happy are people if something happens, and all costs are borne by the insurer. I've been doing insurance in Belgium for 20 years now, so I know what I'm talking about. Here in Thailand there are several Thai insurance policies, but they have so many exceptions that you can no longer see the trees in the forest. Always take out insurance with the well-known big names: AG or Axa, among others. Always check the fine print and ask for an explanation. Spend enough time on that. It took me 3 weeks to get my customized fire policy. All Thai insurance companies wouldn't insure me. In the end it became Axa who accepted me. Subject to a few conditions (extra fire extinguishers) etc. My contents are insured for 4300000 baht (that also includes all vinyl records, CDs and DVDs and books. Against all risks, only theft is only insured for 100000 baht, but I don't see the Thais 28000 bring pieces of CDs etc. I rent, but on top of the owner's policy for the house I have an insurance that covers 500000 baht, also storm damage. These are the main lines I pay 5000000 baht per year for this This is not advertising, but in a country such as Thailand it is very important to take out adequate insurance, because disaster funds, etc., such as in Belgium, do not exist here.
Dear Andre Jacobs, In principle you are right, because storm insurance usually covers such damage.
Only the reality in Thailand is completely different than in the Netherlands, Belgium or another rich industrial country.
The reality is all too often that many Thais do not have insurance for this type of damage.
So I think it has now become known that Gringo was really the only insurance here.
that stupid Farang again of course….. that is an ATM…
Yes Gringo, how did this end?
I had a similar experience after the 2014 Chiang Rai earthquake.
Although even if you wanted to, there is no insurance for this at all, my wife's house was also damaged.
The best construction method usually cannot withstand an earthquake of 6.3 RS with many afterquakes.
After sleeping in the garden for 3 nights due to the after-quakes, we started repairs to the house.
Many walls and the roof have been renovated, and while you are at it, you also want to modernize many other things immediately.
Of course you already guessed it, if there is no insurance, I would be the only insurance, just like Gringo probably in his case.