Property zoning restrictions?

[hhfarang]

Ok, before someone calls me on it... as SJ says "I told you a million times not to exaggerate!"

After I said about a thousand light fixtures I got curious and actually counted them and I only have 348 of them.

[PeteC]

Regardless of the outcome of the conversation/debate HHF, it's a good thing to learn about as you already have it, and it could be a plus when selling the house. You need to be able to explain it to a potential buyer though. I couldn't do it based upon what I know now, i.e., reason, need, extra cost of having it (if any) etc. You made a big investment and hopefully you can get some of that back in the sale price. Pete

[Nereus]

Ok, before someone calls me on it... as SJ says "I told you a million times not to exaggerate!"

After I said about a thousand light fixtures I got curious and actually counted them and I only have 348 of them.

When I wrote that you do not need a 3 phase supply, I did not mean to infer that it is not a good thing. You are in fact better off with it. I have 6 air cons, swimming pool with 2 pumps, electric range and hotplates, and all the lights that is needed, all on a 100 amp single phase supply.
I would not do it like that myself, but that's how it was when I bought the house.

With 3 phase you can split the single phase load up amongst, or across, the 3 phases. You also then have the option of running high load appliances, such as ovens, pumps etc, on the much more efficient 3 phase supply.

Is the transformer yours, or did you just have to pay for it???

[hhfarang]

Is the transformer yours, or did you just have to pay for it???

I just had to pay for it. The electric company told me that 90 days after installation it became public domain and others could use it but they promised not to overload it. Now I think there are several stand alone houses (homes not in developments) using it. Since I was the first in the area, I had to pay for it.

[Nereus]

Is the transformer yours, or did you just have to pay for it???

I just had to pay for it. The electric company told me that 90 days after installation it became public domain and others could use it but they promised not to overload it. Now I think there are several stand alone houses (homes not in developments) using it. Since I was the first in the area, I had to pay for it.

I know that they had you over a barrel with being first customer of a new extension, but I have to wonder about the legality of it. Charging a "connection fee" is one thing, but to actually force you to pay for a piece of equipment is something altogether different. I would like to know just how many Thais have had to "pay" for a transformer, and if anybody else has been told the same story with the same transformer.

[Super Joe]

Installation near our house, built by a.n.other!

We have 'had' to install, and paid for transformers on each developments built, local (small) Thai developers have too, but they have always gone on the project land and been the project's property, the electric company actually refused to install them on the public road!? We get ripped off in that we get charged 400k for our size unit, but allegedly you can buy them yourself in BKK for 150k, which some Thai developers do apparently, and I'm sure the connected Thais do neither. HHF, in theory the location of yours 'should' determine if it's private or personal, but TiT.

When we asked initially about being served off the LV supplies, the electric company refused point blank, saying due to all the load we would be addding that we would put a strain on the local LV supplies. This may be right in some cases if the supplies are such a distance from MV source that the current load demands, supply line voltage drops dictate, get an electrical engineer out if you've got your concerns.

Where HHF is, and where I am in Soi 94, the whole area was/is under development, a transformer tapping off a stable MV supply is the way to go imo, houses where we build with single phase supplies off the local LV lines suffer more outages and periods of low voltage in early evening. If you're in an already developed area with stable supplies, then having a tranny would be considered a luxury, and yes, ofcourse that pun was intended.

I'm sure Nereus is right about the legality of it should the transformer not be on your land and your property, but legality doesn't seem to figure too highly, they've had us building their public roads and drainage half a km long outside our land. We have to build a 6m wide x 250mm deep concrete road and join it up with their 4.5m wide x 150mm thick road!! That's why I laugh a bit at all the complaints of 3 extra photocopies for annual extensions, or the odd bit of tea money here and there, some people just don't know how easy they've got it


SJ

PS: Not an electrical enginner so apologies if some terminology is incorrect.

[Nereus]

What a disgusting mess and eyesore that is, and they have the audacity to charge for it!

Charging a developer is one thing, as he has the means to amortise it over the the whole of the development. Still not necessarily right and fair, but a different ball game altogether compared to charging a private person.

If the authorities made some effort to put the supplies underground, at least on group developments, it would also perhaps have some justification. The technology and equipment is available, but not the mentality.

The in`s and out`s of it should have its own thread I suppose. And do not start me on the road constructions!

[hhfarang]

The transformer we paid for is installed outside our land one pole away, and if I'm remembering correctly, this was done at the request of the builder's foreman as he said we didn't want the big eyesore in front of our house. Maybe that was a mistake, but so far they haven't overloaded it as we have stable power for the most part. The only time it has been out lately (twice briefly in the last month) has been due to construction on Soi 112 (according to the electric company when my wife called) where they took it out either on purpose or by mistakenly breaking a line.

At least it looks like we didn't get gouged too badly on the installation. We paid 250k for the a transformer (that appears to be about the same size as the one in SJ's photo) plus 3 poles to get to the nearest pole a couple of hundred meters down the road.

[poosmate]

As I was told when a transformer is sited on government land it can be used by all after a certain time has passed. This has the advantage provided the electricity company do not allow it to be overloaded that should it fail or need repair the cost will be borne by the electricity company. On the other hand if it is on your property it is exclusive to you but maintenance and any repair will be down to you,
I have bought and had two installed, one inside and one outside a private boundary.
I would prefer both were outside and publicly owned. Unfortunately one is connected to an underground supply and the electricity company insisted the transformer was exclusive to us.
On the cost issue having a transformer/poles/lines fitted does not have to be done by the electricity company - only connected . The electric company though require a plan submitted. We used a contractor to install the poles lines and transformer and paid around 180k for a 250 kva unit .

[Super Joe]

At least it looks like we didn't get gouged too badly on the installation. We paid 250k for the a transformer (that appears to be about the same size as the one in SJ's photo) plus 3 poles to get to the nearest pole a couple of hundred meters down the road.

As I wrote, that installation was done by a.n.other, it's just near where we live, so not sure how much that one cost. Our work is nowhere near that smart

SJ

[bladerunner2120]

haha sounds like you have got yourself an office high rise there hhfarang....
another question for the learned............subdividing the land once new buldings have been constructed and selling part or all off? is it easy enough to do?

[hhfarang]

Yes, we did it. My wife just went to the land office and they sent out a surveyor to divide up the land as we wanted. This too was several years ago so I don't remember the cost but it was not excessive.

[bladerunner2120]

is that after you built on it?

[hhfarang]

Yes, we divided it right after we finished building. We originally had 2 rai and we decided to wall in 1.5 rai for our garden and sell the other half rai, which we did about a year after we completed the home and moved in.

[poosmate]

As long as you own the building and there is no hold on any part of the land or building by another party there should be no reason the land cannot be split.
If the building has not been registered at the land office - common here, then it is even easier as it is effectively an empty plot.