Take a deep breath and smile !

[Freddy]

I'm sure many of you will have faced similar obstacles but this is new to me, so views, comments and humour welcome.
Having spent the last 2 weeks drawing up what I thought were good plans to extend the main house,  build a small bungalow for my wife's Mother, provide a garage area and water treatment/pump room, all I might add meeting with the wife's approval, I now face the following obstacles:-
- Mums bungalow cannot go there because rice was once stored in that area and it will be unlucky to live where rice was once stored !!??
- The bathroom can't go there because it will be unlucky to have water entering the house at that particular point !!??
- Even if my plan didn't mean that we will all die and go to hell, I can't start anything for 3 months because it will be unlucky to build before January. Based on that we had better all meet up and get drunk in Buriram today, because it is unlikely to be there tomorrow given the amount of building that is going on there.

Yesterday I went for a drive to cool off, today I'm smiling again and it seems back to the drawing board. No rush I guess.
I should point out that all the concerns have been raised by Mum and Sister in Law, not the wife however big fights will apparently follow if I do not heed !!
The guy over the road is just starting to build a house for his daughter. I'm popping over to stop him because clearly he is unaware he shouldn't build anything in October.

[tommynew]

Good luck in your endeavours Freddy

[urleft]

TIT

[davureborn]

Pay a priest to sort things out. Not a joke and not expensive. I had to build two spirit houses before we started, also ask for forgiveness from spirits for changing things.

[finnomick]

Correct, consult the local building inspector housed in the temple. They will even tell you which posts must be put in first. Another thing you must also take into consideration ( I joke you not ). Because the wife's mother is more important than you, the one who is paying for it all, her house should be higher than yours.....

[Voodoo]

Good Luck ... Almost all of us have been down this road.. Urleft you hit it right on the head TIT... You already got the best advice.. Put it in the hands of the local temple and the monks.. Have you wife seek out their guidance, directly.. Do not rely on the rumor mill in the village, especially relatives.. Your wife is going to need to take charge on this.. For right now your best bet is to just chill out, have a brew, and stay out of the way...

[Freddy]

Wonderful, thanks for the good advice. I'm chilled this morning and will take the advice. Temple and monks it is.
Cracks me up. The wife's sister planted a line of Papaya trees at the front of the house when it was built as a gift to us. I think they look great. Someone wandered by and announced this was unlucky and WWIII broke out. Opinions differ on to chop or not to chop down. I'm gonna go with the flow but am leaning towards the trees stay camp.

I know I should know this but TIT stand for

[Voodoo]

Same answer for the Papaya trees.. Put it in the hands of the monks and the temple.. If your wife does that she'll be surprised just how much BS goes on due to somebody's whim.. WWIII will end very quickly once the monks get involved and make their decision..

[toffo]

Your way or no money for the house... Then you will see them backtrack... Always surprises me that farangs sit back and dont take control of the situation... If your living in it then do as you want, If not just let them live in a shack then..

[DeputyDavid]

TIT = This IS Thailand

[Freddy]

Another good point however retirement is meant to be a pleasure so of I can get what I want without the upset and the wife and her Mum falling out then I will. Positioning of the various buildings is the key thing for me and I really don't care of the Mums bungalow sits a couple of inches higher than the main house. I have no intention of rolling over and loosing all control but will do what I can to keep the peace and try to ensure all are happy with the end result. Thank you all for the good advice and guidance to date. Keep it coming, although opinions vary it is good to get the differing views and from each I take a bit and end up with a route that I am happy with.

[toffo]

Goodluck Freddy... Remember never to lose your balls haha...  If you have any hair then you wont by the time its finished... I did the same thing as you and went for a drive after i vented my anger and frustration first though....  cost a canny bit in Gas over the 3 months haha

[Freddy]

Toffo - my balls will remain intact and I,m a stubborn git underneath it all. Only bought the truck last week and done a million KM so far. Still, surprising how quickly I have learned my way around and the wife is getting pissed off coz I know the way to places she doesn't...every cloud and all that..........

[Freddy]

Oh, and the hair went years ago so that's one less thing to worry about 

[finnomick]

Freddy, here's another good one, but very true. The wife's sister had a house built with the main entrance facing east. This didn't seem to be a problem until they put the steps up into the house facing east too. There was a hue and cry with the steps ( concrete ) being removed very rapidly because they were advised from the temple that this was the direction in which bodes are laid for cremation and thus the spirits could enter the house. The steps now face south ! All to there own I say, but it does take a bit of getting used to.