Houseboats

[Soloman]

My apologies in advance if this is the wrong forum for it.  I am a sail boat owner and I find the idea of living on water, on a river or lake here in Thailand quite appealing, as an alternative to coastal sailing.  I wonder if anyone has already gone down this road and prepared to share their experience?  My primary interest are the legalities, namely which government authority I should be dealing with. Thank you, Ed 

[Faz]

I'll move this topic to the boating section Solomon.

[NCC1701A]

  On 12/10/2021 at 12:03 PM, Soloman said:

 I am a sail boat owner and I find the idea of living on water, on a river or lake here in Thailand quite appealing, as an alternative to coastal sailing.

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been here seven years and i can't remember the last time i saw a sailboat except in the marina in Phuket. i have never seen a privately owned sailboat mixed in with fishing boats in any of the fishing villages or sailing on a river. but this is in the gulf.   

[Soloman]

Thanks for your reply.  I am not thinking of moving my sail boat to a river or to a lake but that is not such a bad idea as it would save me selling her (and possibly taking a loss) and buying a houseboat or building one from scratch. The only drawback with moving a deep keel boat to a river or lake is of course the draft and I draw 1.8m. That aside, I am more interested in the rules and regulations pertaining to using a houseboat  on a river or lake and of course tieing up on a river bank or edge of a lake.  Maybe there are no specific rules beyond that to any other recreational boats and it's simply a matter of doing it and dealing with the issues as they arise.  

[LYNX]

From when I tried (in the last century) the only inland place new houseboats permitted was Pilok the city of Vishnu and flying pancakes, and no farang had succeeded when I revisited in 2014.

Like many things here it's all very flex a Thai Military or Police partner helps , or a lake on your own land , or any of the frontier rivers Salween Mae Khong etc don't think you'll be able to moor a Mississippi Steamboat Casino opposite the Oriental any time soon unless you have the sponsor that counts and then anything is possible.?

While solar is becoming viable air con off diesel is obviously a no no and it can get very hot and humid. here sometimes

. I have seen folks living on very basic rafts in many places but general poor local fisherfolk.

[Soloman]

Thanks Lynx.  I have never found No an easy answer to accept.  Over the years, I have found it more rewarding to go ahead and do it until I’m stopped or challenged.  I only raised the subject of a houseboat here in case someone has already gone down this path here in Thailand as I don’t believe in re inventing the wheel but clearly this is something new. 

[Convert54]

  On 1/10/2022 at 6:45 AM, Soloman said:

Thanks Lynx.  I have never found No an easy answer to accept.  Over the years, I have found it more rewarding to go ahead and do it until I’m stopped or challenged.  I only raised the subject of a houseboat here in case someone has already gone down this path here in Thailand as I don’t believe in re inventing the wheel but clearly this is something new. 

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There are a number of  "floating " Resorts . How or what "permits" them to operate would be  interesting to know !

[Karolyn]

I've thought of living on board a cabin cruiser. What's the law?