The reason for this house being raised off the ground is because Joop and his wife decided they wanted to raise the house and land around the house up about 70cm high and the land 4 meters wide in all directions – North, East South and West ,this way the house will be higher than the rest of the land ! the reason why no footings are visible is that they are Deep down into the virgin soil a total of 180 cm-1.8 meters . Once all the under floor plumbing is complete the open area will be closed off and the land fill will begin , next year there will be a concrete footpath pored .There are two ring beams on this house a 60cm deep ring beam that’s the main supporting beam, plus a sub beam 25cm deep that only carries the weight of a couple of courses of block. So the total distance from the floor level down to the footings is around 2.5 meters deep ,most Thai builders would not do this as its to time consuming and costly (a proper job is all it is in my eyes) . This idea Joop and his wife had about raising the house up 70cm was a free upgrade with no additional cost :GrinNod1: , I hope this is clear enough for you Mr Crisp and a big thanks for your input ..:Bravo1: