s any plasterer will tell you, achieving a straight, durable edge on an angled wall is one of the trickiest tasks in house building. In Thailand, many plasterers seek perfection by painstakingly chamfering wooden beading to form a straight edge, but even then the results can be hit and miss.
Well, now help is available right on the doorstep in the shape of Siam Corner, a small Pattaya-based factory which produces galvanised steel angle beads for neater, faster, stronger and more efficient construction of corners.
Siam Corner is a division of Red-Tec (Thailand) Co Ltd, the construction company responsible for building the three Greenfield Villas projects in east Pattaya.

Owner was a customer
Proprietor is architect Paul Barrett who started as a customer and, in the words of Remington Razors’ Victor Kiam, liked the product so much he bought the company.
Siam Corner can produce up to 1,000 linear metres a day of galvanised angle beads – better known as corner beads in Europe. They feature an extra long expanded flange and a steel rib running the length of the bead to add rigidity. Angle beads are used to provide strong corner reinforcement for conventional plaster work.
“I started using angle bead on Greenfield Villas 2 in Soi Boonsampan,” Paul told REm. “I bought half a container-load in from China and the men on the construction team loved it. Use of corner beads is a requirement in Europe, but not so in Thailand and so they can be hard to source. Most of those used here are brought in from China or Taiwan and consequently can be a bit expensive. But, during a chance meeting about 18 months ago I discovered this small factory producing angle beads in Soi Siam Country Club.

“I bought all the stock they had available at that time and when I was asked a few months later whether I was interested in buying the company I said ‘yes’.
“At first I saw it as a way of securing cost-effective supplies to meet my own requirements, but such has been the interest from elsewhere that I have decided to expand the business and supply outside customers. So far as I am aware, it is the only factory producing angle beads in Thailand.”
Siam Corner produces a range of angle beads, made from expanded metal and manufactured in accordance with international standards, to help create superior finishes to wall surfaces. They create true, straight corners that reinforce plaster at its weakest points and help form joints, corners, edges and abutments which are resistant to chips, cracks and impact damage.
They are fast and easy to fix, requiring no specialist skilled labour, and are suitable for both internal and external use. They can also be painted and help reduce construction time. A typical three-bedroom house may use 250-300 linear metres of it.
The Siam Corner operation is a highly automated, computer-controlled process which can produce angle beads tailored to specific customer requirements. Although available in almost any size, the standard length is three metres with a price tag of around 28 baht a metre – a substantial saving over imported products. Furthermore, delivery is quick with orders processed and generally dispatched the day after they are received.

No freight charge
“We already have customers in Hua Hin, Vietnam and Malaysia,” Paul added. “They order one day and we put the products on a train the next. And we don’t even charge freight for large orders!”
Angle beads are particularly suitable for use with Q-Con lightweight construction blocks which Red-Tec have used on all three Greenfield Villas construction projects.
“Standard construction practice in Thailand has been to take your time over edging jobs, but even so I have been in houses costing 20-30 million baht that have not had a single straight corner. That’s not the case with angle beads which give a perfect finish every time and in half the time.”
With the order book growing, Siam Corner plans to move to a purpose-built factory later in the year, adding a second production line to double capacity. More information is available from the company’s website, www.siamcornerangle.com or by phoning 038 732 280/1. Ω