Living In Thailand Blog
Wednesday 11th January 2012
It's been quite rainy but the really torrential rain has stopped. This is only a temporary respite as the Thai Meteorological Department has forecast that a big storm will arrive in southern Thailand on the 12th/13th and will last until the 15th.
If I sound paranoid, it's because I am. The rain itself doesn't worry me at all. I'm English and quite used to rain. Flooding does worry me though. Very much.
The minivan driver who recklessly killed six of his passengers is now in police custody. There is always a similar pattern in these incidents.
If, as a passenger or as another driver, you so much as criticise their actions while they are driving you get a volley of abuse and physical threats. They are arrogant and defiant to the extreme.
After they crash and kill innocent passengers they usually run off. The phrase, "The driver fled the scene," is very common in newspaper accident reports following passenger vehicle crashes.
They turn up a few days later crying, clasping their hands together in front of their faces, and begging for forgiveness.
Why should this driver be forgiven? He has cut short the lives of six innocent people and destroyed the lives of their families. By all accounts he went out gambling (which is illegal in Thailand) the night before and didn't get any sleep.
He was tired the next day, and therefore not in a fit state to do his job. His foot was no doubt stuck to the floor, as is normally the case with Thai minivan drivers, he fell asleep and hit a large truck.
Driver in van crash surrenders
I stopped using minivans in Thailand years ago for lots of reasons. I will only board one now if there is no other choice.
On most routes you can take a minivan or a large bus. Buses are more comfortable, cheaper, and generally a little safer. Thais take minivans because they are faster, even though it is the speed at which they travel that makes them dangerous.
Something I will never understand about Thais is that normally they have all the time in the world. Time is not important in the Thai value system and there is never any sense of urgency. The one exception is when they are driving. When they drive they can't go fast enough. I can't understand the mentality.
I think the reason that many foreign tourists travel by minivan is because their transport is normally arranged by someone else. Travel agencies or hotels will arrange transport and this is usually always a minivan.
Perhaps this is because whoever does the arranging wants everything to be as convenient as possible? Minivans will collect people from their hotel or guest house, whereas large buses won't. Or perhaps it's because they get a commission from the minivan company?
Many years ago, as a tourist in Thailand, I wanted to go from Hat Yai to Krabi. I wanted to go by bus but didn't know where the bus station was. I asked a travel agent to help me.
The agent wanted to sell me a seat on a minivan and gave the impression that the bus station was miles away and difficult to reach. That was a lie and deliberately misleading, but as a tourist I didn't know the truth.
I boarded the minivan and waited until it was full. When it was full, three backpackers turned up and were shown to the van. I couldn't imagine where they would sit.
The driver then put all the luggage that was in the back on the roof, folded another seat down in the back and boarded three more people.
It was a really uncomfortable trip and with the van so overloaded it was dangerous too. However, passenger comfort and safety isn't their concern. The vans are run by private companies and the only thing of any interest is profit.
Vans won't leave until every seat has been sold. At quiet times you may have to wait a very long time for the van to fill before it leaves.
The vans that run between Hat Yai and Songkhla normally have 14 seats. A few years ago I took a van to Songkhla and it left with 14 people. The driver then kept stopping to pick up more people.
As more people boarded he would bark at the passengers to shift up to make more room. With 19 people on board, he stopped again to pick up passenger number 20. More passengers = more profit.
At this stage I decided to say something. Thais very rarely say anything. They either accept this kind of thing or they are scared of repercussions. Thais can be very vindictive.
After I had said my piece in Thai in front of everyone he went crazy. The red mist descended and he wanted to fight me. He ordered me off but I wouldn't go so he drove like crazy to teach me a lesson.
This overloading is normal. The same company that run the minivans also run large buses and the buses do the same thing. On each double seat they sit three passengers and fill the rest of the space with standing passengers. It's uncomfortable and dangerous, but they don't care.
Another scheme minivan drivers use to increase profits is to act as couriers. I used to go on a regular run to the Malaysian border and on a few occasions the driver went way off the normal route to deliver a parcel.
This wastes time but don't dare say anything otherwise you will get the normal torrent of abuse.
I had an altercation with a minivan driver yesterday. He was behind me in traffic and while I was thinking about something I must have left six inches too much space between me and the car in front. The next thing I knew, the van overtook, cut in, and cut me up so badly that I had to brake sharply to avoid a collision.
I wasn't happy and sounded my horn. He stopped, wound down his window, and his face was contorted with rage because I'd had the audacity to criticise his bad driving.
When he saw I was a farang he came out with every English curse word he knew, gave me several obscene hand gestures, and then made his hand into the shape of a gun to shoot me.
The worrying thing in these incidents is that there are a lot of unlicensed guns in Thailand. Also, many Thais who have guns are stupid enough to use them, and when the red mist descends they can't control their actions.
This is the reason why my wife doesn't like me getting upset with bad and aggressive Thai drivers. Her view is that you never know who has a gun. She's right.
Obviously, not every single minivan driver in Thailand is a psychopathic maniac. Some are OK but the reason I stopped travelling in minivans many years ago is because a lot of them are bad. I've experienced many unpleasant incidents while travelling by minivan.
The overriding impression tourists seem to have of Thailand is how friendly the people are in the Land of Smiles. Many are, but not all. There are some really nasty Thais as well.
I don't know if it is driving a minivan that makes people angry and aggressive, or if people with angry and aggressive personalities aspire to becoming minivan drivers. I suspect the latter.
If you're a tourist in Thailand it is likely that you will find yourself being put in minivans all the time. If someone arranges your travel, as they often do, they will most likely arrange to have you picked up in vans.
It's up to you, of course, but in my case I always look for alternatives if I'm not driving myself. There are also safety problems in Thailand with the big buses but I feel marginally safer on big buses and if they crash you have a better chance of surviving.
The minivans pack passengers in so tightly that in the event of a bad accident they would probably need to cut you out.
In the link above a Thai politician has suggested limiting the speed of minivans to 100 km/hr. This is an excellent suggestion and it would be a great start.
On a minivan trip from Phetburi to Bangkok a couple of years ago the driver got on to a stretch of open road and was travelling well in excess of 160 km/hr. If anything had happened we wouldn't have stood a chance. It was terrifying.
The article also states that vans are popular because they are convenient. That may be the case but I would seriously suggest looking for other forms of transport. If you have the option of going by train or big bus rather than minivan, take it.
To start to understand why things are the way they are in Thailand, you need to know something about the Thai value and belief systems. Having an understanding doesn't make things right, but at least it might help to explain behaviour that seems weird to Westerners.
In the Thai value system, time is very low down on the scale. If you ask Thai students what they did on their time off they will normally say, "Sleep." Wasting their own time isn't a problem. Unfortunately, wasting other people's time doesn't seem to be a problem either.
I hung around for a couple of hours today to teach one class in the afternoon and it had been cancelled but no one bothered to tell me beforehand. I wasn't very happy but this isn't unusual in Thailand. This has happened on many occasions over the years.
When we were having work done to our house I made arrangements with tradesmen to do work and they either turned up several hours late or didn't turn up at all. We were living elsewhere at the time so it wasted a lot of our time. They never apologised.
Recently my wife and I were supposed to have a meeting with a Thai woman. We drove to her office but she wasn't there. We called and she said she was elsewhere. More wasted time. There was no apology. She made another appointment. As we were about to leave for the next appointment, my wife suggested calling just in case. This was a good suggestion because she wasn't available again.
How much value would a Westerner place on 10 years of his/her life? If you look at the story about the minivan driver above, it talks about '10 years in prison and/or a Bt20,000 fine'. Bt20,000 is about 400 UK pounds or 630 US dollars.
This seems to sum up how importantly money is valued in Thailand, and how little time is valued.
Tuesday 10th January 2012
It has been raining torrentially overnight just as it did at New Year. At 7:30am this morning it is like night outside because the sky is so dark.
I am now starting to fear another flood warning. The flood preparations over New Year exhausted me and used up three days.
I haven't been feeling great the last few days and feel very low on energy. At the moment I don't feel as if I have the strength to go through it all again. If we are warned of flooding again, though, I will have to.
Flooding affects everyone but it must be particularly difficult for those who are ill or in bad health. It has been raining heavily for several hours already and there are no signs that it will stop soon.
I can't begin to describe how utterly miserable it is living like this.
Monday 9th January 2012
My Internet connection started playing up a couple of days ago. I could use it - just about - but it was very slow and after trying for two days to upload a short video to YouTube it still wouldn't upload.
I called the 3BB central call centre and the woman I spoke to told me that my line was unstable. She said that one of their technicians would be in touch.
Two young lads turned up this morning and they got to the source of the problem very quickly. What impressed me was that they didn't simply change things, hoping that the problem would go away.
They checked at various locations with the right equipment to isolate the problem. Their diagnosis was that the router had gone bad. I then went to one of their local branches to exchange the router. My Internet connection is now fine.
I was similarly impressed with the Ford technicians in Trang a couple of months ago. I was on the way to Phuket in torrential rain when my car started to play up. The thought of the car breaking down a long way from home with the baby on board wasn't a good one so we stopped off at the local Ford dealership.
Even though it was a Saturday and our service stop was unscheduled they did an excellent job diagnosing and subsequently fixing the problem. We were on our way again in a couple of hours.
My experience with Thai technicians and tradesmen hasn't always been good. I had some quite bad experiences when we were having work done on our rented house.
Some Thais just set themselves up as tradesmen but they turn out to be cowboys. What it seems is that if firstly the right people are employed, and then they are given the appropriate education and equipment they are very good.
I am getting a greater understanding of why so many foreign companies have invested in Thailand. Several major world-class companies have set up factories in Thailand. This was really brought to light as a result of the flooding last year.
Many factories are located on industrial parks in Ayuthaya and during the flooding there was lots of news about how the situation had affected various factories.
Foreign companies carry out a careful employee selection process and they do give employees the right education and equipment. In such a competitive world, big companies can't afford to have quality control problems so they ensure that goods assembled in Thailand are as good as anywhere else.
When you consider the small salaries that Thai factory workers will work for, it is impossible to compete in Japan, Europe or North America. The availability of a cheap labour force that can be trained to do skilled work must be very attractive to lots of big multi-national companies.
I can't see this lasting forever. As the standard and cost of living increase in Thailand so will wages, and this will reduce the competitive advantage. No doubt, countries poorer than Thailand will also start to compete with Thailand in the future.
Where Thailand still misses out is in industries where English is important because English skills, in general, are quite poor.
However, in any industry where manual skills are required rather than language skills, Thailand is tough to beat.
Sunday 8th January 2012
In an e-mail correspondence with a reader of this blog last year the subject of books came up and due to the difficulty of getting good English books in provincial Thailand my correspondent suggested getting a Kindle.
I didn't know how to get a Kindle in Thailand but as my family were coming out for Christmas I ordered one on-line through Amazon UK and asked my parents to bring it out with them.
I still don't know where, or even if, you can buy a Kindle in Thailand but if you order on-line, Amazon will ship to countries other than the country they are based in.
I've had it a couple of weeks now and here are my thoughts so far.
It's the latest Kindle Wi-Fi 6" E Ink Display model. Upon opening the box I was surprised at how small and light it was. It was switched off but there was a very clear graphic on the screen. I thought this was a sheet of plastic protecting the screen but it was actually the Kindle display. The technology is quite different to a computer display.
There was no instruction book and the only hint was a small graphic telling me to insert the cable (which comes supplied in the box). The other end of this cable can either be connected to a computer USB port or to the Kindle AC adapter (which I also ordered with my Kindle, along with a case).
Setting it up was very easy. It was already configured for my personal use with my name and Amazon account details. I had very little to do before I was in a position to start downloading books.
The most difficult part was adding the Kindle's Wi-Fi MAC address to my wireless access point. It had been so long since I had done this that I had forgotten the process.
What's it like to read books with?
If you enjoy reading paperbacks the Kindle is a perfect replacement for books with small pages that are filled only with text. You can store over a thousand books.
It is not good for the type of reference and learning books that I enjoy. On my desk right now are two books: Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3 by Stephen Laskevitch and The Studio Photographer's Lighting Bible by Calvey Taylor-Haw.
These books are printed on high quality paper and are filled with high quality photos and illustrations. They are a joy to read and couldn't be enjoyed in the same way on a Kindle.
Books have always been very special things to me and nothing beats picking up a quality book and flicking through the pages. A larger Kindle with a high quality colour display would be a step closer, but an electronic device will never beat a real book.
What this means is that I haven't been able to bring myself to download a full price book yet. If I'm going to pay real money I would rather wait for an opportunity when I can buy the actual book; not just an electronic file.
There are quite a few free books in the Amazon catalog, and with most other books you can download a sample. This is all I have been doing so far. Should a book come along that I really want and I can't find it anywhere I will download the Kindle version but that hasn't happened yet.
The Kindle comes pre-loaded with different language dictionaries. One really great feature is that if you are reading a book and come across a word you don't know the meaning of, you can just move the cursor up to the word and the dictionary definition will appear.
The cursor is controlled by a five-way controller at the bottom of the device. There are just four other buttons: A return button to go back to the last page, a button to display the keyboard, a menu button, and a home page button.
There are also two buttons on the side to turn to the next or previous page.
When you need to type, the keyboard button displays an on-screen keyboard and you select characters with the five-way controller. This is easy and with practice you can 'type' quite quickly. The menu is context sensitive and will display different options depending on which page you are looking at.
There is a password option for security. This is a hassle just for home use, but a good idea if you take it travelling. Someone could run up a big bill on your Amazon account if it gets stolen.
What about problems?
The Kindle has a problem displaying certain special characters and symbols. For example, currency symbols are displayed as gobbledegook.
And annoyances?
I can't download certain books because I am in Thailand. Amazon tells me that different countries have different prices. This sounds crazy to me. I really can't see how the Internet can have geographical boundaries, but this is how it is.
I guess if you really wanted to download a book that Amazon had barred you from downloading because of geography you could connect through a proxy server.
The Wi-Fi connection is very good and downloads are quick. The Kindle interface is very intuitive and easy to use.
A web browser is included, but it's next to useless. If I really needed to look at something on-line and the only device available was the Kindle, I could probably manage. However, the limited resolution and poor rendering makes looking at web pages very difficult.
Amazon's free book list changes all the time so it is worth checking often. Some books may only be free for a limited time before they are charged for again.
Apparently, all your downloads are stored in the 'cloud'. Therefore, if you lose your Kindle or it breaks, it should be straightforward to download all your books on to a replacement Kindle.
There are ways of storing personal information from your computer but I haven't done this yet. There was also something on the Amazon web site about a service whereby you send something to Amazon in an e-mail and they will send you an e-mail containing the formatted version of whatever you sent to be downloaded to your Kindle.
I haven't done any tests on battery life either, but the battery seems to last for ages. I believe it will last a month with normal usage. You can turn off the Wi-Fi to increase battery life.
Simply plugging the Kindle into a computer USB port doesn't charge it. You have to eject the device first. Charging takes longer via USB (Amazon says 4-6 hours) but it is faster if you charge via the AC adapter.
The Kindle E Ink display is not backlit. You therefore cannot read in the dark. Various lighting devices are available - either built into a Kindle case or separate - so that you can read under the covers.
The bottom line is that I regard the Kindle as a useful device and I'm enjoying some of the free books I've downloaded. However, it is not - and will never be - a replacement for my collection of real books. I'm still learning how to use all the functions and as I experiment with new functions I expect I will find more uses.
If you scan in your passport details and then forget your passport while travelling you may even be allowed to cross an international border, as a Canadian traveller did on his iPad.
IPad Border Passport: Martin Reisch, Canada Man, Flashes Scanned Passport To Gain Entry To U.S.
Although the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency denies it happened.
U.S. Customs denies Canadian man's iPad border tale
Saturday 7th January 2012
Thais think differently: No. 324
What is a disaster? It's a relative term and different people will have their own ideas. Everyone will agree that the Japanese earthquake was a disaster, but a fashion-conscious teenager might describe a bad haircut as a disaster.
To me, a disaster is finding several feet of filthy flood water in my home. To many Thais, this isn't really a disaster. They don't particularly like it, but it's just one of those things that happens. This lax attitude is probably the reason why not enough has been done in Thailand to prevent regular annual flooding in many places.
Some districts in Chiang Mai province have just been declared 'disaster' zones.
6 Chiang Mai districts declared disaster zones
What terrible disaster has just befallen Chiang Mai, do you think? The answer is that it's a bit cold. The nighttime temperature is still above freezing but sometimes there is a bit of frost in the morning.
Westerners would hardly describe this as a disaster. Newcastle girls going out for a night on the town in the British winter dressed in T-shirts and miniskirts would regard the current temperature in Chiang Mai as positively balmy.
Thais think very differently.
Some more news on flood prevention. Unfortunately, with parts of southern Thailand suffering badly from flooding at the moment, this report only mentions the northern and central regions plus Bangkok.
Scheme targets 17 flood-prone sites
As I have stated many times, minivan drivers in Thailand are notorious for the dangerous way they drive. They drive far too fast, far too aggressively, and have absolutely no concern for the safety or comfort of their passengers.
Before I had my own transport I would always do my best when travelling around Thailand to avoid using minivans. It wasn't always possible. Most of the trips I have taken in minivans have been unpleasant, and a few have been downright terrifying.
Six killed in van accident in Samut Prakan
Friday 6th January 2012
More rains predicted to lash South
After a few days of gorgeous weather, further heavy rain is predicted for the southern provinces with the threat of more flash floods, overflowing and landslides.
When will it ever end? Just as I've finished taking everything downstairs, will I now have to put everything back upstairs again? As I said before, this is a crazy way to live. Living in Thailand is making me old before my time.
I'm always interested to hear about flood prevention ideas and projects in Thailand.
'Flood-prevention plan must include tunnel'
Thais have a problem with the strange Western concept of 'free'. In a country where money is an obsession for most of its inhabitants, everyone is acutely aware of the value of everything. Nothing that has any value is ever given away for free. That would be stupid, wouldn't it?
The first problem was finding a word for this highly unusual concept, but that was easily solved by borrowing the English word.
ฟรี
The next problem was trying to find a way of saying that things are free, when actually they aren't. This small problem was also solved quite easily.
I've just been checking out the price of air-conditioners. At one place we went to the sales assistant made a big thing out of the 'free' installation.
I started to negotiate a discount and asked if there would be a bigger discount if we bought several units. There would.
I asked if he could give us more discount if we got the people building the house to install the air-conditioning. He could. By not having their 'free' installation service we could save a further Bt3,000 for each unit.
Free installation? Really? Only in Thailand ...
Thursday 5th January 2012
I only ever went for one barber shop shave in the UK. It was really out of curiosity to see what kind of experience it was.
The barber, an old Italian who had lived in the UK for years, told me that very few men went to the barber for a shave. He then said that giving a shave was just as much work as giving a haircut. The purpose of this comment was to justify what he would charge me.
It cost £8 and of course he expected a tip. Let's say the total in Thai money at current exchange rates was Bt450. The shave wasn't actually very good. Instead of my face feeling the same as my daughter's backside, I was still a bit bristly. And of course, I had to shave myself the following morning.
It wasn't a very satisfying experience; I felt cheated about how much it cost; and suffice to say, I never went again.
Thailand is very different.
With the panic that ensued following the flood warning on New Year's Day I didn't have time to shave. If I miss a day then it gets quite painful to shave with my electric razor. By the third day without shaving I had started to look like a farang kee-nok and decided that some action was needed.
I went to my local barber shop. It was closed so I went off to find another. These shops are located everywhere and many have a red and white barber's pole outside.
There was a queue - which is normal - and I had to wait 20 minutes. I then got a great shave with a cutthroat razor and it felt really good. The charge was just Bt30 and she didn't expect a tip. I've noticed that Thai men don't make a point of tipping the barber. I gave her Bt40 and told her to keep the change. She was happy.
I always get a shave when I get my hair cut and the charge for everything is Bt60. No tip is expected but I always leave a small one. I also get the lady to clean my ears out. I don't know what solution they use, but it fizzes in your ear like sherbet. It feels great!
With the face shaving, they apply shaving foam or gel depending on what that particular shop uses. You then get an expert shave with a cutthroat razor. They are very good. Most times there isn't any blood at all and sometimes there is just a little nick.
After the shave they apply a cold, scented towel and it feels really good in the constant heat of southern Thailand. Finally, they dab your face with alcohol. This stings a little but I find it quite refreshing. Each time I leave, my face really does feel as soft as the proverbial baby's bum.
When I go for my Bt60 haircut and shave, I get all this treatment and also a mini massage. She massages my shoulders and arms. That also feels good. For the money it is unbeatable value.
I used to get my hair cut at salons but I started going to men's barber shops about 18 months ago. The good thing about the salons is that they give you a really good head massage as they are shampooing your hair. Other than that, it's not as good as the barber shops. The haircut isn't as good and it's a lot more expensive.
Wednesday 4th January 2012
If you came across this page because you have a trip planned to Hat Yai and wanted to find out about the latest flood status, here is a quick update.
As of now, there are absolutely no problems. The water has receded and the weather is great. There was never a problem in the central tourist area, anyway, just in a few outlying areas such as Hat Yai Nai. Everything in the centre of town remained dry.
There are certain areas of Hat Yai that are on high ground and as such are known not to suffer from flooding. One area is the airport and another is where the bus station is located. My brother-in-law's house near the bus station is where I stored my car for a couple of days just in case there was a flood. I knew it would be safe there.
This means that even in the event of a flood, if you are arriving or leaving by bus or plane you are unlikely to have a problem.
If you are just about to arrive in Hat Yai, there is no need to worry at all. Everything is dry and perfectly normal.
It could actually be a very good time to visit. A report in The Nation said that hotel bookings were a long way down. It should be easy to get a hotel room and you may even get a good discount.
Combined with the almost perfect weather - dry, clear and not too hot for once - there probably isn't a better time to visit.
If another bad storm comes in and creates another risk of flooding I will add an update here.
I've written before about the crazy rumours that go around Thailand regarding forthcoming disasters. Someone comes up with a stupid prediction, everyone then gossips, and before you know it the stupid rumour is being talked about as if it is a scientific fact.
A Thai man has just been charged with starting such a rumour. He has been accused of causing tourist numbers to drop by 90%, along with an associated drop in tourist revenue of Bt400 million.
He claimed the prediction was made by his son, who was a psychic. From what I can make out, the crazy predictions normally come from charlatan fortune tellers or rogue monks.
Watching the TV news this morning, Nakhon Sri Thammarat province looks just like central Thailand did a couple of months ago. The flooding is bad.
The weather in Hat Yai is perfect once again with beautiful blue skies, and looking at the webcam pictures I can see that the water level in the canals has dropped considerably overnight.
I drove across a bridge over ร.1 canal yesterday and it was almost full with very strong currents. It looks quite different this morning.
The rainy season is almost over this year and all that we can hope for is that no more big storms arrive. This is crazy.
Since the time that flooding in Thailand started to affect me personally I've been taking an interest in the flood defense system.
What does the physical infrastructure consist of? How is it managed? Who manages it? How much water can the system deal with? How many problems are caused by human error and how many are preventable? Etc.
It is difficult to get information. There isn't a single reference source and local people don't seem to know all that much. In addition there is the language barrier and cultural issues. For example, Thais don't like admitting to errors as this constitutes a loss of face.
I've found information from various sources and I've also spent time locating and observing the local infrastructure.
What has surprised me - in a positive way - is that the infrastructure I have seen looks very good. Also, the local flood management in Hat Yai this year has been very good.
I just found an excellent article in The Nation that provides more interesting information.
Give all parties a say in managing water: Panel
We learn that 'Thailand has 33 big dams and 367 medium-sized dams'. One comment I found very interesting concerned the management of the water level in the dams.
I had never heard of "U-curve theory" before. What this seems to mean is that each dam has an upper and lower water level limit. During the rainy season the level isn't allowed to exceed the upper limit, and during the dry season it isn't allowed to fall below the lower limit.
This is exactly what I wanted to hear and it makes perfect sense.
The article goes on to say that flash floods, like the one many parts of southern Thailand have just experienced, caused by 'wild water' are the most difficult to deal with.
The only thing in the article that was a little concerning is that no particular government unit is in charge of flash floods. Mmmm.
"Sluice gates and dykes are used to control water in rivers. But Thongplew said flash floods were most difficult to control, and no particular government unit was in charge of this."
If Yingluck and the government are really serious about fixing this problem (and they ought to be very serious), it strikes me that one of the first things that needs doing is to create a government department that has responsibility for flash floods.
One good thing about all the flooding in Thailand during the last year is that everyone is talking and thinking about what needs doing to fix the problem. The floods were terrible but had they not occurred I don't think these discussions would be taking place.
After all the talking and thinking ends, the part I am looking forward to is when the action starts. It needs to happen very soon. The central and northern regions had big problems last year. Currently, the south has more problems once again after experiencing bad flooding at the end of 2010. I can't think of a more pressing problem in Thailand right now.
Disaster zones declared as flooding hits Phattalung
I still have some concerns. There has been a great sense of urgency during the flooding, and we've even had politicians weeping openly at the damage, but my first concern is that once the rainy season has finished everything will be forgotten ... until next year's rainy season.
My next concern is that the focus will be on Bangkok and the industrial areas of Ayuthaya, while nothing will happen in the 'forgotten' provinces.
Finally, some people have allegedly claimed in the past that when big infrastructure projects are given the go-ahead in Thailand, roughly 20% of the budget finds its way into back pockets. Short cuts are then taken, allegedly, because there isn't enough money to do a proper job and problems subsequently occur.
Cracks, leaks, corruption: Thailand's new international airport off to a rocky start
I hope that my concerns prove to be groundless.
Tuesday 3rd January 2012
My calves ache to the point of being painful.
I've probably been up and down the stairs a couple of hundred times in the last two days and many of those trips involved carrying heavy items.
As soon as my wife told me flood water was coming on Sunday I felt the adrenalin kick in. It was adrenalin that has kept me going but now that the danger has passed (hopefully) I can feel the effects on my ageing body.
I can't believe how happy I felt yesterday, simply because I woke up to a dry house. Waking up every morning to a dry house is something I used to take for granted in the UK but everything changes in Thailand.
After long drives these days I always feel relieved to get home without having been involved in a serious accident. I never used to feel this way in the UK but I do in Thailand.
282 dead and 2,783 injured in 2,544 road accidents so far this New Year. The next major carnage on Thai roads will be during the Songkran festival in April. It happens every single year.
Apparently, plenty of Buddhist Thais can't wait to complete samsara - the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
Based on average life expectancy in Thailand, the cycle normally takes about 70 years but if you have a motorbike or pickup truck you can get there a lot quicker.
The wife went out yesterday to take some photos of the flooded parts of town. This is exactly what I wanted to do but someone had to stay at home to take care of the baby and I drew the short straw.
My car is still over at my brother-in-law's place and our only form of transport at the moment is the wife's scooter.
The top photo shows a red flag flying, indicating that flooding will occur. The next photo shows a flooded residential area near Hat Yai Nai temple, which is home to a large reclining Buddha.
Compared to previous floods, this one was pretty minor. The mayor of Hat Yai appeared on TV a couple of nights ago stating that the flood level wouldn't exceed a metre and that the duration of any flooding wouldn't exceed two days. He was on TV again last night and said that water wouldn't enter the central tourist district.
I am not aware of any problems in the central business and tourist districts. If you have plans to visit Hat Yai soon you should be fine, although no one can guarantee that there won't be another huge storm and more flooding.
Back in October the municipality were blocking off canals as a measure to protect the central tourist area in the event of flooding, as shown in this photo.
Hat Yai airport is located on high ground outside of town in an area that doesn't flood. Even if you do visit and there is a flood, you won't be trapped and you will be able to fly home.
Flooding eases in Trang and Hat Yai
What is still a little worrying is that the water level in the large canals around town doesn't seem to be falling very quickly. There was hardly any change yesterday and when I checked the webcams this morning the water level had only gone down a little. If more heavy rain falls, this could turn into a big problem.
I tried to talk to my brother-in-law yesterday about the flood problems, and to find out about the problem in Sadao. I say 'tried' because I have big difficulties with the southern Thai dialect which my wife's family use.
I struggle enough as it is with the standard central dialect, but I find the southern dialect almost unintelligible. It's spoken a lot around where I live and I feel quite embarrassed at times when neighbours try to speak to me and I haven't a clue what they are trying to say.
Anyway, from what I could understand, the management of the reservoir water level isn't the only problem. This was the problem last year but not this year, apparently.
He said the area was mountainous and used the term 'naam bpaa' (wild water) for the run-off of water after heavy rain. It is this 'wild water' that causes the problem.
Whatever the problem is, it desperately needs fixing.
The danger seems to have passed and we are now in the process of putting the house back together. The only positive thing that has come out of this is that the house is sparkling clean.
A lady comes in twice a week to clean but dirt still accumulates underneath and behind things that don't get moved. We were forced to move everything and we have cleaned everywhere. It has also been a good opportunity to throw away the things we no longer need.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Monday 2nd January 2012
It was eerily silent last night - just as it was early in November 2010 on the night before the big flood. In November 2010 I woke up to find two metres of filthy flood water downstairs. This time there was nothing.
Last night I spoke to the neighbour who was going to help me lift the sofa at around 11pm. His view was that if the water hadn't arrived by 10pm then it wouldn't arrive at all. It seems he was right.
There was no further rain and the sky is clear this morning. According to the radio yesterday evening, certain areas of Hat Yai were definitely going to flood but at the moment I am not aware of the extent of the flooding.
My sister-in-law lives right next to a large canal and the water level almost reached her front door but didn't enter the house.
I feel enormously relieved, but also quite angry. This has wasted at least two days of my life and caused a lot of mental anguish. The work involved yesterday taking everything upstairs was also physically tiring.
The storm over New Year wasn't unusual for this part of the world at this time of the year but whenever a bad storm comes in there is a risk of flooding. I don't know how people can live like this and why the problem wasn't dealt with years ago.
Hat Yai's flood defences are fine. There have been some huge storms since I've been here and the system works perfectly.
This year - exactly the same as last year - all I keep hearing about is water coming from Sadao district on the Malaysian border. There's a big reservoir out there and whenever there is a lot of rain something goes wrong. Huge amounts of water are subsequently released and it immediately becomes a problem for Hat Yai.
Whatever the problem is, I wish the relevant authorities would just start taking steps to fix it.
We now need to wait for the all clear from the municipality but I have already started taking stuff downstairs and I just reconnected the Internet so that I have my connection with the outside world once again.
What a fantastic start to the New Year.
A few people have been searching for information about the Hat Yai flood situation. I apologise for the lack of updates yesterday but not knowing if or when the water would arrive and how much there would be, I thought it prudent just to unplug my Internet router and access point for safe keeping. I lost one, and almost the other, in the flood of 2010. In this photo you can see the water line left by the flood just below the access point.
The Hat Yai City Climate web site has live updates and several webcam images. As you can see, the water level in several canals is still very high (including the one in front of my sister-in-law's house). If more rain were to fall there would be a problem but the weather looks great at the moment.
I hope it stays that way, at least until the water level goes down to the normal level.
Flash floods hit 3 provinces in South
And more craziness on Thai roads. Nothing ever changes in Thailand.
165 killed on roads over first three days
Sunday 1st January 2012
How was your New Year's Day? Mine wasn't the best. I'm adding this after uploading the previous posts. I don't currently have an Internet connection so can't upload anything.
Just after I uploaded my earlier post I went downstairs to have breakfast. I have no commitments next week, nothing urgent to do at the moment, and was thinking about what fun things I could get up to.
All of a sudden the wife came hurrying downstairs with a worried look on her face telling me there was a big problem. My first thought was the baby. I thought the baby had fallen off the bed and landed on her head. However, she was carrying the baby and there was obviously no problem. What was it?
She had just received a phone call from her brother. She told me to keep calm ("Jai yen yen") and then said that flood water was already on its way to Hat Yai from Sadao. Sadao (a district of Songkhla near the Malaysian border) is the district where all the water came from last year that caused the big flood.
Great. My heart sank. This is the news I had been dreading ever since last year's flood and now that we are into the New Year I thought that the risk of flooding was over for this rainy season. I was wrong. The torrential rain that fell for several hours overnight and ruined New Year's Eve for many people had caused flooding problems.
Before last year's flood I had never been in a flood situation before and wasn't sure what to do. However, last year's experience prepared me well and I knew exactly what needed doing.
I started to move as much as I could upstairs. My wife went out to get emergency supplies. We had bought flood supplies a couple of months ago but as the threat of flooding had gradually receded, so we let our supplies run low.
I then drove the car over to my brother-in-law's place, which is on high ground. On the way I went through some very wet areas where flooding had already started.
There were lots of people out and about doing the same things as us - getting emergency supplies and looking for safe places to park their cars.
I lost my Internet router (and almost my wireless access point) in the flood last year so this time unplugged everything and took it upstairs. I then lost my Internet connection for the rest of the day. A neighbour helped us put the fridge on the kitchen counter. This didn't help last year as the flood water was so high, but the fridge will be OK this time if the flood water stays below the lever of the kitchen counter.
The upstairs of our house is now a real mess. We are storing everything we have in the two bedrooms upstairs and have constructed a temporary kitchen in the back bedroom. I moved our gas stove upstairs so that we can cook and boil water.
We have plenty of drinking water and the large water containers that I bought a couple of months ago have been filled and are sitting in the upstairs bathrooms. Last year after the flood we didn't have enough water to wash with.
I bought a dining table last year a couple of weeks before the flood. It was ruined and needed replacing. If more flooding occurs, then the replacement will need replacing. I tried to get insurance against flooding but the insurance companies here won't insure this house because it is in an area prone to flooding. They aren't stupid.
There was quite a lot of damage last year and the only compensation we received was Bt5,000 from the municipality. We are better prepared this year and there will be less damage if flooding occurs.
A flood flag I passed this morning was still green, meaning that everything is OK. Listening to the local radio station, however, the municipality had announced a yellow flag situation.
Yellow flags are flown when the canal water levels are within 1.5m of the top and they are a sign for people to prepare for flooding. This is what we have been doing.
As I write now, it is almost 8pm. The rain stopped several hours ago and everything seems calm. This is exactly what happened last year and it is deceptive. It is easy to think that there won't be a flood because the rain has stopped, but if a huge amount of water was released from the Sadao reservoir - and is on its way to Hat Yai - this is what will cause problems.
It feels strange. We are waiting upstairs while the downstairs of the house is almost empty. Everything seems fine outside and there is no rain but no one knows what will happen next. How much water was released from the reservoir? Where is it now? Will more rain come? Can the flood defences cope? No one knows.
If the danger goes away then green flags will be flown again. If flooding is to occur then red flags will be flown. Sirens will be sounded just before the flooding occurs.
At the moment we still have electricity, water and access to everything in the house. If no flood water appears soon I will think about connecting the Internet again.
For the first seven years I lived in Thailand I was never affected by flooding. Last year's big flood struck within two months of moving to this rented house, and now this. It's getting a little tiresome.
My wife and I feel quite exhausted after preparing everything today. If it floods, we will have further problems. If it doesn't flood, then this has all been a waste of time but at least the house will get a thoroughly good clean.
I have really started to hate this house and can't wait to get out. Our new place is in an area that doesn't flood (which was the main reason for buying it) but it isn't finished yet. Progress with the new house has been very slow and one reason for that is the wet weather recently.
Once in the new house, local flooding will still inconvenience us when it occurs, but at least we won't have the inconvenience and stress of flood water actually coming into the house.
I have to say that Thais are very good at dealing with adversity. They aren't very good at preventing problems, but they are good with dealing with them.
The wife was very cool, calm and collected and I received the usual help from her family. Her brothers are all in the auto trade and an army of helpers arrived this morning to drive the cars they have for sale to high ground.
My poor cats are having a bit of a rough time at the moment. The little female was scared out of her wits last night by the fireworks and while I was rearranging the house this morning she could sense that something was wrong but didn't know what it was.
It's dark now and everything is still up in the air. The flags are still flying yellow and the risk isn't over yet. We will go to bed tonight not knowing what we will find in the morning when we wake up. It doesn't feel very good.
After the terrible flooding elsewhere in Thailand this year the government has pledged to improve the country's flood defence infrastructure. That's great news, but why it has taken this long I just don't know. This problem is as old as Thailand.
Flooding is a major problem in Thailand. If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, as many parts of Thailand are, you can't live a normal life.
If this rented house was mine I would like to add some permanent features downstairs but this would be foolish. Nothing can be fixed permanently because during the rainy season each year you need to be able to get everything upstairs when there is a threat of flooding.
All through this rainy season we have been living with the threat of a flood and if I couldn't afford to move we would be in this situation every single year.
The government may be planning some fixes but as far as I know nothing has happened yet and realistically speaking it's going to take many years once they do start because this is such a huge project.
It seems a crazy way to live but as my wife pointed out, many Thais don't have a choice. Houses in areas that don't flood are sold at a premium and many Thais can only afford to live in houses built in areas that will flood.
I will make more updates later. I am hoping, of course, that no flooding will occur and that we will be able to get the house back to normal soon. News reports have stated that the water level in the main canal is about one metre from the top.
The rain stopped several hours ago and hopefully the water level is going down rather than rising. However, I still don't know what the situation is regarding the water from the Sadao reservoir. If more heavy rain comes we will have to expect the worst.
There has been flooding already in parts of Songkhla, Phattalung, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. TV news reports have stated that the rain is now on its way to Satun, Trang, Krabi and Phuket on the west coast of the peninsula.
It's now 8:30pm and still it is very calm outside without any rain. The storm drains outside are virtually empty. It is so easy to think that the danger is now over.
Listening to the local radio, however, that proves not to be the case.
According to the radio, red flags are now flying in some, but not all areas, of Hat Yai meaning that flooding will definitely occur in those areas. The flood water is estimated to arrive at 10:00pm.
The only thing we have left downstairs is the sofa. It is too big to get all the way upstairs and we saved it last year by hoisting it half way up the stairs. A neighbour will help me to lift it but we are still waiting for news related to the area we live in.
I can't believe that with all this going on and the imminent arrival of flood water in everyone's houses, there are some idiots letting off fireworks again. I am really struggling trying to understand what is being said on the radio (all in Thai, of course) and bloody fireworks are the last thing I need.
I keep hoping that the rainy season has ended but this has been the wettest start to a New Year imaginable.
It started raining heavily yesterday evening and the rain hasn't stopped. At 9am this morning it is still raining as heavily as ever and doesn't show any signs of stopping soon. The sky is black and foreboding without a piece of clear sky anywhere.
It's dark and feels quite cold. Cold for here, that is. My thermometer is showing 26° but when you are used to it being around 30° all the time, a few degrees lower can seem cold.
The tap water even seems cold. We have a couple of shower heaters but many Thai homes don't. Showering in cold water isn't too bad for most of the year but on days like this it isn't much fun.
New Year is quite a big thing here. The local municipality puts a lot of effort into making the town attractive at New Year for both locals and tourists.
Some streets are closed off and lots of food stalls are set up in the town centre. With New Year being a complete washout this year I feel quite sorry for the organisers and vendors, as well as for the many tourists who travelled to spend New Year here.
Maybe it's because people were fearful that more flooding would occur this year, but this rainy season has been really miserable. There have been quite a few dry spells but whenever storms have arrived they have lasted a long time and brought a lot of heavy rain.
I had always considered Hat Yai to have the worst drivers in Thailand. However, after driving to Phuket three times last year I have now changed my view.
The driving in Phuket is just ugly. Everyone drives way too fast, and I don't think I have ever encountered as much aggression on the roads as I have there.
Wherever I drove, at whatever speed, there was always a vehicle just a few feet behind filling my rear view mirror. Lane discipline is non-existent and it is common for drivers to weave in and out of lanes in order to get ahead of everything else on the road.
If another vehicle is ahead and the driver wants to get past, some very aggressive tactics are used. They try to intimidate vehicles ahead by approaching very close at high speed and by flashing their headlights and turning on their right-hand indicators.
Most of the time this is completely pointless. Big tour buses will fight to get past using these tactics and then have to stop to pick up or drop off passengers. Other vehicles will do it just before they are forced to stop because of traffic or traffic lights.
It seems to be more of a sport and a show of masculine virility (you never encounter crazy females drivers in Thailand) rather than a need to get somewhere in a hurry. As I said, it's just ugly.
Some years ago, after seeing how bad the driving standards were in Thailand, I remember being surprised at how tolerant other drivers were and that there were no incidents of road rage. That has changed, apparently.
My brother who owns a house in Phuket witnessed a road rage incident recently where one car stopped, the driver got out, opened the door of the car behind, and landed a punch on the driver.
Why is Phuket so bad?
I'm not exactly sure, but the general behaviour in tourist resorts always seems to be a bit wilder than in other places. Phuket is a wealthy province because of all the tourism and lots of people have cars.
Whenever young Thai males get hold of any vehicle, they want to race. In Thailand there are no deterrents to street racing as there are in other countries. Thai boy racers show not the slightest degree of responsibility or interest in other people and don't care whose lives they put at risk, whether it is another driver, an innocent pedestrian, or one of their friends who is a passenger in the car.
They aren't the only ones. Thai minivan and bus drivers share the same lack of responsibility for the passengers they carry every day.
Minivan drivers are notoriously bad in Thailand and because of the huge number of tourists in Phuket there are a huge number of minivans. The aggressive drivers I encounter all the time are normally driving pickup trucks, minivans, tour buses, or Toyota Fortuners.
There are also some really dangerous roads in Phuket. There are steep inclines, sharp curves, and frequently wet weather at certain times of the year. Combined with crazy and aggressive drivers, it can really be a death trap.
Phuket roads blamed for traffic accidents: Poll
You don't hear much about what happens in the tourist resorts by reading the national or foreign press. If you want to know about Pattaya read the Pattaya Daily News. Similarly, read the Phuket Gazette to get the lowdown on Phuket, especially the archives.
In the archives you will find many stories like the following. These reports are all fairly recent:
Phuket death curve crash: Grieving father pleas for drivers to slow down
Phuket student killed, classmate injured in truck crash
One dead, one injured in Phuket high-speed crash (The Nissan Cefiro is a favourite car for Thai boy racers.)
Driver charged over death of pregnant Phuket resort worker
Hit-and-run slams Phuket woman off the road and into a ravine
Phuket truck crash leaves residents in blackout
Singaporean recovers in Phuket after crash kills friend
Phuket pedestrian killed on merit-making journey
Phuket 'death bend' gets 'band aid' safety, for now
Phuket Breaking News: Bus crash on Patong Hill; many injured
Phuket election canvasser dies in high-speed collision
Phuket Breaking News: Bus overturns on Chalong-Kata hill
Three injured in Patong truck crash
Phuket truck driver killed in roadside crash
Etc. etc. etc.
Unfortunately, it's not just Phuket and unfortunately lots of foreigners are also affected, as were three UK teenagers while taking a gap-year break before university.
Three UK teenagers killed in Thailand bus crash
These are just reports related to crazy driving but lots of other reports in the archives not related to road accidents give some interesting insights into what it is like to live in Phuket.
I received an e-mail recently from someone who had spent a two week vacation in Phuket and then decided Phuket was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Yawnnnnn. It was a dumb e-mail with dumb questions from someone who obviously didn't have a clue about Thailand. I answered as politely as I could but never heard anything else.
If you've spent a vacation in Phuket and decided it is the perfect place to live, I would suggest going through the Phuket Gazette archives for a couple of hours to get a feel for what really goes on in Phuket.
There was also an interesting post about Phuket in the Bangkok Post forums:
Multiple Farang Deaths in Phuket
While in Phuket recently, I had the opportunity to speak with an expat who has lived in Phuket for 13 years. He confirmed all this and remarked that as soon as he drives over the bridge into Phangnga province there is an instant improvement. It gets better the further away from Phuket he goes.
The problems with Thai drivers certainly don't disappear after you leave Phuket but I also noticed a big improvement.
The same expat said that he loves Thailand but he no longer loves Phuket. I loved it in 1992; it was still a reasonable place in 1996; but after that I stopped going. I only go now because of family commitments.
Another interesting comment he made was that things really changed (for the worse) after the tsunami. Thais get very jaded when they deal with tourists all the time, especially rude tourists. He singled out Russian tourists as being particularly rude when they deal with Thais.
Phuket continues to attract lots of foreigners and I can see the attraction. After arriving from Europe it is warm and there are lots of palm trees. The notion foreigners have of 'paradise' always seems to revolve around blue seas, white beaches and palm trees.
It is a big vacation resort and there is a vacation feel to the island. Brits who get excited about Blackpool or Southend will feel the same excitement when they see all the fairy lights and neon in Patong.
It is no secret that many single foreign men go to Thailand for sex vacations and Phuket is one of the locations where lots of poor rural Thai girls go to earn money as prostitutes. Scuba diving is popular and the expat I was talking to mentioned that golfing holidays are also popular.
Farangs in Thailand get very defensive about where they choose to live in Thailand and I once had a heated conversation with a German diving instructor when I told him what I thought of Phuket.
My brother loves it and wouldn't consider living anywhere else in Thailand. He has money and can afford the best. The best is available in Phuket, whereas it isn't in poorer areas of Thailand. He wants his daughter to go to a top international school, he wants to eat at the best Western restaurants, and he wants to buy the best imported food from Europe.
My views are different. Firstly, while living in Thailand I like to feel as if I am in Thailand. While walking around Central Festival last week it didn't feel like Thailand at all.
Phuket is far too busy and I don't like crowds. The traffic is awful, the driving is aggressive, and it was a terrible job getting parked last week. As I mentioned above, Thais change when they deal with foreigners all the time and not always for the best.
Places like Phuket attract both bad foreigners and bad Thais. Take a look at some of the stories in the Phuket Gazette archives at the link above for examples.
Another great advantage of living in Thailand is that things are generally a lot cheaper. In many places that is true but Phuket is expensive.
It's not all bad. Phuket is a large island and it's an entire province in itself, unlike any other island in Thailand. There are still lots of unspoilt places and Phuket town has some interesting areas.
Some of the old shophouse buildings in Phuket town have been very sympathetically restored and look good. I like the historic parts of Phuket town and would like to go on a guided tour as described at the following link.
There is also a great restaurant in Phuket town called krua tummachart ('Natural Kitchen', or according to the restaurant's business card 'Natural Restaurant'). It is located at 62/5 Soi Phutom, Bangkok Road, Amphoe Muang, Phuket, 83000. Telephone +66 (0)76 224287 or 214037. It's open every day from 10:30am to 11:30pm and is well worth a visit.
I can understand why certain people choose to live permanently in Phuket, but it's not for me personally.
One of my farang friends who has lived in Thailand for over 20 years estimates that Thailand is about 50 years behind Western countries. He's probably about right, although sometimes I think it's more like 100.
I am old enough to remember a time in the UK almost 50 years ago when drivers never wore seatbelts, motorcyclists never wore helmets, drinking and driving was common, and everyone let off their own fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night.
These activities all resulted in deaths and injuries, and therefore legislation was brought in to make things safer. People weren't always happy initially but they accepted that there were good reasons for the changes and over time people's views changed. For example, many Westerners now feel uncomfortable in a car if they aren't wearing a seatbelt.
I've covered Thai driving extensively, but what about fireworks?
It has been like living in a war zone this past week in the run up to New Year. While sitting indoors there has been nothing but a series of explosions outside the house. Some have been so loud as to make me jump, and they've had a similar effect on the baby.
Yesterday as we were coming home from the supermarket there was a group of barefoot urchins no older than six or seven with no adults around setting off bangers in the street.
As I mentioned above while talking about Thai driving, Thais have no sense of responsibility and apparently no idea that setting off fireworks in the streets of a residential area could be dangerous.
My wife likes to sit outside the front of the house with the baby but I told her to come in tonight before a rocket exploded in the baby's face. It's crazy.
The other crazy time (coming soon) is Chinese New Year. The authentic Chinese firecrackers that have been outlawed in most civilised countries are easily available in Thailand and Thai males with the intellect of nine year-olds like nothing more than to set off firecrackers at all times of the day and night with big, childish grins on their faces.
While on the subject, something else some Thai men like to do is to fire guns in the air. Whatever education they had, it didn't seem to include anything about Newton and the laws of gravity.
The daughter of a woman I was teaching a few years ago had her Achilles tendon shattered by a bullet as it returned to earth after being fired in the air to celebrate New Year. At one time it was feared she would never walk normally again but the surgeon did a great job.
I remember a Thai child being killed in a similar fashion a few years ago.
One of the great things about Thailand is that it isn't a nanny state. There is a lot more freedom in Thailand for people to do what they want than there is in other countries. What this means though is that people need to take more responsibility for their actions.
When there is lots of freedom but almost no responsibility it starts to feel a little anarchic.
Why are things the way they are in Thailand?
There seem to be two reasons. The first is simply a lack of education, and the second is more to do with culture.
Education first. My wife said that before she met me she had no idea that not securing a child in a proper baby car seat was dangerous. She put the blame on a lack of education because no one had ever told her. It was the same with wearing seat belts. She had never worn a seat belt until I insisted she do so.
There was a huge government campaign in Britain about wearing seat belts in the 1970's with Jimmy Savile telling Brits to 'Clunk-Click' in a series of TV adverts.
Clunk Click - Shopping with Jimmy Savile
Apparently, nothing like this has ever happened in Thailand.
The cultural reasons are more complex. Our daughter was born with the problem of her feet being out of position. She has to wear shoes with braces to keep her feet in position and over a period of time the condition will be corrected.
It is essential that she wears the shoes, even though we are aware it restricts the amount of freedom she has to crawl and walk. We know it restricts her freedom but there are very good reasons for doing so.
Restricting any kind of freedom seems to be a cultural taboo in Thailand. We saw the doctor a couple of days ago and she told us that many Thai parents who have children with the same condition refuse to put the shoes on their children.
By not wearing the shoes the condition will not be corrected, which in my mind is complete madness, but this is another example of where Western thinking differs enormously to Thai thinking.
Thais don't expect other people to impose restrictions on them, no matter what type of restrictions or for what reasons, and they don't expect to impose restrictions on other people. Everyone just does what they want.
This is fine as long as there is plenty of responsibility, consideration for others, and common sense. Sadly, these qualities are often lacking in Thailand.