Living In Thailand Blog
Thursday 9th January 2014
Freezing cold v sizzling heat: Which is worse?
New vocabulary seems to be popping up all the time now. I'm sure that I hadn't heard the term 'Polar Vortex' before very recently. My uncle in Ontario emigrated to Canada 45 years ago and tells me that the current spell of weather is probably the coldest he has ever known.
I suffer in extremes of temperature, whether it is very hot or very cold. On one trip to Canada in the summer I stayed with my cousin who was living at the time in an apartment in Davisville, Toronto. The temperature was about 100°F and the humidity about 100%. He had no A/C and in the end I had to move to my uncle's place, which had A/C, because the heat and humidity were killing me.
I have no tolerance for severe cold weather, either, and I find life very difficult when it gets cold. Now that I am acclimatised to living in a tropical region I would find it extremely difficult going back to a temperate zone and having to deal with cold winters.
Southern Thailand isn't too bad, but it does get too hot at times. Northern Thailand is hotter in the hot season and there is a cool season, which southern Thailand doesn't have.
I find it really convenient not having to dress for cold weather and even at its coldest here - around 25°C - all that is needed is a fleece or light jacket. I never have to scrape ice from my car, and I never have to worry about icy roads.
When it does get too hot it is easy to turn on A/C at home, and every car has A/C. I try to avoid doing this because it messes with my sinuses, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
It's not always comfortable, but given the choice I would always take hot over cold. The thing that I miss about England is those perfect days, where it is bright and sunny but not too hot. In southern Thailand it is normally too hot, or it is raining.
One thing that I don't miss about the UK is the lack of sunshine during the winter months. Those short British days and long nights had a worse effect on my mental health than the cold and wet.
My parents have just arrived and they love the weather here. Cold and damp weather seems worse as you get older, and as you get older there is more chance of injuries from slipping on ice.
My parents are always very impressed with their trips to Thailand. They love the weather and when we went shopping today they were really impressed with the shops. It is the same when they stay in Phuket with my brother, and in addition my brother has a large villa on one rai of land with a pool and they live very comfortably.
I noticed today that Thais treat my parents differently to the way they treat me. This could simply be because my folks are older and are thus more deserving of respect, or it could be that after 10 years in Thailand I just look jaded and miserable and the locals keep away from people with grumpy faces.
I'm not really miserable and grumpy. In an e-mail a reader of this blog described me as 'world-weary', which is a term that I quite like and it sounds better than jaded, miserable, or grumpy. It also describes my attitude to life more accurately.
In TOPS there were members of staff stopping, wai-ing to them very politely, and wishing them good morning. My parents don't drive here and as a passenger in a vehicle you aren't aware of what's going on most of the time because you don't look in mirrors and see jai rawn Thais six feet behind you trying to get past.
They have been to Thailand quite a few times, but I know that they know nothing about the country apart from the superficial impressions they get as tourists.
That's fine. I want them to have a good time when they come and I don't want them to know about all the bad stuff that goes on in Thailand. They have no intention of ever moving to Thailand and not knowing about the dark side of Thailand doesn't matter.
What is more concerning is that many people who do intend moving to Thailand are equally as ignorant. I had no idea about the country when I first arrived to live and it took me about four years to see what it was really like.
On the other hand, it's actually quite good for me to look at Thailand through someone else's eyes occasionally. Being so familiar with Thailand now, it is easy to forget what it was that attracted me to the country in the first place. When I am hosting visitors I am reminded of these things.
Perhaps I have become too negative? Thailand isn't all bad and nowhere in the world is perfect. I just get frustrated because by changing a few key things Thailand has the potential to be 'more perfect' than most other places.
On a personal note, my wife will be going to hospital in a few hours' time and the birth should be tomorrow morning ... much to her relief. I expect to be very busy for a while and I'm not sure when I will have some free time to sit down at my computer again to do this.
Saturday 4th January 2014
Obesity quadruples to nearly one billion in developing world
The shape of Thais is changing (teenagers are now starting to get quite tall), but there are still very few obese people in Thailand.
When I first came to Thailand I couldn't believe how shapely the girls were. Most are just about perfect, and even those who say they are 'fat' (in Thai terms) aren't at all fat by Western standards. In the UK it was only ever large girls that were attracted to me, but I was never interested in them. That all changed when I moved to Thailand and it was a real highlight of being in Thailand.
In Krabi some years ago with my previous girlfriend we took a longtail boat from Ao Nang to Railay Beach. As we were waiting to leave, two gigantic farang girls got on the boat and sat together on one side causing the boat to list heavily.
The young Thai boatboy looked quite concerned. He couldn't speak English, but managed to get their attention and using gestures separated them so that one sat on the left and one on the right. The boat righted itself and we carried on. I can't imagine that this would ever be a problem with two Thai girls sitting together.
The men too tend to have good physiques and wear trouser sizes that I haven't been able to wear since I was in my 20's. Older Thai men tend to be fairly short and stocky with a lot of upper body strength - perfect for Thai boxing. I can understand Western women and gay men getting quite excited when they see Thai men stripped off to the waist.
McDonalds and KFC branches are always full of young Thais and this diet of Western junk food is gradually taking its toll. Youngsters are getting taller, but inevitably they will start to get fatter as well.
The natural diet of Thais is quite healthy and quite well balanced, and it is a shame that this is being destroyed by Western 'culture'.
It is drummed into Thai kids from a very early age that exercise is important and this is a really good thing. Thais will tell you repeatedly how important exercise is. Physical education is important at school and many Thais continue their exercise regimes after they finish their education.
All over the country you will see morning and evening aerobics sessions being held in public places. These are sometimes free, or some charge a nominal fee of Bt5 or so. If you want to join in you will be welcomed. Most of the participants are female, but there are also a few males.
Of course, with Thailand being the Land of Contradictions, you will always find examples of behaviour that don't quite fit together. Thais will tell you all the time how important exercise is, but then they refuse to walk anywhere. This has always seemed quite strange to me, but they will explain that they are trying to avoid the sun.
Rather than putting aside time to exercise just for the sake of exercising, I prefer to do it in a more natural way. Before I was married I used to walk everywhere and Thais couldn't believe the distances that I walked. It was incomprehensible to them. Nowadays, I don't walk as much but if I see someone walking where I don't expect to see someone walking it is normally a farang.
In our old house we used to live about 50 yards from the end of the Soi, where the rubbish bins were located. I, of course, walked when I had rubbish to dispose of. On the other hand, my neighbour used his motorbike. I have also seen a Thai women delivering food from her restaurant to someone 50 yards away. It's strange how they believe that exercise is so important, yet they won't walk short distances.
The Thai word for 'fat' (adjective) is oo-un.
อ้วน
Thais also use another word - oo-up - which means chubby or well-rounded to describe people who have a little more fat on the bone. I think that it's quite a nice word and I am quite attracted to girls who are oo-up rather than the really thin ones.
อวบ
I guess that climate also has an effect on body size and that in cold climates we seek food that will result in some more body fat to keep out the cold. When I was in Chiang Rai, where it sometimes gets quite chilly, the girls were fairer than most southern Thai girls and also seemed to be a little more rounded.
Friday 3rd January 2014
There's a huge amount of household debt in Thailand.
In this article, the Bank of Thailand plays the problem down as not being anything to worry about. The BoE says that household debt in Malaysia and South Korea is higher.
Household debt in Malaysia - Is it sustainable?
Just comparing the problem to certain other countries is meaningless.
The road death rate in Thailand is lower than Namibia, Swaziland, Malawi, Iraq and Iran, but that doesn't exactly mean that there isn't a problem in Thailand.
The subject of economics confuses the hell out of me, and many countries' economic policies seem to defy all logic, but I can't believe that having high levels of household debt is nothing to be concerned about.
With both Thailand and Malaysia it seems that the respective governments have encouraged people to get in debt. The second article says that the Malaysian government has encouraged car ownership in order to support Proton, the state-owned car manufacturer.
Malaysia has implemented protectionist policies to support and protect Proton.
Malaysia: time to liberalise its automobile sector
In Thailand, one of the government's many populist policies was to give a big financial incentive to first-time car buyers when buying eco-cars. These are small cars with an engine no bigger than 1.2L that don't use a lot of fuel.
The regular price of an eco-car is about Bt500,000, but the government scheme (which has ended now) reduced the price to about Bt400,000. Nothing is more important than perceived status in Thailand and a car is the ultimate status symbol. All Thais want a car.
Instead of Thais spending Bt500,000, which they didn't have, many spent Bt400,000, which they didn't have. Most eco-cars were bought on credit and now a lot are appearing on used car lots because the owners couldn't keep up with repayments.
Buying large items on credit is normal in Thailand and credit companies such as Aeon are enormous. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, most Thais covet things that they can't afford to buy outright with cash. Secondly, loaning people money is very good business for the credit companies.
I once read about a farang in Thailand who wished to buy a car. The salesman was all excited. That was until the farang said that he wanted to pay cash. The salesman then refused to sell the car because he would miss out on the commission from the loan.
I have been to motorbike shops and not seen one cash price. All that is shown is the down payment and the monthly instalments.
Apart from increased household debt, the first-time car buyer scheme has also resulted in increased traffic (in a country already choking as a result of too much traffic) and a collapse in prices in the used car market (which was actually a good thing because previously used car prices in Thailand were way too high). This and other populist polices, such as the rice-pledging scheme, have made some people happy and secured a few votes, but have done more bad than good for the country and the economy.
This is yet another reason for all the political turmoil in Thailand.
Wednesday 1st January 2014
Happy New Year to all my readers and may your numbers swell to double digits by the end of 2014.
It has been a rare treat finding some time to write here this week, however, the situation is about to change dramatically. My parents will arrive for a month on the 8th, my wife will go into hospital on the 9th, and our second child should arrive on the 10th if all goes well.
It is at this time that my life will be turned on its head again. Of course, I hope that I will get a little time to myself but I am not very optimistic.
I expect to be very busy for a few months as a result of the new baby, and when my daughter starts attending Kindergarten next year that will mean another big change to our daily schedule.
Oh well, it's only for the next 25 years or so.
I don't have definitive answers about Thai behaviour. No one has. I observe behaviour and after seeing the same things many times I start to see certain patterns of behaviour. With some things I don't know why they happen, and with others I can sometimes theorise.
I don't know why a pickup truck driver deliberately drove through red traffic lights at very high speed when he could quite easily have killed himself and other people. Even if I had caught him up and asked him I wouldn't have got an answer. I can only guess about these things.
When I wrote about many Thais not seeming to be able to plan ahead, I did so after seeing many examples over the years of Thais not planning ahead. A reader sent me an e-mail saying, "Perhaps it's not a cultural or ethnicity problem, more of a need based problem?" This is basically what I was saying, if only with a difference in semantics.
I believe that we are all shaped by our climatic, economic and societal environment. If there is no need to do something, then we don't develop an ability to do it. If our climatic environment is such that there is never a need to plan ahead to make sure that food is available, then we won't necessarily develop a particularly strong ability to plan ahead in general.
If, for example, our primary food source only appeared under very particular climatic conditions we would develop a very good ability to predict when those weather conditions would come about. It's all about needs and survival.
A counter argument might cite Singapore, a country that is similar in climate to Thailand but whose inhabitants have an excellent ability to predict future trends and to prepare themselves for the future. My first answer would be that climate is only one factor that shapes culture, and that there are others.
A few programmes on Channel News Asia recently have highlighted how Singapore is always looking at future technologies and how it is already preparing itself for things such as 3D printing and robotics, which Singaporeans believe will be important technologies in the future.
If Singapore had been left completely alone for the last 60 years I think it would be similar to Thailand. However, the little nation state under Lee Kuan Yew, in addition to the Chinese work ethic, has completely changed everything.
Singapore's ability to predict future trends and plan ahead is also to do with the need for survival. Hardly any food is produced in Singapore and therefore planning ahead has nothing to do with food production.
Singapore has hardly any natural resources and its survival depends on providing goods and services. In such a competitive and fast-moving world it is important to be first with new technologies, otherwise you will lose out. Singaporeans realise this and always try to be first.
As a result of constantly striving to be first and not losing out, a strong culture of Kiasu has arisen in Singapore. Singapore and Thailand are very different countries and the different environments have shaped different cultures.
Also, and I know that this is a contentious subject with some people, I believe that colonialism changed the culture and thinking of countries that were colonised. I am not proud of certain policies during the colonial period, but the colonial powers brought new ideas and benefits with them and these rubbed off on the locals.
Thailand was never colonised and in this respect it is quiet different to the other Southeast Asian countries that were colonised. Interestingly, Pasuk Phongpaichit posits that the huge inequalities in Thai society also stem from the fact that Thailand was never colonised.
She says that in other countries the anti-colonial movements that followed colonialism challenged the old order of power and made society fairer for all. In Thailand that never happened, and thus the old ruling powers still hang on to that power. These power struggles are the reason for all the current political turmoil, with Thaksin seen as someone who was challenging and threatening the old order.
Understanding the colors of Thai politics
The other possibility that I didn't mention before was the influence of Buddhism. Dwelling on past events is pointless because they can't be changed and worrying about possible future events is pointless because they may never happen.
We only ever experience life in the present and that's what we should concentrate on. Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future only prevents us from enjoying the present.
I agree with this philosophy to an extent, but I believe that preparing ourselves for the future is also quite important.
Thais are very perceptive people and they seem to know instinctively what you are thinking and how you are feeling. I think this is because Thais also conceal the truth a lot and rarely give you a straight answer. They will often tell you what they think you want to hear, or will make something up because they don't know the answer and don't want to lose face.
I believe that this reluctance to give a straight answer or to tell the truth has resulted in the ability among Thais to see the truth when someone isn't telling the truth.
Again, I don't know for sure, but over the years I have been told a lot of lies and I have also noticed that my Thai friends are very perceptive. I think there is a connection and this is a theory that I have developed.
Mulder and other anthropologists do the same thing. The only difference is that they have been through a lot of formal education on the subject. I haven't, but I like to think and theorise.
My old Ford has been in for lots of repairs since I bought it second-hand three years ago and I have been very impressed with the service I have received from the local Ford service centre. The diagnosis of problems and the quality of the workmanship have been very good. I've not had to go back about any bad repairs.
In the UK I received very good service when I was driving Porsches, but with company Vauxhalls and other lesser makes it was a nightmare. They couldn't find problems and when they attempted to fix something there was often another problem caused by their repairs.
I think there are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, with the vast majority of Thais being poor they cannot afford to live in a throw-away society. Westerners might be tempted to throw something away when it breaks and buy a new item, but many Thais can't afford to do this. They have to repair things out of economic necessity and, as a result, Thais have become very good at repairing old household appliances and vehicles.
A lot of the share taxis here are ancient Mercedes saloons. Some must be almost 70 years old. The original engines have been replaced with Nissan units because parts are a lot cheaper, and almost everything else on the cars has been replaced but they keep on going strong. In this respect Thailand is a little like Cuba with its old American cars from the 50's.
There are lots of small shops near me that repair all sorts of household appliances, no matter how old or worn they are. To be honest, I would throw away the items being repaired because they are so old, but I am in the fortunate position to be able to do so.
Secondly, I think it is a matter of pride. Porsche dealerships employ only the best technicians and those technicians then take a lot of pride in their work. On the other hand, there is little pride involved fixing 1.6 Vauxhall Astras and this is reflected in the service they receive.
With so few decent employment options in Thailand, a job working for a large, multinational, American company such as Ford is something to feel proud about. Ford Thailand obviously makes an effort in the recruitment and training process and this is reflected in the level of service.
You even notice this with the staff from a another large, multinational, American company in Thailand whose staff don't have the greatest of reputations in most other countries. McDonalds' staff in Thailand are bright, helpful, presentable and very enthusiastic.
The minute a foreigner steps foot in Thailand he or she will realise that Thai behaviour is very different. Some people don't care why and aren't interested in finding out why. This is good because it saves a lot of thinking. Unfortunately, I am the type of person that likes to try to understand why. I can sense that I am rambling a bit now, but I hope I have made this a little clearer.
This should be a time to be optimistic about the coming year, but based on my experience of living in Thailand for over a decade and seeing how problems just keep going round and round in circles perpetually I know that nothing will change in 2014.
If I continue doing this I will be writing about lots of road accidents in April during the Songkran festival and then again in December over New Year.
The political issues may go quiet for a while, but the root causes run so deep that any 'resolution' will just be a temporary sticking plaster and there will be more problems in the future. There is no end in sight to the southern insurgency and Thailand just seems to be incapable of solving big problems.
I hope that I am proven wrong, but somehow I doubt it. I should be pleased because as investors continue to lose confidence in the country the exchange rate keeps improving, but actually I feed quite sorry for the many Thais who deserve a lot better. Also, I don't want to live in a country that is so dangerous and politically unstable.
A few days ago I wrote about a pickup truck running a red light very late at very high speed. This happens a lot and it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I just saw the following report about another road death in Phuket.
Teen sixth road death in Phuket 'Days of Danger' campaign
Eyewitnesses say that this young kid on his new motorbike was approaching a light that was about to go red. In this situation the last thing Thais think about is actually stopping at the red light.
At a level crossing, if the train has started to go through then cars can't go through the crossing until the end of the train has passed.
One technique Thai drivers use to run red lights is to try to turn themselves into a train. If the vehicle in front of them is going through the red light they try to stay as close as they can so that they can run the light as well.
Thais will often assume that the vehicle ahead is going to run the light, and it is their intention to run the light as well. If you are driving in Thailand and intend stopping at a red light you need to make your intentions very clear so that the vehicle behind doesn't slam into you.
This is what happened to the young kid on the motorbike. He assumed that the car ahead would run the light and he thought he would follow. Instead, the car ahead stopped. He slammed into the back of the vehicle at high speed and killed himself. In addition to driving at high speed and breaking traffic laws, it didn't help that he wasn't wearing a crash helmet.
The photo of the crashed bike in the report looks like one of the new Honda MSX125 models. Previously, only Kawasaki sold this sporty style of motorbike with small, chunky wheels in Thailand and they are very popular with teenage boys. Honda launched the MSX125 to compete in this sector of the market.
They are quite quick and have the potential to do a lot of damage if misused. To be fair, most of the riders I see riding this type of bike wear full-face crash helmets. This kid decided not to wear anything on his head and paid for that mistake with his life.
Why do they do it? For the sake of waiting at red lights for 60 seconds, why do they risk their own and other people's lives?
Maybe it is impatience. When vehicles aren't involved time is never an issue in Thailand and Thais have all the time in the world - as you will find out if you ever have an appointment with a Thai. However, once they are in a car or on a motorbike they can't wait for anything.
My instincts tell me that they don't do it because they are impatient. They do it because of what Thais refer to as luk gai. Literally this means 'stealing chickens' but the idiomatic definition is different.
In Thailand getting ahead of other people by doing something sneaky and/or illegal is regarded as something to be proud of. Many Thai men pride themselves in their luk gai ability and this applies especially on Thai roads.
If two lanes of traffic are waiting to go straight on but the left lane to turn left is empty there will always be Thai men who fly up that empty lane and cut in. They feel proud of themselves that they didn't have to wait in the queue.
If motorcyclists want to turn right, they don't wait for a break in the traffic in both directions before they turn. They simply turn right on the wrong side of the road and drive against the flow of traffic near the kerb until such time that they can move over to the correct side of the road.
As an alternative to running red lights, many Thais will turn left at a set of red lights, do a U turn, return to the set of lights and then turn left again. This is a semi-legal way of going straight through red lights, but it is still very questionable.
The culture of luk gai is big among Thai men, but unfortunately they are often being most stupid when they believe they are being cleverest.
The BBC published an article on illegal street racing in the US:
Why the US is addicted to fast cars and street racing
A university professor surmises that it is all about masculinity. It is the same in Thailand with all the crazy, high-speed driving. I don't know how many ladyboys there are in Thailand, but a big percentage of Thai males walk around in skirts and high heels, while most of the rest are oozing testosterone and trying to engage in as many macho activities as they can, such as driving as fast as possible on public roads, in order to prove their masculinity. Very few seem to be able to strike a reasonable balance.