Living In Thailand Blog
Sunday 12th July 2015
As a tourist in Bangkok in 1987 I knew nothing at all about Thailand and I was as naive as it was possible to be. I was with my buddy, who died last year from cancer, and we were trying to find the well-known tourist attractions.
Two young Thai lads approached us on the street and told us they were students. They wanted to practice their English and said they would show us around for nothing if we just spoke with them. It sounded like a good deal.
They took us down to the Chao Phraya river and hailed a long tail boat. We zoomed down the river and then into some small canals where we got off to look around an old wooden temple. They showed us what to do in the temple, we ate lunch, and had a really enjoyable time. Everything back then was so exotic and experiences like this just added to the adventure.
We headed back, but instead of mooring so that we could get off, the boat driver stopped about 10 feet away from the bank. He started to talk, and then argue, with the students. Naturally, I couldn't understand a word.
The students handed him money, but he was still annoyed. One took off his watch and handed it to the guy, but it didn't placate him. The boat driver then started to strangle one of the students. At this point we intervened.
He wanted money and he wanted more than the students had. It was a long time ago and I forget the exact amount - maybe Bt800, or something. We said it was too much. He started assaulting the students again so we gave in and gave him the money just to get out of a tricky situation.
However, there was still a problem. The students then told us that he wanted this amount for all four of us. We didn't know anything about Thailand, but we knew this was a lot of money for Thais. We refused. He started strangling students again, and finally we paid up.
That was my first experience of being scammed in Thailand. When we got back to the hotel we analysed what had happened and came to the conclusion that the students and the driver were in cahoots and that it had all been an act.
When I first started this site I was contacted by a British expat living in Hua Hin. He sent me a document that he had been given by a long term expat after he arrived in Thailand. It was a kind of character analysis of Thais intended for new expats to give them an idea of what they were dealing with. I still have it.
This included the following, using these exact words:
"Conning and cheating are skills that are applauded not denigrated."
Thailand has something of a reputation for scams. Foreign tourists may not know much about Thailand, but they know to be on the lookout for scams - at least they should do.
Why is this?
Ever since I moved to Thailand I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out why Thais think and behave the way they do. Some behaviour still baffles me.
My wife parked her car on Friday to buy some food at a market. When she returned, another vehicle had been parked in such a way that it was impossible for her to get out. She had to wait an hour to get her car out. This is quite common, but I still don't understand why Thais think it is acceptable to do this.
With other behaviour, I don't have any definitive answers but I do have theories. With regard to conning and cheating I think it depends on a person's sense of fairness. I mentioned this sense of fairness previously when writing about how Thai drivers are always looking to jump traffic queues. Many Thais don't have this sense of fairness.
I think it is stronger in other societies because other societies treat people more fairly and the response of people being treated fairly is to be fair themselves.
I come from a very ordinary background, but I had lots of opportunity in life. Employment opportunities weren't restricted because of my social or educational background. I didn't need to come from a wealthy family or have good family connections.
After I started working for a large corporation, promotions were based on merit and the company had official personnel policies to prevent discrimination. Employees were treated as being the same status and everyone was addressed by first names.
Thomas Jefferson's 'All men are created equal' is a cornerstone of many Western societies.
In Thailand, in Asia in fact, it couldn't be any different. Here is what Lee Kuan Yew was quoted as saying:
"I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been, because millions of years have passed over evolution, people have scattered across the face of this earth, been isolated from each other, developed independently, had different intermixtures between races, peoples, climates, soils... I didn't start off with that knowledge. But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, and then bullying my way to the top, that is the conclusion I've come to."In Thailand, no one is equal and, unlike me, people from ordinary backgrounds get few opportunities in life. Thais who have been through tertiary education end up doing the most mundane of jobs, and those who cannot afford to do a Thai degree cannot even aspire to doing one of those mundane jobs. A Thai's career choices are determined pretty much at the time of birth.
A Thai politician once made a comment along the lines of the only jobs north-easterners in Thailand can aspire to are room maids or petrol pump attendants. His words were criticised, but they weren't a long way from the truth.
Thais are brought up in a society that is very unfair, so why should they feel guilty about not being fair to others? Another problem is that they do not have many good role models. There is a lot of corruption, so why shouldn't they be entitled to share some of the profits that come about through cheating?
I've made a lot of generalisations. Are there scams in developed countries? Of course there are. The packaging up and selling off of toxic sub-prime mortgages that were made to look like first-class investments was a huge scam and it cost a lot of innocent, hard working people a lot of money.
Do all Thais scam and cheat? No, of course not. Do all Thais who have had few opportunities in life scam and cheat? Certainly not.
It's a problem that exists everywhere, but it seems to happen a bit more often in Thailand than elsewhere. The good news for visitors is that with the Internet these scams get communicated widely and quickly. Also, many are quite obvious (especially if you've lived in Thailand for a while. Finally, most scams won't be too expensive.
It's not likely being scammed by government agencies, investment banks and credit ratings agencies where you could find that you've lost your entire pension fund.
If you are a tourist in Thailand, probably the best advice I can give is not to believe anyone who approaches you on the street. Good Thais simply don't do this. If someone approaches you with an offer I can almost guarantee that it will be some kind of a scam.
What is strange in Thailand is that the authorities don't take action against the people they know are trying to perpetrate scams.
A couple of years ago on one of my Bangkok trips I went with my wife and daughter to the Grand Palace. Straight away, upon seeing a farang who looked like a tourist, I started to get the bullshit about it being closed and offers of Bt10 tuk-tuk rides.
There are signs outside warning tourists against this and I even think there were loudspeaker announcements, but they just let the bad guys outside carry on trying to scam tourists instead of arresting them.
Avoiding scamps in Bangkok
Saturday 11th July 2015
A couple of snippets from the Bangkok Post this week. Thailand's underground (illegal) economy is estimated to be 40.9% of real GDP. That's an incredible figure. This is the economy that is illegal by law, but which is allowed to continue by business owners paying bribes to various people to turn a blind eye.
Sex shops, street bars survive government's graft crackdown
When I look at social problems in Thailand, they are now so huge and so widespread that I can't see how they will ever be fixed. For example, if Thailand applied UK levels of traffic law enforcement it would remove about half the vehicles from Thai roads. That level of law breaking is just too big to fix.
There are hundreds of thousands of motorbikes in Thailand which have illegal sidecars attached. These sidecars are made locally and there is no braking mechanism on the third wheel. Normally there aren't lights or indicators on the sidecar either.
Home made motorcycle sidecar
They get loaded up quite heavily and driven quickly. If the driver has to brake sharply, they spin out of control or flip over. Any vehicle made for public roads must have an official certification of road-worthiness. These things don't.
If the government instructed the police to take them all off the road, virtually every market in Thailand would stop doing business and the market vendors would block roads to protest. When Thais have a political grievance they attempt to cause as much disruption as possible and blocking roads is a favourite ploy.
Government protesters blocking a major road last year
If nothing else, Thais are pragmatic and know what the consequences of an action will be. Therefore, nothing happens.
The other story that caught my eye was the National Reform Council's claim that Thailand can be a fully developed country within 17 years. Someone has s sense of humour. It's just not going to happen.
NRC aims for 'developed' nation status
Thai attitudes are so deeply ingrained that nothing will change until the education system is completely overhauled and a completely new generation of Thais grows up without the shackles of the old Thai way of thinking.
As yet, there is no will to change the education system so even the young generation growing up now will think the same way. To make the societal changes necessary to become a developed country it will take at least 50 years, not 17.
Thursday 9th July 2015
สมน้ำหน้า
som-naam-naa: it serves you right, it's your own fault, it's what you deserve, etc.
Assuming that you live in a civilised country and that you were brought up to show consideration to others, to be well-mannered and to have a sense of fairness, how would would you feel if every time you waited in line for something other people blatantly jumped the queue to get ahead of you?
The English are particularly sensitive about queueing and the best way to upset an English person is to blatantly queue jump. They may not get upset about other bad behaviour but pushing in front of others who are already waiting is guaranteed to ruffle feathers.
I moan an awful lot about Thai drivers and I have made the point several times about how dangerous the roads are in Thailand, but this is not the aspect of Thai driving that upsets me most. Oh no. It is the blatant queue jumping by Thai drivers that really makes my blood boil.
This happens multiple times on every car journey I make. Unlike Thais, I had the benefit of proper driving training and I was taught to leave a suitable braking distance between me and the car in front. However, that space is just an invitation for Thais to cut in front of me.
They overtake on the left, which is against the law, and then just cut in. They weave in and out of traffic continuously so that they can get ahead of other drivers. At intersections they disregard all lane discipline and simply choose the lane that has least traffic before cutting into the lane they want. It really pisses me off. Even Thais wouldn't blatantly queue jump in a supermarket or post office, but it is standard practice on Thai roads.
If you dare to show your annoyance in any way; if you say something, toot your horn or flash your lights, it just gets worse. The Thais who do this sort of thing are generally quite nasty and aggressive people. They believe they have a right to do what they do and they can't stand anyone telling them otherwise. I have received death threats and had Thais wanting to beat me up for daring to show my annoyance at their obnoxious behaviour.
Dash cams are becoming quite popular in Thailand. We all know how bad the driving is in Russia because of dashcam footage on YouTube. Russian insurance companies require drivers to have dashcams. In Thailand there is no such requirement, but there is so much bad behaviour on Thai roads that people now want video evidence.
This week there has been a big story on Thai TV morning news about the kind of incident I have described and it was recorded on a dashcam. Unfortunately, I can't find the video on-line. A similar incident was shown last week on the TV news involving two pickup trucks.
There were two lanes of traffic on the right-hand side of the road that appeared to be waiting to turn right. A typical Thai boy racer in his bright yellow Mitsubushi with a big spoiler and huge exhaust tail pipe flew up one of the vacant lanes because he didn't want to wait, with the intention of just cutting in at the front of the queue. This is extremely common in Thailand.
The guy in the car with the dashcam got annoyed, as I would, and wouldn't let him in. Anyway, Somchai Racing Driver was determined to cut in and these guys get really aggressive. They often drive huge oversized pickup trucks and use intimidation and aggressive behaviour so that other drivers will let them cut in.
But that's not the end of the story because you have to understand how their pea-sized brains work. Thais are extremely sensitive to any form of criticism and if anyone dares to criticise them they have to take revenge.
When the lights changed and the traffic started to move Somchai Racing Driver didn't move. He just stayed there with the intention of blocking Dashcam. If Dashcam attempted to get past him on the right, he would move right, and vice-versa. Extremely childish, but this is how they are. I have seen similar behaviour many times before.
At this point some dialogue was exchanged and Dashcam told Somchai that the incident was being recorded. Somchai's typical reaction was to threaten to kill him, "Do you want to die?" Angry Thais always threaten death and the unfortunate thing in Thailand, where there are so many unlicensed firearms, is that these threats aren't always idle.
When Dashcam got home he uploaded his video and, in Internet parlance, it went viral. Thais love Facebook and pretty soon lots of people had seen the video. It was then picked up by one of the national TV channels and the latest update came on the TV news this morning.
It transpires that Somchai Racing Driver in the bright yellow Mitsubushi was actually an employee of Mitsubushi Thailand. His employers couldn't have been too impressed with his behaviour, especially while driving one of their cars, and they sacked him.
Som-naam-naa
In my part of provincial Thailand there are no deterrents for uncivilised drivers. There are no speed cameras, no traffic cameras, and the traffic police aren't the least bit interested in uncivilised or reckless driving. I'm sure that other countries would have similar problems if drivers knew that they were never going to get stopped by the police.
Perhaps these dashcams will start to help? People know that there is no risk of being stopped by the police, but if they are aware that their actions may be recorded on camera and that video evidence could have further consequences it may be a deterrent.
After watching the news this morning my wife told me that she wants dashcams fitted to both cars. I have been thinking the same thing for quite a long time. Garmin makes some good quality models, but there are also a lot of cheap 'Made in China' dashcams available for not much money at the local markets.
As I have said before many, many times the driving standards in Thailand are atrocious. This week I had some good news. Our son is now off breast milk and I can look after him, which was a problem before as I have no breasts.
I've been looking after him in the morning while my wife does the school run and thus I only have to do the school run once a day. Anything that results in me having to do less driving in Thailand can only be a good thing. If I had my way I wouldn't drive at all. My Swiss friend refuses to drive here, but my wife wouldn't allow me to make a similar decision.
Driving here was stressing me out so much that I had already started to investigate alternative methods of taking my daughter to school.
The alternative school run
Tuesday 7th July 2015
Niels Mulder asserts that Bangkok lost its charm during the early 1970s. While researching his books he chose to avoid the capital and moved to Chiang Mai instead. Chiang Mai disappointed me on my first visit because it didn't match the high expectations I had as a result of reading so many glowing descriptions. Conversely, Chiang Rai exceeded my expectations and I much prefer this smaller northern city to its bigger, brasher cousin.
Chiang Mai has now become something of a travel cliche, as have many destinations in Thailand. It attracts a certain type of Westerner, just as Pattaya, Phuket, Pai, Koh Lanta, Koh Tao, Koh Samui, etc attract certain types of Westerners.
I wouldn't argue with Mulder on matters about Thailand, but when I first visited Bangkok in 1987 it was still a lot of fun. In fact, it was far more than that. It was the most exciting, exotic place I had ever been to and it completely overshadowed all my previous travel experiences. That 1987 trip to Thailand sowed seeds that would completely change my life several years later.
Bangkok then was a completely different city to the one that exists today. For starters, it was all on one level with no roads or railways overhead and there was just one airport.
If I recall correctly, Thailand attracted about three million foreign visitors in 1987. It was the year of the King's 60th birthday and the year of the Tourist Authority of Thailand's first ever major campaign to attract more foreign tourists. However, of those three million, I suspect that the majority were Asian - Malaysians coming across the southern border, etc.
Koh Samui had no airport and was almost deserted, apart from a few backpackers who knew about it through Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet was the only source of information in the pre-Internet era and at that time it served a useful purpose. There were very few Westerners in Bangkok, unlike the present day.
When I came to live in Thailand I had no interest in living in Bangkok. Neither was I interested in beaches, islands or anywhere that attracted lots of tourists. I thus ended up in a nondescript provincial town near the Malaysian border.
Nonetheless, while living in Thailand it is impossible to avoid Bangkok. I lost track of how many visits I have made to Bangkok many years ago, but I guess it is around 40. Of course, all of these trips were made as a transient visitor. I do not know Bangkok and I don't pretend to know it.
It is only possible to really know a place if you have lived there permanently for several years. It also helps if you work and/or have children because these things give you additional insights. As a temporary visitor staying in hotels and eating at tourist restaurants the view you have is artificial and superficial, no matter how many times you visit.
I still find myself visiting Bangkok fairly regularly and it still excites me. I still enjoy my visits, even though my reasons for visiting and the things I look out for now have changed.
The main purpose for visiting these days is for my daughter to see a doctor. I travel to Bangkok from one end of the country and I have spoken with another foreigner at the other end of the country, in Chiang Mai, who travels to Bangkok with his son for exactly the same reason. Doctors and dentists are generally very good in Thailand, but the best of everything in Thailand is always in Bangkok.
Last week we visited Jatujak market after checking in at the hotel. My wife was instantly swooning at the selection of chinaware for sale and then we walked into a large area devoted to keeping fish. My new house came with a fishpond and keeping fish is now a bit of a hobby.
I had to learn about filtration, etc, and to cure the green algae problem that I had initially it was necessary to invest in various equipment. My local shops have basic equipment, but I was blown away with the selection of equipment on offer at Jatujak.
The choice of goods available to us in the provinces is extremely limited, but Bangkok has everything.
Goods available in the provinces just tend to be basic versions. If you want something a bit special it can be ordered from Bangkok if you know exactly what you want, but sometimes I don't really know what I want. I want to look at lots of things to get ideas.
For example, if I wish to buy a wall clock where I live it is quite easy to get a basic clock that has numbers and two hands that go round to keep accurate time. In Jatujak I found a shop that sold all kinds of interesting clocks. Not only did they tell the time, but they were fun to watch and would actually be conversation pieces. I miss this kind of thing in the provinces.
And then there is the amazing food that is available in Bangkok. When I first moved to Thailand this wasn't a problem. I wanted to eat Thai food and that's what I ate. I had turned my back on my home country and I went through a period of rejecting all things Western.
The longer I have lived in Thailand, the more bored I have become with Thai food and the more I miss other types of cuisine. Not just Western food, but Indian food, Middle Eastern food, Mexican food, etc. I can't even get a kebab in Hat Yai. When Central Festival first opened it had a small kebab shop and I was thrilled. However, Thais here will only eat Thai or Japanese food and the kebab shop was forced to close because no one apart from me bought kebabs.
In Bangkok the biggest problem on my short trips is deciding where to eat because there is so much choice. And visiting restaurants that serve good foreign food extends beyond just filling my stomach.
In my old life I loved to travel, but even when I couldn't travel it was always fun eating at a foreign restaurant because there was a different atmosphere inside and it felt like being temporarily in another country. Whenever I eat boring Thai food in the provinces the atmosphere is always the same ... boring.
The Pratunam area is within walking distance of the hotel where we stay and there are quite a lot of Indian restaurants in that area. I took a walk to see what I could find and ended up in an Indian Muslim restaurant. It was filled with Muslims and on TV were thousands of Muslims praying in a huge mosque in the Middle East somewhere. The naan bread was excellent and even if the rogan josh curry wasn't the best I have ever eaten, it was fun because it was different. I wouldn't want to eat there every day, but occasionally this type of thing is great. It's an option that simply isn't available to me in the provinces.
Boredom and especially boredom with eating the same old food is something I encounter regularly in the provinces. I hear it from my wife, neighbours and friends. Eating the same old food day-in and day-out will become boring no matter how good the food is.
As a family man these days, the activities I look for are generally geared towards young children. There is very little for kids where we live, but a lot more in Bangkok. Last time we visited Dream World and this time Safari World. These are big attractions and can fill a whole day.
Not only is there very little where I live, but nothing is properly invested in. My impression is that Thais who set up new activity facilities don't want to invest a lot of money in case it fails. I took a look at a new adventure centre yesterday (zip lines, rock climbing, archery, etc) and it looked to have been done on a budget. In Bangkok the big attractions are done properly.
My children are too young for cultural attractions, but when they are ready there are far, far more cultural attractions in Bangkok compared to provincial Thailand. Bangkok just has everything, and has it in abundance.
Bangkok also seems to be more lawful than the provinces. There are red light cameras and drivers actually stop at red lights, which doesn't happen here. Neither do drivers in Bangkok just park in the middle of the road and block complete lanes of traffic with their hazard warning lights blinking while they go to the ATM or buy some rice.
At Jatujak I saw an army surplus type shop, similar to the ones where I live, but what was absent was the frightening array of weaponry for sale. I also spoke to a clothes vendor who told me quite earnestly about the risks of being arrested if selling counterfeit clothes in Bangkok. There just seems to be a little more respect (fear?) for the law in Bangkok, whereas the provinces are virtually lawless.
So, why don't I live in Bangkok?
The short answer would be that crowds and traffic jams are two things I hate most and there is no worse place in Thailand for crowds and traffic jams than Bangkok.
As a single man I could choose where and when I wanted to go somewhere. If I were still single, Bangkok might be an option. That isn't the case with kids who have to be taken to specific places at specific times and that wouldn't be a lot of fun in Bangkok. Being in a position where it would be necessary to drive regularly in Bangkok would be a nightmare. It's bad enough where I am now.
I couldn't afford to buy a house in Bangkok similar to the one I have now and living in a condo would not be suitable for family living, although one possibility would be to live in a Bangkok suburb. I have seen some attractive housing developments about an hour outside Bangkok and with the BTS being extended to places like Rangsit these places would be good places to live.
The other reason why I live where I do is because my wife wants to remain close to her family. That could change in the future, but because of the children's needs we are unlikely ever to live in Bangkok.
For this latest trip I responded quickly to an offer from Nok Air and managed to secure promotional ticket prices before they were all snapped up. The cost each way per person was about Bt900 included taxes and additional charges. That's pretty good and hotel rooms in Bangkok are still a bargain compared to most capital cities.
At this time in my life and with my own unique set of personal circumstances, it suits me to live in provincial Thailand and to make occasional visits to Bangkok. With a different set of circumstances that might be different.
Just to make it clear, I live in Hat Yai. Hat Yai, along with places like Nonthaburi, Chiang Mai, Korat, etc, are regarded as secondary cities in Thailand. Compared to Bangkok, they are pimples on the backside of an elephant, but compared to many rural areas they are regarded as being quite large and developed. Everything in life is relative.
When rural school kids attend Science Week at the Prince of Songkla University once a year it is a trip to the bright lights and tall skyscrapers of the Big City of Hat Yai. However, Hat Yai could be completely relocated into one small area of Bangkok.
Many foreign men meet girls from Isaan and those small, rural villages in Isaan are a completely different matter altogether. If your Isaan girlfriend suggests starting a new life back in her hometown village, you might want to have a very careful think first.
Reader Comments:
- Phil offered many, useful observations about expat life in a provincial city compared to what he's seen in Bangkok. I'll add a few comments from my point of view, living in Bangkok.
- Key point for expats is availability of goods and services in Bangkok - close to what can be found in any mid-level Western city.
When I've visited small, provincial cities, the severe limits on everything put me off: quality tools, computer supplies, repair services, and variety of foods - just not available in the provinces.
- In Bangkok, on the other hand, can find men's shoes in Western sizes, wide variety of computers and accessories like printers and ink cartridges, plus lots of Western foods: Mexican, Italian, German, Scandinavian, American macaroni & cheese, British bangers & mash, and Aussie steak & kidney pie.
Plus lots of good, fresh, bread - like an island in a sea of rice.
- Thailand is not very good at personal services or professional skills in any field, but what quality is available tends to concentrate in Bangkok. Doctors, dentists, opticians, even stores with vitamins and other food supplements -- the best quality and selection will be in Bangkok.
- Another factor, not so comfortable to talk about: The best and the brightest of local people move out of the provinces and into the big city, if they possibly can. The dim, the slow, and the not-quite-all-there remain behind in the provinces. Not totally that way, but the pattern is widespread. And expats follow a similar pattern - with only a few exceptions (among them, the author of this blog). If a new expat is seeking to find friends among other expats, then location is critical.
- On the other hand, rarely do I experience much friendliness in Bangkok.
Like any big city, anywhere.
In Bangkok, the famous "Thai Smile" is usually only that, a smile on the face, without any real friendliness behind it. Most people in Bangkok are "on the go," or pretend to be.
From reading Phil's blog for many years, it is apparent that real Thai friendliness is still to be found in the provinces.
Regarding a previous comment, Thailand isn't the only source for Darwin Awards candidates.
Calais man dies after setting off fireworks from atop his head
When I first saw that Hat Yai's new branch of Central Festival has one area of the car park designated for lady drivers, I assumed that there were bigger spaces and rubber padding on the concrete pillars. I was wrong.
The reason is related to the safety concerns that I wrote about last week. There has been a problem in Thailand with women being attacked and robbed as they return to their parked cars after shopping.
This policy is excellent and it is enforced quite strictly by Central Festival with a member of staff on duty at all times. Only women drivers and male children below a certain age are allowed in to this area. Males over the age limit aren't allowed in at all, whether on foot or in vehicles.
This type of safety precaution certainly makes me feel more at ease if my wife drives alone, especially if she takes the children.
Ladies' parking
Saturday 4th July 2015
Only in Thailand:
Thailand: Japan's Doraemon cartoon cat in rain ritual
Friday 3rd July 2015
My American PhD author friend who lives in nearby Songkhla told me today that it costs $17,000 in the USA for a course of rabies shots. I was gobsmacked. Apparently, she got this information from a doctor. A quick Internet search shows that the rabies vaccine is very expensive in the States, but not quite that much.
Initially, the vaccine is injected into each separate wound site and then there are four follow-up injections (day 3, day 7, day 14 and day 30). One forum post I found mentions that the cost in a US Emergency Room for the initial procedure alone was $5,082 before any follow-up injections.
I was attacked by a feral cat that somehow managed to get inside our house last December. I went to a local private hospital and the doctor recommended rabies and tetanus shots. The rabies shots to the wounds on my hands were excruciatingly painful, but most of the cost was covered by my medical insurance. I had to pay Bt2,276. I'm therefore not sure of the exact overall cost, but it wasn't enormous.
A living organism is required to produce the rabies vaccine and this can be human or animal - normally equine. The human vaccine I was offered was around Bt30,000 and the horse variety was significantly cheaper. They did a quick test on me and there was a slight reaction to the horse vaccine. Despite this, I went ahead with the horse medicine and there weren't any complications. In some people the horse vaccine can cause anaphylactic shock.
Looking back at my spending records I can't give exact figures for just the rabies vaccine alone because my bills included wound dressing and tetanus shots, etc. There were four follow-up rabies shots.
The first session cost Bt905, then I had hospital charges for Bt500, Bt1,280 and Bt870. The final session included my second tetanus shot. Today I returned for my third and final tetanus shot, which cost Bt300.
A private hospital is the most expensive place to have shots, but I went back to the same private hospital because this is where I was treated originally. Small clinics or public hospitals are cheaper if you are looking to save money.
I can't give exact figures but, as you can see, it wasn't a fortune. Had I been in the States without any medical insurance I would have had some serious financial problems, but in Thailand it is quite affordable for most people.
If I needed rabies shots in the US and was quoted several thousand dollars I think I might be tempted to jump on a plane to Thailand. Of course, it isn't always convenient, but for scheduled medical and dental procedures it is possible to save a lot of money by going to have the procedures done in Thailand.
When I used to visit Thailand as a tourist I would visit my doctor religiously before I went to get all my shots up to date. I would also embark on a course of malaria tablets.
Since arriving to live in Thailand in 2003 I haven't bothered with any shots and I have never taken a malaria tablet. Malaria isn't a problem in most parts of Thailand. Dengue fever is a problem, but there is no vaccination.
Now that I am up to date with rabies and tetanus I should get vaccinated against other diseases that are common in Thailand. Several years ago, The Nation published some good information on the subject which I added to another part of this website:
Recommended Adult Immunisations For Thailand
I made two hospitals visits today. The first was for my 18 month-old boy to have more standard infant vaccinations. The hospital has many entrances and exits, but they were all closed .. bar one. Nurses at the one open entrance were checking people for MERS.
Of course, I was singled out. Another assumption that Thais make about farangs in Thailand is that they have either just arrived from their homeland or that they are just about to leave for Phuket. If taxi drivers aren't trying to take me to a brothel, they want to take me to the airport so that I can catch a flight to Phuket.
Every time a new virus is reported, the same thing happens. Everyone overreacts and the media has a field day. I was watching a news report about people cancelling their trips to South Korea, where 33 people have died of MERS.
About twice as many people die on Thai roads every single day, yet no one is concerned about that minor problem. Every time a new virus is reported the same panic ensues, but a year later it is all forgotten.
I'm not saying that it isn't a serious condition, but I don't understand why nothing is done about other problems that are responsible for far more deaths than the latest killer virus.
Accident (definition): an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause.
Using this definition, a lot of deaths in Thailand that are described as accidents aren't actually accidents. When I'm driving and see the insane manoeuvres made by some of the morons driving on Thai roads it is painfully obvious that deaths will occur. They do - often - and there is nothing accidental about the manner in which people get killed.
There is always an enormous amount of construction taking place in Thailand and deaths on construction sites are fairly common. Again, many of these deaths aren't accidents if we use the definition above.
Construction is currectly taking place at the front of my housing development and a week or two ago as I was leaving for the school run I saw that a crane had toppled over. When I returned there were several other vehicles involved trying to right the crane. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured.
As I was walking to have lunch a couple of days ago I passed a construction site with a very tall crane. As usual I noticed lots of construction workers working in rubber flip-flops without any head protection. This is perfectly normal in Thailand.
However, far more alarming was to realise that directly above my head was a large consignment of swinging steel bars that were being lifted by the crane. They were the type of steel bars that are used in construction projects to reinforce concrete. As soon as I spotted them I ran to get out of the danger zone.
The bars were on one side of a busy road and that were being lifted to a construction site on the opposite side of the road. Had Somchai not secured them properly and had they fallen they would have killed any passing pedestrian or vehicle occupant below. Fortunately, nothing happened. Had anything happened it would have been described as an accident, but this type of stupidity isn't accidental, it is deliberate and avoidable.
I have no objections, whatsoever, to brainless Thais killing themselves. This is simply Darwin's law of natural selection in action and it does the rest of us a favour.
What I do object to, strongly, are those brainless Thais who put other people's lives at risk without any sense of responsibility, accountability or liability.
The following photo isn't great, but it gives you an idea. The road over which the steel bars were being carried is normally quite busy.
Crane in Thailand
Perhaps it's just me? People like me in Thailand are accused of thinking too much - kit maak. Perhaps the Thais are right, perhaps I do think too much? Worrying about things that probably won't happen wastes a lot of nervous energy and it can lead to anxiety. Thais don't tend to think about the future very much. They will let things happen and deal with any problems after the event.
I prefer to think things through before they happen and I find that this helps to avoid potential problems and it also prevents problems from occurring in the first place. It's the opposite to how most Thais behave and this is something that gives me quite a big problem in Thailand.
Thursday 2nd July 2015
When the new Bangkok airport, Suvarnabhumi, opened in September 2006 the plan was to close Don Meuang airport. However, there were infrastructure problems at the new airport and operating costs were higher.
Budget airlines arrived in Thailand in 2004 and they continue to thrive, but they need to maintain low operating costs because margins are small and there is a lot of competition in the budget airline market. Thais travel around the country a lot and a one-hour flight is far more preferential than a 12 hour bus journey, especially when promotional airfares are about the same price as a bus ticket.
Budget airlines objected to the higher costs at Suvarnabhumi and I think that there may also have been some capacity problems. Eventually Don Meuang was reopened to handle budget airline flights. Bad flooding in 2011 delayed the reopening, which eventually happened in 2012.
Suvarnabhumi airport on the first day that it was fully opened
My budget airline of choice in Thailand is Nok and when I started making regular visits to Bangkok with my daughter in 2012 Don Meuang was almost deserted. It was wonderful. Going through Don Meuang always brings back a lot of fond memories and with barely anyone there it was a pleasure to use. That is no longer the case.
On Tuesday this week Don Meuang was an absolute zoo. I don't think I have ever seen it so crowded. We queued for the X-Ray scanner and queued again to check in. While waiting to check in, my daughter peeled off the security tape that had been applied after our luggage was X-Rayed. This meant having to queue again for another X-Ray. Travelling with kids is so much fun.
Thai Airways, the national carrier, has recently run into a few safety issues resulting in the airline being banned from flying to certain countries.
The safety problems are quite vague with the regulator, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), just reporting that it had found 'significant safety concerns'.
I'm actually a little surprised. Thais do some things very well. I am impressed with how they run large hospitals with lots of patients and when I observed the mass of people at Don Meaung I was impressed with how passengers and luggage got to their destinations on time. I have also been generally impressed with how few air accidents there are in Thai air space.
I'm not sure what these safety concerns are, but I'm sure they will be resolved. Personally, I don't have any major concerns with travelling by plane in Thailand and my impression as an industry outsider is that the Thais do a good job.
It would be a very different story if Thais flew their planes like they drive their cars, vans and pickup trucks, but fortunately the airline industry is truly a global industry and Thai airlines are subject to international laws and regulations.
It's a real shame that international laws, regulations and especially enforcement of laws and regulations don't apply to Thai roads.
My wife has been warned about a recent spate of incidents in Hat Yai in which criminals open car doors as the cars are waiting at traffic lights to steal whatever they can. Despite the majority of vehicles in Thailand having heavily tinted glass, you can sometimes see the occupants and the cowardly thieves have a preference for women driving alone.
Ever since I have lived in Thailand there has been a problem with thieves on motorbikes snatching bags from pedestrians (it happened to my previous girlfriend), but this latest phenomenon is fairly new. The motorbike bag snatchers also target lone females.
Motorbike bag snatchers
Another ruse they use sometimes is to wait in car parks where there isn't much security. Their targets are women returning to their cars to load shopping and the women are vulnerable because the thieves strike before they have had a chance to get in their cars and lock the doors.
The message to all drivers in Thailand, especially women, is to lock the doors while they are driving. All cars these days have central locking systems and locking all the doors is easy to do.
In 1996 while on vacation in Thailand I met a young South African couple and we did some scuba diving together. I was slightly bemused that whenever they got into a vehicle they automatically locked the door. To South Africans this is a reflex action, and quite understandable, but at that time it was completely unnecessary in Thailand. But no longer.
When I do the school run I park my car early because parking spaces are scarce and wait. Many other parents do the same thing. Recently, one mother returned to her car (which had been parked adjacent to a Buddhist temple) to find the passenger door window had been smashed and her possessions stolen.
As the economy continues to get worse and prices continue to increase, more and more Thais are having financial problems. Some are drug addicts who need money to get their next fix and will do whatever it takes. Others are heavily in debt and desperate.
There is no safety net for such people in Thai society and no welfare system. As a result I expect to see a trend of rising crime figures.
Most new housing developments being built, ours included, are gated communities with security guards and Thais want to live within such an environment because crime is a big concern.
I kept in touch with my South African friends and a few years later I visited them in Johannesburg. South African is the only country I have ever been to where I have seen more house security precautions in evidence than Thailand.
When we lived in a rented house, which wasn't in a gated community, every single house had burglar bars (lek dut) on every window and door. The houses where we live now are split. Those houses that are second homes and not lived in permanently tend to have burglar bars, even though we have security guards. It gives the owners peace of mind when they aren't there.
Our local municipality made a big thing about installing CCTV cameras around town, but I'm not sure how effective this program has been.
On first appearances at a tourist resort Thais may seem very friendly and Thailand may seem like a very safe country. It's not. The locals don't like to talk about this subject because they don't like saying anything bad about Thailand, but just look around at all the buildings with burglar bars and observe how many security guards there are.
Don't be overly concerned, but don't be lax about your personal safety or the security of your possessions.
I should also make the point that this isn't just Thailand. I talk about Thailand because that is where I live, but it happens everywhere.
For some reason I recently got caught up watching YouTube videos of motorbike bag snatching incidents in Malaysia and from the number of videos there are on YouTube the problem actually looks to be a lot worse in Malaysia.
In London, my place of birth, so-called 'bike-jackings' have become common and a 15 year-old lad, Alan Cartwright, was actually killed by muggers in the process of stealing his bike. The entire world is becoming a much more dangerous place.
After realising many years ago that it was impossible for a farang to assimilate or to be assimilated into Thai society, I hoped it might at least be possible to be treated like a normal person. Unfortunately, this too is impossible.
We cannot assimilate because Thai and Western value and belief systems are too different. Once you peel back the veneer and start to understand the concepts that Thais believe in and value you will understand that the differences are just too great.
Regardless of how much you learn about Thailand, Thai culture, Thai language, etc., the thing you can't change is your external appearance. In Thailand you will always be a farang and Thais have a predefined set of beliefs that apply to all farangs. My outward appearance is the thing that prevents me from being treated as a normal person.
According to Thais we are all indescribably wealthy, but we know nothing about the wonderful Thai culture and are therefore quite uncivilised. Thais have a concept of 'Thainess', based on 12 values.
Thai students are required to recite these values daily and instilling these values seems to be the primary function of the education system. I can give lots of examples of how Thai behaviour contradicts these values, but that is another subject. Farangs do not go through the Thai education system and therefore Thais do not believe it is possible for foreigners to understand 'Thainess'.
The twelve Thai values prominently displayed outside a school
- Upholding the three main pillars of the country: the nation, the religion, and the monarchy
- Showing honesty, sacrifice, and patience with a positive attitude for the interest of the public
- Practicing filial piety towards parents, guardians and teachers
- Seeking both direct and indirect knowledge and education
- Preserving Thai traditions and cultures
- Practicing morality, integrity, considerateness, generosity, and sharing
- Understanding and learning true democratic ideals with His Majesty the King as Head of State
- Maintaining discipline and respectfulness for laws and the elderly
- Being conscious and mindful of one's actions in line with His Majesty's the King's royal statements
- Applying His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy ideas to save money for times of need, being moderate with surpluses for sharing or expansion of business, while at the same time having immunity to hardships along the way
- Keeping physically and mentally strong, unyielding to evil powers or desires and having a sense of shame over guilt and sins in accordance with religious principles
- Putting the public and national interest before one's own interest
There also seems to be a belief among many Thais that foreign men in the country are only there for one purpose, and that purpose is to use the services of prostitutes.
Last week I went shopping for a flatbed scanner. I went into a shop, but couldn't find what I was looking for so waited for a sales assistant to offer assistance. After about five minutes no one came and I got the impression I was being ignored.
I spoke to a non-sales member of staff. She listened to me, understood what I wanted and called one of the sales staff over. The sales girl still wouldn't come. Her friend then told me that I speak Thai and upon hearing that news she came over, albeit reluctantly.
I am often left alone in restaurants while waiting to order food because no one will speak to me. They can't speak English and their assumption is that I can't speak Thai. They also assume that I can't read Thai and refuse to give me a menu.
A few days later I had a mechanic check out the brakes on my car. He was a nice guy, we had a good chat, and I continue to be very impressed with the level of car servicing in Thailand. The Thai mechanics I have dealt with have done a really excellent job.
However, when I had made an appointment the previous day my impressions weren't so good. I was told to go to Counter 3. The girl at Counter 3 was working and when she raised her head to find a farang opposite her expression was the same as a startled deer caught in headlights.
I attempted to talk with her, but she closed her ears and gazed into space avoiding any eye contact. It was like talking to a brick wall and I knew that she wasn't even attempting to listen to me. Very frustrating.
Yesterday, I had some lunch before picking up my daughter from school. I was approached by a motorbike taxi driver who kept saying repeatedly, "Massah massah ABC ice cream, massah massah ABC ice cream."
Thais object strongly to final consonants. I understood the first part, but not the second. Was there a new massage shop called ABC ice cream or was he learning English and wanted some help with his spelling?" I told him I couldn't understand.
The ABC became, "ABC pum pum," and as he spoke he clapped his hands together in a horizontal position. For the 'ice cream' part he opened his mouth and explained what he meant using in and out hand gestures. OK, got it now. He wants to take me to a brothel.
I asked him how much his commission was. "No have, no have," came the reply. A complete lie. I walked off and had some lunch.
Thai society has a very strict hierarchy in which every Thai person knows his or her position. Thai society can only work when people know their relative status.
Farangs present Thais with a bit of a problem in this respect. Many foreigners appear not to work and to have money, which is one of the factors used when assessing status, but they can't really figure out where to place us because we are so different.
I used to work at some educational establishments that are highly revered locally and my standard of living is way above most local Thais. I should therefore have a fairly respectable status, but while wandering around downtown I am just treated like a whoremonger. And when I go into a restaurant or shop I often get ignored.
These things aren't major problems, but after several years of living in the country just wanting to be treated like a normal person it irritates and frustrates me a little when, based on my outward appearance, I get treated continually like an idiot or a sex tourist.
Wednesday 1st July 2015
Despite reading the occasional news story that the situation is improving, I continue to have the same old problems with taxi drivers in Bangkok. I returned from Bangkok yesterday.
My wife wanted to eat at a place in Sukhumvit Soi 11, which is where we stayed for one of our trips to Bangkok last year. Just like last year, about 80% of drivers in that area flatly refused to use the meter. They demand a fare that is about twice as much as the metered fare.
If you decline their offer, or even get a little angry, they simply walk away to find a dumb tourist who will pay. They can't be bothered to argue and they know that with so many tourists in that area who know nothing about Thailand it will be easy to get what they ask for.
The other problem is with drivers who refuse to take you to your destination. They stop, wind down the window, listen to where you want to go and - without saying anything - roll up the window and drive off.
After eventually finding a taxi driver who would use his meter in Soi 11 we went to Jatujak market and then had lots of problems getting a taxi for the journey back to the hotel because several drivers refused to take us. Again, the ratio of those who refused to those who didn't was about 4:1.
My daughter sees a doctor in Bangkok twice a year and so I go to Bangkok at least twice a year. This behaviour has become so common that my expectation now whenever I hail a taxi in Bangkok is that the driver will refuse to go to where I want or will refuse to use the meter.
They aren't allowed to do this and these days I believe there are hotline numbers to call but, as with so many things in Thailand, I think to myself, "What is the point?" Nothing will be done and nothing ever changes.
If you say anything to them, and if they can be bothered to reply, you get the standard, "Rote mun dtit," - traffic jams. When I feel angry this stupid bloody answer makes me even angrier. It's like refusing to do something in Thailand because it's hot. Of course it's hot, it's always bloody hot. Of course there are traffic jams, when and where aren't there traffic jams in Bangkok?
I do sympathise with them to an extent and I was quite pleased recently when an increase in taxi fares was announced. Nothing in Thailand makes me more tired and more irritable than driving. It must be a terrible life to have to drive for a living in Thailand, especially doing a 12 hour shift in Bangkok, which is constantly gridlocked.
It is expensive to hire and run taxis and the drivers can spend three-quarters of their shift just making enough money to cover their expenses.
But if they don't like it they can do something else and if they have grievances settle those grievances with the relevant authorities. There is no need to take out their grievances on the innocent paying public, especially the foreign guests in their country who bring a lot of money into the country.
Of course, Thailand - as I have said often - is the Land of Contrasts and Contradictions. There are still plenty of taxi drivers around who are good people and I make sure that I tip them well. I also learnt something that I found interesting from one of the good guys who explained how the bad guys operate.
It's a struggle travelling with young children in Bangkok. My wife was carrying our one year-old, while I had the four year-old in one arm and a baby buggy in the other. On a previous trip when I travelled alone with my daughter she had full length plaster casts on both legs.
I imagined that seeing people who were obviously struggling, it might elicit feelings of sympathy or empathy among taxi drivers. However, even when asking to be taken to a hospital I found that many drivers would just shake their heads and drive off. I was obviously very naive.
Many have sociopathic personalities and therefore have no conscience or the feelings of empathy or sympathy that ordinary people have. It's like being in a pool of sharks where the sharks are circling around picking off the weak and injured fish. As a foreigner who is like the proverbial fish out of water in Thailand, or adults with young children, you are the weak and injured fish that Bangkok taxi driving sharks prey on.
On the subject of taxis, the hotel staff ordered us a taxi when we checked out yesterday. The charge for doing this was Bt25, which they paid. Bangkok taxi drivers never seem to refuse a fare to the airport.
The member of staff who did this used a smartphone app called GrabTaxi. Thais love smartphones, social media (Facebook, in particular) and apps. I use none of these things and still use my 10 year-old Nokia dumbphone.
We weren't in a dire hurry, but we didn't have that much time. As we waited for the taxi he had ordered, I watched in frustration as about 30 available taxis went past. I'm sure that any one of them would have taken us to Don Meuang, but we had to wait for a specific taxi.
Time was beginning to get tight and in the end we gave up on GrabTaxi and hailed a passing taxi, which we could have done 20 minutes earlier.
I spoke recently about an app that has just been launched to tell people how to boil an egg. I made myself scrambled eggs this morning and amazingly I didn't need a smartphone or Facebook.
I'm not a technophobe at all and I would be lost without my computer, but with everyone desperately trying to get rich by developing the next big application for computers or smartphones it would appear that an awful lot of useless garbage is being developed.
Perhaps the major benefit of this particular app is that it will only call Bangkok taxi drivers who agree to go your destination and agree to use their meters? That would be useful, but finding a taxi in Bangkok to take you to the airport is no problem at at all and certainly doesn't need any computer wizardry.
Bangkok was a lot hotter than I expected for this time of year. I was expecting the rains to have arrived and for it to be a lot cooler. It was actually very hot. It's been very hot in the south as well. After Songkran there was some respite from the heat for a while when it started to rain every afternoon.
However, the rain stopped again and the intense heat returned. It's not as bad as Pakistan, which has seen 45 degrees Celsius recently, but 36 is quite uncomfortable. After 12 years I have acclimatised to the heat, but my tolerance limit is around 35°C. As soon as the mercury goes above that I start to suffer.
More observations about Bangkok later. I have always felt ambivalent about Thailand in general - I love some things, but I hate other things. Those feelings of ambivalence are intensified even more in the capital. I really love some aspects of Bangkok, but I find other aspects quite unbearable.