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  • Living in Thailand Blog May 2014
 

 

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Living In Thailand Blog

 

Monday 19th May 2014

A Thai friend I have known for a long time has just returned from London where she went for a vacation with her husband. They both have good jobs. She's the mayor's niece and also works in local government as a councillor. Her husband is a bank manager and they both have very good business and political connections, which is very important in Thailand. They don't have any kids and their situation is such that they can travel abroad quite easily.

They came back raving about the UK. They now want to buy a UK property (after learning about house rental prices there) and they were talking about starting some kind of business involving sending Thai students to England to gain language experience. Of course, foreigners can buy property and set up businesses in the UK relatively easily compared to the reverse situation.

She was trying to talk me into getting involved with her business idea, but quite frankly I am not interested. I'm happy where I am, I have lost my desire to travel, and I have no interest in returning to the UK for whatever reason.

The Thai friend with whom they stayed has somehow managed to bag herself a council flat in South Kensington, which isn't the shabbiest area of London. In fact, it's one of the most expensive and desirable areas of the entire UK.

It was her husband's first visit to England and when they came out of South Kensington tube station for the first time he was blown away by the fabulous architecture in that area. It is a beautiful part of London - one that I always enjoyed visiting, but could never afford to live in. He was also impressed with the tidy pavements that were well maintained and not completely clogged with street vendors, as is the case in Thailand.

It's strange how foreign countries always seem so attractive to so many people. When I was speaking to them yesterday they were still very excited and impressed with London and when they asked me questions about my old life I could sense that they were confused as to why I had left.

My life there wasn't quite as glamorous. My company's office was on London's South Bank, which is a great area, but my work assignments took me to places such as Northampton, High Wycombe, and worst of all Basildon. These provincial towns were grey, stark, boring and actually, quite depressing. It was made worse by the dreary grey UK weather.

Single men over the age of 40 are regarded as social outcasts in Western countries and no matter how much money you have in the bank, no matter the house you live in or the car you drive, life can get pretty lonely and miserable.

I remember visiting Thailand as a tourist and when I compared it to the UK it was as if I had been living my life in black-and-white and it has suddenly switched to colour. Back then I actually liked all the chaos on the pavements of Thailand because in the UK loneliness had started to become a problem.

I lived alone and if I went outside there was no one on the empty streets. In Thailand, whenever I went outside there was always lots of activity. It was exciting, never lonely, and it made me feel alive. I knew that I would end up in Thailand, but I also knew that the timing had to be right and that I had to wait.

Thailand has this effect on many farangs who visit for a vacation. The dreary, drab, grey world they come from is suddenly replaced with sunshine, colour, palm trees, exotic sights, sounds and smells, and - where men are concerned - there is also an abundance of young, attractive, willing and available girls. It's a heady mix and it is quite intoxicating.

Those with no work or family commitments may decide to stay indefinitely. Their decision is often helped by knowing that they can stay in the country legally just by going to a border every 30 days, that they can teach English illegally because no one ever checks work permits, that they can rent a room cheaply, and that the cost of living in Thailand is quite low. This strategy may seem a good idea at first, but it is fraught with problems.

As we have seen recently, there has been a big clamp down on those people living permanently in Thailand who have been abusing the 30 day VOA scheme. Occasionally, there are crackdowns on foreigners working illegally, and Thailand is making it more difficult to get the paperwork to work legally.

Inflation has resulted in soaring costs and I don't believe that many foreigners can live on three cheap rice meals a day. The little food treats from home that can be bought in Thailand are very expensive.

Foreigners usually spend their vacations in Thailand in good health, but everyone suffers from bad health or accidents occasionally. Healthcare in Thailand is relatively cheap compared to other countries, but it isn't free. Nothing is free in Thailand and there is no welfare state safety net - even for the locals.

The safety net that most Thais rely on is the one provided by their friends and families, but this is something that foreigners in Thailand are unlikely to have.

Regarding those lovely girls, they are all perfect at first and don't ask for much. However, over time they make more and more demands. They all want houses, cars, pickup trucks, smart phones, etc. And with those from the poorer areas of Thailand, a 'rich' farang boyfriend or husband is also expected to take care of the extended family.

I made long term plans to live in Thailand and I only went after I was satisfied that my financial situation was healthy enough. My initial calculations indicated that I would have a lot more money than I needed and would thus be very comfortable. As it has turned out - after the Global Financial Crisis, a plummeting exchange rate, interest rates on savings at almost zero, inflation, marriage, kids, and the associated house and car purchases that come with wives and kids - I have just about enough money to live on.

Had my calculations indicated that at first I would have just enough, I would now be struggling very badly. This subject is something I have touched on before, but I was prompted to write this after reading the following article:

When the expat shoestring breaks

Lonely Planet started in 1975 by printing a guide about travelling in Southeast Asia at a time when very few Westerners travelled in Southeast Asia. There was no Internet in those days and virtually no useful information for adventurous explorers. The guide had a yellow cover and was referred to as the 'yellow bible' among backpackers. It was called Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.

If you are travelling around this region for a few months as a backpacker, living on a shoestring is quite possible. However, it isn't possible if you plan to stay in Thailand indefinitely.

Thailand does indeed have an intoxicating effect on many foreigners and on the surface it seems to be an easy country to live in because of the low cost of living and weak law enforcement.

However, things do change and they change remarkably quickly. Exchange rates were a lot better, and prices for most things were a lot lower, just a few years ago. The recent immigration crackdown came into effect overnight with no prior warning.

Thailand isn't the right place for everyone, but it does suit a lot of people and for many people it can mean a higher standard of living and more comfortable life. But nothing comes for free, and the reality is that you do need a certain amount of money behind you and a regular income.

It was interesting that the visa crackdown was aimed partly at South Koreans and Vietnamese. With the AEC coming into effect, I guess that border controls will only become stricter in future and of course this will affect everyone coming into Thailand, no matter where they come from.

I didn't notice much change in Thailand when Westerners, like myself, were suffering from the effects of the GFC, but it has gradually caught up with Thailand and now lots of Thais are feeling the pinch. When this happens it isn't unusual for nationalism to get stronger as the country protects its own people.

For certain people in certain situations moving to Thailand can be a great thing and it is something that I would encourage them to do, however, it does require quite a lot of thought beforehand.

Another piece of advice is to play by the rules. I've always done things above board and this has proven to be a good strategy in the long term. In the early days, especially, I met and talked to long term expats who had never played by the rules and their advice to me was always to do the same. They actually scoffed at people who wanted to do things properly, but I wonder how they are faring now? It was easy to do what they did then, but not so easy nowadays.

For good advice go to reputable sources and don't pay too much attention to the guys on the barstools who try to justify their 'knowledge' of Thailand by prefixing everything with, "I've been here 20/30/40 years."

A hospital porter may have worked at a hospital for 40 years, but would you be happy about him performing an operation on you? Knowledge needs to be acquired the right way and it doesn't simply enter the body by osmosis.

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Sunday 18th May 2014

I was curious about the reason behind this latest immigration crackdown. According to the Bangkok Post it is because many South Koreans, Russians and Vietnamese have been abusing the system and using the 30 day VOA loophole to stay in Thailand so that they can work.

Border insecurity mounts as tourist visa abuse is targeted

In the following article there is a quote from immigration to the effect that they have known about the problem for a long time, but have never bothered dealing with it. They say that from now on they will deal with it. This latest immigration crackdown, therefore, may last a little longer than previous crackdowns - which have only lasted a matter of months.

Stopping visa run abuse a good step

There is also a comment in this article stating that by making changes to the system Thailand is only falling into line with other countries. If this is the case, how far will it go and what about language? With regard to immigration in the UK, proficiency in English is becoming ever more important and Brits are generally disgusted with immigrants who have lived in the UK for a long time and can't speak or read English.

Sajid Javid: Immigrants must learn English

Will Thailand eventually introduce a Thai language test for foreigners wishing to live in Thailand?

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Saturday 17th May 2014

My wife mentioned this after seeing it on Thai TV news last week.

Tougher test for new drivers in June

This kind of story always catches my attention. What was the motivation behind the change, what is the desired result, what will actually change, and what will be the actual result?

Thais, more than anyone, know that there is a serious problem with road fatalities in the country, so I can only guess that this move is an attempt to improve things. If so, it is highly unlikely to make any difference.

Firstly, it will only affect new drivers who will now have to watch more videos as part of their driving test. One problem is with the whole driver education and testing system because it simply doesn't prepare drivers for the real world. Neither will it affect the millions of bad drivers who already have licences.

Secondly, watching more videos about road safety won't make any difference to the many new drivers - especially young males - who have already made up their mind how they will drive once they get a licence. The motorbike racers that progress to pickup trucks will still have an attitude that it is acceptable to race on public roads.

If Thailand really wants to improve road safety why have they decided to try to do it by changing the driving test?

Is it the path of least resistance? After all, making new drivers watch a few more videos will be a lot easier that getting the police to catch drivers, gather evidence, and prosecute bad drivers.

Is it because laws only apply to some people in certain situations in Thailand? Would it be too difficult to clamp down on road laws uniformly when law is something that is only normally applied discriminately?

Or does this come from Confucianism? Should society be controlled by a code of rights that is governed by ethics and morality? Should law only be used against uncivilised people who do not abide by the code of rights? If so, Thailand has severely underestimated the number of uncivilised people in the country.

This is another aspect of living in Thailand for which I have many questions and no answers. My solutions for fixing Thailand's road problems would be very different, but perhaps it is me and my Western perspectives that are wrong.

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Tuesday 13th May 2014

Thai immigration clamps down on visa runs

Thailand may have a huge tourist industry now, but just 30 years ago very few Western tourists visited the country.

The turning point was probably in 1987 - the year that I first visited. This was the year of the King's 60th birthday and it was made 'Visit Thailand Year' with the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) organising lots of promotional events to encourage tourism in Thailand. I attended one such event in London's Barbican Centre in 1987.

A total of 3.48 million tourists arrived that year, however, this must have included the many Malaysian and other Asian tourists who have always visited Thailand because there were very few farang tourists at that time.

There weren't many foreigners in Bangkok then, and Samui was so deserted and undeveloped that I got incredibly bored looking at coconut trees all day long and decided to move on to Pattaya, which at that time was quite a pleasant place. How things change.

Thailand was desperate to get its tourist industry up and running and the government created visa waiver schemes for many countries. This was so that tourists could come for a normal vacation and not be overburdened with paperwork. They didn't have to get any paperwork before they arrived, but would simply be given a 30 day Visa On Arrival (VOA) when they arrived. It was a good gesture by the Thai government.

Obviously, the Thai authorities hadn't anticipated any abuse and when they implemented this system they didn't specify how many 30 day stamps any one person could have, or specify a minimum period in between 30 day stamps.

The trouble with implementing any system that is designed to help people is that some people will then take advantage and abuse the system. As a first-time naive tourist in 1987 I had no idea about how foreigners stayed in Thailand, but I soon learned that some foreigners lived in the country by making perpetual visits to the nearest border every 30 days for a fresh 30 day VOA.

There was absolutely nothing illegal about doing this, but it was obvious to everyone that it wasn't the right thing to do. It was simply a loophole that was being exploited.

When I arrived to live in Thailand at the end of 2003 I wasn't really concerned about visas at first. I travelled around a bit, made some trips down to Singapore, and every time I re-entered Thailand I was given another 30 days.

Once I settled down I then had to think about how I would remain legally in the country and even though the Malaysian border is only an hour away I wasn't happy about living in the country on back-to-back 30 day visa runs.

I did a few and on one occasion the guy in front of me started getting quizzed by the immigration officer, who wasn't satisfied with something or other. The guy then started wailing that he had a wife and children in Thailand and had to get back into the country. If that was the case he shouldn't have been living in Thailand on 30 day stamps.

I was offered a teaching job and although the school was happy to employ me illegally without a non-B visa or a work permit, I wasn't happy. I asked them to give me the relevant paperwork and went down to Penang in Malaysia to get the appropriate visa from the Thai Consulate. I paid for everything myself.

I then paid out of my own pocket to get a work permit and kept this going for years. I only remained in the first job for a month and then moved on to a much better job, but as it was only part-time they wouldn't do the visa and work permit paperwork for me. I therefore did it myself. It took a lot of effort and involved quite a lot of expense, but eventually my decision was vindicated.

In 2006 there was a high profile murder case of a young girl in the States and the suspect was found teaching English illegally in Bangkok. My suspicion is that the States put some heat on Thailand and suddenly there was a big immigration crackdown, with special focus on the perpetual 30 day visa-runners.

They whinged and complained on their forums, but they all knew that it wasn't the right thing to do and there had been rumours of a crackdown for a long time. I remember having a conversation about this subject with a retired foreigner who was doing border runs every month in late 2003 or early 2004.

The crackdown didn't surprise me, but what did surprise me was finding out shortly afterwards that foreigners were still doing back-to-back border runs and living in Thailand permanently. If they arrived overland they were only given 15 days, but it was still happening.

I subsequently realised that all crackdowns in Thailand are only temporary and that after the initial excitement things soon revert to how they were before.

On Saturday a friend living in Thailand sent me a link to a ThaiVisa forum thread announcing that there had been another immigration crackdown.

Information seems to be vague at the moment. There are lots of unanswered questions and no one knows how long this particular crackdown will last. However, the same basic facts always apply in Thailand.

If you are a genuine tourist in Thailand staying for no longer than 30 days and arriving by air, there isn't a problem. There has never been a problem. If you wish to stay longer as a tourist you should sort out a relevant tourist visa outside of Thailand before you arrive.

Different rules apply to different countries and so you need to check the official facts first. Tourists from some countries - South Korea is one, I believe - get 90 days.

If you wish to work in Thailand you need a non-B visa to stay in the country and a work permit to allow you to work. These are separate documents. A visa doesn't permit you to work in Thailand and a work permit doesn't allow you to stay in Thailand. These documents are normally kept in synch.

If you wish to retire in Thailand, or if you have a Thai wife, you need a non-O visa. Other visas are also available. At ThaiVisa, for example, one enterprising guy was trying to sign up foreigners at his language school to learn Thai and he would arrange education visas for them.

When you are living in Thailand permanently on an appropriate visa you are also obliged to report to immigration every 90 days so that they have your contact details and can keep track of you. This is quite reasonable, although it probably doesn't need to be quite as frequent.

The only problem with this latest crackdown is among those foreigners living in Thailand who don't like playing by the rules. They can't be bothered (and/or can't satisfy the financial requirements) with proper visas and just want the easiest and cheapest method of living in Thailand permanently. They also like living 'below the radar' so that no one can keep track of them.

In most other countries foreigners can't just turn up at the border and live there permanently. If Thailand is serious about this latest crackdown, the country is only getting into line with other countries. If it isn't serious, this latest crackdown will just be forgotten about soon - as happened before. Time will tell.

I have known people living in Thailand with no visa and I used to work with a guy who made a habit of overstaying. When I knew him he had overstayed for over two years. He had a contact who had Thai contacts in immigration and he managed to clear the overstay by paying a Bt20,000 fine and coming straight back into Thailand. The organisation he worked for then got him a proper visa.

I subsequently heard that after his visa ran out he overstayed again. He had an attitude that he could do what he wanted, that the world owed him a living, and that he didn't need to comply with any government rules and regulations.

It is a personal decision as to how you stay in Thailand, and it is possible to get away with not following laws for a very long time because no one checks. To a large extent it depends whether your conscience will allow it, and whether you can live with the consequences if you get caught? For me, the answer to both questions is no.

After my part-time work finished I started working full-time for a proper language institute that did all the paperwork for my visa and work permit. It was a real luxury not having to do it myself. When I stopped working I changed to a retirement visa. I imagined that I would get a marriage visa, but apparently retirement visas are a lot easier for immigration to process and they steered me down the retirement visa path.

I can't understand why people who live in the country on permanent back-to-back 30 day stamps complain about immigration crackdowns. They should just be thankful that they were able to get away with it for so long.

Despite not being illegal, everyone who does it knows that it doesn't comply with the spirit of the law and that 30 day stamps were never intended to facilitate foreigners who wanted to live in Thailand permanently.

Even for those who follow the rules, Thailand is quite strange in that so many expats live in the country on one year visas. I now have family commitments, yet there is never any guarantee that my next visa application will be successful and the rules can change overnight.

The obvious thing to do is to apply for permanent resident (PR) status. However, it is limited to 100 people per country each year, it involves a lot of paperwork, and it is fairly expensive. Nonetheless, I think I will ask about this next time I go to immigration.


A neighbour spotted another King Cobra around some rubbish bins near our house this evening. She told the security guards, who then told her that they had dealt with a regular cobra three days earlier. This is getting a bit concerning.

Thais have a powerful belief system with an enormous number of beliefs, and there are a lot of beliefs about snakes. I mentioned previously that Thais won't talk about snakes if they are out in the forest because they believe snakes can hear and understand, and will come after them.

Another neighbour said tonight that if you kill a King Cobra, its friends and relatives will visit in large numbers to track down the killer.

I read somewhere that certain people believe that if you kill a snake the eyes of the snake act like a camera and an image of the killer is imprinted in the dead snake's eyes. When other snakes find the dead snake they look into its eyes to see who did the killing and then go after that person. For this reason, people who kill snakes remove the head or the eyes.

I spoke to my wife about this kind of thing and she maintains that these are facts, not beliefs. She describes King Cobras as very special snakes who are very protective towards their own kind, and especially protective towards their young.

She used to live in a very rural area of Ranong province where her parents grew fruit and palm oil trees. One day she said that a neighbour lit a bonfire and after the fire had gone out he found a mother King Cobra coiled over its young. The mother had done this to try to protect the young snakes from the fire, but obviously they had all perished.

We live in an area that was almost untouched 10 years ago. There has been a lot of development in recent years and this has driven a lot of the snakes away. However, they are still present in undeveloped areas and find their way into adjacent developed areas.

It was their home first so I shouldn't be complaining, but I am concerned about the safety of my family and my cats. Hopefully, as the development in this area continues the snakes will seek quieter, less inhabited places in which to live.

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Saturday 10th May 2014

The pest control men - Click for larger image ปลวก (bpluak) - termite

You see lots of signs stuck on electricity poles in Thailand with this word, offering services to eradicate termites.

I finally got around to calling in the pest control people to protect my house from termites. I didn't agree with my neighbour's suggestion that it isn't necessary to do anything unless you actually find termites.

In the event that you find termites they are likely to already have done a lot of damage, and if they are in the house already they are difficult to get rid of. Unlike many Thais, I always prefer prevention to cure.

Termites are a common problem in Thailand and houses in Thailand are built with special pipes under the house specifically to protect against them. At first I didn't know what these pipes were for until a neighbour explained.

The pest control people fill a large barrel with water and insecticide, and inject the solution into the ground under pressure via the special pipes and also through a hollow rod that they stick in the soil around the house. They injected a total of about 400 litres.

The boss man inspected the house and told us that there were no termite problems. This was a relief, and hopefully regular treatment will keep them away for good.

I signed a three year contract. Under the contract they will do the same soil treatment once a year and they will also come and spray around the house every two months. In the event that I do have a problem with termites they will fix the problem for free.

Special termite pipes under the house - Click for larger image It sounded like quite a good deal and only cost Bt14,000 for three years' peace of mind. Some smaller houses on the development have been sold for 8 and 9 million Baht so this house would probably go on the market for over Bt10 million if we sold it. Bt14,000 is a small price to pay for protection.

Life throws up enough problems outside the house without having to worry about insects silently destroying the house from the inside.

The pest control man noticed our palm trees at the front of the house and told me that termites eat the roots and then start to burrow their way up inside the trunk. Eventually the trunk becomes hollow and the tree dies. If you tap on the trunk of a tree and hear a hollow sound, it has probably been attacked by termites.

In the UK, insects were no more than a slight annoyance at certain times of the year. In Thailand they can do real damage and they are active all year round. A single mosquito can ruin my night's sleep if one gets in the house and this morning we found our four month old baby covered in mosquito and ant bites. Certain types of mosquito can also transmit very serious diseases.

I am engaged in a constant war with ants and no matter how many I get rid of or how many nests I destroy there are always replacements. Termites are a far more serious threat and can do serious structural damage to property.

The constant sunshine in a tropical country may be some people's idea of 'paradise', but the constant heat and humidity bring lots of other problems.


Let the battle commence. I have a feeling that this is going to get quite nasty and I'm glad that I don't live in Bangkok. Our next trip to Bangkok is scheduled in July. I used to really look forward to our twice-yearly trips to the capital, but now I dread going.

Thai protesters gather in Bangkok for rival rallies

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Thursday 8th May 2014

US urges new elections in Thailand

This kind of glib, naive statement annoys me on several counts.

  1. Has no one noticed that elections in Thailand never solve anything? Why would our friends in the US think that yet another election would make any difference?

    There is a strong culture of patronage in Thailand where many people (clients) give their allegiance and loyalty to a patron. If that patron is a rich politician, he benefits by having a large vote bank with which to gain and retain power. His clients benefit from various populist policies.

    Many poor Thais from rural areas don't really care about corruption, abuse of power, nepotism, conflicts of interest, etc, as long as they get something. This is how elective politics works in Thailand. If one corrupt politician gives them cheap loans and pays them more than the market rate for growing rice it is better than getting nothing from another corrupt politician. This is what decides their vote.

    The majority of Thais have Thaksin Shinawatra as a patron and thus any election will bring a Thaksin influenced political party into power. This, of course, will not solve the political crisis. It will just prolong it.

  2. In its role as world policeman, the United States does a lot of good, but it is wrong to try to foist so-called 'democracy' on every country. Lee Kuan Yew covers this in his memoirs.
    "I have also seen so many of the over 80 constitutions drafted by Britain and France for their former colonies come to grief, and not because of flaws in the constitutions. It was simply that the preconditions for a democratic system of government did not exist.

    None of these countries had a civic society with an educated electorate. Nor did their people have the cultural tradition of acceptance of a person because of that person's office. These traditions take generations to inculcate in a people. In a new country where loyalties are to tribal leaders, the leaders must be honest and not self-serving or the country is likely to fail whatever the constitutional safeguards. And because the leaders who inherited these constitutions were not strong enough, their countries went down in riots, coups, and revolution."

    Thailand has never been colonised but if you substitute 'tribal leaders' with 'patrons' this analysis still applies. With regard to the electorate not being educated, Thailand's growing middle class are very educated, but there is still a huge population of low-educated rural poor.

    Most Thai leaders, with a few notable exceptions, have been self-serving and Thailand does indeed have constitutional safeguards but, as we have seen, these have failed.

There is also an element of hypocrisy with the US trying to foist 'democracy' on everyone else when a recent study concludes that the US is actually an oligarchy, not a democracy.

Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy

Other countries need to stop interfering and Thailand needs to determine the best way forward for Thailand, and not just follow a system of government that has worked elsewhere. As LKY points out, if the preconditions for a particular form of government don't exist in Thailand then that system of government won't work.

Thailand also needs to flatten its societal hierarchy and make society fairer for all Thais. If Thais from every sector of society knew that they had genuine opportunities in life, which many don't have now, then they wouldn't feel the need to resort to the patronage system.

It is this system of patronage that has torn the country apart and now it looks as if there is no hope of any reconciliation. The anti-government protesters have won the latest battle and have ousted Yingluck, but this will only inflame the pro-government supporters.

The BBC's Jonathan Head wrote an article about this scenario back in March. Included is the following passage:

"A former military officer now advising the red-shirts on armed operations told the BBC they were planning to recruit 200,000 guards, all of them armed, who would be prepared to march on Bangkok if Ms Yingluck were forced from office, either by the army or by the courts or independent agencies like the NACC."

Here's the full article:

Where is Thailand heading after protests?

It's not looking at all good and it will only continue getting worse. One positive Thai trait is pragmatism, but unfortunately there isn't much evidence of any pragmatism at the moment. A negative Thai trait is greed and there is lots of this on display in this massive struggle for power.

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Wednesday 7th May 2014

Long bus rides can be so boring in Thailand and you need to do something to relieve the boredom.

Thailand Tour Bus

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Tuesday 6th May 2014

Yesterday, I thought I would try to lighten up this blog a little rather than writing about road accidents, social issues, and political problems. It didn't last long. Today has been a very bad day for Thailand.

The first bad news was a natural disaster - a big earthquake in Chiang Rai province. This is probably my favourite province in Thailand and it is where I wanted to live before my wife had the final say.

Apparently, there has been a lot of structural damage and beautiful Rong Khun temple has been badly damaged. When I first saw this gleaming white temple my jaw dropped open. It is stunningly beautiful and this is really terrible news.

Big quake rocks North

'White Temple' devastated by quake (Exquisite Wat Rong Khun closed indefinitely)

We went shopping at the new Central Festival mall in Hat Yai late in the morning and while there my wife started to receive a lot of phone calls about events in Hat Yai today. When we left the mall we saw thick clouds of black smoke in the air over central Hat Yai.

Today there has been a series of coordinated bomb attacks in Hat Yai. From what I can make out so far there have been bombs in four places and an unexploded bomb has been found near the Prince of Songkla University. This is from local news and reports from friends and neighbours, however, the official news channels are saying just two places.

All of the places affected today are places that I visit fairly regularly. The attacks are indiscriminate and you only need to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The chances are slim, but it could happen.

Someone local reported that one of the bombs, which was detonated in police apartments opposite the police station, took lives. However, the official news channels are just reporting injuries with no fatalities so far. A neighbour sent my wife a photo of another bomb attack outside a 7-Eleven store and I was astounded at how big the explosion was. I am guessing that it was quite a large car bomb.

So far the national newspapers haven't reported much because it is still breaking news. The situation should become clearer later.

Hat Yai hit with two bomb blasts, five injured Tuesday

Two bombs in Hat Yai wound 8 people

There is quite a lot of security in Hat Yai because of the town's proximity to the three troubled provinces, and being the largest commercial centre in the south of Thailand it is an obvious target for terrorist attacks.

Terrorist attacks are not unknown in Hat Yai and the last one occurred on Saturday 31st March 2012.

Today is also the day that Yingluck goes to court accused of abusing her power in office. Yesterday, anti-government protesters were blocking roads once again and making the already over-congested roads even worse. Today's blasts probably aren't a coincidence.

The verdict on Yingluck will be given tomorrow, but whichever way it goes half of Thailand won't be happy. Thailand is now a divided country and until the country unites again nothing will go forward.

Court to rule on PM on Wednesday

I can't remember a time during my lifetime when there was so much conflict in the world. Thailand is certainly no exception and the troubles will likely get a lot worse before they get any better.

I feel sad about what is happening rather than scared, but nonetheless, for the next few weeks we will probably be reducing our trips to department stores and shopping malls. I don't worry about myself, but I do worry about my two little ones.

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Monday 5th May 2014

There was some more excitement last night as another snake was discovered in our housing development.

My wife often takes our two children for an evening stroll and meets up with another neighbour whose daughter is two months older than our son. The babies were in buggies, but my daughter was walking and almost stepped on the snake.

It was only a baby (less than a foot long) and although someone mentioned that it was a cobra, I don't know what it was. It was a dull, almost black colour without any fancy, colourful markings.

I don't know anything about snakes, however, I have read that the venom of baby snakes is as potent as adult snakes and that baby snakes haven't yet learned how to deliver dry bites. They always inject venom when they bite and this, potentially, makes them more dangerous than adults.

Thailand is an ancient civilisation and its cultural roots are an amalgam of many cultures, religions and belief systems, such as, Animism, Buddhism, Brahmanism, Hinduism, etc.

As you might expect, the country is rich in culture and there are many ancient rituals and ceremonies that have been passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. For example, my Thai wedding ceremony was full of ancient ritual and ceremony.

Thais are aware that snakes can hear and believe that they can understand humans. When Thais are out in forested areas they do not talk about snakes for fear that snakes will take exception to being talked about and come after them.

When encountering snakes, Thais perform a special snake greeting ceremony (pi-tee sawat dee ngoo).

  1. Firstly, a headman or village elder with the appropriate saksit (spiritual) power is sought
  2. Candles and incense sticks are lit
  3. The villagers perform a special chant while offering their respects to Manasa the Hindu folk goddess of snakes
  4. Someone grabs a heavy, blunt object and beats the shit out of the snake

With the ongoing Westernisation of Thailand (and with the passing of the older generation who have the appropriate spiritual power) this exotic Southeast Asian ceremony has nowadays mostly been condensed to just step 4.

Indeed, one of my neighbours performed step 4 on the snake. I normally object strongly to any mistreatment of animals, but in a residential area where there are young children and pets you don't really want venomous snakes around.

I performed a similar ceremony at our rented town house a few years ago when a giant centipede entered the house one night. I had never seen anything like it. These things are huge, venomous and can deliver a very nasty bite. When I called my wife she panicked and told me to perform step 4 of the snake ceremony on it.

Disclaimer: Some of the above may not necessarily be entirely factual.

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Sunday 4th May 2014

Volunteer rescue personnel attending an accident scene in Thailand - Click for larger image With so many road traffic accidents (and so few ambulances) in Thailand, who picks up the pieces after an accident? (I'm using the term 'accident' purely for convenience, even though most road traffic injuries and fatalities in Thailand are not accidental - they are inevitable.)

In most cases this very busy job is left to voluntary rescue organisations. My local rescue organisation is called Siang Teung. The volunteers monitor the airwaves listening out for accidents - most of which involve vehicles. Bangkok, being such a humongous city, has several such organisations.

The volunteers attend to accidents, administering first aid and taking injured people to hospitals. They aren't allowed to move corpses until the police arrive, but when the police have finished they take the corpses to morgues. They also remove crashed vehicles to clear the road.

Corpses are covered with white sheets while waiting for the police to arrive. I have seen a number of dead bodies in the road covered with white sheets just after traffic accidents - normally motorcyclists.

Channel News Asia just aired a documentary style programme about these voluntary rescue organisations in Thailand and their reporter joined such an organisation in Bangkok to see what they actually do. It's now on-line and you can watch it here.

Accident Clear-up

Why would people give up their own free time and volunteer to do this kind of work? One guy even spent Bt300,000 of his own money to convert his pickup truck into an ambulance. In the programme the volunteers say that they do it to make merit. Merit-making is a very strong element of Thai culture.

Volunteer rescue personnel attending an accident scene in Thailand - Click for larger image Perhaps they also do it because it is exciting? I had previously heard that there was a financial incentive with hospitals paying the organisations a commission for bringing people to that particular hospital. I'm not sure of all the reasons.

In the programme the volunteers attend to an accident in which a 13 year-old boy is killed while participating in a motorcycle road race. His mother arrives at the scene and, naturally, she is hysterical when she sees her dead son lying on the road under a white sheet. All parents would be devastated.

However, it was her that gave her son the motorbike. He was 13. What can you say?

There is a strong culture of road racing in Thailand. This not only presents a serious threat to those involved, but also to all other road users.

The police do take action against some road racers, but there is still a lot that goes on. There are some extremely serious social problems in Thailand, and this is just one of them.

The Channel News Asia programme says that more people die in road traffic accidents in Thailand than anywhere else in the world. Every statistic I see seems to be slightly different, but regardless of whether Thailand is number one or number six in the list of the most dangerous countries for road fatalities, all you need to remember is that the roads in Thailand are extremely dangerous.

I have visited my local rescue centre quite a few times. They take photos at accident scenes and display them on large notice boards. Some of the photos are horrific.

Volunteer rescue personnel attending an accident scene in Thailand - Click for larger image When I first saw these photos my initial reaction was that all young Thais should be made to look at them in an effort to make them slow down and drive more carefully. However, a Thai told me that it doesn't make any difference.

Perhaps it's a belief in Karma? Perhaps Thais believe that their fate has already been decided and so it doesn't matter whether they drive like idiots, or not? Perhaps a belief in reincarnation means that death to a Thai isn't quite as final as death to someone else?

It doesn't matter how many gruesome accidents they witness or how many gory photos they are shown, they don't change the way they drive.

I don't know why this is. I don't know why so many Thais drive like idiots with no regard for their own or other people's lives. It's a mystery to me now and for as long as I live in Thailand it will remain a mystery.

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Saturday 3rd May 2014

I have written often in praise of the Thai healthcare system and I have had two more positive experiences this week.

I broke a tooth on Monday. There was no pain and it wasn't an emergency, nonetheless, it was only necessary to wait two days for an appointment.

The dentist that did a root canal for me last year is now my regular dentist. She's an older lady (most dentists in Thailand are female) who at one time studied and worked in the UK. She's very clever, very cultured, very pleasant, very professional, and very good at her job.

She repaired the problem tooth quickly and I was only charged a paltry Bt350 (just under 11 US dollars). I am so out of touch with the UK now that I can't make comparisons, but I would imagine that in the UK I would have to wait a lot longer for an appointment and would have to pay a lot more.

Yesterday, I managed to rupture a flexor tendon in my middle finger. The tip of my finger was hanging down and there was no way that I could straighten it. I have never suffered from this kind of injury before, but I understand that it is fairly common.

I went to one of the local private hospitals and they referred me to the A&E department. Even though it was a trivial injury I saw a doctor within half an hour. I remember waiting for five or six hours to see a doctor in UK A&E departments with much worse injuries than this.

He spoke excellent English and took the time to explain the injury and draw me a diagram. He sent me for an X-Ray to make sure that only the tendon was severed, and that there were no bone injuries.

By the time I returned to his office he was already looking at the digital image of my X-Ray. He made a splint for my finger and told me that the tendon should knit itself back together after about six weeks. He also made me an appointment to see a doctor on Sunday who specialises in hand injuries.

While talking to him I could tell that he was a very confident and very competent orthopedic doctor. With so many road accidents in Thailand, I guess that orthopedic doctors get lots of experience and become very adept at repairing skeletal injuries.

My insurance covered the hospital visit, but the consultation, X-Ray and medication at a private hospital only came to about Bt1,400.

In accounts I have read of early foreign visits to Thailand, the foreigners were impressed with the Thais they dealt with. Lee Kuan Yew speaks very highly of the Thais he met who were in charge of foreign policy.

LKY theorises that Thailand's foreign minisitry has always recruited the country's best and brightest to fend off encroachments from foreign colonial powers to prevent the country being colonised.

I have met some very intelligent and highly impressive Thais - mostly health professionals, although there have been others. However, as I have said before, Thailand is a land of extreme contrasts and contradictions.

As soon as you leave the civilised and professional confines of a Thai healthcare facility you return to the chaos and anarchy of Thailand at large where the decidedly uneducated, uncivilised and uncultured hoi polloi on Thailand's roads race around in pickup trucks trying their best to kill and injure themselves and other people.

This is why it is impossible - and unwise - to make general statements about Thailand (which I do quite a lot). Regardless of whether it is good or bad behaviour, whatever behaviour you describe about one person or one group of people will soon be contradicted by the behaviour of others.

This applies to all countries - there are good people who benefit society and selfish and inconsiderate people who only cause problems for society.

The big difference in Thailand, with such a weak rule of law, is how much freedom is accorded to the bad people in society to allow them to do whatever they want without any fear of punishment.

Some friends from Germany were vacationing in Thailand last year and I went to collect them from Trang province. As we were driving to the Thale Noi wetlands reserve in Phattalung province we saw the usual examples of Thai driving. Germans, of course, have very high driving standards and very strong laws.

While we were waiting at a set of lights a Thai guy decided to turn right on a red light. He then drove along the wrong side of the road against the oncoming traffic and performed a U-turn to take him back in the direction where he came from. My German friend looked on in amazement and made the comment, "He would be thrown in jail if he did that in Germany."

I see crazy things on Thai roads every day. In the UK these things may not result in jail sentences, but they would certainly result in immediate driving bans. In Thailand, nothing happens. No one cares, and the people who seem to care least are the police.

This is what makes living in Thailand so frustrating. Some aspects of living in Thailand are so good, and when you witness good things in Thailand it gives you an idea of how successful the country could be potentially.

On the other hand, you also see the craziest things you will ever see in your life and you also become aware that nothing is done about stopping, preventing or punishing crazy behaviour. When you see this side of Thailand it can give you grave doubts as to whether Thailand will ever fulfil its potential.

On one hand there is a growing educated middle class and as this sector becomes more influential in society they will initiate change. On the other hand, there is the old 'cultural behaviour' that is extremely powerful and never seems to change.

I still find living in Thailand much more enjoyable than living in the UK, but when I think how much better Thailand could be if there was a bit more law and order it makes me frustrated.

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Blog entries 20th to 31st May 2014