Living In Thailand Blog
Saturday 26th May 2018
I don't have a lot to do with other farangs in Thailand, but occasionally I bump into friendly foreigners as I go about my normal life and almost always I hear some interesting tales. In most cases these tales aren't good from a Thai perspective, but they either expand my knowledge of life in Thailand or reinforce certain Thai behaviour that I already know about.
I also have to point out that exactly the same things I am going to explain happen in other countries and, actually, when it comes to violent crime there is probably a lot less in Thailand than there is in certain other countries.
The USA has a high murder rate and although it always seems to be Chicago that is cited, Chicago is only mid-table. Apparently, the city with the highest murder rate in the USA is St Louis.
A wave of murders has blighted London this year and there is a big problem with moped crime in the English capital. When I first arrived in Thailand there was a problem with young kids riding motorbikes who would snatch handbags from pedestrians and other motorcyclists. It got quite bad at one stage and the local police felt obliged to post warnings in the areas most affected.
Bag snatchers on motorbikes
Their usual target was small females and my previous girlfriend was a victim. Usually she didn't carry much money, but on this occasion she had around Bt20,000 to pay a hospital bill for me. She fought back and, quite unusually, an onlooker got involved and the kids rode off empty-handed. In most cases, Thais will not get involved when they see crimes taking place.
The attacks in London have been a lot worse with the offenders throwing acid in victim's faces and stabbing people.
UK police rules have just been revised so that the police can chase moped riders who aren't wearing helmets. Previously, they weren't allowed to pursue criminals who weren't wearing helmets because of the danger posed to the rider. It is this kind of politically correct nonsense that has made a mockery of many Western countries.
There have also been problems for people in the UK who have killed intruders in their own property. In Hat Yai a few years ago the owner of a gold shop shot and killed an intruder who was attempting to steal his property. No action was taken against him, which is how it should be.
Yesterday I ate at an American-style diner that has just opened in town. I took the opportunity to sample the food before picking up my kids from school.
As I was inside I saw a heavily-built farang riding past on a motorbike looking at the diner with interest. He was American. As I was leaving I saw him again. He stopped and asked how the food was. I gave him my opinion and we entered into a conversation.
He used to work in Trang as an English teacher. Whenever you meet farangs who are working, or have worked, in Thailand there is a 99% chance that their job is teaching English. The opportunities for foreigners to do other work in Thailand, apart from maybe scuba diving instruction at the beach resorts, are very limited.
As I have mentioned many times, salaries in Thailand are a complete joke and he is now working as a teacher in Saudi Arabia where he told me he makes 7x his Thai salary. This isn't difficult.
The daily wage in Thailand is Bt300 per day - about US$9.40. There is currently a campaign in the USA to pay low wage employees US$15 per hour. Therefore, working an 8 hour shift would earn them US$120 per day, which is over 12x what a low wage employee in Thailand would earn.
Foreign English teachers in the provinces can make about Bt30,000 a month. This is a pittance and you can do very little on Bt30,000 a month in Thailand, but you will receive no sympathy because it is twice the amount a Thai teacher earns and the Thai teachers work a lot harder.
He has a Thai girlfriend and his long term plans involve Thailand, but first he needs to earn some decent money so that they can set up some kind of a business. Because employees earn so little in Thailand, Thais are always looking out for ways they can set up their own businesses.
He told me that when he was in Trang he was stabbed. He had been riding a motorbike and was cut up badly by a group of teenage kids.
Every single time I drive I am cut up badly. The Thai way of driving is never to wait in traffic queues. They simply opt for the lane with least traffic (including emergency lanes) and then cut in, normally quite aggressively.
It's really annoying, but you can't do anything. If you let them know you are angry the consequences can be fatal or very serious, as he found out.
He was annoyed at being cut up, understandably, and used an English profanity that Thais are familiar with. He didn't realise they had knives and he was stabbed seven times in the stomach. He showed me his stomach, which is covered in scars.
The stab wounds damaged internal organs and he is very lucky to still be alive. He's a big guy and the perpetrators were only 17, but size doesn't matter when knives or guns are involved. He spent a couple of months in hospital and because of the excellent healthcare in Thailand that I have mentioned many times he survived. Apparently, one of the kids was sentenced to a year in jail, but that was all.
As I said above, violent crime in Thailand isn't the worst in the world and I feel safer walking around Thailand than I would in many UK and USA cities, but this doesn't mean that there aren't dangers.
Don't ever let the 'Land of Smiles' nonsense lull you into a false sense of security. There are lots of feral teenagers and some truly evil people. Life is very cheap in Thailand, including the lives of foreigners.
As a tourist in Thailand I was never aware of this and even as a new expat the situation didn't seem too bad. Everything changed for me when our first child arrived and it became a necessity to buy a car.
That was eight years ago and since I have been driving regularly in Thailand I have seen a completely different side to the country. Most bad things that happen in Thailand seem to be related to driving.
I once read a comment on a forum that said, "Behind every smile is an angry Thai." Because of the vagaries of Thai culture, Thais won't usually show any anger and they keep it bottled up inside. This lack of a safety valve and the inability to vent anger in a normal way can be quite dangerous.
We all need to get rid of our anger and frustrations with life and many Thais seem to do this when they drive, possibly because all Thai cars have heavily tinted windows. The occupants of cars can't be seen from the outside and this gives them a feeling of anonymity.
Driving standards in Thailand are appalling. People get very upset with other drivers, and because of the anonymity and security they feel being inside a vehicle they get angry.
The worst offenders are probably the so-called professional drivers. Many taxi drivers and minivan drivers in Thailand are notoriously aggressive, however, this can apply to any individual driving a motorbike or car.
A few years ago where I live there was an altercation between a teenager on a motorbike and the driver of a sawng-thaew. The young kid got upset about something, reacted, and the sawng-thaew driver shot him dead. So-called professional drivers often carry weapons and videos have been released of minivan drivers brandishing knives, etc.
I offer this not only as advice, but as a reminder to myself. However badly Thai drivers cut you up or drive badly in other ways, try to let it go. The consequences can leave you dead or seriously injured.
When I first arrived in Thailand the thing that really startled me was the lack of road rage. I witnessed the worst kind of driving you can imagine, but people didn't react. That has now changed.
Thais do now get angry and lots of drivers use dashcams so there is a lot more video evidence of road rage incidents in Thailand. To see what I mean, just enter 'Thailand road rage' into YouTube.
Road rage incidents happen everywhere, but there are a couple of reasons why I believe the problem is worse in Thailand. Firstly, driving standards are so bad that you find yourself getting angry with other drivers a lot more often.
While in the UK last year I drove my father's car and there wasn't one instance where I got annoyed at another driver. Friends from the UK have told me that driving standards in the UK have deteriorated, but the standards are still far superior to Thailand by several orders of magnitude. In Thailand I encounter examples of obnoxious driving multiple times every single time I drive.
The second reason is because of the way many Thais react. No matter how badly someone cuts me up my reaction will only ever be verbal. This isn't good because my kids repeat whatever I say and hearing the language I sometimes use coming from the mouth of a young child is very unpleasant, but I would never get physical.
Some foreigners might go further and engage in fisticuffs, but the typical Thai response is to want to kill the other person. In one altercation I had with a minivan driver he made his hand into the shape of a gun and proceeded to 'shoot' me. In another altercation with a young motorbike rider he drew his finger across his neck, indicating he was going to kill me. This seems to be quite typical.
The worrying thing in Thailand is that these actions aren't always empty threats. You don't stab a person seven times in the stomach unless you intend killing them.
In the past I have described a phenomenon I refer to as the 'red mist'. Thais can be fine up to a point, but if you upset them the red mist can descend and they then don't appear to be able to control their actions. This is when life can become very dangerous.
Tourists need not worry about this. Most Thais are fine and most tourists don't drive themselves. You just need to be a little careful if you drive regularly in Thailand because you will encounter lots of very obnoxious drivers and the consequences of confronting them can be extremely serious, if not fatal.
Wednesday 23rd May 2018
A little more about fuel prices in this region. The price of a litre of RON 95 in Malaysia is RM2.20, which is around Bt17.75 at current exchange rates. Wow. Malaysia has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world.
There are millions of motorbikes in Thailand and lots of small stores sell petrol for motorbikes as a sideline alongside their regular produce. It is normally kept in old whisky bottles and they use funnels to fill your tank.
This petrol is usually a bit cheaper than at official petrol stations and I have been told that it comes from Malaysia. The southern border is quite porous and a lot of goods sold cheaply in southern Thailand come from Malaysia.
One problem with this cheap fuel is that it isn't filtered very well and if you use it for a long time you can suffer with blockages in your fuel system. My wife's scooter had such a problem a few years ago and the mechanic's advice was not to use this bottled fuel all the time.
There are also small Thai-style petrol stations selling fuel that probably comes from the same source.
Finest single malt petrol
Thai petrol station near Klong Laa Reservoir in Songkhla province, February 2018
Filling the tank - Samui Island, Thailand in November 1987
If you continue to the bottom of the Malay peninsula the situation is very different in Singapore, which is one of the most expensive places to live anywhere in the world. In Lee Kuan Yew's little island 95 Octane fuel is around $2.30 SGD, which is about Bt55 - around the same price as the UK.
However, car prices are a lot cheaper in the UK compared to Singapore, where car prices are insane, and Brits don't have to pay a fortune for a Certificate Of Entitlement before they even purchase a car. The compulsory Singapore COE simply gives Singaporeans the right to then buy a very expensive car.
With only a short causeway separating Singapore and Malaysia it would seem the obvious thing for Singaporeans to do would be to drive over the causeway with an empty tank, fill up in Malaysia and then return.
Of course, if this was allowed to happen everyone would do it and the Singaporean Inland Revenue would lose a lot of money. Therefore, there are restrictions in place to prevent people from doing this.
When cars leave Singapore for Malaysia the fuel tank must be at least three-quarters full. There is a $500 SGD fine for non-compliance.
Also, Malaysia has banned foreign drivers of non-Malaysian registered vehicles from buying RON 95 fuel, although they can buy RON 97 fuel. The number refers to the octane level. This isn't always enforced and because there is so much animosity between Malaysia and Singapore, Malaysians get quite upset when they see Singaporean registered vehicles filling up with RON 95.
This law would also affect me if I were to choose to drive over the border into Malaysia, but I don't suppose that filling up with RON 97 would do any harm.
This kind of thing is typical for this region. Governments, and even individuals, give citizens of their own country benefits, but there is a lot of protectionism and there are either laws (or other methods) to prevent foreigners from getting the same benefits.
In Thailand anyone can buy fuel, but there are laws that prevent foreigners from buying land and Thais use their written language (which the vast majority of foreigners can't read) to offer low prices to Thais, and only to Thais. Coming from the West this practice doesn't seem right, but perhaps it is? Trump is now putting America first and Asian people have always put their own countries first. Perhaps all countries should do the same?
Price list for Thai people
If this sign doesn't mean anything to you, that's the whole idea. Apart from a few foreigners who can read Thai, only Thais can read it. The first row of white script says prices for Thai people.
It then gives prices for various hair treatments at a hair salon. Blow drying short hair Bt80, blow drying long hair Bt100 - Bt200, hair cutting for men and women Bt150, steaming hair Bt300, etc.
As a further precaution against foreigners understanding anything Amy has used Thai numerals for all the prices, but she didn't deem this to be necessary for her mobile phone number.
At least Thais only discriminate against non-Thais. The Bumiputera (sons of the earth) policy in Malaysia means that Malaysians are discriminated against in their own country if they aren't ethnic Malay, which many aren't.
Tuesday 22nd May 2018
I filled my fuel tank a few days ago and was expecting it to cost around Bt1,200, as it usually does. However, the pump kept running and didn't cut out until Bt1,520. I was quite shocked and even more shocked when I looked at the fuel gauge just after leaving the petrol station to see that the tank still wasn't quite full. Fuel in Thailand hasn't been this expensive for several years.
Operators fret over rising diesel price
I don't use diesel, but the price of all types of fuel fall and rise in unison. I just paid Bt34.40 per litre for Gasohol 95 and the previously filling cost me Bt29.43 a litre. Quite a steep rise. In addition to rising fuel costs I also suspect the petrol station gave me their Premium Plus brand of fuel, which is expensive and unnecessary.
Since I've had my car there have been massive fluctuations in the price of fuel. On 27th April 2014 I paid Bt41.74 per litre. On 15th February 2016 I paid just Bt22.47 per litre. The price has gradually been creeping up and apart from a few days ago, the last time I paid more than Bt30 per litre was in August 2015. It makes a big difference.
A few hours after writing this I spotted the following from the UK.
Fuel hikes threaten consumer spending
The average price of petrol in the UK is now 127.22p per litre. At current exchange rates, that is Bt54.9. Even though I am paying more now, the price of fuel in Thailand is still significantly less compared to the UK.
It would appear that Trump, Bolton, et al are now trying to start a war with Iran and with so much turmoil in the Middle East already, I would suspect that fuel prices will only keep rising.
When I was spending a lot of time in Singapore I met quite a few of my brother's colleagues working in the Forex markets. They earn huge amounts of money, but to do the work you need to be a certain personality type and I could never do that kind of job.
A lot of the people are amiable and unassuming, but there was one guy who I took an instant dislike to. He was very brash, very loud, very ostentatious and basically had all the personality traits that I object to.
For some reason he left Singapore and moved to Phuket where he tried to convince foreigners to buy expensive condos. He tried to sell these places as amazing investments and told people they were stupid if they didn't invest because there was a very high 'guaranteed' return to be made by renting them out.
The last I heard he had invested his own money and lost it all because the condos were built on illegal land. I am reminded of the old adage - never invest more money in Thailand than you can afford to lose.
Probably the best way of renting out private accommodation these days is via Airbnb, but the Thai government has some big issues with such schemes.
Airbnb bookings illegal, court declares
I'm not sure what is really behind this because Thais generally can set up any business they like without any problems. Many Thais live in townhouses and the room on the ground floor that opens into the road is often used for some kind of a business. The ground floor of many Thai homes has been converted into some kind of food shop or a motorbike repair shop or something else.
One theory is that it is protection for the hotel industry. There is still lots of protectionism and travel agents in Thailand now want the government to protect them from Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).
Trade groups sound alarm on e-booking
Alternatively, with so many foreigners owning condos in Thailand, this measure could have been introduced to target foreigners. Foreigners can own businesses in Thailand, but there are strict rules about employing locals and paying taxes.
The government won't take kindly to foreigners running private condo rental businesses inside Thailand while not employing any Thai staff or paying any tax.
I don't know. The story concludes with, "Airbnb representatives are rumoured to be meeting Thai government officials Saturday in order to settle the issue."
Bad foreigners staying in Thailand have been in the government's crosshairs for quite a while now. Immigration offices in Thailand now display posters declaring 'Good guys in, bad guys out'. My last visa renewal wasn't the easiest time I have ever had with immigration and the purge is ongoing.
The code name for this operation is X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner.
More raids have just taken place and more foreigners who have outstayed their visas or who have committed other immigration offenses have been rounded up.
36 foreigners detained in coordinated raids
The vast majority of expats in Thailand are fine. They are law-abiding and don't cause any problems. They bring foreign money into the Thai economy and many, like myself, support Thai nationals.
However, there is a small minority who aren't like this. They're not all bad, but some have strange attitudes. A guy I used to work with had the view that anyone had the right to live anywhere in the world without the need for visas or other documentation. To him it was a basic human right. On the other hand, a few are bad and individual criminals and criminal gangs from abroad have shown an affinity for Thailand.
Thailand has always made the requirements very clear for foreigners wishing to stay in Thailand. My view has always been that if you comply with the requirements you shouldn't have any problems.
When I first arrived in Thailand it was still during the era of the perpetual visa runners. Foreigners living permanently in Thailand simply went to the nearest border every 30 days, left the country, came straight back, and got another 30 day stamp in the passports.
Technically it was quite legal, but everyone doing it knew - of course - that the practise was exploiting a loophole and they all realised that sooner or later this particular loophole would be closed.
While finding my feet I did a couple of visa runs, but as soon as I started working I went about the process of getting a proper visa. That way, I knew that when the visa run loophole was closed I wouldn't have an immediate problem.
The new Thai immigration blacklisting rules are also quite severe. My ex colleague was a perpetual overstayer. When we started working he was already on a two year overstay. Our employer very kindly raised the money for him to pay the fine and clear his overstay.
He left the country and was fined the maximum Bt20,000 overstay fee, but he came straight back to Thailand with a clean sheet. This no longer applies.
If you overstay more than 90 days and surrender yourself to the authorities you are blacklisted for a year. Overstay more than a year, blacklisted for three years. Overstay more than three years, blacklisted for five years. Overstay more than five years, blacklisted for 10 years.
It's worse if you don't surrender yourself to the authorities. If you are arrested for whatever reason and found to have overstayed your visa less than a year you will be blacklisted for five years. If the overstay is more than a year you will be blacklisted for 10 years. You could also face some jail time.
The overstay fee used to be Bt200 per day with a maximum of Bt20,000. The daily overstay fee was increased to Bt500 per day some years ago, but the maximum is still the same.
If you wish to stay in Thailand for a long time just follow the visa rules and opt for a visa that is appropriate for your situation. There is nothing to stop you entering the country on a 30 day tourist stamp and staying indefinitely, but these days there is a lot higher risk of being caught and the consequences are quite serious.
Monday 21st May 2018
Twenty years ago I dreaded Monday mornings and having to spend another whole day at work. Nowadays, after the usual chaos of the weekend, it feels great on Monday mornings to be alone in a quiet environment at home in which I can work all day without interruptions.
Of course, there are a few differences. I'm in the comfort of my own home now, as opposed to being in a grotty part of provincial Britain staying in a grotty hotel. I can also choose, to a great extent, what it is that I work as opposed to having to do work set by other people.
There's no salary now, but as long as there is money to feed and clothe my family, pay bills, educate my kids and have a little bit of fun, I don't really care. There is a lot more to life than the endless pursuit of money.
The sun is shining, it's not excessively hot, and life feels good.
I've watched quite a few of SerpentZAs YouTube videos recently. They're good. He's an intelligent guy, his moral compass is pointing in the right direction, and I find his views to be very objective. Despite never visiting China, I've learnt a lot about life in China from him and it's been interesting for me to compare China with Thailand. Some things are almost identical, but other aspects are quite different.
His videos are generally well received but, of course, he gets criticism and abuse from certain people for some of the things he says. This is quite normal. Wherever you are there are always those expats with the 'Just go home if you don't like it' mentality, and he also receives abuse from Chinese people who don't like the fact that he reveals certain aspects of Chinese behaviour that the Chinese would rather the outside world didn't know about.
It's not a case of not liking China, he just points out differences. On the contrary, he comes across as liking China very much. To not point out any differences or criticise anything would be of no use to anyone. The politically correct, non-critical, fairy-tale websites I see about Thailand don't help anyone. Instead, they give an inaccurate version of the country that could land foreigners in a lot of trouble later on when they move to Thailand and then find there are issues they can't deal with and were never told about.
The lines between nationality and ethnicity are rather fluid. Many Thai nationals are 100% ethnic Chinese and I would suspect that most Thais have at least a little Chinese blood. Depending on which theory you adhere to regarding where the Thai people originated from, it is possible they all came from China in the first place.
Regardless of source of origin, the Thais do have their own unique culture and it has both differences and similarities to Chinese culture, as described by SerpentZA. I thought I'd take a closer look at a few of these things.
Cold Water
A guy from mainland China got in touch with me through my website a few years ago. He lived nearby and we met. He was a very nice guy with a good sense of humour and was teaching Buddhism in Thailand at a local temple. He then moved to Isaan with work and I haven't seen him for a long time.
Several times he mentioned that he couldn't understand why Thais drank iced water. It really bothered him. He hated the idea, but I assumed it was just him.
However, SerpentZA points out that all Chinese have this view. Drinking cold water is actually seen as a punishment in China. Restaurants in China don't provide iced water and water is normally sold unrefrigerated. Our body temperature is 37°C and pouring icy water inside must be quite a shock to the system, but Thais love cold drinks.
Many farangs in Thailand get quite upset when the glass of beer they ordered turns up with ice floating on the top, but this is how Thais like cold drinks.
I guess it is related to climate. If you're in northern China and there is snow outside a cold drink won't be very appealing, but just north of the equator where it is 100°F and 100% relative humidity things look different.
Political Correctness
SerpentZA says that going to China where there is zero political correctness was refreshing. I found exactly the same when I went to Thailand. In most Western countries PC culture has gone way too far and you are scared to say anything. I would hate to be working in the UK now, especially as these days a lot of workers would be from the snowflake generation. It feels so refreshing to be in a country where there is no concept of this nonsense.
However, after a while the complete lack of respect and the blatant discrimination based on race can become quite tiresome. I can't go outside without hearing someone pointing me out as a farang, Thais can basically do any form of work they wish whereas I can't do anything, and there are special prices everywhere for foreigners.
As with many cultural differences between East and West, in most cases somewhere in the middle would be just about perfect.
Face
When you delve into Eastern culture this expression comes up constantly. I have a few issues with it based on my Western understanding of losing face, in other words, losing credibility.
If I was teaching a class of students regularly and a stand-in teacher took my class one day and told the students I didn't know what I was talking about I would lose credibility/face with them.
SerpentZA's example for 'face' in China was done by using garbage bins. He pointed out separate garbage bins for recyclable and non-recyclable items, however, both types of bin contained exactly the same garbage.
This type of thing I would describe as image over substance, not face. Just as happens in Thailand, the important thing in China is to present a good image. Make it look as if there is an efficient waste recycling process by having different types of bin even if all waste is treated exactly the same.
The loss of face seems to come about by someone revealing what is really happening, but this isn't a loss of credibility, It's just a case of being found out.
'Face' is used a lot in Thailand too and foreigners attribute a 'loss of face' as being the cause of many problems but, again, it's not really a genuine loss of credibility.
Many Thais have big egos, but underneath they also have quite low self-esteem. This is a dangerous combination. On Thai roads you will find that the simple action of overtaking another car leads to the driver starting to race because being overtaken dents his ego and he has to take revenge immediately by getting in front again.
No one loses any credibility if they are overtaken while driving so it's not a loss of credibility/face problem, but a problem with immaturity, ego and self-esteem.
The foreigners I hear speaking about 'loss of face' in Thailand tend to use it as a catch-all term to cover many things, but there are variations in each situation.
Empathy
SerpentZA describes a complete lack of empathy for other people and animals in China. Animals are just a food source and he gives reasons why people won't help another person in distress - the reason being that some Chinese will feign injury, blame and try to sue anyone who attempts to help them.
There's actually quite a lot of empathy in Thailand, but Thais empathise in their own way. Charitable organisations don't do well, but mainly because any money donated to a charitable organisation is likely to end up in someone's pocket rather than going to the cause of the charity.
After flooding and other natural disasters I have seen lots of Thais working hard to help others. This is partly to do with the 'Do good, get good; Do evil, get evil' part of the belief system, but in most Thais are genuinely kind to others.
On the main road where I live a stray female dog gave birth to a litter of pups and decided to make a home there. On many occasions I have seen people stop by the side of the road to give the dogs food.
Thais will feed street dogs and put collars on them to protect the animals from being taken away.
Money
SerpentZA describes money as being the absolute pinnacle of the value system in China. I can't say that there isn't an obsession with money in Thailand, because there is, but Thais also place a lot of value on the cultural concept of 'sabaay', which is being comfortable, relaxed and free from worry.
Thais love money, but there are other things in life that matter. This probably explains why so much business in Thailand is Chinese owned and run.
Building Construction Quality
Apparently, this is terrible in China with tiles falling off walls and ceilings after a few years and, generally, terrible construction standards.
I've never been happy about the construction quality of my house, but even though many things haven't been finished very well the basic structure is quite sound.
Scams
Watching videos of scammers operate in China reminded me of my experience in Manila. The scammers are very confident, very pushy and will follow you around.
There are lots of of Thai scammers in Bangkok and other areas of Thailand that attract foreign tourists, but they aren't as pushy. As you are about to enter the Grand Palace a tuk-tuk driver will tell you it is closed today and will offer you a cheap tour of Bangkok, but if you keep walking he will ignore you.
SerpentZA's advice was basically the same as I tell visitors to Thailand. Regular Thai people don't approach foreigners on the street and try to strike up conversations. If this happens you know that it isn't right.
The only exception is if you arrive in a new destination at the bus or train station and are greeted with guest house owners offering details of their accommodation.
I've seen backpackers pushing these people away and treating them as scammers, whereas actually they are genuine and have something genuine to offer.
Driving
What can I say that I haven't said before? As in Thailand, driving in China is basically a free-for-all where many people completely ignore traffic signals and laws, and there is zero enforcement of traffic laws. When you factor in the ego problems I mentioned above, driving in Thailand really is horrible.
Nonetheless, SerpentZA pointed out some nasty scams that occur on Chinese roads that do not happen in Thailand. Apparently, drivers are awarded a bounty if they provide evidence to the police of other drivers breaking laws.
Some drivers will force cars off the road, take photos, and then report the cars they forced off the road to the police for violating traffic laws. Nice.
SerpentZA also mentioned that it is common returning to your parked car to find dings and dents that weren't there when you left it. The same thing has happened to me on several occasions. My car has also been hit a few times by young kids racing their motorbikes through traffic. They race off and there is no way of catching them.
Females
Getting involved with Thai females should come with a government health warning and relationships between Western men and Thai females (in some cases, Thai males) often go very wrong, but the situation is just as bad - if not worse - in China.
It would appear that if you have a problem with a Chinese girlfriend or wish to end the relationship there is a very good chance she will trash your apartment and/or cut up all your clothes.
SerpentZA gives an account of a friend who had problems with his Chinese girlfriend. As she went about trashing his apartment he tried to eject her, but in the process she got a black eye. No one is sure if this was deliberate or accidental.
She went to the police and then wanted a lot of compensation from him. As with Thai girls, if you are a Westerner with at least a little money it is extremely easy to get into relationships, but a relationship with the wrong Thai girl can go very wrong and your dream of living in Thailand can soon turn into a horrendous nightmare.
The Asian girls can seem very demure and non-threatening at first, but never underestimate them. I speak from experience.
Internet Freedom
When writing about Thailand while inside Thailand everyone has to use self-censorship and there are some major taboo subjects. Also, Thailand blocks quite a few websites.
On occasions I have been blocked from seeing the Daily Mail site because the Mail has published articles that weren't well received in Thailand. This morning I tried to find out who was the favourite contender for the vacant manager position at my football team (West Ham). My search led me to some UK betting sites, but these were all blocked by the Thai authorities.
Apart from a few things, the Internet is very open in Thailand. However, this isn't the case in China where basically all you can access are Chinese sites. To get outside the Great Firewall of China you need to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the Chinese government have crackdowns on VPNs every now and then.
It is possible to use the Internet normally in China, but there is a hassle factor that doesn't exist in Thailand.
Antisocial Behaviour
SerpentZA has one video about the five things foreigners dislike most about the Chinese. These are:
- Lack of compassion and empathy.
- Lack of foresight - short term view of everything, especially money.
- Rude social etiquette.
- Money is god.
- Lack of individuality.
I've covered some of these above and in a recent blog post I mentioned the lack of individuality. The lack of foresight is also a common theme in Thailand.
The rude social etiquette is definitely a lot better in Thailand and most antisocial behaviour I encounter comes from from Chinese Malaysian tourists, who come across the southern Thai border in great numbers.
As SerpentZA points out, his observations are generalisations. So are mine. Not all Chinese Malaysians act in the same way and I have met many refined and cultured ethnic-Chinese people from Malaysia and Singapore.
Most Thais don't spit and the Singaporean government (Singapore has a 76% ethnic Chinese population) has been campaigning for years to try to prevent people from spitting in public. On my first trip to Singapore in 1990 I was on a bus and saw a man deposit a huge pool of saliva on the bus floor. It wasn't very pleasant and it spreads disease.
There is a lot of smoking in China, but not so much in Thailand. It is very rare for Thai females to smoke and not all Thai males smoke. There is hardly any smoking indoors in public places and this is great. Again, the exception where I live in Thailand is normally from Chinese Malaysian tourists.
I was eating in a restaurant in quite a big hotel in Hat Yai which had 'No Smoking' signs plastered everywhere around the walls. A large group of Chinese Malaysians all started smoking, much to my disgust.
Unbelievably, a Thai waitress then went to the table to give them ashtrays. I called over the restaurant manager to have a word and pointed out all the signs. He explained that Malaysians couldn't understand the 'No Smoking' signs, which consisted of a picture of a cigarette with a big red line drawn across it. I thought that those kind of signs were universal, but apparently not.
What was really going on was the Thai cultural concept of 'greng jai'. Thais don't like to impose on others, even if it means telling someone they can't do something that isn't permitted, and this behaviour is known as greng jai.
I have seen Chinese Malaysians stub out cigarettes on the floors of quite upmarket hotel lobbies, they think nothing of discarding cigarette ends in the street, and on my visits to Malaysia the streets have been full of cigarette ends.
SerpentZA also says that foreigners don't like the way that the Chinese talk loudly in public places. I have also noticed this with Chinese Malaysian tourists. When they talk with each other it seems as if they are arguing, but they aren't.
I was having a foot massage one day in a quiet shop and a group of Chinese Malaysian tourists came into the shop and started to shout at each other extremely loudly. Half-way through the massage I got dressed, paid in full and left. My ears couldn't take any more.
In most of Asia there is no concept of queueing which, as an Englishman, really bugs me. When Thais encounter any form of a queue their first instinct is to ignore those people already waiting and go straight to the front of the queue.
When on foot a stern look will normally encourage them to join the queue, but it is a much bigger problem when they are in vehicles. In traffic queues Thais will use the emergency lane or whichever way they can to get to the front of the traffic without having to wait behind cars already in the queue.
Like SerpentZA, these are observations not criticisms. He has other videos about the things Chinese don't like about foreigners. Thais don't like certain things about farangs. Every society finds certain things acceptable and certain things unacceptable.
When we go to visit, or live in, parts of the world where the cultural behaviour is different it is not up to us to criticise, but there are some things that we may find difficult to live with. Anyone who is considering going to live in another part of the world needs to know about these things.
Conclusion
As I said before, I don't always find living in Thailand easy but I have absolutely no desire to live in China. I don't even have a desire to visit. Before I went to Hoi An last year I watched some videos and they really made me want to visit. I can watch videos about China, but they give me no desire to visit. Watching SerpentZA's China videos is about as close as I want to get to China. It always looks to me to be quite a depressing country to live in.
He is 20 years younger than me and has a different outlook on life. He is also a different kind of person and seems to be quite business oriented. He likes China because the country is still in an early stage of development and he sees lots of opportunity. He has found a niche on YouTube and he has also found himself an attractive wife with a good job. Good luck to him!
He's very relaxed and comfortable in front of a camera, which I'm not. At the start of this year I had thoughts about trying to do some videos in Thailand, but that was just before YouTube changed all the monetisation rules.
It's hard work creating a YouTube channel and takes a lot of effort. With the new rules it could be years before you make any money, and even then the money could be a very small amount.
I haven't yet found a SerpentZA equivalent YouTube channel about Thailand. The videos I have watched are done by people who have very little experience of Thailand and can't speak Thai (SerpentZA speaks fluent Chinese) or concentrate purely on the prostitution scene.
Thursday 17th May 2018
One day back at school and the nonsense has started already. I despair. My four year-old came home with a new English language text book. That's fine. It contains the English alphabet. He doesn't know the alphabet yet, but that's also fine. I can teach him.
However, it also contains the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and my wife has asked me to teach it to him. This isn't fine. This kind of thing is typical of the Thai education system. There is all sorts of emphasis on the wrong things and no, or very little, emphasis on the correct things.
I never encountered the IPA until I did a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course. It's confusing, even to adults who have an excellent grasp of their native language. I would guess that 99% plus of native English speakers don't know the IPA, and they don't need to. It will only be of use if you are a teacher and teaching quite advanced students. But Thai four year-olds who don't even know their ABCs yet? Give me a break.
One of my pet hates is the transliteration of Thai words into the English alphabet and this was one of my major motivations for learning to read Thai many years ago. It doesn't work for many reasons, and one reason is because there is no phonetic consistency with the use of the English alphabet. When I say English alphabet I mean the basic Latin alphabet that has been modified in different ways and is now used in many different languages.
Not only is there no consistency between different languages that use the same basic alphabet, there isn't even any consistency in the English language alone. I could give hundreds of examples of the same vowels and consonants that, in different English words, make different sounds.
Written Thai is far superior to written English in this respect. Many lazy foreigners living in Thailand look for convenient excuses not to learn to read Thai and one such excuse is that there are 44 consonants and at least 28 vowel forms.
The reason for this is because there are different vowels for different vowel sounds in Thai, which is far better than English that has many different vowel sounds but only five written vowels. There are a few inconsistencies with written Thai, but nowhere near as many as there are in English.
The 'oo' vowel combination in 'foot' and 'food' has a different sound in each word, but is written the same way in English. Written Thai has separate vowels for each of these sounds, which is far better. Don't even get me started with the 'ough' combination of vowels and consonants that is used in many different words that have completely different sounds. How confusing can this be to a foreign student learning English?
Another example. The words 'gate' and 'giant' start with the same consonant, but this consonant makes two different sounds. 'Jiant' would be a better spelling, but it's not going to change now. The confusing letter 'c' should be abolished from the English language and replaced with either a 'k' or 's' as appropriate.
In German the letter 'j' makes a 'y' sound, which adds another level of complication. 'Ja', the German word for 'yes' is also written with a short vowel, but pronounced with a long vowel. A simple word with just two letters, but there are phonetic inconsistencies with both letters.
If we go to a Spanish speaking country to have jalapeños with Jose, the 'j' is now pronounced with an 'h' sound.
Mitsubishi sell the Pajero model in Thailand and because this sounds like a Spanish word to me I use the Spanish pronunciation. Most Thais have no knowledge of Spanish and use the English pronunciation of 'j'.
Incidentally, not having any knowledge of Spanish I never knew what this word meant. I just used an on-line translator and saw that it means someone who masturbates or, more commonly, a wanker.
If Mitsubishi sell this model in Spanish speaking countries presumably it is sold with a different name. I can't imagine a car called the Mitsubishi Wanker selling very well in the UK or Australia.
With Thai to English transliteration I have seen lots of evidence that there was a great deal of German input that went into devising the transliteration system. Many transliterations may make sense to German speakers, but they don't make any sense to me as an English speaker.
To overcome all this inconsistency the IPA uses special symbols to denote specific sounds that do not change from country to country and from region to region. For example, an English 'j' sound is represented by the symbol ʤ.
The IPA was developed to address the lack of phonetic inconsistency and it serves a useful purpose when used at the appropriate level. However, to appreciate its worth you first need to have a good understanding of written language.
Ideally, the spelling of words would be changed to be more phonetically consistent, but that ain't gonna happen. This is why the IPA is useful, but - I reiterate - useful to four year-olds who haven't yet learned the basics of written English?
Thais like this kind of thing for a couple of reasons. Firstly, in a society where image is always more important than substance, it looks good to outsiders if Thais know the IPA. People will think that because they have this advanced knowledge they will be proficient English speakers.
Secondly, it is something that can be remembered and this fits in perfectly with the Thai system of rote learning. Students will memorise the IPA and get full marks in their English exams, but they will stare blankly if you attempt to start a conversation with them in English.
Kids like my daughter who can converse in English as well as an English native speaker of the same age, but who is too lazy to memorise this nonsense, will get low grades and will be classed as a poor student in English. The methods of teaching and the methods used to assess students are all wrong.
I tried to explain all this to my wife, but I can never explain things to Thais. Everything is either black or white and trying to explain is about as useful as trying to explain to my cat. If I don't teach my son she will send him to a tutoring school who claim to be able to teach the IPA to four year-olds. They will claim to be able to teach anything if there is money to be made. The result will be exactly the same, except I will be around Bt5,000 worse off.
If this requirement had come when he was studying at Matayom (high school) level I could accept it, but in the second year of Kindergarten it is just ridiculous.
Wednesday 16th May 2018
Dear blog readers, please bear with me for a while. This is simply an update of my current situation and the changes I am going through.
Throughout all of our lives there are times when quite significant transitions take place. I've been through several during my lifetime so far, not least when I left everything behind in the country of my birth and went to live in a strange country far away where I knew nothing, owned nothing and knew no one.
Although on a much smaller scale, another transition took place today. My wife and two children left for school this morning, she to teach and they to learn. I was left alone and I haven't had this amount of freedom for a very long time.
My first six months in Thailand was basically an extended vacation, except that I had no return ticket home. After a while life became a little pointless and I sought work. Eventually I found a part-time job that gave me a good work/life balance.
That job finished after around four years and I found myself in an uncomfortable position because I was too young for a retirement visa and the only practical way to stay legally in Thailand was to find a job that would provide me with a working visa.
I found a full time position and that job lasted for about three years. That's where I met my wife and we got married in 2010. Work kept me busy, especially the full time job.
In 2011 our daughter was born, but she had a problem with her feet. It seemed that for the first couple of years we were never out of hospitals and the problem is still ongoing, albeit a lot more manageable.
Just as she was getting easier to look after, our son arrived. He was born with pneumonia, which wasn't a great start in life, but it was only a temporary problem. Anyway, the first three years or so of a child's life are quite demanding on parents and we started all over again with him.
What I'm attempting to explain is that apart from a carefree start in Thailand, I have had work and family commitments for the last 14 years or so and these have kept me fairly busy. Having to think how to fill my time has never been an issue.
All of a sudden I now have time on my hands and apart from having a few ideas in my head about what I will do I haven't prepared myself as well as I could have done. I'm going through the process now and it's not always an easy thing to do. This is something I need to do by myself because only I know what I want in life.
Since I started living in Thailand, not only have a I learned a great deal about Thailand but I have also learned a great deal about myself.
I hate doing nothing and the last thing I want is a hedonistic lifestyle. I need to work, I need to enjoy what I am doing, and I need to do something that I find fulfilling. It may sound strange, but sitting on one of Thailand's beautiful beaches drinking cocktails and having massages all day would drive me insane with boredom very, very quickly.
I've also been having a few 'cultural' issues in Thailand recently and these have led to a few showdowns with my wife. The 2.5 month school holiday certainly hasn't helped, and with us all being home together it hasn't been easy.
I've tried to explain some of the cultural issues in blog posts. The cultural differences, especially the different value systems (not so much the different belief systems) are enormous and on a few occasions recently I have thought the culture gap is simply too wide to bridge.
I try not to fall into the trap of wasting my time on YouTube and if I do watch any videos I like to get something out of them. There is a very well known vlogger in China who goes under the name SerpentZA and his insights into life in China have made for some very interesting viewing.
The culture in China is very similar to Thailand, and indeed, to the rest of Asia. The problems are actually a lot worse in China and although I sometimes find living in Thailand difficult, I know that I couldn't live in China.
The completely different cultures of East and West mean that when people from these different cultures come together then one side has to compromise. It always seems that it is me doing the compromising, but not always. Let me give you a small example of how a simple thing, such as ordering food, can cause problems. It's trivial, but lots of little trivial things can accumulate over a period of time and the end result can be a big problem.
When people in Western countries go to a restaurant they all look at the menu, choose what they personally want to eat, and then eat what they ordered. Easy. Everyone is satisfied. But it doesn't work like that in Thailand because the culture is different.
Thai culture is centred around the group, not the individual. Everyone can choose different dishes, but when those dishes arrive they are eaten by everyone. If everyone likes everything it isn't a problem, but I don't like a lot of the food that Thais eat (and vice-versa).
When I visited Trang recently I mentioned that I went in quite a large group and when we ate, we ate Thai style. My wife loves the southern curry gairng som and she also loves durian. I hate both. The restaurant had a special dish they had created themselves, which was gairng som made with durian. Wonderful.
I found something on the menu that I could eat, but every dish that arrives at the table gets passed around for everyone to eat because that is the custom in Thailand.
What always happens is that the food I order for myself gets passed around the table and eaten by everyone else. Then I am offered the food that is ordered by other people, such as gairng som made with durian. Er, thanks, but no thanks.
After a big talk with my wife on Sunday I found out that when we go out for a meal she always feels we have to order food that I will eat and she can never order what she wants because I won't eat it.
It's a trivial thing that would never be an issue in the West because people order their own food, but in Thailand it becomes an issue because the culture is for all the food to be shared by the group.
Many such cultural issues have come to a head recently. Anyway, today was the start of a new chapter and hopefully life will improve soon.
I've never had a regular posting schedule for this blog and that will remain the case. When I have something to say that I think may be of interest I will post it. In the past there have been times when I have made multiple postings every day.
I don't want to find myself in a situation where I have to post something just to meet a schedule.
Sunday 6th May 2018
In the past, when describing road trips to Krabi or Phuket, I have mentioned that the stretch of road between Phattalung and Trang is very scenic. It's also a great road to drive. There may be better driving roads in the north around Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, but this is the best driving road I know of in southern Thailand.
Small stream located in the Trang Andaman Gateway
Malaysian bikers
Whenever I drive on this stretch of road I always see gangs of Malaysian bikers on their Honda Goldwings and Harley Davidsons, etc. It must be a lot of fun for them. Speeding laws are quite strictly enforced in Malaysia, but there is the usual mai bpen rai attitude to such things in Thailand.
Unfortunately, when going on trips to the Andaman coast the objective is normally to arrive as quickly as possible and therefore we have always gone straight through this area without stopping.
Last week my wife said that she had arranged to stay the night at a resort in Trang with a friend and because of the issues we had over Songkran about not going to meet her family at inappropriate places and times, I agreed.
When I found out where the resort was I was actually quite pleased because it is right in the heart of this very scenic area.
Trang Andaman Gateway
Trang and Phattalung are separated by the Banthat mountain range. When I say mountain range, it isn't Colorado and there are no 14,000' peaks. Where we stayed was only around 100m above sea level according to an iPhone altimeter app I used and I'm not sure what is the highest elevation in that region, but low compared to worldwide standards. Nonetheless, it is extremely pretty.
In 1896 Prince Damrong Rachanuphab ordered the Trang governor (Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phokdi) to survey the area with a view to constructing a route linking Trang and Phattalung.
At that time it was basically thick jungle. Elephants were used to pull down trees and the labour force consisted of villagers and prisoners who cut through the jungle with large knives.
Heating large boulders on the original Trang Andaman Gateway
There are also lots of large boulders in this area, which even the elephants couldn't move. The labourers put tree branches under the boulders and set fires. When the boulders were very hot they then poured cold water over them. The sudden change in temperature caused the rocks to split into smaller pieces and they could then be removed.
Large cylindrical rocks with carts on the top that were filled with earth or rocks to add weight were pulled by elephants and used as rudimentary road rollers.
Elephants and knives were used originally to clear a path through the jungle
This work would have been back-breakingly difficult and made even more arduous in the heat and humidity of southern Thailand, but amazingly a route was constructed within a couple of years.
The government of India presented Buddhist relics to King Rama V and these were paraded through the newly constructed route on 6th March 1898. However, the official opening took a little longer and didn't happen until 3rd June 1902.
In 1909 the young King Rama VI confirmed the name of the route as 'Khao Pub Pa'. Pub means 'folded' Pa means 'cloth', and Khao is 'mountain'. The road traversed back and forth like a piece of folded cloth. Nowadays, this area is known as the Trang Andaman Gateway.
Trang Andaman Gateway
When I first drove along this road some years ago it was single lane each way and quite scary. There are lots of big trucks that crawl up the steep inclines at a snail's pace and lots of impatient Thai racing drivers behind.
Thai drivers don't check that it is safe before they overtake. They just overtake blindly and then attempt to deal with whatever they encounter ahead of them. On single lane roads in Thailand it is very common to see vehicles approaching head on at very high speed on the same side of the road.
Some years ago a huge project began to widen the road. It took many years to complete, but now the road is magnificent. It's also a lot safer because the maniacs can overtake without having to go on to the wrong side of the road.
We stayed at the Kachong Hills Resort, which is just a couple of kilometres from the Trang Andaman Gateway rest stop.
Trang Andaman Gateway Rest Stop
I've written quite a lot recently about how Thai thinking and behaviour differs to my own, and there were more examples on this trip.
Thais don't like going anywhere alone or in small groups. The friend with which my wife had arranged this trip invited other friends, who came as an extended family with kids and grandparents. This is very typical for Thais, but travelling in a group of eight adults and seven children was just too much for me.
There is nothing more Thais like doing than getting in a car and going somewhere with lots of friends and relatives. They don't particularly care where there go and have no real interest in finding out anything about where they go. It's all about socialising and eating.
I was actually quite impressed that they had chosen such a good place to stay, but as soon as they got there they wanted to leave. What? Already? We arrived, had lunch, my wife put the A/C on full and played Facebook for an hour (as she usually does whenever we go somewhere), and then they all wanted to go to downtown Trang because the resort was 'boring' and there was nothing to do. Unbelievable, but true. I refused to go. As you grow older you become more stubborn and at my age I simply refuse to do things that I don't want to do. I am now officially a grumpy old man and I love it!
Kachong Hills Resort, Trang
I didn't want to drive again and I wanted to stay where I was to explore my surroundings because it was a really attractive location. They all headed off to Trang main town and I was left on my own, which suited me perfectly. I managed to take some photos without being disturbed and I ended up having a very long and interesting chat with the resort owner over a glass of complimentary red wine.
The owner is a member of the family who own Plan Toys - a very wealthy family and a very wealthy man.
There is a huge amount of rubber wood grown in Thailand, but it is not indigenous. The first rubber trees to arrive in Thailand were planted in Trang and now rubber trees are grown in many parts of Thailand, including Isaan.
Rubber trees take about seven years to become productive and are only productive for around 25 years. They are then cut down and new trees planted.
In the past the old trees were simply burnt, but the older brother of the resort owner thought this was a waste and had an idea to create something from the wood. His idea (in 1981) was to make educational toys, and these days lots of furniture is also made from rubber wood. Out of his idea was born Plan Toys, and it is now a large and successful company employing up to 1,000 people at peak times.
The toys tick all the right boxes for environmentally aware, safety conscious Western parents. They are safe, having no sharp edges or toxins. They are educational, durable, and made from sustainable materials.
The toys are well-designed, well made, and well packaged. The quality is very good, but this makes them expensive and puts them out of the reach of a lot of Thai parents. Most of the toys are therefore exported and the company has previously won Prime Ministers' export awards.
The company try to use all parts of the rubber trees. The roots are large, but not suitable to be made into toys or furniture. Instead, they are made into wood chips to fire power stations. The family also owns a 4 MW power station, which is powered from the wood chips.
The resort lies on 20 rai of land and when the owner bought the land he had no plans to build anything. His daughter suggested building a resort and his son, who studies architecture, designed everything.
Kachong Hills Resort, Trang
The accommodation is interesting, being in the form of hybrid tents. Each room is supported on a steel structure jutting out of the side of the mountain and although there are concrete components the roof is a tarpaulin.
Kachong Hills Resort, Trang
The rooms have the feel of being in a tent, but with additional luxuries, such as toilets, hot showers, A/C and soft beds. It's a good idea and it works. There is still a lot of work in progress and the resort is only about 30% complete after opening 10 months ago. Most visitors (about 80%) come from Hat Yai.
A lot of Hat Yai residents have money, but the environment isn't great. The journey to Trang takes less than two hours and feels as if it is a million miles away.
Kachong Hills Resort, Trang
The Thai owner is a very interesting man to talk to. He obviously has a lot of wealth from the family toy business and he is on a personal mission to improve education standards in Thailand.
He does volunteer work and runs personal development workshops at the resort for school children. He told me that 80% of Thai kids have no passion or drive for anything in life, and this is exactly what I have observed.
I saw it when I was teaching and I see it now with my wife's nieces and nephews. Most Thai kids have no interest at all in education and go through the motions of being educated because they have to. Outside of school all they seem to be interested in is watching TV and playing Facebook and on-line games. It's such a waste.
He also told me that there is a complete mismatch between the Thai school/university curriculum and the competencies that employers want in their employees. Basically, many kids are finishing their formal education without any of the skills needed to find work, but I knew that already.
He talked about how he admired the apprenticeship system in Germany. I did a technical apprenticeship in the UK many years for exactly the reasons he cited. I studied at college two days a week to reach HNC level academically and worked for three days a week to get practical experience.
It seemed like a good idea at the time and the HNC was a valued qualification in the UK, however, I am unemployable in Thailand because I don't have a degree. This is the mentality that goes on within the Thai education system and within Thai society at large. Someone with a paper degree and zero skills is valued far higher than someone with real skills, but no paper degree.
The resort is eco-friendly and employs staff from the local community as well as trying to sell local produce, such as honey.
Room rates are quite expensive for Thailand, where you can find some very good hotel rooms for Bt1,000 a night, but this is a very different experience and a lot of investment has gone into the development.
I like Trang province far more than I like Songkhla province. The coastline on the Andaman coast is far more attractive than the Gulf coast, the countryside is far prettier, and everything seems generally cleaner. Even the roads look better with proper verges and rows of attractive palms planted in the central reservations.
Land prices are still reasonable in Trang, whereas they have gone crazy in Songkhla in recent years. For what our house is worth we could buy a mansion in Trang set in a good size plot of land. I'd move in a heartbeat, but I would never be able to convince my wife to move away from her precious family.
Since I started visiting Thailand 31 years ago I have managed to see quite a few places before they were ruined by mass tourism. I was fortunate enough to see Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Samui, Phi Phi, Khaolak, Chiang Mai and other places before they were completely taken over by tourism and/or expat populations.
Kao Chang Hai Cave, Trang
I fear that the next place on the list will be Trang. We visited a cave called Khao Chang Hai. It's a beautiful, peaceful place with lots of stalactites and stalagmites, and virtually no tourists. I was able to set up my camera on a tripod and take long exposure shots without any problems at all.
However, the area around the cave is currently being turned into a massive tourist attraction and will be finished in a few years' time. In no time at all Thais will be putting posts on Facebook and there will be huge crowds of Thais turning up. A little later farang tourists will get to know about it and they will start arriving.
Tourism brings an enormous amount of money into Thailand. Many Thais struggle for money, and thus they all want a piece of the tourism pie. You can't blame them, but with every new tourist attraction that opens another piece of Thailand's natural environment is lost and will never be returned. I find it really sad, not so much for me, but for my kids and future generations.
Plan Toys factory, Trang
After visiting the cave we went to the Plan Toys factory where the owner had promised me a special VIP tour. However, he wasn't there so we just looked around the factory shop and then headed home. We went home, but my wife's friends still hadn't had enough and went elsewhere before going home. This is how they are all the time.
Some neighbours have just been to Europe for a vacation. The wife is the boss of the household and makes all the decisions, while the husband just does what he is told.
I saw him last week and asked about the trip. His first word was 'tiring'. He looked exhausted. His wife had organised everything and in about 10 days they tried to see all of Italy and France. Of course, this is impossible and you just end up getting exhausted without really seeing anything.
In my view it is better to stay in fewer places, travel at a more relaxed pace and explore in more depth rather than visiting lots of places briefly, taking selfies for Facebook, and then immediately going on to the next place.
In Paris alone there is so much to see. You can spend half a day at one of the famous cemeteries, several days at the Louvre, a day at Versailles, the Eiffel tower, and so much more.
I get the impression with Thais that historically many have never been able to travel due to lack of funds. Now that they have opportunities to travel, they try to make up for lost time by seeing as many places as possible but because they travel so quickly they don't really see anything.
It reminds me of backpackers whose main objective is to tick off as many locations visited as possible even if 'visiting' a location is simply passing through the train station.
I enjoyed the trip to Trang and got quite a lot out of it. I think the Thais did too, but for very different reasons. I learnt some more about the geography and history of the area and that's what I enjoy. I like to know about the historical context of a place and to acquire facts and information.
Most Westerners are the same. When I used to visit Colorado in the 80's and 90's my uncle, who was ex-USAF, was like a walking encyclopedia and as we drove around the state he told me all about the old gold mining towns and related stories about events from the past.
This is extremely rare in Thailand and Thais are hardly ever able to tell me anything interesting about a place. It's because most have no interest themselves and therefore don't have any interesting information to give other people. The information is there if you look for it, but most Thais have no interest in looking.
View from Kachong Hills Resort, Trang
The owner of the resort was very different to most Thais and he was able to give me a lot of information. For example, many years ago a lot of coffee was grown in this area. I think the brand of coffee was known as Khao Chong.
Coffee stopped being grown around 30 years ago. Thais will always chase the money and several years ago there was a lot of money to be made from growing rubber, so all the coffee came out and rubber trees were planted. Now, there is an over supply of rubber and the price of raw rubber is very low.
He has plans to plant coffee again, but he has no experience and he was complaining about high labour costs. However, this is all relative. Labour may cost Bt350 (around US$11) per day (not per hour) in Thailand, but most Westerners would not consider that expensive.
If you are in the south of Thailand, this area is definitely worth visiting. There are lots of waterfalls and areas of natural beauty in the region, and not too many tourists. However, that will change. In five, maybe 10, years it will all be very different.
If you wish to visit Kachong Hills the phone number is +66 (0)75 573 513. The resort doesn't appear to use any on-line travel agents, therefore you have to make bookings directly. You can stay the night or just have lunch or dinner in the restaurant. As I have described, it is very attractive and you will find a small flock of sheep wandering around the grounds as well as a horse and some chickens.
Thursday 3rd May 2018
One of my wife's nieces has just been diagnosed with iodine deficiency. She doesn't eat any fish or seafood, which are the best sources for iodine, but iodine can come from other foodstuffs. Iodine is essential for both physical and mental development. A deficiency can cause mental retardation and is linked with low IQ levels.
Physical symptoms include tiredness, feeling cold, sudden weight gain, hair loss and a swollen throat (goiter) caused by enlargement of the thyroid gland. Thais refer to the condition as kor pok or, more technically, kor hoy pok.
The body doesn't produce iodine naturally, therefore it is essential that we all eat food that contains iodine. Fish, seafood and sea vegetables are rich in iodine. This diet is abundant in southern Thailand and her case is the first case I have heard of in southern Thailand since moving here.
However, Thailand has had quite big problems in the northeast region with iodine deficiency for various reasons. Southeast Asia is one of the most iodine-deficient regions in the world.
The northeast (Isaan) region of the country is landlocked and even though fish is eaten, it is normally freshwater fish, the iodine content of which may be as little as 10% compared with salt water fish.
In the late 1990's King Bhumibol initiated a royal project to address the problem of iodine deficiency in Thailand, informally known as 'Salt Roads'.
Although large salt manufacturers added iodine to their product, many small producers didn't. The project ensured that iodine was added to all salt sold in Thailand.
However, there were still some problems. The way that potassium iodate was added to salt by hand was inexact and some of the salt remained iodine free. UNICEF helped set up a Salt Iodization Project in Thailand to address this problem, which involved new regulations and new equipment.
An alternative method of getting iodine into the food chain is by adding it to irrigation water.
Even though iodine is added to salt there is a further problem in that most Thais put fish sauce (rather than salt) on their food to add saltiness, thereby rendering the salt iodization process ineffective.
This probably isn't a problem for foreigners in Thailand as I would guess that most add salt to their food, but bearing in mind the lack of iodine in the Thai food chain make sure that you maintain a sufficient iodine intake when in Thailand. There is a wealth of information on-line as to which foods are high in iodine.
There has been a major shift in the weather this past week. From January to April it is very hot and dry in Thailand, but starting around mid-April to May there is the onset of summer rain and sometimes there can be real Hammer Horror electrical storms.
Today has been hot and dry, but there were storms several times last week. It was very hot in the morning, but after lunch the sky would become very dark and thunder and lightning would accompany torrential rain.
I am pleased that my fish pond overflow pipe now works. It had never worked and when I dug up the garden earlier this year I discovered why. The builders had installed it so that it ran uphill. I guess that Newton isn't very well known in Thailand. After a few modifications it now runs downhill and subsequently it works a lot better.
Unfortunately, I discovered that my roof still has a leak. The house was brand new when we moved in, but since Day 1 we have had problems with roof leaks - as has every other house in the development. The constructions standards in Thailand leave a lot to be desired.
Despite the torrential downpours it isn't the rainy season yet. A teacher I worked with some years ago asked me if this time of year is the rainy season. In southern Thailand the rainy season arrives around the beginning of October.
Our neighbour has just returned from Bangkok where she said there was heavy rain and flooding. She said that because of the flooding it was taking up to five hours to get from the downtown area to Don Meuang airport.
When I flew into Bangkok last October en route to Hoi An there was also flooding near Don Meuang airport. Had we been going downtown there would have been a major problem, but fortunately we were going to Suwarnabhumi airport and there was no flooding.
Bangkok is only 1.5m above sea level and the city is steadily sinking. According to this report, "Much of the metropolis is now below sea level and the ground is subsiding by 1.5 to 5cm a year."