Living In Thailand Blog
Friday 14th October 2011
The farang high season is approaching in Thailand and lots of people who have trips arranged to Thailand are getting worried. What's the situation and how long will the floods last?
The weather in this region is highly unpredictable and it can change very quickly. Right now the weather in Songkhla province is great. It has been dry with the occasional downpour but for once it isn't too hot and it's very pleasant. That could all change tomorrow but there are absolutely no problems at the moment.
If you are planning on visiting one of the southern beach resorts things look fine at the moment but anything could happen.
If you were planning a historical tour, setting out from Bangkok and going into central and northern Thailand to see Ayuthaya and Sukothai then maybe you will have a few problems, especially regarding Ayuthaya.
Ayutthaya only reachable by boat
230 highways remain closed and no easing in sight
The Isaan region is still having problems.
Khon Kaen flooded, 1,000 families evacuated
There are lots of dams and sluice gates in the country and depending on which ones are closed or opened, this affects which areas will get flooded. The Thai authorities deem central Bangkok to be the most important part of the country so no matter what happens elsewhere, everything possible will be done to keep the centre of the capital dry.
Bangkok safe, Irrigation chief insists
Thai PM reassures as Bangkok braces for floods
The Thai Meteorological Department keeps its information up to date and tracks storms in the region. This should be the first resource you go to.
Depending on where you are headed, there are local web sites and blogs for most parts of Thailand so keep an eye on those for local information.
News is very generalised and news is only news if it is bad. Despite all the terrible scenes from Ayuthaya, I suspect that even in Ayuthaya there will be some areas of the province that are unaffected.
Be concerned, obviously, but don't worry excessively. As for how long the problems will last, no one knows.
My thoughts about the flood situation in Thailand are not impartial or unbiased. After personally experiencing a major flood in Thailand last year for the first time in my life, it has left some psychological scarring.
A person's house isn't just a place to provide shelter and to store possessions. It's a place where people can lock themselves away from all the bad stuff in the world and feel secure.
When we moved into this rented house there were two items missing that we regarded as being essential. The house had none of the burglar bars that every other house has for keeping bad people out, and there were no insect screens for keeping mosquitos out. I had both fitted at my own expense.
There is nothing you can do to keep water out and water can be just as damaging as bad people or mosquitos. The fact that something can enter your house where it can do a lot of damage and you can do absolutely nothing to prevent it from entering makes you feel very insecure.
I have very mixed emotions about the current flooding problems in central Thailand. The TV pictures are terrible and bring back painful personal memories from last November.
Hospitals in the central region have been inundated and people in intensive care have been airlifted elsewhere. The last thing anyone seriously ill needs is something like this.
Lots of old people and young children are suffering badly. People have been shown in tears on TV and I can understand their plight. I have enormous sympathy for what they are going through.
According to the newspapers, the authorities are desperately trying everything they can think of to improve the situation. But why has it been left until now? Trying to deal with a flood when the water has already arrived is the worst possible time.
New plan to expedite water drainage put into action
There was bad flooding in Thailand last year and probably the worst affected province was Ayuthaya. Ayuthaya was under water for months last year. There are bad floods again this year and once again it is Ayuthaya that is suffering most - plus a lot of other places this time.
Ayutthaya flood damage Bt5 billion plus (From the 2010 flood last year)
Last year should have sent out a huge warning and if urgent action had been taken after last year's flood, then maybe the flood this year wouldn't have been quite as bad as it is.
The least that could have been done was to ensure that existing flood defences were in good repair. In Pathum Thani barricades were broken and flood barriers were found to be beyond repair. This work could have been done months ago.
Breached as Pathum Thani struggles on
Pathum Thani residents forced to evacuate as sluice gates break
Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong broke down in tears yesterday after visiting a flooded industrial estate in Ayuthaya. Companies there employ a lot of workers and Japan has invested a lot of money in Thai assembly plants. If these plants are relocated to India or somewhere, it will hurt the Thai economy even more.
Kittiratt gets emotional as floods enters Hi-Tech Industrial Estate
Thailand floods disrupt production and supply chains
Flooding is an age-old problem in Thailand so why is it that every year, without fail, flooding is still a problem somewhere in Thailand?
In the rainy season there is heavy rain. In Canada and Scandinavia there is heavy snow each winter but the people there have devised lots of ways to deal with the adverse conditions.
With some problems the situation has to get very bad before it gets any better. This year has seen some of the worst flooding in Thailand for a very long time. All I can hope for is that the events this year will be the turning point and that some very serious action will finally be taken.
It's a big problem. It's a huge problem. It's a massive problem. There is an enormous amount of water involved.
Excess water estimated at 18 billion cubic meters
It won't be easy to fix; it won't be cheap to fix; and it won't be quick to fix. However, the expertise is there, the money is there - even if other less important projects have to be shelved, and hopefully the will should now be there to make things a lot better.
The huge damage to the economy alone justifies huge expenditure in better flood defences. As far as I'm concerned this is the most serious problem facing the country at present.
Time will tell.
It can be done and one group of people who told us it can be done were the members of the current Thai government. They made many promises earlier this year during their election campaign and one promise was to eradicate flooding and droughts in Thailand, as stated on boldly displayed posters.
The posters (click on the small picture above for a larger image) read something like this. Apologies if the translation isn't quite right.
Laa-gon!
naam tuam naam lairng
Goodbye!
floods droughts
saang krong kaay naam
tua bpra-tet
(We will) construct a system to limit water
throught the whole country
saang gum-pairng keu-un
bpong gun naam tuam
(We will) build dams
To protect against flooding
If nothing, or not enough, is done it could have grave consequences for the Thai economy in future.
From The Nation:
"The long-term impact of the floods on foreign investment will depend on the government's relief measures and the steps it takes to mitigate future disasters, investors said."
Is there a code of honour among thieves? Lots of people have been evacuated from their homes in various parts of Thailand because of the flooding, and apparently thieves have been using boats to rob their houses while they aren't present.
The government has asked them to stop.
A Singaporean living in Thailand once told me that bad Thais make a point of leaving foreigners alone. The bad people know that many Thais rely on foreign tourists and it is not a good thing in Thailand to upset someone else's rice bowl.
This isn't always the case as bad Thais do target foreigners.
The thing that differentiates a good person from a bad one is their moral conscience. Bad people have little regard for the consequences of their actions on other people. If they have no moral conscience it is unlikely they will change their ways, no matter how nicely they are asked.
The Thai model of social order is based on Confucianism. There is lots of moralising in Thai society and schoolkids are constantly lectured on how to be good citizens. On the other hand, the rule of law is weak.
It's a good system in theory but there will always be people in society who have no moral conscience and will continue to do bad things. Unfortunately, the weak rule of law just makes things easy for them.
Thursday 13th October 2011
My health insurance renewal came through recently and I had quite a shock. The premiums are priced in five-year tiers and this year I went into the 50-54 tier. This resulted in a 50% increase compared to last year, which I thought was a little steep.
I wasn't pleased and the insurance company has done rather well out of my business over the years. I had a word with the representative at my local office who then got in touch with the head office in Bangkok and they lowered the premium.
Ever since I've had health insurance the insurance has cost me a lot more than my hospital bills so it would have been cheaper not to have insurance. Why bother having insurance?
In my first year in Thailand I contracted a nasty fungal infection in my eye and the resultant treatment - which I had to pay for myself because I was uninsured - cost me a small fortune.
It really comes down to peace of mind. The roads here are very dangerous and apart from that there is no sense of public responsibility or liability.
Uneven, cluttered and unmaintained pavements are dangerous to walk along; street vendors set up their carts with metal poles sticking out at eye level; and in the copy of the Phuket News that I picked up recently it mentioned that a British tourist had been electrocuted by power lines as he walked along in heavy rain. There are messy power lines everywhere and they are often located in dangerous positions.
Stray dogs running into the street have caused motorcyclists to lose control and die. In addition to accidents, the constantly hot and humid weather provides a perfect breeding ground for viruses, fungi and bacteria. There are snakes and lots of mosquitos. Mosquito borne diseases tend to be quite nasty and they are easy to contract.
Having insurance gives me the peace of mind that if anything happens I will be able to have treatment at a good private hospital and not have to worry about the bill.
The insurance company sends its customers a health related pamphlet each month and they are normally quite a good read.
This month was all about work-life balance. This was interesting to me because if I had to choose one reason why I am in Thailand (actually, there are many) it would probably be work-life balance.
My financial position was satisfactory in the UK but work had completely overtaken my life and no amount of money compensated for not having any time to myself.
In the UK the cost of living is such that people need to work hard just to be able to afford the basics. I mentioned the other day that costs are rising in Thailand but the basics are still cheap.
The house we rent, which is fairly new and quite a good size, costs only Bt4,500 per month. In many parts of the UK you would be lucky to find anywhere for ten times that.
Private rents in England unaffordable, says Shelter
Private rents unaffordable for families in most English boroughs
Similarly, the cost of buying property in Thailand is a lot cheaper and you get a lot more house for your money.
The area I live in is a bit of a mess but there is no council tax to pay. This tax is quite a burden for many people in the UK.
We use a lot of water but the water bill is never more than Bt200 per month. In my apartment my electricity bill was only about Bt100 per month. It has gone up a lot in the house but it still doesn't exceed Bt1,000 per month.
Our food costs are quite high because I have frequent cravings for Western food and anything imported from abroad is expensive. If we needed to economise we could eat local food very cheaply.
Something else that affects work-life balance is the amount of time you spend travelling to and from work. This shouldn't be underestimated.
I was reading about commuting in the United States:
America's commutes start earlier and last longer
I worked in the States quite a lot during the 90's and one American colleague did a two and three-quarter hour commute each way every day. Many Brits also commute a lot.
I don't know anyone in Thailand who has much of a commute to work. I certainly don't and this makes a lot of difference to your quality of life.
Thailand is far from perfect, nowhere is. You have to weigh up the pros and the cons for your own situation and then work out where it is that suits you best.
I miss certain things from England but I don't miss them enough to want to rejoin the rat-race of working in England again. The things I don't like about Thailand are outweighed by the fact that I can still have a fairly good life on a fairly limited income without having to work every waking hour.
It works for me but it might not work for everyone. Where you decide to live is a very personal decision and it is one that only you can make, based on your individual circumstances and needs.
My personal work-life balance has undergone an enormous shift since the baby arrived. I used to be able to find time for myself while also working, but now I can't. The only reason I've been able to write here recently is because I'm not working at the moment.
When I return to work next week I will have very little time to write here. That situation won't change until I give up working altogether, which hopefully will be around March next year.
A lot of Thai girls will be very sad today. If you've been to Phuket or Pattaya you may have been fooled into thinking that Thai girls have a preference for old farangs with bald heads, tattoos, and huge beer bellies.
Surprisingly, they don't. Thai girls generally prefer Asian men. They like men from Japan and Hong Kong, and they particularly like South Koreans. South Korean TV soap operas are popular with all ages and young Thai girls like the pretty boy bands, such as Super Junior.
Another individual who had Thai girls literally swooning was the King of Bhutan. He has royal blood, very close connections with Buddhism, and is regarded by Thai girls as being exceptionally polite and well-mannered ... as you'd expect from someone of his lineage.
He has just got married, and his chosen wife is a commoner.
Bhutan king Wangchuk marries commoner
In pictures: Bhutan's sumptuous royal wedding
Wednesday 12th October 2011
Our rented house is in quite a poor area. Most of the locals are good, honest people and there is a strong sense of community. I've met more neighbours here after one year than I did in my last house in the UK after 10 years.
Everyone really pulled together at the time of the flood last year. One neighbour helped me hoist the sofa up the stairs before the flood so that it wouldn't get ruined. He also got my fridge working again after the flood (I repaid him for his help in beer).
The electricity supply was resumed before the water supply and a lack of clean water was the biggest problem at the start of the clean-up operation. The same neighbour has well water instead of mains water and so he got access to water before everyone else. He let all the neighbours, including us, fill our buckets.
Teenage Thai boys from this socioeconomic background are a pain in the butt. It's like a race track here as they race around every evening on their motorbikes with loud exhausts pulling as many wheelies as they can. However, I've also seen what it's like to be a poor Thai.
One neighbour is always teasing me about another flood because she knows it is something that I worry about. She acts as if it's a big joke and I didn't like the way she did this.
I spoke to my wife and she was able to explain why. Many poor Thais are in a position where they can't afford to make decisions in life.
The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that our current situation is temporary and that when we move to the new house we won't have a problem with flooding. There are lots of Thais who don't have the money to move house.
They can't move and they can't do anything themselves about flood prevention - the only people who can do something are the politicians and policy makers - so they try to make light of their situation. Now I understand why they treat a very serious problem as a joke.
Our seven month old daughter has her own car seat. I had some problems with her mother initially who wanted to sit the baby on her lap in the front seat, but I have now convinced my wife that the only safe way for the baby to travel is in a proper baby car seat. There are laws about this in developed countries but no laws exist in Thailand. Even if there were laws they would be ignored, just as Thais ignore all other traffic laws.
As we are driving around we often see babies of the same age - or even younger - being carried on motorbikes. Normally the pillion passenger carries the baby but I have also seen solo motorbike riders controlling the throttle with one hand and carrying a young baby with the other.
This kind of thing shocks me but my wife reminds me every time that there are lots of Thais who can't choose. I'm sure they would like a car and a proper baby seat but all they can afford is a motorbike. The only transport option available to poor people in Thailand is a Honda Wave.
Most Thais have difficult lives and most Thai families are very supportive of each other. Not all, though. One of my wife's former teaching colleagues is notoriously stingy and refuses to help her younger brother. Her older sister is the same and refuses to help him.
Recently, the younger brother and his wife had a baby daughter. His wife doesn't work and his monthly salary is about Bt7,000. How anyone is supposed to support a wife and raise a child on Bt7,000 a month I just don't know, but somehow Thais manage.
Sadly, there were many complications after the birth and the hospital staff couldn't do anything to save the child. She died a few hours after birth.
The hospital gave the parents the corpse. I can't ever imagine this happening in the West but I guess it has something to do with Buddhist funeral rites.
The two of them must have been highly distressed after losing their child and the young lad telephoned his sisters (both of whom have cars) to be picked up from the hospital. They both refused.
He and his wife were forced to take the body of their baby daughter home on a motorbike.
I've never met this lad but if I had known about such a situation I would gladly have helped. I didn't find out what had happened until after the event.
I made a comment yesterday about Thais often appearing miserable. Many do. However, when you start to understand what many Thais have to put up with in life you can understand why.
I've also made comments in the past about Thais being obsessed with money. Many are. The thing about money is that when you have enough it isn't important. Many Thais don't have enough, and money makes the difference in Thailand between living a very comfortable life or a very difficult one. You can start to understand why this obsession exists with so many Thais.
In the Land of Contrasts you also see many examples of extreme wealth. Some private houses nearby are like small hotels and there are lots of European luxury cars on Thai roads. With the tax on some of these cars being as much as 327%, the Thai owners need to be a lot richer than their European counterparts.
With such huge wealth gaps in Thai society it is maybe surprising that there isn't more social unrest in Thailand but the culture is such that things remain fairly harmonious.
Tuesday 11th October 2011
The flood situation where I am in southern Thailand is quite strange at the moment. The weather is currently dry and extremely pleasant. There have been a few heavy storms (which is to be expected for this time of year) but there hasn't been an excessive amount of rain overall, and there are no nasty storms approaching. The canal and reservoir levels all look normal. This could all change very quickly, of course.
In its three monthly forecast covering September to November 2011, the Thai Meteorological Department said that rainfall amounts would likely be below average in several areas. They said rainfall would be normal in southern Thailand. Normal rainfall shouldn't result in bad flooding. They warn about the possibility of cyclones but this type of warning is normal.
The following web site has webcams and a weather radar to monitor current weather conditions.
The problems in central Thailand have been caused by an enormous amount of water in the Chao Phraya river, but of course the river doesn't extend into peninsula Thailand.
Under normal circumstances I don't think anyone here would be overly concerned about flooding this year, but these aren't normal circumstances. Last year's big flood is still very fresh in people's memories and every time anyone looks at the TV news there are frightening scenes from central and northern Thailand.
This has resulted in everyone in southern Thailand expecting a flood even though there is nothing at the moment to suggest that flooding will occur.
I went on three shopping trips yesterday for flood supplies and there was clear evidence of panic buying. The items that people stock up with in readiness for a flood are bottled drinking water, plastic water tanks to store non-drinking water, non-perishable food, such as instant noodles, candles, torches (flashlights) and batteries, etc.
Yesterday, many people had trolleys full of these things and Tesco had sold out of plastic water tanks. We had to go to Makro to purchase these.
I can understand the mentality of preparing. In a situation where you aren't sure what will happen it is better to be prepared than not to have anything.
Last year we were trapped upstairs in the house for about four days. We were unable to get out and we didn't have any running water or electricity. We had moved our gas hob upstairs so that we could cook and boil water.
If it were just the two of us and we hadn't prepared we could probably survive with some assistance from our neighbours, but with a baby in the house we simply can't afford not to be prepared.
After experiencing a big flood last year, everyone was saying that it wouldn't happen for another 10 years. I can't quite believe what is happening now.
Of course, we may be perfectly fine. Nobody knows, but the uncertainty only makes things worse. It's really not much fun living like this. It's difficult trying to concentrate on, or enjoy anything else when the whole time everyone is talking of a pending disaster.
The inhabitants of the Land of Smiles tend to have quite a miserable and pessimistic outlook. I guess this is a result of having suffered so much for so long. They might secretly hope for the best but they always expect the worst.
I have always considered language to be much more than simply verbal communication. The choice of words, especially idioms, and proverbs give a big insight into how people think.
English speakers talk about the brain, mind and head when discussing logical, rational thinking and refer to their hearts when discussing emotion. We use our heads and brainstorm when there is a need for ideas, talk about things on our minds, but when an emotional crisis hits we say we are heartbroken.
Thais refer to their hearts almost exclusively and when you start to get to grips with Thai you come across lots of jai expressions.
In her 'Speak like a Thai' series of books and CDs, Benjawan Poomsan Becker devotes one complete volume to jai words, and there are a lot more that she doesn't cover.
English speakers change their minds but Thais change their hearts - bplian jai. When Thais talk about thinking they gesture to their hearts. If you're a foreign man who has had dealings with a Thai female you will know that the girls can get very emotional. Emotion is a lot more powerful than logic in Thailand.
I am a typical Brit in many respects and I also come from a technical, analytical background where only logic exists. My ability of dealing with emotion isn't always very good.
I am talking about this in light of the current flood crisis. When the big floods hit southern Thailand last year I talked to as many local people as I could about previous floods. They couldn't think back very far but after a little research I realised that every bad flood year had coincided in years which had strong La Niña activity.
When trying to assess whether flooding would be a problem this year in southern Thailand, the first thing I did was to search the Internet regarding La Niña activity. The answers were a bit vague and they keep changing. Earlier this year La Niña was supposed to be going away but a few sources now are saying that it is returning. I also use other scientific resources.
Thais keep telling me that there will be a flood here this year but they never talk about La Niña or the information on the Thai Meteorological Department website. It's all emotion.
It's because they have seen other parts of Thailand badly flooded on TV, because they have heard a rumour, or because a fortune teller or mystical monk has said there will be a flood.
When I first arrived in Thailand I believed everything that I was told, thinking that there was a reliable source behind what I was being told. After a while I started to ignore a lot of what I was told because it was nonsense.
What makes life difficult is separating the wheat from the chaff. Last year there were some very clear warnings that there would be a flood and these proved to be true.
When a Thai tells you something you have to try to figure out whether the information came from a good source, or whether it was something the local fortune teller said. This process isn't always very easy or straightforward.
I've spent most of my eight years in Thailand trying to work out how Thais think and I have still only scratched the surface. Some things are now clear but there are still lots of mysteries. With some things I find it impossible to get answers.
Yesterday we ended up in Makro, which is a large cash and carry store. It's like a huge warehouse, rather than a regular supermarket. Lots of goods are sold in bulk and because of this you expect things to be a lot cheaper than elsewhere. They aren't.
There are certain things we buy regularly at the supermarket so I am familiar with prices. If the same goods are stocked in Makro they are more expensive. So why do Thais shop there?
Now, the big mystery.
Makro looks like the kind of place where you can only buy things if you are a member. That isn't the case. If you aren't a member they give you a temporary membership card and you can make purchases.
On previous occasions I have asked about membership and it costs Bt250. I figured that members must get a discount so I asked how much, but they said prices were the same.
If prices are the same for members and non-members, why bother to pay Bt250 to become a member?
When I've asked before I was on my own and thought I must have missed something in translation. Yesterday I was with my wife so got her to ask the questions. I was really hoping to get to the bottom of the mystery but the answers were the same.
If you know, and can enlighten me, please write!
Monday 10th October 2011
I'm afraid that right now there is only really one topic of any importance in Thailand. Apologies if you are getting bored, but if you live in Thailand it's difficult to ignore.
What's unfortunate is that while everyone is trying either to deal with flooding, or is trying to prepare for flooding, the weather - when it isn't raining - is actually very pleasant. Southern Thailand is too hot all year round, but it cools off nicely in October and November.
However, instead of being able to enjoy the cooler weather, people have their eye on other things.
We were out buying more flood supplies earlier today and I can't remember the number of times I heard, "naam tuam" in the supermarket. Everyone is rightly concerned and getting ready, just in case.
When the big flood hit Hat Yai in 2000 it was the Chinese Year of the Dragon. The superstitious Thais equated a major natural disaster with the dragon getting angry and swishing his tail. They warned that there would be a natural disaster every 12 years during the Year of the Dragon.
The next big flood came 10 years later so they conveniently revised the figure down to 10 years. With more flooding looking likely this year, following the big flood last year, everyone is now saying that we can expect major flooding every year. Great.
You can point at many developed countries that have been hit by severe flooding in recent years: the UK, the United States, Australia. However, these floods have been genuinely exceptional. In Thailand flooding is an annual phenomenon.
The political parties need to take this particular issue out of the political arena and it needs to become an urgent national issue that all parties agree to support. It might take 10 years, it might take 20 years, but an enormous nationwide infrastructure project needs to be put in place and initiated as soon as possible to start to fix the problem.
This needs to be done immediately. People simply can't live like this and it is doing enormous damage to the economy. Ayuthaya was hit badly by flooding last year for several months and exactly the same thing has happened this year. There is a lot of industry in Ayuthaya.
The damage at just one industrial estate in Ayuthaya could exceed Bt30 billion and the total figure must be huge.
Govt, manufacturers to discuss assistance
The Thai economy relies heavily on tourism, agriculture and assembly. All of these industries are affected by flooding and there are even rumours that some Japanese companies will relocate their Thai assembly plants out of the country.
From what I can work out, Ayuthaya has now been completely cut off.
Ayutthaya only reachable by boat
Many Thais were putting on a lot of face and saying that Bangkok would be OK. That is now looking highly unlikely and the capital is getting ready to be inundated.
Evacuation centres ready: city officials
With some things you don't know whether to laugh or cry. I linked to a video yesterday showing Bangkok being flooded in 1942. Sixty-nine years later the country is still experiencing severe flooding yet some people seem to think the problem can be solved in a matter of hours.
PM demands 10 provinces to submit comprehensive flood measures by 6 pm
One solution has been to deploy boats to keep their engines running so that they push water into the sea. This might help, but more permanent measures implemented years ago would have been far better.
1,000 boats to push flood waters October 11
The thing that interests me most will be to see what actions are taken once the water has receded and everything has gone back to normal.
Lethargy over water woes will hurt govt
I will cite the Songkran road accident example once again. The road accident statistics in Thailand are abysmal, but during New Year and Songkran the road death figures go through the roof. This happens every year without fail.
The local press refer to the period over Songkran as the 'Seven Dangerous Days' and make a big thing of publishing the death and injury figures for each day.
There's always a lot of hand-wringing and rhetoric about how terrible this is and what needs to be done to resolve the situation but then, after a few weeks, it all gets forgotten about.
Everything goes quiet until Songkran the next year when just as many, if not more, people lose their lives in the traffic carnage that always accompanies the Songkran festival.
The hand-wringing and rhetoric begin again but nothing ever changes.
If I sound cynical, it's only as a result of living in Thailand for several years and seeing what happens, or to be more precise, what doesn't happen year after year.
Sunday 9th October 2011
After the big flood last year I've been dreading this time of year. The weather can be fine one minute but it can change in a flash and the heavens open.
On Friday there was a big electrical storm while we were at the hospital with the baby. The rain was torrential and flooded one of the hospital carparks in a matter of minutes.
In Phuket last week we passed one intersection where there was about six inches of water in the road.
If the storm passes it isn't a problem. However, if it's a big storm which decides to stick around for a while, problems can occur very quickly.
The locals are convinced there will be another flood. They are talking about a flood occurring with the same degree of certainty of there not being any soap, toilet paper or hand dryer in a Thai public toilet. Last year, before the flood, they were just as convinced there wouldn't be a flood. The truth is that nobody knows for sure.
My neighbour has told me there will definitely be a flood, and people have been telling my wife the same thing. She asked me to check on the Internet.
I checked the Thai Meteorological Department website and the forecasts there are worded as vaguely as a Nostradamus prophecy or a prediction from a Thai fortune teller.
There will be torrential rain and there will be flooding. Yes, we all know that because of the time of year and Thailand's geographical location. But no one knows where, when, or to what extent. Of course, they don't.
We may have more problems this year or we may sail through this rainy season with no problems at all. Whatever happens, the forecasts will be right.
The wife wasn't very satisfied with my answer because she had been told by her friends that we are sure to have a flood and she wanted the rumours verified.
We have already bought some flood supplies but need to buy more. These items could turn out to be essential or just a waste of money.
If flooding looks likely I will need to move as much of our stuff from downstairs to the second floor. Big items will have to stay downstairs. If a flood occurs, the fridge can probably be repaired but the dining table will be ruined and need replacing again. I will also need to find some high ground where I can leave the car.
Living upstairs for several days without electricity or running water is no fun and when the water finally subsides there is an enormous amount of cleaning and repairing that needs doing.
It's a massive headache and in many parts of Thailand flooding is a real risk. This has always been the case in Thailand and this is why I am a bit upset that more hasn't been done in the way of flood protection.
Regarding the tired old argument that Thailand is a poor country and can't afford to spend more on infrastructure, this argument is invalid.
Flooding costs the economy billions of Baht and this is justification enough to invest in a lot more flood protection. And anyway, Thailand isn't a poor country. It's a rich country with a lot of poor people.
The Honda assembly plant has halted production in Ayuthaya because suppliers can't ship parts to the factory.
Honda to resume production in Ayutthaya
There are also intangible costs. Flooding causes physical illness, mental illness, and even results in a few poor souls taking their own lives.
From The Nation:
"Public health ministry has reported that about 513,860 people are suffering from flood related disease. The number of new cases has increased to 20,000 each day. About 3,104 cases were under stress and 4,435 people were suffering from depression. About 574 were at risk from committing suicide."
When the current government was campaigning last year it promised lots of free handouts costing billions of Baht: tablet PCs for young students, a minimum monthly wage for graduates, a minimum daily wage for manual workers, increased allowances for old people, etc etc.
Workers remind govt of Bt300 pledge
These things are all fine but the flooding needs to be fixed first as a matter of priority. In case the government needs reminding, one of their election pledges was also to fix the flooding problems in Thailand.
Sense of urgency must turn into action
As she left yesterday, our cleaning lady looked at me earnestly and told me that a flood - much bigger than last year - would occur during the middle of this month. As she told me, I sensed a feeling of déj vu.
She did exactly the same thing last year when she warned me that there would be a huge earthquake in December 2010 and that the resulting tsunamis would completely submerge Hat Yai. A lot of people were repeating the same earthquake and tsunami rumour last year but as soon as December passed without incident they all suddenly went quiet.
Thais love doing this. They hear a rumour and then repeat it as fact. Everyone they tell does the same thing and within no time at all everyone is absolutely convinced that something disastrous will happen.
If you are told a rumour, you are supposed to do the same thing. If you ask for scientific evidence, question the validity of the rumour, or laugh, then you are the bad guy.
I spent quite a long time yesterday looking at sources on the Internet to see if there was anything factual or scientific to back this latest rumour up. I couldn't find anything.
I don't know why Thais do this. After first arriving in Thailand I went off travelling to various places. My Thai friends at the time looked horrified when I told them where I was going and told me to be very careful.
According to them, Nakhon Sri Thammarat was full of murderers and cutthroats, everyone in Trang was going to put something in my drink to drug and then rob me, and Phattalung was full of people standing on overpasses throwing rocks at car windscreens. They came up with similar stories about other regions of Thailand.
I never had any problems while travelling around Thailand and soon learnt to ignore the stupid stories. A few years ago I was teaching quite a bright university student and she started to do the same thing. I asked if she had any personal experience of what she was telling me and she didn't. I asked why she insisted on propagating these untruths.
She said she didn't know. She just passes on things that other people have told her.
The Buddha advised people to do the exactly the opposite.
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
The Thai population is almost 95% Buddhist but very few Thais actually follow Buddhist teaching and philosophy. The mainly Animist belief system is based on superstition and ritual but a lot of the rituals are carried out at Buddhist temples (and in many cases by Buddhist monks) so to the casual onlooker it can appear confusing.
Saturday 8th October 2011
Have you ever dreamed of building your own house and living in a home which included every special feature that you wanted?
It would be expensive in most places but in Thailand it's relatively cheap. After buying some land you can get the services of an architect fairly cheaply, and the labour costs involved in the construction of the house are cheap too.
I didn't go down this route for a number of reasons. Firstly, I have never felt that strongly about building a house to my own design and I'm quite satisfied with the type of houses that many developers design.
Secondly, I had lots of problems last year with contractors coming in to our rented house to do small jobs. I wrote recently about the plumber from hell.
Another plumber did half a job and then packed up his tools and left. I thought he was coming back later. After waiting several hours, he didn't return. I phoned up his boss and was told he had gone to the temple to make merit.
I got angry and told him I wanted someone else to finish the job. He hung up and then refused to answer his phone. This is how Thais manage customer relationships.
The same thing happened with a Spanish guy living here a few years ago. The Internet connection at his apartment didn't work and they couldn't fix it. Instead of trying to find someone who could fix it they just refused to answer the phone when Jose called. The only way he got to talk to them was when he used someone else's phone.
Other contractors I used last year always wanted to do a job in the easiest possible way. They would install something but leave cables hanging out or route cables in a really ugly way because it was easier to do so.
A few others arranged to visit the house but just didn't turn up or turned up several hours late. None of them called to say they couldn't attend at the pre-arranged time. Consequently, my wife and I wasted a lot of time waiting around doing nothing.
If I was doing a job for someone I would hate it if they watched me all the time but with most of the Thai contractors I felt obliged to watch what they were doing.
These were just small jobs and I wouldn't want to go through the experience of overseeing an entire house built. I feel more comfortable about a paid foreman making sure that his builders are doing a good job.
There were other reasons for deciding to buy a house in a housing development. The management company will be responsible for security and shared facilities, which include a small park and swimming pool. If I had bought my own land and had a house built I would have been responsible for security and there wouldn't have been any park or swimming pool.
The house is a standard design but we have opted to have a few things changed. Even these small changes have been problematic.
When I requested wired-in Internet connections in each room (faster and more reliable than Wi-Fi), there was a look of horror because this hadn't been requested before. It took a lot of convincing that this was actually quite a simple thing to do.
We had been giving our requests to a girl in the sales office but when we tried to contact her recently we found she had left. We then found out that she hadn't been passing on any of our requests.
Another member of staff arranged a meeting to discuss our requirements but then failed to show up. She arranged another meeting. Just as we were about to leave for the meeting, my wife suggested giving her a call. It was good that we did because she wasn't available again.
She said she would call back to arrange a meeting. That was a couple of weeks ago and she still hasn't called back.
In theory many things seem a great idea in Thailand but the reality is having to deal with Thais, and Thais have their own very unique way of doing things.
A few of the contractors we used last year were excellent. They always arrived on time, performed excellent work, and didn't overcharge. However, they were in a minority.
I know from experience that even the smallest of jobs can turn into a major headache in Thailand. If you plan on having a complete house built from scratch it could be very worthwhile in the end, but be prepared for lots of headaches and frustrations during the process.
A comment I saw posted on a forum recently regarding having a kitchen fitted in Thailand included the phrase, "One step forward, two steps backward." That simple phrase sums up dealing with Thais very well.
My brother, visiting Thailand from the UK, brought over a few bits for the baby. Yesterday, my wife was looking at what he had given us and made a comment that she thought everything came from the UK whereas in fact it comes from China. Every label included the words 'Made in China'.
And therein lies half the reason for the economic problems in the UK.
Bank of England governor fears crisis is 'worst ever'
Whatever the benefits of capitalism, it is an inherently selfish and greedy system. Its demands for never-ending growth and profits in a world with finite resources is also unsustainable.
The market trader who made some highly controversial statements recently only did one thing wrong. He said he didn't care about the economy or how to fix it because his only objective was making money.
His one mistake was admitting this publicly. This is how the financial industry thinks but there is an unwritten rule that it is not discussed openly. However, all of us are now aware of where the problems have come from.
Wall Street protesters march in New York
Companies are expected to increase their profits year-on-year. If a company makes 60% one year it is great, but if the profit is 'only' 50% the next year everyone panics and the share price goes down.
To keep increasing profits every market has been saturated and every effort has been taken to reduce costs. Work forces have been slashed, expenses have been slashed, and lots of jobs have moved East in a further effort to lower costs.
This is what capitalism demands but such actions have always threatened societies and finally, after years of governments mismanaging the economy, we are seeing the results.
I can't begin to explain how good it was working for IBM in 1983 when I joined, but by 2002 my working life had become so utterly unbearable that I felt there was no option other than to leave. It was probably the best decision of my life, but also one that was very difficult to make at the time.
Many jobs have gone East and many people are unemployed. The people who remain employed have to constantly work harder to survive and they have to live with the constant threat of redundancy. Unemployment, the fear and insecurity of being made redundant among those still working, and huge wealth gaps harm the economy and harm society.
London riots: police lose battle as lawlessness erupts
The other part of the problem is a welfare system that has got out of control. With less money coming into the economy, there is still a huge amount going out in the form of benefits.
When I arrived in Thailand in 2002, what did I receive from the Thai government? Nothing. What did I expect to receive? Nothing. The anecdotes I have heard from the UK about the benefits that immigrants receive when they arrive are a little different.
Thousands of illegal workers claiming benefits: Loophole in the law costs taxpayers millions
Thailand isn't perfect. With so little welfare it isn't right that people with debilitating illnesses have to beg on the streets to get money for treatment, or that old people have to keep working as long as they can because it is impossible to survive on the Bt500 per month they receive from the state.
However, Thailand doesn't have the same economic problems that the UK currently has.
Everyone knows what the problems in the UK are but the problems aren't being addressed. Jobs need to come back and some brutal measures need to be taken with the welfare system. This is unlikely to happen because of so-called political correctness and also because politicians are more interested in policies which will keep them in power instead of doing what needs to be done to rescue the country.
At one of the links above, the BBC define 'Quantitative Easing' and it is just a euphemism for printing more money. The UK government has a massive amount of debt, yet the only solutions the politicians can come up with are to borrow or print more money.
Why don't they just run the printing presses for a few more weeks and erase the debt entirely? After the gold standard was abandoned there is no limit to the amount of money that can be printed. Pretty soon inflation will start to become a serious problem.
Despite this apparent madness, the stock markets reacted favourably and once again indexes have started to rise. But for how much longer? Until real solutions are put in place I can only see things getting worse.
It saddens me to see what has happened to my country. I know, and have worked alongside, some exceptionally talented people. The UK is in a different league to Thailand in many respects and to see the Thailand economy flourishing while the UK economy continues to go down the pan hurts. So does the exchange rate.
Friday 7th October 2011
I will soon need to transfer quite a large sum of money from the UK for our house purchase. I've been waiting for the UKP to THB exchange rate to improve all year but with the Bank of England announcing another round of quantitative easing this is likely to weaken the pound against other currencies.
Bank of England injects further £75bn into economy
The days of getting Bt75 to the pound seem like a very long time ago. When the rate went below Bt60 it seemed like a disaster but now Bt50 would be a good rate.
In the space of just two months between September 2008 and November 2008 the rate went down by Bt10.
Thailand isn't the cheap country it once was. In addition to exchange rates being very low, inflation has gradually been pushing up prices and world food prices remain high. Every time we go shopping for essential items (once or twice a week) it costs around Bt4,000.
Bangkokians worried by rising cost of living: survey
The baby has added to our expenditure and I understand that powdered baby milk and disposable nappies are more expensive in Thailand compared to the UK.
Last week in Phuket I caught up with my brother who lives in the UK and he made the comment that many things are more expensive in Thailand.
A combination of problems with the stock markets, UK interest rates falling to almost nothing, and the Pound to Baht exchange rate falling, has resulted in my income being a lot lower now than I thought it would be at this stage of my life. It's about half the amount I had calculated a few years ago.
I can survive but I won't be living the kind of life in Thailand that I once thought I'd be living.
Thai property developers rely a lot on Burmese labour and when I spent some time in Mae Sot a couple of years ago I saw lots of factories on the Thai side of the river that were staffed entirely by Burmese.
Life in Burma is extremely difficult so a lot of Burmese work in Thailand. The advantage to the Thais who employ them is that they work very cheaply.
Many aren't officially registered and are in Thailand illegally. This means they don't have any access to healthcare. The NGOs are very active in Thailand near to the Burmese border and help a lot of migrants.
Sadly, because of a disagreement with the Thai authorities, one of the NGOs has ended its operations in Thailand. This will affect many migrants in Thailand from neighbouring countries.
Aid group MSF ends Thailand operations amid row
Thursday 6th October 2011
During our unscheduled stop in Trang for car repairs on Saturday I was reminded of what an attractive little province it is. I spent a few days there in 2006 and enjoyed my trip very much.
On that trip I picked up a photocopied map of the main town and while looking for places of interest spotted somewhere labelled 'Ex Prime Minister's House'. There was no further information. I didn't know who it referred to, or even if the 'Ex Prime Minister' was still living.
I went along and found the entrance to the garden open. There were a few men sitting down inside and I got chatting to them. One of them was the brother of ex Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, a Trang native, and they told me that Nai Chuan was in the house. Next, they asked if I wanted to meet him.
I said yes, of course, and after waiting for a while I had a one-on-one conversation with one of the most important politicians in Thailand. He must barely have a spare moment in his busy schedule and I was highly impressed that he had agreed to talk to a strange farang.
He comes across as a very sincere, very honest man with a very sharp intellect. He served two terms as Prime Minister and remains a very popular figure in southern Thailand.
I have no statistics but I would guess that around 80% of farangs living in Thailand live in either Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Samui or Chiang Mai. There are also a lot in the Isaan region who have gone to live their with their Isaan wives and girlfriends. Outside of those places you see a few but not too many.
I'm not sure why. It's maybe because many farangs would struggle to live in 'real' Thailand and so they choose places where there are lots of other farangs, lots of Western food, no need to learn Thai, and lots of reminders of home.
In Trang I saw a few riding around on Honda Waves but it's not like Phuket where farangs seem to outnumber Thais.
One of my favourite provinces for daytrips is Phattalung but there has hardly been any development and I don't think I would want to live there permanently. Trang is more developed and looks highly liveable.
It's more developed than Phattalung and its coastline, being on the Andaman side, is pretty. There are also supposed to be some pretty islands and caves but I have yet to visit them.
As we drove back on Tuesday, we passed through Trang again. There was a traffic jam that had been caused by about half a dozen large Malaysian tour buses. For many years Malaysians have spent weekends in Thai towns closer to the border, such as Hat Yai, but now they are venturing further into southern Thailand.
Hat Yai and Trang are very different places but I can certainly see the attraction of spending a weekend in Trang.
After getting married I am now pretty stuck about where I live. My wife, like many Thai girls, wants to stay fairly close to her family.
However, if I was starting out again I would probably base myself in Trang or Chiang Rai. Also, knowing what I know now and having experienced a big flood last year, I would do lots of research to find areas that don't flood. This is a very important consideration in Thailand.
While I was in Phuket I noticed lots of farangs having meetings in shops, restaurants and cafes. They were close enough to overhear and the meetings were about business arrangements. They were probably all perfectly genuine but you need to be very careful in places like Phuket.
Many farangs love the lifestyle in Phuket it's an expensive place to live. They need money and they aren't prepared to do (or aren't capable of doing) the normal work that farangs do in Thailand to earn money. They all want to be hotshot businessmen and the fact they weren't hotshot businessmen in their own countries doesn't deter them in Thailand. Some are simply con-artists.
The Phuket News carried a story about a bad Brit who was scamming other foreigners out of money in Thailand. Foreign scam artists in Thailand always target their own kind.
He was operating a visa scam and was also trying to recruit 'business partners' for bogus businesses. His scams involved the victims handing over money at which point he then became unreachable.
Paul Christopher Ridden, who is also wanted by Sussex Police in the UK, is now spending some time inside Phuket prison while the Thai police try to figure out what to do with him.
Unfortunately, Thailand attracts a lot of losers and chancers. They were failures at home but when they get to Thailand their history gets wiped and they invent all kinds of far-fetched stories about themselves.
In places like Phuket you need to be wary of certain Thais, but you also need to be very wary of rogue farangs.
I am a very cynical person by nature but this isn't necessarily a bad thing in Thailand. You need to tune up your B/S meter and only trust people who earn your trust after a period of time.
It is impossible for foreigners to do anything successfully in Thailand without the right Thai contacts. If a foreigner tries to spin you a line about a business venture but doesn't have any Thai contacts be very careful.
Foreigners can't do anything themselves regarding visas. The only time a foreigner can help you is when that foreigner has good Thai contacts who he can put you in touch with. Be very careful of foreigners you don't know in Thailand.
The flood situation in Ayuthaya is getting worse after heavy rain. People are being evacuated in boats and huge areas are under water including industrial estates, with several factories inundated. I don't know if the Nikon assembly plant has been affected.
Ayuthaya was affected badly in last year's flood. Our flood last year only lasted a few days but Ayuthaya was under water for a couple of months. I would be interested to know what action was taken after the flooding last year to try to prevent further problems.
I realise that a problem on this scale can't be fixed within a year - it will take many years and require enormous amounts of money, but has a start been made? People can't live like this and the damage to the economy is huge.
Bangkok residents living near the river must now be getting quite worried. This much water in Ayuthaya must surely have increased the risk of Bangkok flooding.
Wednesday 5th October 2011
The flooding in Thailand this year has just affected another well-known tourist attraction.
Tourists wandering around Ayuthaya's historic temple area suddenly discovered the ground getting wet and had to climb on to whatever was available to escape the water as it flooded in from the Chao Phraya River. It came in very quickly.
The TV news has been showing footage of stressed out politicians trying to figure out what to do now. It's a big problem. The amount of water involved in Ayuthaya alone is almost 1,500 million cubic metres.
Whatever happens, it will be like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Flooding is hardly a new problem in Thailand and lots more should have been done already. The time to act is when there isn't a problem, not when 25 provinces have already been severely affected.
With all aspects of life, Thais think very little about prevention. If you talk to them about trying to prevent a problem when the problem doesn't currently exist they look at you as if you are mad. "There isn't a problem so why do anything?"
In the past I've tried to figure out why this is and I think it has something to do with the tropical climate. The climate in Thailand means that fresh food is available all year round and forward thinking isn't really necessary.
In temperate countries that suffer severe winters, food isn't available in the harsh winter months and so it is always necessary to think ahead. Without forward thinking people wouldn't survive.
This is only a theory, but there has to be an underlying reason why Thais think and behave so differently.
Of course, what the politicians are really concerned about is Bangkok. The water has slowly been heading south and Ayuthaya is only about 70km from Bangkok. I get the impression sometimes that the provinces don't really matter to Thai politicians, but Bangkok does matter.
Thailand floods: More than 200 die, temples threatened
Tuesday 4th October 2011
Browsing through the Phuket News this morning, one Gary Cameron has written to the editor asking why Thais never stop at zebra crossings. He says that Thai drivers absolutely refuse to give way and some even gesture rudely at pedestrians attempting to cross the road.
Welcome to Thailand, Gary.
I've long considered zebra crossings in Thailand to be a waste of paint. What's the point of having them if no one will even think about stopping?
I was once travelling in the back of a sawng-thaew when suddenly it screeched to a halt, throwing all the passengers forward. I looked to see what had caused the driver to brake so suddenly.
Two old farang women wanting to cross the road had spotted a zebra crossing and simultaneously mistaken Thailand for a civilised country. They started to cross, expecting cars to stop, but of course Thais never stop for pedestrians and the sawng-thaew driver was completely taken by surprise.
There is a strict hierarchy on Thai roads just as there is in Thai society. On the roads big vehicles have right of way over smaller ones and pedestrians come just below motorbikes.
At times I've found it almost impossible to cross the road. Thais are allowed to turn left on a red light but they are only supposed to do this carefully. They don't. They simply fly through red lights and turn left with no regard at all for pedestrians.
The Phuket News reply informs us that there is no Thai law about giving way to pedestrians at zebra crossings so therefore they don't bother.
The same newspaper features an expat interview and Sylvie Yaffe tells us that she wishes Thai drivers would be more considerate.
I drove back from Phuket today and know exactly what she means. Apart from the lack of proper driver training, lack of a proper test, and lack of any law enforcement, the other thing you have to deal with is the machismo of Thai males.
Their objectives are to drive as fast as possible, to drive as close to the car in front as possible, and then to overtake every car on road on whatever side of the road they can.
It doesn't matter what the traffic conditions are like, what the weather conditions are like, or if there is a set of red traffic lights 100 yards ahead, whenever I look in my mirror there is a Thai driver six inches from my rear bumper trying to get past.
Today was no different. It should be quite an enjoyable experience driving in Thailand but the obnoxious habits of Thai drivers infuriate me.
There's no point to what they do. Their driving habits increase the risk of accidents and they don't gain much time. I was driving reasonably and each time an idiot overtook or undertook me to get past I would see him again at the next set of lights.
What is maybe interesting is that it is always the same type of vehicles that are involved. Generally speaking, pickup truck and minivan drivers always drive obnoxiously.
Even more obnoxious are drivers of Toyota Fortuners and on this trip quite a few obnoxious twats were driving Honda Civics.
I'm not sure if certain vehicles turn people into obnoxious drivers, or whether obnoxious drivers choose to drive certain vehicles. I suspect the latter.
Another thing that was quite scary today was seeing how fast the big tour buses are driven around Thailand. They accelerate very slowly and struggle up hills but once they get going on the flat they can get up to and maintain high speeds.
The drivers hate slowing down once they've worked up a head of steam. They overtake slower vehicles in the most dangerous of places and if they want to get past they will drive up behind vehicles very close and very fast.
Monday 3rd October 2011
Our day started today with a trip to the Bt300,000 per year international school that my niece attends. The complex also contains a very well appointed sports club with several swimming pools including one that looks as if it has been built to Olympic standards.
The clientele seem to be mostly well-heeled farangs and there are also some farang staff. I believe membership of the sports club is about Bt60,000 per year.
There are lots of wealthy expats in Phuket and it struck me today how different my life in Thailand is compared to my brother. For a start, he works in Singapore during the week and only spends the weekends in Thailand while I am here all the time.
I have reservations about the Thai school system but he just bypasses it by sending his daughter to an expensive international school.
When he wants anything done to his house he contacts an Englishman who runs a business in Phuket. This guy uses Thai labour but my brother never deals directly with Thais.
Even if he does, the Thais in Phuket are a lot more used to dealing with foreigners and it is easier. I deal exclusively with Thais, and the Thais I deal with aren't accustomed to dealing with foreigners. A lot of the problems and frustrations I have living in Thailand are totally alien to my brother.
Many places in Phuket are geared up exclusively to cater for foreigners. The restaurant at the sports club today and the marina restaurant we went to in Phuket last time just have menus in English. It seems strange that my wife, who can only read limited English, can't read a menu in her own country but that is Phuket for you.
We had planned a drive to the beach today but the rain was so torrential that we abandoned this planning and went shopping instead.
The shopping in Phuket is good and because a lot of residents have money to spend there is a lot of choice. This is something I miss.
In the evening we drove into Patong. I don't know why. I've been to Patong many times and I dislike it so I don't know why I was keen to go today. Maybe I was just curious.
Patong is ugly to the extreme. I would imagine the only place in Thailand that is uglier is Pattaya but it has been a long time since I've been to Pattaya because I made a vow in 1992 never to go back again.
It is full of farang men who can only get laid by paying Thai prostitutes, and full of Thai girls who can only earn money by selling their bodies to desperate farang men.
The ladyboys were out in force, of course, first inviting tourists to take a photo of them and then demanding Bt100 as soon as the shutter is clicked.
Patong is very popular with Australians these days. The Aussie dollar has been quite strong and Australia seems to have missed out on a lot of the economic problems that have affected Europe and the USA. There are lots of bars advertising themselves as 'Aussie Bars' with real Aussie beer and real Four'N'Twenty meat pies.
I heard Aussie accents everywhere and most of the language was foul. Every other word was an expletive and there were detailed conversations between young Aussie males regarding ping-pong shows they had been to see and the physical attributes of Thai females: "Strewth mate, it's unusual to see skinny Sheilas with big tits."
I'm not prudish but I just didn't want to hear what I heard while staying in a vacation resort with my wife and baby. Fortunately, neither my wife or child could understand the vulgar conversations going on at the next table to where we were sitting for dinner. We went home early.
Sunday 4th October 2011
My brother mentioned a gibbon rehabilitation centre near his home so we took a drive over today. He said there was an entrance fee and I asked if there was a dual pricing policy. He said there wasn't and that everyone paid the same. He doesn't read Thai.
When we got there the sign said 'Adults Bt200' in English. Immediately above, it said 'Adults Bt20' in Thai. If you can't read Thai this is how Thais disguise what is happening. Some places also use the Thai numbering system just to ensure that foreigners don't know what is going on.
This policy makes my blood boil. I pointed to the sign and told him, "poo-yai yee-sip baht," and handed over Bt40, "poo-yai sawng kon see-sip baht."
The sign didn't say anything about Bt20 for Thais, it just said 'adults' written in Thai. He looked slightly irritated. Foreigners aren't supposed to be able to speak or read Thai. They are just supposed to smile like grinning idiots and hand their money over.
There was a bit of a stand off and then he started asking me questions. How long had I lived in Thailand? Did I work? What did I do? I answered but I wasn't obliged to and none of these questions were relevant.
There was a Bt30 charge for the car and he wanted Bt100. The price should have been Bt70 but I gave him Bt100.
The dual pricing policy is something that I feel very strongly about. It should either be banned completely or other countries should enter into a reciprocal agreement and start to charge Thai tourists 10 times the normal price for tourist attractions. Let Thais see how they like it.
The centre was a bit of a disappointment and we didn't stay long. It certainly wasn't worth Bt200. The same thing happened to me last year in Krabi. There's a place with some fossil shells where the charge is Bt20 for Thais and Bt200 for foreigners. It was also very disappointing.
While we were there, a couple of tourists turned up in a tuk-tuk. After they had wandered off I asked the driver where he had come from and how much he had charged. He had come from Patong and charged them Bt1,000.
The current government won the election with various election pledges and one such pledge was to raise the minimum daily wage to Bt300. Many Thais work hard for maybe as little as Bt150.
This guy had used about Bt50 of LPG and made a nice profit from just one small job. It is no wonder that Thais from all over the country flock to Phuket where the streets are paved with gold.
The taxi business in Phuket is so lucrative that it has got very nasty. When I've been in Phuket before, drivers have wanted a minimum Bt300 (and often lots more) for journeys that would be Bt40 elsewhere in the country.
They won't lower their stupid fares because there are so many tourists in Phuket they don't need to. They will just wait for the next stupid farang to come along.
A German tourist was beaten up recently by tuk-tuk drivers in Phuket. The driver told him initially that the fare was Bt100 but at the end of the ride he wanted Bt100 each from the tourist and his wife. The tourist was beaten so badly that he went into a coma and ended up in hospital.
In another incident some tourists booked an elephant trekking tour. The tour company sent someone to pick them up from their hotel but a bunch of tuk-tuk drivers had already claimed the hotel as their territory and beat the other Thai up for encroaching. They beat him up and put an iron bar through his windscreen.
Phuket should be a pleasant place but I don't really like it and I think I know why.
Of all the human sins, nothing is worse than greed. If you analyse any conflict in the world the source can normally be traced back to someone's greed.
Thais are great when they're not greedy but they get really ugly when they are greedy. Where do greedy Thais go? They go, of course, to places in Thailand where there are lots of tourists who have money and who are ignorant about Thailand. These people are easy targets.
When greedy Thais try to rip me off I can see immediately what is happening. They make me angry and because I'm not the easy target they were looking for I make them angry.
In parts of Thailand where there are very few tourists I have very few, if any, problems with Thais. As soon as I set foot in a place where there are lots of farang tourists I have lots of problems.
Saturday 3rd October 2011
My brother from the UK is staying at my other brother's house in Phuket so today I drove over to see them both. The original plan was to go yesterday but on Thursday a warning light on my dashboard told me the coolant level was low.
Some further investigation revealed a leaking water pump and thinking I would have to wait until next week to get it fixed I was going to cancel the trip.
However, the dealer was able to do the work yesterday thus allowing me to travel today. Ideally I would have liked to test the car for a few days before making a long journey but the work I've had done previously has always been good with no problems. I had confidence in their work and decided to go today.
On the last trip to Phuket we followed the SatNav and it took us first into Nakorn Sri Thammarat and then Surat Thani on a weird and wonderful route. It did a good job and we avoided traffic very successfully but the drive wasn't very interesting. Today we decided to go through Trang and Krabi.
The road between Phattalung and Trang is one of my favourite routes. It goes through some high ground and there are some spectacular views. The problem today was the weather.
The rain was torrential and visibility was down to about 30 yards. The road is quite treacherous at the best of times but today it was quite scary and we also had the baby in the car. Thais drive fast and on single lane roads they overtake in crazy places. I had to use my full concentration and couldn't enjoy the drive at all.
As I was driving, the car didn't quite feel right. There was vibration and shuddering, which at first I thought might be the road surface, but it coincided with strain on the engine. We passed through Trang and when we had to stop at traffic lights the engine was really rough at idle.
With the weather so bad and the baby on board I was quite worried about the car breaking down. We struggled along for a while on the way to Krabi and I just decided to do a U-turn and go home.
It was my wife who suggested trying to get the car fixed in Trang. She is quite good with the SatNav and quickly found the Ford dealership. The SatNav led us straight there. We'd called ahead already and the Ford dealer confirmed they were open all day.
This was fortunate and it was also fortunate that we had decided to travel this route.
The service at the Ford dealership was amazing. The technician plugged his diagnostic computer into the car and saw immediately that cylinder 4 wasn't firing. This was the cause of the vibrations and rough idle.
He swapped the ignition coils between cylinders 4 and 5, looked the diagnostic computer again and saw that the problem had moved. Now knowing what the problem was he repalced the defective coil and all was well again.
They took the car for a test drive and decided there was a noise from the brakes. Every time I mention this to my local dealer they tell me they just needed to clean the brakes. The Trang dealership wanted to take a look and ended up doing the same - giving the front discs and pads a clean.
Not only did they fix the problem, but when we departed the car was in better condition than it had been when I left home that morning.
Full marks to the Ford dealership in Trang and full marks also to the Garmin SatNav. Initially it was just a bit of a novelty but it has proved to be invaluable when driving around Thailand. I am planning to write something about SatNav usage in Thailand when I have time.
The weather was bad all day today and it wasn't an easy drive. The unscheduled repairs added about three-and-a-half hours to our journey time so it took 11 hours in total. Not a great day but it could have been a lot worse.