Living In Thailand Blog
Sunday 30th September 2018
Certain subjects are best avoided in a blog - religion, politics, sexuality, tattoos, etc - and as the world becomes ever more politically correct, so more subjects are added to the list.
However, on Friday my wife arrived home from work with an interesting little piece of Thai political history, which I thought might be interesting for some of my readers.
Before she was unceremoniously ousted, one of Yingluck's policies was to give each Pratom 1 level school student (age around 6) a tablet computer. The project was called 'One Tablet Per Child'.
One Tablet Per Child
In this post I will attempt to remain politically neutral. Firstly, I like to try to be balanced with my comments and having a political bias wouldn't enable me to do that. Secondly, I am caught on the fence as to whether this was a good or a bad policy, and I'm still not sure what the 'real' motives were behind the project.
Providing each Pratom 1 level child meant delivering roughly 800,000-900,000 tablets - a big number. iPads might have been nice, but were way beyond the alotted budget. The approach taken by Thailand was similar to Nicholas Negroponte's $100 laptop project and the target was to produce each tablet for around $100.
Naturally, when you want any item produced cheaply these days there is only one place to go. The Thai government contacted the Chinese government and various Chinese manufacturers were approached. The contract eventually went to a company called Shenzhen Scope and a deal was done with Advice Distribution, a Thai company, to carry out maintenance and repairs.
The display measures 7" across the diagonal and is slightly bigger than my Kindle Paperwhite. The iPad in the photo has been distorted by the wide-angle lens that I used for the photo.
The Thai tablet compared to an iPad and a Kindle Paperwhite
The Thai student tablet contains a 1.5 GHz single core CPU, with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. Obviously, to keep costs down it uses a free open-source operating system - Android 4.0.3 - and some open source apps are pre-loaded as part of the package. There is no optical drive, but there is a Wi-Fi connection to download other apps and connect with the Internet. The box contains a power adapter and a small cable to enable USB devices to be connected. So far, so good.
The school my kids attend must have been given tablets but either they weren't issued to the kids or there were devices left over because on Friday each teacher was given one, including my wife.
I've been messing around with the device a little and can't get it to do very much. The touch screen is very poor quality and the Android operating system is not intuitive. I normally only use Windows or Apple iOS. The Wi-Fi signal from my access point is quite strong, but the device has to be very close to get a workable signal.
Even if I could do more, the poor quality of the display doesn't make me want to use the device. There is no vibrance from the display and everything looks dull and boring. One criticism (of many) was that many devices didn't work when they were delivered.
Technology is a vital part of our world nowadays and Thailand doesn't want to be left behind. The country has a gigantic wealth gap and although there is no shortage of wealthy Thais these days, there are still also a lot of poor Thais.
It couldn't have been a bad thing to put some technology into the hands of Thailand's poor students. Then again, would it not have been better to equip schools with better quality Windows desktop machines in dedicated computer labs? All students would then have had access to computers without needing to actually have their own tablets.
Also, in the real world most people use Windows and using desktop machines with Windows operating systems would have provided more relevant skills for entry into the workplace.
The tablet with its Android operating system and open source apps
Another problem is what Thai students will use their personal tablets for, and language gives us a little clue. In the West we use the verbs 'use' and 'work on' when we 'use' or 'work on' a computer. Thais use the verb 'len' which translates to 'play' and this is what most young Thais equate computers with. In Thailand computers are used for playing games.
Unfortunately, corruption has always been a problem in Thailand and whenever the government announces a big budget project a lot of the money will end up in people's pockets.
Pasuk Phongpaichit and Sungsidh Piriyarangsan's book 'Corruption & Democracy in Thailand' opens with the folowing quote:
'The budget is like a popsicle that's passed around. Everyone gets a lick at it when it comes their way, so that by the time the one at the end of the line gets it, there's little left... Most of the time corrupt politicians and officials escape punishment. In fact, most of them continue to prosper and command respect in society.'
Thais have a saying that if all the money that has ever been allocated to build new roads had actually gone into making new roads, the roads in Thailand would be made of gold. Instead, lots of money is allocated for infrastructure projects, but money goes missing and short cuts are taken because there isn't enough left to do the job properly.
Critics would say that this was just another cynical attempt to make rich Thais even richer through corruption, but was it, or was it a genuine effort to level things up in a highly inequitable country?
Something else the Shinawatras are charged with is populism. Most Thais are obsessed with material goods, especially vehicles, mobile phones and electronic devices. Poor Thais can't afford these things or have to take on a lot of debt to own them. The government giving away free tablets would be a very popular move and would guarantee votes at the next election.
But isn't this what happens everywhere? The Western world wants to promote a Western style of 'democracy' everywhere. In such systems people can vote for the politicians who they think will make their lives better. If this is what is defined by populism, then we are all guilty.
Anyway, it doesn't matter now. The Shinawatra siblings are living in exile and unable to return to Thailand without fear of long jail sentences. The One Tablet Per Child project ended and now teachers are being given the left over tablets.
As I said above, I remain completely neutral politically as a result of not knowing the real motivation behind the project and I doubt that I will ever know. There were good intentions, but potentially there were some bad ones too.
The Shinawatra era of Thai politics was volatile and divisive, but it was also interesting because policies were implemented that had never been seen before in Thailand.
If you have any thoughts, let me know.
After writing this I casually asked my wife what she thought about the OTPC project. I was quite taken aback at her response as she launched into a highly emotional tirade against the Thai education system. She had nothing to say about politics or technical deficiencies of the tablets, just the education system.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Thai 'education' system simply consists of a teacher reading out of a text book or speaking to the students while the students write down and memorise what they are told. Students aren't allowed to think or speak or to add any input of their own. They remember, they repeat what they have remembered in tests, and they pass or fail. This starts at the age of two, when they attend nurseries to prepare for Kindergarten, and goes on until they finish university.
According to my wife the tablets didn't change anything. Instead of students sitting listening to their teacher and writing in books, they typed into their tablets. Presumably they can write faster than typing, therefore, the tablets probably slowed things down and made things worse.
Her view is that the entire education system should be abolished and and another implemented. I agree, but it won't happen.
Friday 28th September 2018
A strange incident earlier this week.
I went to pick my kids up from school and left early, as usual, in order to get a car parking space. I parked the car and was wandering around looking for something to eat.
While waiting to cross a road I heard a very loud noise, as if two vehicles had crashed. I instinctively looked in the direction from which the noise had come. There is a bridge over a small canal and a motorbike with a homemade sidecar had crossed it at great speed. There are thousands of these homemade sidecars in Thailand.
The contraption became temporarily airborne and when it landed it made a terrible noise. After I realised what had made the noise I went back to trying to cross the road.
A few seconds later I realised that the guy driving the motorbike had stopped and was looking back at me staring aggressively.
As in most cultures, staring is regarded as an aggressive signal in Thailand but lots of Thais do it. I get stared at all the time, however, this occasion was different.
Lots of Thais own shophouses in which they run a business from the ground floor and live above the shop. Many sit outside the front of the property watching the world go by and whenever I walk past they just stare.
I don't like it particularly, but it's 'normal'. However, in 15 years I have never experienced someone actually stopping their vehicle so that they could stare. What was the reason? I don't know, but he obviously took offense when I looked around because his bike had made so much noise.
A different homemade sidecar, but you get the idea
I'm not an aggressive person, but I had a bad week last week and my mood still wasn't good. His staring at me for no apparent reason was the final straw. I started walking towards him, asking what he wanted, "Ao arai?" I started walking faster while raising my voice and repeating the question.
As I got within about 20 yards his courage went and he rode off. I left the scene fairly quickly, half expecting him to return with a bunch of his mates. Most Thais don't tend to be very brave when they are alone, but they will quickly return with reinforcements or weapons.
I didn't do anything to make him angry. Was the problem simply resentment?
Everything keeps getting more expensive in Thailand, yet wages don't increase for ordinary Thais. Resentment against foreigners now seems to be a worldwide phenomenon and I do sense increasing xenophobia in Thailand. Many Thais (wrongly) still believe that all foreigners have infinite reserves of money and I guess they feel cheated.
Obviously, tourists won't sense this because Thais working in tourist areas depend 100% on tourists and don't want to cook the golden goose. However, outside of the tourist areas it is always different.
I will never know the real reason, but it was very strange. There was a time when I felt welcome in Thailand, but incidents such as this and the way I am treated by immigration no longer make me feel that way. The world has changed, Thailand has changed, and not for the better.
Thursday 27th September 2018
A quick update after a bit of an absence.
What's going on in my life at the moment? Lots, and none of it is particularly good. What will be of interest to my blog readers? Probably not much. When I don't write anything here for several days it's usually because I simply don't have the time.
I needed to extend my visa recently. I've just made five trips to immigration and it still isn't over yet. I could say a lot, but putting my views into the public domain while living in Thailand probably isn't a very good idea.
Suffice to say, Thailand has a big project called Thailand 4.0. At the moment the economy relies a lot on tourism and low-cost manufacturing and assembly. There are many factories in Thailand where products designed in other countries are assembled. Foreign companies choose Thailand because wages are low and it is cheaper. The Thai factory owners do well, but not the workers.
The idea behind Thailand 4.0 is to get away from this model. The country wants to increase innovation and R&D so that incomes can be increased. This won't happen within one generation. The success of this project is based on future generations and the most important thing now is the education of Thailand's young people.
As a parent paying quite a lot of money and investing time educating two Thai kids I am a small, but quite important, part of Thailand 4.0. Nonetheless, this makes no difference as to how I am treated by immigration.
There is something very wrong with the Thai education system and it causes me lots of personal issues with two children being educated and my wife teaching. It is almost half-term and the level of intensity is insane.
My four year-old is expected to be able to read and write basic words in Thai and English, including Arabic and Thai numbers, and his handwriting is expected to be perfect. Many kids of his age in other countries haven't even started school yet and the vast majority of foreign adults living in Thailand don't have the Thai language skills that he is expected to have.
My seven year-old has so many books that I can hardly pick up her bag sometimes and she really struggles under the weight.
Learning anything and making learning interesting aren't important in the school system. Everything is about points (ka-nairn). Facts must be memorised and regurgitated in tests so that students get enough points to pass. That's it.
Everything is black and white and there is no room for any critical thinking. An answer is either right or wrong and will be awarded a point, or not. Here's one example:
My kids are at a school that is run by Catholic nuns, although the vast majority of students are Buddhist. However, because of the nuns there is an element of Christianity. My daughter came home with some questions, one of which was, "When is Jesus' birthday?"
The correct answer is that no one knows and - based on the available evidence - written accounts and astronomical data, etc., it is highly unlikely it was 25th December.
But at the school the 'correct' answer is 25th December (one point) and anything else is wrong. This kind of thing really annoys me. Quite often my wife will ask me a question to which there is no definitive answer. When I tell her this she gets annoyed. Thais just want one answer that is correct because this is how they think. The truth is that they don't really want to think. Everything must be black and white.
This method of teaching by rote is also incredibly boring. The kids have no interaction and aren't allowed to contribute. They sit there all day while they are given 'facts'. Many learn to equate 'education' with boredom and thus, in their own time the last thing they want to do is learn anything. They choose to watch TV or play computer games. There is no thirst for knowledge and no concept that learning can actually be interesting and fun.
My wife, being Thai, understands the deficiencies of the system but is resigned to the fact that there is no alternative in Thailand and that the kids have to do it. It is like mental torture seeing what my own children have to go through. Also, because she is very busy collating points for her own students I find myself having to do more and more at home. As a parent, the Thai education system gives me far more problems than it ever did when I was a teacher.
A term commonly heard in Thailand is "Life is cheap". How cheap? There was a widely reported story this week of yet another contract killing in Thailand.
Thailand: UK millionaire and wife found murdered
Two people were murdered for Bt50,000 (about US$1,540), although I have been told contract killers will act for a lot less money. Money is an obsession in Thailand and some Thais will do anything for money, including killing people.
The British guy who was murdered obviously had money. If you marry a Thai female in Thailand, especially in the north and northeast, you are expected to take care of your wife's extended family as well as her.
In most cases she will make sure this happens because she is expected to have more loyalty to her family than her husband. If she doesn't, the family may take action. I wasn't able to find any real details about this case but, of course, it was about money.
Many single foreign men visiting tourist resorts Thailand will think the country is a bachelor's paradise as they are surrounded by young, attractive girls. The girls, of course, have only one objective and that is to screw as much money out of the men as possible.
Those men who decide to 'save' one of the poor girls they meet may have very good intentions, but many probably don't realise what they may be letting themselves in for. The majority of bargirls in Thailand come from the northeast Isaan region, and this fact is relevant.
Guys, be very careful. When I moved to Thailand I thought I understood Thailand. With hindsight I now know that I knew absolutely nothing. It is very easy to move to Thailand, to make big commitments and to burn all your bridges.
These things can be done very quickly, but it takes many years to even start to scratch the surface of understanding Thailand. By the time you really understand enough about Thailand to be able to make considered decisions, it may be too late to go back.
This is what makes Thailand very dangerous for many foreigners. I've been fairly fortunate and (so far) I haven't come unstuck too badly, but if I could have my time again I probably wouldn't make the same decisions. What you see on the surface in Thailand is never an accurate reflection of how things really are.
This year at immigration I met the same Brit who I met last year at immigration. He's 80, but acts like a man half his age. He told me liked living in Thailand, but the one thing he can't stand is driving in Thailand.
Yeah, tell me about it.
At the weekend I was in a coffee shop that has just opened. It overlooks the piece of road where the daughter of the foreman in our housing development was killed a few weeks ago while riding a motorbike.
In the cafe was an Australian guy in a wheelchair. I asked what happened and it was yet another motorbike accident. He was left unable to walk, hence the wheelchair, and had some serious looking scars on his leg. His thumb was bandaged up, but looked very short, as if he had lost the top of his thumb.
He didn't go into great detail, but said (in a typically Australian understated manner) that it wasn't good. He was just grateful that he had survived to tell the tale - many victims of motorbike accidents in Thailand don't.
I cannot overemphasize the danger on Thai roads. The situation is horrific.
Tuesday 18th September 2018
This has been coming for a while:
Elon Musk sued for libel by British Thai cave rescuer
It also highlights some differences in the way of thinking between Brits and Americans. Vern Unsworth is asking for very little money ($75,000 is pocket change to Elon Musk) and just wants the guy to shut up.
Meanwhile, after playing a prank on Roy Moore, Sacha Baron Cohen is being sued for $95 million. The American attitude seems to be that if you sue anyone, sue them for enough money so that you never have to work again.
Roy Moore sues Sacha Baron Cohen for $95m over Who Is America? stunt
Elon Musk is a brilliant man in many respects, but his comments have highlighted the twisted views that many people have about any Western male who goes to live in Asia.
There's a quite outspoken YouTuber who is of Vietnamese ethnicity, but born and raised in Australia. His age indicates that his parents may have been boat people (refugees) after the fall of Saigon in 1975. I started watching his videos about Vietnam after my trip to Hoi An last year. It's difficult making watchable videos, but some of his stuff is very good. However, as I watched more videos I gradually started to see another side of his personality.
He returns to Vietnam often and has a balanced personality in that he has chips on both shoulders. He has an intense dislike for any white male in Asia and posits that white males only go to live in Asia if they are losers, that is, they can't find work or meet women back in their home countries. His view is that white men in Asia are only there for sex.
Are All White Males In Asia Losers?
Am I a loser? By the time I reached 40 I realised that my life in the UK wasn't working out how I had hoped. Perhaps that makes me a loser? On the other hand, rather than simply persevering with an unsatisfactory situation I chose to dramatically change my life in the hope that a new life would be more satisfactory. It was a huge, scary gamble, but it paid off and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Who is the loser? Someone who does nothing to remedy an unsatisfactory life and ends up dying after living a life of quiet desperation (referring to the quote by Henry David Thoreau), or someone who takes positive action to fix the problem?
My new life could have been anywhere, but it so happens that it is in Asia. I used to travel a lot and my gut instinct (which I rely on heavily) told me where to go.
According to a lot of people, including Musk and the YouTuber, had I decided to start a new life in somewhere like Germany I wouldn't have been a loser, but because my new life happens to be Southeast Asia I am a loser. Musk actually goes further with his accusations. Not only are men who go to Asia losers, they are pedophiles and child rapists. Nice.
I admit that some foreign men who go to live in Asia fit the description, but certainly not all. I can see some similarities between Vern Unsworth and myself. He married a Thai woman who was quite a lot younger, but not a child bride as claimed by Elon Musk. So did I - my wife is 22 years younger. This is very common in Thailand and many foreign men marry Thai women who are a lot younger. I'm not sure if he has kids, but he lives a respectable life in a quiet part of Thailand.
If the people with these views were to meet a balanced cross-section of expats in Southeast Asia they might be surprised. There's a lot more to see with the expat population than what you might observe on a trip to Walking Steeet in Pattaya. Even in places like Pattaya, not all expats are the kind of stereotypical sexpats that some people may think they are.
This business with Musk has really irritated me. Hopefully, the law suit will prevent him from making any more sick comments.
Monday 17th September 2018
A neighbour called in yesterday and was telling us about a foreign teacher she knows and how he has been (badly) treated at a local school by his female employer. If I hadn't heard similar accounts previously I would have been quite shocked, but when I was teaching I heard basically the same kind of thing. The schools are different, but because of the similarities I'm wondering whether it is the same woman responsible.
When I was teaching, my school was raided by immigration officials shortly after my employer employed several new teachers. There had been a mass exodus of teachers from another school and they had all gone to work for him.
This infuriated their previous employer, who informed immigration that none of them had work permits. Hence the raid. They did have work permits, but there was a small technical issue which got resolved. I then started to hear more about their previous employer.
She forbade her foreign teachers to learn Thai and told them where they would be staying. They weren't allowed to stay in a place of their own choice. I guess this was all about control and wanting to know what her teachers were up to out of working hours, but it is outrageous and completely unacceptable. I live in Thailand, but you're telling me that I can't learn Thai? Her teaching guidelines were also extremely strict.
She told the teachers that once they finished the contract they then had to return to their home countries and could never return to Thailand. In at least one case she actually told immigration that a teacher was not to be allowed to return to Thailand.
With attitudes like this you can see why she became so furious when her teachers left and went to work elsewhere in Thailand - in the same town, in fact. You can also understand why all her teachers left.
The account I heard yesterday was similar, but not quite the same. As the T-shirt sold in Thailand says, "Same Same, But Different"
The teacher signed a contract and a salary was agreed. However, when the woman employed another foreigner she cut his wages without telling him. Her foreign teachers have to get into work at 7am - the same time as Thai teachers. When I taught I never had to start earlier than 9:30am. Foreign teachers get paid a lot more than Thai teachers and generally have a much easier life.
She makes foreign teachers remove garbage and (this was the good one) clean air-conditioning units! I'm not sure how I would react if I was employed as an English teacher and was told to clean air-conditioning units.
I made a comment in a previous post that with some Thais, once they pay you to do a job they start to act as if they own you. This is another example.
The problem for foreigners teaching in Thailand is that they are only allowed to stay in the country because of the non-B visa that their employer sorts out for them. If you are employed with such a visa and lose your job the visa expires immediately and you need to get out of the country - within seven days, I believe.
This means that your employer has a lot of power over you and if your employer is a nasty person, as this woman obviously is, they can abuse this power. I was always quite fortunate when I was teaching and worked for reasonable people, but some farangs aren't quite so lucky.
The woman in the latest story is also very keen to inform immigration of any problems with her teachers, just to make their lives as difficult as possible. Thais can be extremely vindictive. This is what makes me wonder if it is the same women I heard about previously.
For a long time there have been websites on which foreign teachers can describe their experiences at schools in Thailand. At some stage she will discover that the reputation she has acquired will result in her not being able to employ any teachers.
As an aside, my wife is also a teacher at another school. Thai teachers hear things, of course, and there is a huge amount of gossip. My wife has also heard similar accounts at this school of Thai teachers being treated badly and there is a very high turnover rate of teachers.
Thais tend to be everyone's favourite people. Foreign tourists never stop going on about how 'lovely' the Thais were who they met and Thais living abroad are normally quite popular.
Most Thais are fine, but when you live in Thailand permanently you encounter (and hear about) Thais who are decidedly unpleasant. Nasty people exist in Thailand, just as they do everywhere else.
About an hour ago I watched a report on the Thai TV morning news. A man had broken into a house to rob the occupants. Once inside the house he killed two young children, their grandmother and even the family's pet cat before making his escape on a motorcycle taxi.
My wife commented that it wasn't necessary to kill the children, but it wasn't necessary to kill anyone. And it certainly wasn't necessary to kill an innocent cat. Thailand still has the death sentence and this punishment was made for people who perpetrate this kind of crime.
There is no other word than evil for such a crime and when you start watching the Thai news regularly this kind of thing isn't that unusual. I checked the Bangkok Post and Nation, but couldn't find this story. Most foreigners only see the English language news and the English language publications don't report a lot of crime that goes on among Thais.
Thailand continues to attract millions of tourists each year, but evil Thais exist and there is a very dark side to the country.
Don't let this alarm you. Good people in Thailand outnumber bad people and if you arrive as a tourist you will likely only encounter good people.
If you get offered a teaching job in Thailand I would advise doing a little research before you accept. Not all teaching positions are the same. Some can be real dream jobs, but there are also some nightmare teaching positions out there if you end up working for the wrong person.
Saturday 15th September 2018
Whenever I venture into tourist Thailand I often feel that I'm the only farang in Thailand who doesn't have a tattoo.
It seems to be one of those things that many farangs do when they arrive in Thailand. Baggy fisherman pants, rubber flip-flops, ethnic hilltribe shoulder bag, piercings, hair in dreadlocks, and ... oh yes ... get some some real Thai tattoos done. They want to express their individuality by doing exactly the same thing as every other farang.
Tattooed farang in Thailand
That's fine. Everyone should be able to choose what they do in life. I've never liked tattoos and there is still some social stigma attached. I doubt that my previous employer in the UK would have employed me had I turned up for the interview with a spider's web tattooed on my face.
Young, attractive females can get away with any fashion statement (simply because they are young, attractive females), but the young and attractive females I saw in Thailand with tattoos 30 years ago are now old enough to be grandmothers and wrinkly skin with old tattoos doesn't tend to be very attractive.
This week I have read two news stories concerning tattoos in Thailand. The first was a serious health warning. The second was hilarious.
There are lots of nasty diseases in Thailand and some are transmitted by infected blood, such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV and malaria, etc.
Obviously, drug users who inject are at risk and special precautions need to be taken with any procedure that involves needles. Thai doctors and dentists are generally good in this respect and I would imagine that the risk is very low if you are injected by a doctor or dentist. However, this isn't necessarily the case with tattoo parlours.
A father in Thailand has claimed that his 22 year old daughter, as well as three of her friends, died of complications from HIV after getting tattoos done in Bangkok.
There has been some dispute whether this was really the case - and I'm sure that most tattoo parlours in Thailand are fine - but if you are considering getting a tattoo done in Thailand there is still a risk that you should be aware of.
Get your genitals pierced and tattooed at the same time
A doctor who is quoted in the article linked to above gives the following advice to would-be tattoo recipients:
"You should make sure that the place has good hygiene, the needle is new, all the equipment is sterile, and your skin is properly disinfected during the process."
That seems like good, basic common sense advice.
The second story was really funny. Some farangs, after spending time in Thailand, get tattoos to try to make themselves look spritual, mystical, esoteric, etc. They think they can achieve this by having some strange looking Thai script indelibly stamped on their torsos.
As my regular blog readers know, I can read Thai. I'm certainly not the only farang in Thailand who can read Thai, but I'm in quite a small minority. Included in the majority who can't read Thai, apparently, are the backpackers who get stamped with 'spiritual' Thai tattoos.
It turns out that some farangs are walking around with the words 'Fresh spring rolls' tattoed on their bodies. 'Noodle soup' is another favourite and other tattoos refer to different kinds of common Thai street food dishes. The tattoos are in Thai, of course, therefore most farangs don't know what they say.
Fresh spring rolls - this isn't what you want your tattoo to say
It would be similar to a Thai person who couldn't read English walking around the UK with a tattoo saying 'Fish and chips' or 'Pie and mash'. No doubt, such a person would be wondering why Brits keep looking at his tattoos and laughing. In Thailand Thais are too polite to laugh out loud, but they will still find it highly amusing.
If you have a tattoo in Thai script, the meaning of which you don't know, send me a photo and I'll tell you what it says. As long as it is Thai, and not Sanskrit or Laos or something, I will be able to give you a translation.
My roof repair had its first test last night ... and failed! I can't really blame the guy. I told him where the leak was, he found a problem, and fixed it. He couldn't test his fix and I discovered last night that the problem he found wasn't the problem causing the leak. There is obviously another problem elsewhere.
It rained heavily all last night and I couldn't sleep with the constant dripping of water on the suspended ceiling. Fearing that the ceiling will eventually collapse, I went into the loft and put a bath towel under the leak to absord the water.
A neighbour has done the same thing with a bath towel and regards it as a permanent fix because he doesn't want to pay to get the roof fixed. He explained it to me. When it rains the towel gets wet. The rain stops and the towel dries out. It rains and the towel gets wet again. And so this cycle continues.
He is currently having a new house built and this house will be up for sale soon - with the bath towel included in the sale price. If you buy a house in Thailand that has been lived in previously, expect to find these kind of problems. Thais don't like 'wasting' money repairing things properly and will find the cheapest way possible to 'fix' a problem.
The roof man was quite insistent that I call him if there are further problems and he will return. I will call him as soon as it is a reasonable time.
Weather is a big news item at the moment with Hurricane Florence hitting the Carolinas and Super Typhoon Mangkhut battering the Philippines. Mangkhut is following a west-northwest path through Vietnam, Laos, south China and northern Thailand.
The southwest monsoon is strong over the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand and there is a lot of rain in the south of Thailand. It rained constantly last night, but I am expecting a lot worse in the coming weeks.
Wednesday 12th September 2018
The rainy season is coming to deep southern Thailand. It has already arrived in other parts of the country and there are flood reports every day on Thai TV news.
Thailand is a land full of contrasts and contradictions, which is why you always come unstuck with generalisations. I've had many bad experiences with workmen who come to do jobs at my house. Today I had a good one.
The roof on my brand new house started leaking when the first big storm arrived after we moved in. It got fixed, but more leaks appeared later.
The rainy season in the deep south starts in October. In October 2016 there was very heavy rain and lots of water started coming through the roof. I was concerned that it would damage the plaster board suspended ceilings and it was proving very difficult finding someone to fix the problem.
I eventually found a guy who quoted me Bt17,000. As you know from my previous posts, a monthly graduate salary in Thailand is Bt15,000. This quote was very expensive, but with so much heavy rain continuing to fall I was in a difficult position. I told him to go ahead. The work took four hours and considering that many Thais earn Bt300 a day, that wasn't a bad hourly rate.
Roof repair in October 2016
In 2017 we discovered a major termite infestation and decided to strip out all the parquet wooden flooring and replace it with termite resistant tiles. My wife recommended a guy who had done work for her family. It turned out to be the same guy who did the expensive repair on my roof. However, he did a fairly good job with the tiles and the price was reasonable.
The tiling was fine, generally, but there are three places where a tile isn't stuck firmly and makes a hollow sound. The roof then started leaking again.
The next time I saw him was when he came to do some work on a neighbour's house. I asked him several times to look at the roof again and to fix the loose tiles. He said he would, but he had no interest at all and never showed up. This kind of thing isn't untypical. Once you have paid them to do a job they never return when there are problems.
A couple of months ago I was working upstairs when someone rang the door bell. It was him. He said he would fix the roof problem and I also showed him the loose tiles, which he agreed to fix. I was amazed, but that was the last time I saw him as he never came back again.
I started looking around for another roof repairer. Again, it was difficult finding someone so I spoke to the construction workers working on my housing development. That was a couple of months ago and it took until today for someone to turn up.
Last week there were heavy storms and it will start raining torrentially within the next few weeks. I was getting quite desperate to get the problem fixed before the rainy season starts.
The guy today was great. Lots of Thai tradesmen are one-man bands and often their assistant is their wife. He came today with a woman I assume was his wife. He only fixes roofs and knows what he is doing. Whenever a tradesman turns up at the house it becomes clear very soon whether he knows what he is doing or not. Not all do.
He found the problem quickly - the roofing underlayment was torn - and repaired it with good quality material. He provides a five year guarantee and when I mentioned to his wife that the last guy never came back, she reassured me that he will come back if there are any further problems. However, I feel quite confident that he has fixed the problem.
He charged me Bt3,000. Bt1,500 for materials and Bt1,500 for labour, which I thought was very reasonable. Slightly better than Bt17,000.
Today's roof repair
His name and number will now be added to the list of reliable Thai tradesmen that I maintain. There are so many bad tradesmen around that it is important to know how to contact good people.
I'm now in quite good shape for the coming rainy season. Earlier this year I fixed my fishpond overflow pipe. The original pipe ran uphill and the water level in the pond rose so high with heavy rain that there was a danger of the electrics in the filter area shorting out. Whenever there was a heavy storm I had to pump water out of the pond, but that is no longer a problem.
I have mixed feelings about the rainy season. For nine months of the year it is too hot in southern Thailand and life can be very uncomfortable. The best thing about the rainy season (October to December) is the lower temperature, but when it rains heavily for days on end it can start to get a little depressing.
Any roof leaks become very conspicuous with so much heavy rain, it's difficult getting around without being drenched, and getting laundry dry is a problem. If you live in an area (as I used to) that is prone to flooding, there is also the fear of being subjected to a major flood (as I was in 2010).
When I bought this house the main reason for doing so was because it is on high ground that doesn't flood. In addition, the municipality has done a lot of work to the town's flood defences and the risk of flooding in this area has now been diminished significantly.
The best time of year, weather-wise, is during the rainy season when it isn't actually raining. The cooler temperatures actually make it possible to do things outside without feeling you are inside a combined sauna/microwave.
I keep hearing that the world has gone mad. I can confirm this is true, at least part of it has. There are only two possible reasons why you may not think the world has gone mad.
- You are too young to remember a time when the world wasn't mad.
- You have only ever lived in a country where political correctness has gone mad and you don't know anything else.
I don't fall into either category. Things weren't like this when I was young and now, looking at the situation from a distance, it is evident that things clearly aren't right in many Western countries.
In many ways, Thailand and Western countries are at opposite extremes. Every -ism runs rife in Thailand and sometimes it is quite shocking. A few examples follow, but there are many more.
A few years ago one of my wife's nieces told of her aspirations to become an air hostess, however, she (and her family) acknowledge that her skin is too dark for such a profession. Thais equate certain professions with beauty and in Thailand dark skin equates to ugliness. This is never stated explicitly, but everyone knows about the prevailing attitudes towards skin colour. How would this attitude go down in a Western country?
My previous girlfriend wanted to change jobs some years ago, but she was getting very close to the old age of 30. She told me that no one would be interested in hiring such an old person. I have seen many job adverts that specify and upper age limit in the 20's.
Thais still follow traditional gender roles, mainly because they value pragmatism over political correctness. They understand that women don't have the physical strength to become firefighters, and that by creating female firefighters it would put lives at risk. They understand that men and women are different.
But don't think women are discriminated against in Thailand because they aren't. I've mentioned the excellent heathcare system in Thailand many times. Every single dentist I have seen has been a woman, as have many doctors. There is nothing to stop a woman doing a job if she has the skills, but Thais wouldn't employ monkeys to do the work of elephants because they know that monkeys don't have the strength to haul tree trunks. It's simply common sense, if Westerners can remember what that is.
Thailand is very much for the Thais and foreigners in Thailand are kept on a short leash. Immigration actually discouraged me from pursuing the permanent residence path and recommended yearly visas. I can't work, can't own property, and even if I could work there is a long list of jobs that foreigners can't do. There is lots of protectionism for Thais, but is this really such a bad thing? It's their country after all, so why should they give it away?
If a foreigner wishes to live in Thailand the most important criterion is money. The person must have enough money to support his or herself, and most foreigners end up also supporting Thai citizens. Foreigners without money who manage to get into Thailand aren't given massive amounts of welfare and treated better than the native citizens, as happens in Europe, especially in the UK.
What's happening in Sweden? All countries have different standards of living and different levels of civilisation. The Scandinavian countries have always been right at the top. I'm not sure what she has heard, but my wife keeps going on about how wonderful life is in Finland.
After taking in huge numbers of migrants and giving them lots of welfare, Sweden now has many social problems. There are no-go areas, violent crime has soared, and recently there was a large coordinated arson attack on cars.
However, Swedes who voted in the recent election to curb migration and bring back some order to a highly civilised country are denounced as racists, nationalists, fascists, ultra-right, alt-right, etc etc. Is it such a bad thing not to want to see your own country completely destroyed?
To Western sensibilities, some things in Thailand can come as a bit of a shock. I often think that somewhere in the middle would be about right, but if I was forced to choose now I would choose the Thai way because Western countries are obviously losing touch with reality.
There is no political correctness in Thailand and no rich idiots who spend all day writing wizard books and virtue signalling on Twitter. It's so refreshing.
When I was in my teens a lot of Brits followed tennis. This was the era of Borg, Connors, Nastase, Tanner, etc. When a young upstart called John McEnroe came on to the scene he caused quite a stir with his confrontational style.
A British satirical TV show featuring a young Rowan Atkinson, who most people now will only know as Mr Bean, seized on his antics and produced a sketch showing McEnroe confronting his parents at the breakfast table. It was funny. That was all. It wasn't racist because McEnroe was American and, the truth be known, lots of people liked McEnroe because he's a likeable person. However, he had a problem controlling his temper on court.
Now, when a tennis player has a temper tantrum and a cartoonist seizes on her bad antics, he is accused of being racist because she is black and sexist because she is a female. Ridiculous.
It has got to the point now where no one can say anything about anyone without being attacked on-line. In the case of the cartoonist I am pleased that the newspaper he works for is standing up against the politically correct nonsense.
The problem is the Internet and especially social media. In my younger days if there was a controversial issue you simply mentioned it at work the next day and there would be a brief discussion. Finished.
Nowadays, everyone heads straight to Twitter and a huge global issue is made of a non-event. There is also the problem with the armies of social justice warriors and virtue signallers who always have to leap to the defence of anyone who is being targeted to prove to the world that they are 'better' and 'more virtuous' people than everyone else.
The world has gone mad, but I consider myself fortunate to be in a part of the world that still hasn't succumbed to the particular brand of PC madness that has afflicted the Western world. By the time it does, hopefully, I will no longer be around.
My apologies for this little off topic rant, but sometimes I just need to get stuff off my chest.
Sunday 9th September 2018
I've written about this before in various places, but now I've consolidated the information into a separate page.
I suspect I will start doing the same with other topics. My blog entries contain a mixture of so many different subjects that Google can't recognise what the main content is about and therefore blog entries never get shown in Google search results.
Friday 7th September 2018
This is always a very busy time of year for me and sometimes I simply don't have the time to write anything here.
My attempt at getting a discount on my medical insurance wasn't very successful. First, let's talk about some aspects of Thai culture.
When I went to the local AXA office last week I met some staff as soon as I entered. They asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted to talk to the manager, who I know quite well. I knew that it would be a waste of time talking to them.
Thai society observes a strict hierarchy and this also applies within Thai companies. People lower down the hierarchy aren't empowered to do anything. They always have to get approval from someone higher in the hierarchy.
Unfortunately, because of the Thai cultural notion of greng jai, they will be extremely reluctant to impose upon their superiors. When they are confronted with a customer who wants something done they have a big dilemma. They don't have the power to do anything themselves, and they don't want to trouble anyone who does have the power.
The person making the request has now made their life very difficult and they will say anything to get rid of that person. If you want anything done in Thailand, you have to go straight to the top.
I have experienced this many times in Thailand. When I wanted more progress made on the construction of my house I had to speak directly to the owner of the development. It was quite dificult because the staff put up a barrier protecting their boss from direct interaction with customers.
However, this was made necessary because whenever I spoke to the staff it was obvious that they didn't have the power to do anything and they just kept fobbing me off. Eventually, my patience ran out and I went to speak to the only person who did have the power to do anything.
After we moved into the house the roof started leaking when the first heavy rain arrived. That problem got fixed, but then more leaks appeared. In the UK I would expect such problems with a new house for many years, but in Thailand there are lots of problems.
The developer isn't interested in construction problems after the first year. When more leaks appeared I had to pay myself. I now have another leak and I have been trying to get someone to look at it for months. The problem is another aspect of Thai culture.
For months I have been asking various people to look at the roof. They always tell me they will do so, but never arrive. Thais refer to this as 'poot ao jai', which basically translates as speaking to please others.
Thais will always tell you what you want to hear, but have no intention of following up the good words with actions. I'm now getting quite desperate because the rainy season begins in October and I want the roof fixed before then.
Anyway, back to my medical insurance. I got a revised quote, but was disappointed to see that it had only been reduced by Bt540.
My quote was reduced by Bt224, my wife's by Bt1,079 and my daughter's by Bt496. However, I noted that my son's had increased by Bt1,261. I kept asking why this was, but didn't get an answer. Eventually, they told me that the original quote for my son was wrong.
The exercise was disappointing, but as I had been quoted almost Bt250,000 elsewhere I guess it's not too bad. The question now is how much it will increase next year. If it keeps going up by 20-25% every year, there will come a time when it probably won't be cost effective. I will review the situation again next year.
For anyone who's interested, although most people are probably bored by the subject by now, I came across another article about Thailand's horrendous road fatality rate.
Carnage: An analysis of Thailand's road safety
It points out a lot of the issues, but doesn't mention stupidity, which is a major contributing factor. I'm not sure what can be done about stupidity, apart from including an IQ test when handing out driving licences.
If not a full-blown IQ test, then maybe just a few simple questions. "If the height of your vehicle exceeds the height underneath a railway bridge, is it safe to proceed?" A few easy questions, such as that, might help to keep idiots off the road.
Pickup truck meets railway bridge
The things that are currently being done aren't relevant.
Thailand to adopt some of Japan's road safety measures
"It was found that Japan had placed importance on measures related to public transports which focus on the standard of transports and equipment and the safety of drivers and passengers."
It has nothing to do with standard of transport and equipment. Most accidents are caused by reckless driving. It's not the vehicle, it's the driver. There was another example a few days ago.
Minivan owner, driver face punishment for 'racetrack' ride to Phuket
The driver became furious with a passenger who told him to slow down and the same happened to me many years ago when I complained about overloading a minivan. The van had 14 seats, but the driver kept picking up more passengers. When the passenger count got to 19 I had words with him and the red mist descended. He wanted to beat me up and throw me off the van. This is the typical attitude.
Even long before I owned a car I did my best to avoid minivans at all costs. The way they are driven in Thailand terrifies me.
My wife went to renew her driving licence last week and there was a massive queue. The government has threatened to fine people Bt50,000 for not having a licence, so now Thais who have never had licences are flocking to get one because Bt50,000 is a lot of money in Thailand.
This isn't the problem, either. I have no doubt that the reckless idiots on Thailand's roads have valid licences, but this doesn't stop them being reckless idiots. If Thailand wants to fix the carnage on the roads, the real problems need to be addressed. The Bangkok Post article linked to above pointed out the biggest problem: "Lack of political will stands at heart of a problem which exacts a huge toll every year."