A few things I've noticed from watching Thais this week

Post by **colinLHR** » April 17, 2012, 5:53 pm

I have a few things that have been simmering within.

I've lived here for 7 years now and just when you think you have things sussed, bang your back to square one.I will get to some examples in a moment but what I'm looking for is some feedback if this is similar with any readers.
10.04.2012
I had been meaning to replace my hardwood back door so finally felt motivated to get this ''project'' done with, simple enough and I've done this previously many times.
Whilst getting stuck in boring out the locks with electric drill I couldn't help notice a small crowd gathering.
Whith my Thai neighbours staring like they had noticed an alien had just landed, but what they couldn't comprehend was that a Falang could work a drill and do some DIY after a bit of banter they said why you don't pay someone to do this job.
I explained that I get personal satisfaction from starting a job and seeing the outcome to be able to say ''i dud that'' response from neighbour Falang pee Bah.

Example 2
The other evening outside my front gate in small soi side road two pick ups collided head on at only 15kmh I heard straight away and noticed it was 2 neighbours from down the road, I naturally went to check they were ok and the pick ups were a bit damaged, bent bonnet etc.
Now who's fault was this driver A or Driver B no in Thai eyes Falang make car crash because dog run in front if car.
Little did they know that poor little benji died in his sleep the week before and was well gone leaving no dog in my garden.
So in my eyes the solution to this prang was to blame Falang and he will fix both cars problem solved.By the way there was no dog involved but the stench of blend 285 was making my stomach turn.

Now I know thus us turning to a rant and I am a guest in this country BUT.
Why are we disregarded when it comes to any hands on repairing building as Falang doesn't know how to do anything.Are we genuinely perceived as inferior and lacking even the most basic knowledge.

I'm starting to worry about my 2 kids growing up here as I dont want them to be seen as some mixed race novelty and I'm tired if walking through lotus and everyone staring saying Falang noi, you know the people in Lotus ,whole family 10+ one trolley with slack of mama noodle.

As for AEK Udon, leave the international bit out it's embarrassing I wouldn't put the dig there, long story but
Consultant @ Bumrungrad BKK =1450 THB
DOCTOR @AEK udon =2650

I will just leave it that for today.

Maybe it's time to got to a culturally diverce location
For the kids sake.

Rant over

Feel

Post by **gudtymchuk** » April 17, 2012, 7:21 pm

Yep, gotta love it.... went to the post office today to ask why my mail was not being delivered. Was told because the mail carrier was afraid of the dogs who I've been complaining about for months...... Guess the dogs take precedence over the falang.....

Post by **Stantheman** » April 17, 2012, 7:29 pm

gudtymchuk wrote:Yep, gotta love it.... went to the post office today to ask why my mail was not being delivered. Was told because the mail carrier was afraid of the dogs who I've been complaining about for months...... Guess the dogs take precedence over the falang.....

Really do not think you being a falang has anything to do with lack of mail delivery. The fear of the dogs would stop the Thai mail carrier no matter who the mail was going to.

Post by **parrot** » April 17, 2012, 7:46 pm

We live in the countryside. About 6 months ago, we stopped receiving mail (TOT/CAT/UBC). Our neighbor continued receiving his. I went to the post office and inquired, ever so politely. I was whisked into a back office (on the ground floor of the main post office). I explained the lack of mail. The ?manager? determined who was responsible for delivering mail to our home and called the young lad in. The lad said he was frightened by our dogs (barking, but not biting). I told the manager I'd move our mail box up the soi a bit and the young lad assured the manager he'd deliver the mail. Problem solved.

Post by **jackspratt** » April 17, 2012, 8:09 pm

colinLHR wrote: Example 2 ...................

Now who's fault was this driver A or Driver B no in Thai eyes Falang make car crash because dog run in front if car......

How did you determine the "Thais" apportioned blame in this way?

Post by **colinLHR** » April 17, 2012, 8:17 pm

They determined this was the case because they said your dig ran in front of the car and you have to pay to fix them.

My response was can you tell me what the dog looked like and they both said ''brown dog with green colour you call him Benji''. I just smiled waited a moment and the explained the dig died last week I woke up in the morning and he was dead so I wrapped him up and buried him before my children got up.

You should have seen their faces what a picture I couldn't stop laughing at them so I just turned round and locked the gate went inside and locked the door.

Post by **dbriggins** » April 17, 2012, 8:36 pm

My brother was a bush pilot in Africa for a while, and one of the things that he noticed about the locals is that they had no problem with his being able to fly a plane, but when he hopped on a bicycle at the airstrip and rode it into town, there was general amazement. When I lived in Kenya, the idea that I would clean my own house, dig in my own shamba, or fix my own car was looked down on because I was taking work from someone who needed it. In Puerto Rico, a friend of mine recounted how his fixing a lawn mower, painting a building, cooking a meal, and driving a car put him in a kind of god-like territory, but also kind of upset the people who might have done some of those jobs. (Of course those jobs weren't being done at the time...) When I lived in the wilds of Phusing sub-district in Srisaket, the idea that I could drive a car and a motorcycle, ride a bike, wire a house, cook a meal and change my own oil was looked on as being rather odd. Who would want to do all those things? But then, Thailand is the first place I've ever lived where "thinking too much" is somewhat derided. Do something no one understands, and no one notices. Do something that anyone can do, and people wonder why you are doing it.

One of the only ways to survive living in another culture is to deal well with ambiguity, because a good part of the time, one will never know why things are done the way they are. Trying to change the world around one is like trying to stop a train by standing in the tracks and saying "I say, this isn't the way things are done!" We're strangers. The key word is "strange". Different, unlike, odd, the proverbial nail, thumb, and out-of-place hair. And nothing, nothing, will ever change that for the majority of the people around us. One is either comfortable being strange (and even then gets slightly "put out" at times), or one gets very angry and frustrated. Literature abounds with both examples.

Post by **colinLHR** » April 17, 2012, 8:51 pm

Dbriggins good response and I see where you are coming from with what you are saying but I can definetly crossed the line today for the first time and I'm still boiling.

Here is another few classics:

Pizza company delivery cant understand my order their solution hang up phone.

My Thai driving licence not accepted when pulled over as foreign face in photo and 200 baht fine.

AEK udon hospital cream to heal a scare on bill 875 baht so jumped in car to beauty shop same cream 65 Baht!!!

Ok enough the list goes on I'm off to a quiet room for some deep breathing and maybe a Valium

Post by **udonthani** » May 3, 2012, 3:19 pm

Hey, I have just come back to Udorn after having been in Europe for 1½ year due to my old mother, and i have noticed a lot has happend here in Udorn during the past. First we have the new Plaza, when I left, they has just started to dig for the pillars, and now we have a BIG and very nice "warehouse" BKK has the Siam Paragon and we have the Plaza. Next what has happend to my favorite cafe' the Bookshop in Adunyadet, a new building is popping up. Where is the Bookshop now?
Also a lot of those places for buying farang food has gone or moved, to where?

Post by **stattointhailand** » May 3, 2012, 3:32 pm

Worry not, the bookhouse and many others are still here (just in a different place).
BTW we now call it Udon (the yanks took the "r" home with them in the seventies)

Post by **nkstan** » May 3, 2012, 5:50 pm

7 years and you never expected any of these responses and reactions?Probably trying to not sound or act cynical because some butt face would tell you,that ''if you don't like it what you doing here?''

IMO,Thais have little or no respect for falangs in general!If they can't get something from you,you are a useless entity in their eyes!They are all aware that you need a set amount of funds to live here,so you are a mark in any situation that they can put together.Plus they are aware that Thais will not take your side as that would be a confrontational and face losing situation and they might have to deal with the ''family'',whereas you have no one to back you up!

I have been here 14 years with about a total of 3 months outside the country and I live very happily here with a few exceptions,mostly related to being behind the curve and ignorant of the worthless Education system,I do that by being polite,smiling ,saying hello to every Thai that I make eye contact with,but never never attempting to engage them in conversation,which,IMO,would be like inviting a''known thief'' to stay at your house while your gone.

They do not want us here,just our ''droppings''!

IMO,if you are raising children here,and don't have to be here,you are doing them a great harm!

Post by **semperfiguy** » May 3, 2012, 5:59 pm

The classic rant for me has to be my usual trip through the drive-thru at McDonalds to order one vanilla ice cream cone and one chocolate dip cone for my wife and me. One out of five times they get it right. The other times my wife has to intervene and scream over me into the drive-thru speaker, or else I am asked to proceed to window #2 to place my order because the employee on the other end of the speaker is embarrassed to try to communicate with me. Now I realize that I could get my wife to teach me how to order those items in Thai, but I would forget it within five minutes. The thing that boggles my mind is that with the limited menu at McDonalds, surely someone could train all order takers to learn the English equivalent word for those few items. Why do such simple things have to be so difficult in Thailand?

Now allow me to make one exception to that: The other day I went to KFC at Big-C and asked the ice cream clerk for "two two-tone cones"! After I said it I realized that statement would have baffled the best of English speakers.

Post by **poocman** » May 3, 2012, 6:12 pm

semperfiguy wrote:The classic rant for me has to be my usual trip through the drive-thru at McDonalds to order one vanilla ice cream cone and one chocolate dip cone for my wife and me. One out of five times they get it right. The other times my wife has to intervene and scream over me into the drive-thru speaker, or else I am asked to proceed to window #2 to place my order because the employee on the other end of the speaker is embarrassed to try to communicate with me. Now I realize that I could get my wife to teach me how to order those items in Thai, but I would forget it within five minutes. The thing that boggles my mind is that with the limited menu at McDonalds, surely someone could train all order takers to learn the English equivalent word for those few items. Why do such simple things have to be so difficult in Thailand?

Now allow me to make one exception to that: The other day I went to KFC at Big-C and asked the ice cream clerk for "two two-tone cones"! After I said it I realized that statement would have baffled the best of English speakers.

You come to live in Thailand and expect people to speak English...?? Words fail me...

Post by **merchant seaman** » May 3, 2012, 6:15 pm

[quote="semperfiguy"]. The thing that boggles my mind is that with the limited menu at McDonalds, surely someone could train all order takers to learn the English equivalent word for those few items. Why do such simple things have to be so difficult in Thailand?

Hmm, Why not teach American's working in WalMart in Dallas to speak Thai?

Post by **mathusalah80** » May 3, 2012, 6:28 pm

semperfiguy wrote:

"...at McDonalds, surely someone could train all order takers to learn the English equivalent word for those few items"

I see, you mean in the same way they teach the McDonalds staff in America the Thai Language equivalent of the menu items!!!!!.

"... Now I realize that I could get my wife to teach me how to order those items in Thai, but I would forget it within five minutes..."

Aaah, now I understand. Totally unreasonable to expect you should have to order in Thai; and in Thailand of all places!!. Obviously these uneducated, underpaid staff members, making up the majority of the (American franchised) Company should be forced to undergo and pass an American Language test and be refused employment, in the event of failure.

Post by **jackspratt** » May 3, 2012, 6:34 pm

Some clarification please, sfg.

Is the menu at the McDonalds drive thru in Thai, or English, or both?

Are the staff at McDonalds in Udon bi/multi-lingual (given that, in line with McD's staff around the world, they are likely are at the bottom of the pay scale)?

Would you expect the drive through staff at McDonalds in, say downtown San Jose, to immediately understand an order delivered by your wife in Thai?

Post by **jackspratt** » May 3, 2012, 6:36 pm

nkstan wrote:7 years and you never expected any of these responses and reactions?Probably trying to not sound or act cynical because some butt face would tell you,that ''if you don't like it what you doing here?''

IMO,Thais have little or no respect for falangs in general!If they can't get something from you,you are a useless entity in their eyes!They are all aware that you need a set amount of funds to live here,so you are a mark in any situation that they can put together.Plus they are aware that Thais will not take your side as that would be a confrontational and face losing situation and they might have to deal with the ''family'',whereas you have no one to back you up!

I have been here 14 years with about a total of 3 months outside the country and I live very happily here with a few exceptions,mostly related to being behind the curve and ignorant of the worthless Education system,I do that by being polite,smiling ,saying hello to every Thai that I make eye contact with,but never never attempting to engage them in conversation,which,IMO,would be like inviting a''known thief'' to stay at your house while your gone.

They do not want us here,just our ''droppings''!

IMO,if you are raising children here,and don't have to be here,you are doing them a great harm!

How sad.

Post by **merchant seaman** » May 3, 2012, 6:43 pm

And how about Thais learning to speak French, German, Dutch, Finnish etc. if they are going to work in McDonalds

Post by **parrot** » May 3, 2012, 6:48 pm

Simple answer to the ice-cream conundrum: park your vehicle. go inside. point to the item on the counter menu. You can do the same thing at KFC, Pizza Co., Swenson's, Oishi, Chester's, Sizzler, Dairy Queen. I think it's possible to obtain just about any food item in 7-11 without speaking Thai as well. No need for a long-haired translator.
Beyond that, you're pretty much limited to carrying around that 5' (+-) dictionary where ever you go.........good reason to buckle down and learn some of the language.

Post by **jimboLV** » May 3, 2012, 8:39 pm

I totally agree with Parrot. I've never had any trouble ordering at any of the Western style fast food joints in Thailand, or even Thai restaurants or food stalls, by just pointing at the pictures, or even the food. When I first moved here, I used to tell my longhaired translator what I wanted, and then noticed that she would then point to the item in question. I quickly caught on and did the same. I think this is pretty typical in Thailand, for both Thai and Falang.

As far as McDonalds teaching their staff English, I find this a ludicrous idea, especially considering the salary level and turnover these places experience. In the US I worked for a time in food service at a couple of posh casino/hotels in Las Vegas. Many of their staff were foreigners, mostly Hispanic and Asian. They had regular training courses for the staff in what they called “Hotel English”. “What is your room number?”. “The restrooms are just past the Poker room and take a right”, etc. But this was a hotel/casino where the guests were paying $300 for a dinner ($100 extra if they wanted caviar or wine). Not quite McDonalds level, and most of the staff had been with them for years. I also had to interact with many of these foreign staff workers and never had a problem. Sign language and a smile goes a long way.