Poll - Udon Thani Thailand Forum

Post by **trubrit** » May 24, 2015, 2:16 pm

Reading the immigration fee topic I came to wonder just how much the replies were just spouting and therefore unlikely to achieve anything, and how much the posters genuinely believe that anything could be done about it. Hence this poll.
You have two answers to choose .

Post by **merchant seaman** » May 24, 2015, 2:40 pm

There has been more then one expat that went on a quest here in Udon to improve the quality of life for us expats. I for one am still waiting to see those results.

Post by **noosard** » May 24, 2015, 4:44 pm

"Not at all" too negative
"Definitely" too optimistic
"Just wasting our time" too negative
"Maybe" too indecisive

So hopefully in the future it's worth trying,

Post by **kopkei** » May 24, 2015, 6:23 pm

my answer is you are wasting your time , corruption has become a way off life here and has always been there...
trying to change is a waste of time because you must begin at the top , (everything in uniform , and in the mirror)and not with the small people , or an alternative maybe these days ,after reading the immigration fee topic , you can report to the american embassy

...they will fix it for you ....yeah dream on ...

Post by **FrazeeDK** » May 24, 2015, 6:29 pm

as I've mentioned a number of times, the only short term solution to corruption seems to be social media exposure.. Videos of such activity when posted to YouTube or other sites, particularly those that garner numerous viewings invariably gets the bureaucracy to take action.. While many times its the "dreaded" transfer to an inactive post, other times it gets the perpetrators locked up or investigated by the NACC or AMLO..

Post by **parrot** » May 25, 2015, 3:46 am

I voted 'maybe'........but a slim 'maybe' at that.

That said, when you consider life in Udon 10-20 years ago and life today, lots has changed.....though the expat community probably has had little to do with that change.
Bank branches open 7 days a week.....McDonalds.....Villa.....ice-skating rink.....higher end restaurants.....actual Q systems at work in places like banks, post offices, etc.......despite small problems at immigration, the Udon office is a world better than driving to Nongkai or dealing with the old offices at AEK or the airport.......no discernable increase in traffic cop problems with expats (IMO).....more signs in English......expanded foreign product lines at places like Makro and Tops......condos (the expat community asked for them years ago).......5 minute auto registration renewals at AEK... ..AEK's Peter (now Kanjana) and Bangkok Hospital's international service staff......ability to return items at places like Makro/Lotus/etc.......home cable.......TOT's English language service center........coffee shops up the wazzu.......just a few things that make life much better today than years' ago. Did the expat community precipitate any of those changes? Probably not.......I'd think they're more the result of Thailand following in the footsteps of other developing/developed countries.
Udon isn't and in our lifetime probably will not offer some of the amenities that are available in advanced/Western countries. But every time I walk into Bangkok Bank and don't have to detour around a squatting grannie with her spittoon can alongside her while her daughter elbows her way to the front of the line, I'm reminded that life is indeed better today than it was not so long ago.
On the negative side, although I don't have personal experience with the school system here......from what I read, things have not much improved over the years, despite an increased expat population and all the government's efforts/promises to do so. I'll guess it's due to an entrenched bureaucracy....much like that in the SRT. Maybe the government will take the ax to that problem as it appears to be finally doing with the civil air department.

Post by **pf-flyer** » May 25, 2015, 6:17 am

I do not believe that the expats will have that much of an impact on the rate of which things change. I do believe that issues that have a national political and /or economic impact such as tourism industry will have an effect on the priorities of those issues that need to be addressed and the rate of change in this country. When I was stationed here in the 70s. The exchange rate at that time was 20 baht per U.S. dollar. A lot of Americans said the Udorn would become a ghost town after the Americans pulled out. When I look around I can see that Udorn has done quite well since then. Back in the 70s Tahan Road which went pass camp was a skinny two lane road. Rajabhat University was a lot smaller in the 70s. Soi Katoy is still there and surviving. The trip from down town to my wife's village took most of the day because there were no roads just paths after we turned off of the two lane route 22. The trip now takes us 20 Minutes.
I consider myself to be like a lot of other expats that are living here who are still struggling to deal with and to learn the culture and the Thai way of life. In the movie The Wizard of Oz , I think of what Dorothy said to her dog Toe Toe ( Spelling ? ). "We are not in Kansas anymore".

Post by **msa** » May 25, 2015, 3:38 pm

We can not change the current state of life. But I know many that can. My own daughter for one. And some of the kids in my wife's village. By investing time in the kids, my (ours) future, to make them decent and honest people, I (we) can change the future. By teaching our kids about right and wrong. Show the kids that I (we) am decent and honest. Educate them, so they can think for them self and make an educated choice. I try shape my kids into what I want them to be, not what I am. I do this by supporting them in school and in their everyday life.

Try it yourself and discover that you get paid back in love and a better future for all of us.

/M

To what extent does anyone believe we can actually change things.