Bangkok report April 2018

[a447]

To be fair, nothing is free anywhere; everything comes at a price or with an opportunity cost. People want good service; they want to be treated like maharajahs but they don't want to pay maharajah prices. Well, it doesn't really work that way, does it? Something's gotta give. Service staff in Thailand, at least the ones at mid range type of places, don't make much money. In fact, they barely make ends meet. So they have to resort to corruption. In Singapore, we have low levels of corruption because we are paid fairly and in many instances (particularly our public servants) - highly. Hence our law enforcement officials, by far and large, serve with integrity, which in turn further reduces the level of corruption.

That said, I think the majority of Thai service staff are quite honest and very helpful considering the pittance that they're paid. The people who have been subjected to the kind of mini cons described above have more often than not deserved them through their sheer ignorance, gullibility or as payback for their generally unpleasant personalities. When you use words like dickhead to describe some humble service staff who haven't had the kind of life opportunities that you've had or paint an entire population of people as dumb or mock those who choose to build romantic relationships with Thai people by calling them stupid, you are generally projecting a deep-seated unhappiness within yourself. And when you don't love yourself, you can't have love for others. You get a false sense of superiority by putting down others who haven't had the same advantages that you've had and the only thing you can cope with emotionally is paid for one-night stands. And thus, for all her faults, you go back to Thailand year after year after year after year...sometimes two or three times a year.

Weren't you just today accusing me of making "blanket statements?". Lol

And so much insight from one who purports to be of the tender age of 24! You display knowledge way beyond your tender years!

Incredible, really.

[a447]

To be fair, nothing is free anywhere; everything comes at a price or with an opportunity cost. People want good service; they want to be treated like maharajahs but they don't want to pay maharajah prices. Well, it doesn't really work that way, does it? Something's gotta give. Service staff in Thailand, at least the ones at mid range type of places, don't make much money. In fact, they barely make ends meet. So they have to resort to corruption. In Singapore, we have low levels of corruption because we are paid fairly and in many instances (particularly our public servants) - highly. Hence our law enforcement officials, by far and large, serve with integrity, which in turn further reduces the level of corruption.

That said, I think the majority of Thai service staff are quite honest and very helpful considering the pittance that they're paid. The people who have been subjected to the kind of mini cons described above have more often than not deserved them through their sheer ignorance, gullibility or as payback for their generally unpleasant personalities. When you use words like dickhead to describe some humble service staff who haven't had the kind of life opportunities that you've had or paint an entire population of people as dumb or mock those who choose to build romantic relationships with Thai people by calling them stupid, you are generally projecting a deep-seated unhappiness within yourself. And when you don't love yourself, you can't have love for others. You get a false sense of superiority by putting down others who haven't had the same advantages that you've had and the only thing you can cope with emotionally is paid for one-night stands. And thus, for all her faults, you go back to Thailand year after year after year after year...sometimes two or three times a year.

Service staff in Thailand, at least the ones at mid range type of places, don't make much money. In fact, they barely make ends meet. So they have to resort to corruption.

So, you're now accusing all service staff in "mid-range type of places" (whatever they are) in Thailand of being corrupt.

Nice one!

That's as bad as someone you mentioned in paragraph 2 who "paint(s) an entire population of people as dumb."

I don't know who did that. It couldn't have been me, as I intentionally inserted the word "somehow" so as not to do that. The fact that you didn't pick up on that is your fault, not mine. You need to read posts slowly and with more care.

Oh, and it's best not to leave yourself so wide open to accusations of gross hypocrisy. You make it too easy!

When you use words like dickhead to describe some humble service staff

In case you haven't noticed, humble service staff can also be incompetent and lazy.

mock those who choose to build romantic relationships with Thai people by calling them stupid

Again, I don't know who did that. If you think it was me, then you should get your facts right before you comment. I didn't even mention "romantic relationships."

My posts are open to criticism and I have no problem with that at all. What I do have a problem with is people like you who bear a grudge and immediately pounce whenever they can in order to score points, before reading my comments carefully and making sure they've got their facts right.

And give us a break from that "when you don't love yourself, you can't have love for others" and the rest that followed. It sounds like something you've heard in a third-rate family TV drama.

And while I'm at it, can you also please give this "I'm a 24 year old student from Singapore " bullshit a break?

As was shown conclusively last year on a number of occasions, you are not young and not from Singapore.

Your other handle from last year - sugargrandpa - described who you really are. You're an old Aussie like me, in Asia for the same reason - to pay to get laid. So get over it!

Sugargrandpa was a very foolish choice for a board name, don't you think?

[Mancs]

Re taxis and the meter, a new experience twice this trip is for the taxi driver to nod assent to the destination, then to say '100 baht' after I got in. I refused. Once he stopped and I got out; once he turned on the meter.

[a447]

Given the huge traffic jam on the freeway - it took close to 2 hours to get to Suwanaphumi - I now think that 500 baht is acceptable.

The attitude of the drivers is not.

[christianpfc]

Given the huge traffic jam on the freeway - it took close to 2 hours to get to Suwanaphumi - I now think that 500 baht is acceptable.

The attitude of the drivers is not.

Traffic jam is priced in at 2 THB per minute that the car is going slower than 6 km/h.

A447, you really should know better than involving a bellboy to call you a taxi! The more people are involved, the longer it takes, the more expensive it will be, and fewer are the chances that you get what you want.

[a447]

A447, you really should know better than involving a bellboy to call you a taxi! The more people are involved, the longer it takes, the more expensive it will be, and fewer are the chances that you get what you want.

How is it possible for the fare to be more expensive if I insist on using the meter?

If, on the other hand, I just ask someone to call me a taxi, they'll obviously give me an inflated price. Normally, it's a flat rate.
There has to be something in it for them

[a447]

I'm sorry to say that the joke, yet again, is on you.

Your post is based on pure speculation.

And it's wrong. You have totally misunderstood the situation; hardly surprising as :

A) you weren't there, and

B) you don't know the guy involved

1. The young guy is not a bellboy. He's a security guard and wears a guard's uniform. It isn't his job to get taxis for clients. He only offered because "you my friend. Teach me English."

Even if, as a security guard, this particular individual had somehow made some arrangements with taxi drivers, you would have no possible way of not knowing that. Nor would I.

2. I didn't ask reception to call a taxi to the hotel itself. The taxis concerned don't frequent the hotel - you got that wrong, too. They are out on Suriwong road in the middle of a traffic jam . Not much use being "parked somewhere" if you have to join a traffic jam!

Your scenario would not work in a busy area of Bangkok. Outside, in a smaller city, it may well do.

And when hotels or other establishments offer to call you a taxi, who knows? Maybe they are getting a kickback, reflected in a higher charge. Afterall, this is hardly an uncommon practice.

But if the customer refuses to pay the charge, any kickback suddenly disappears. As I insisted on a meter taxi and refused to get into one that would not use a meter, what's in it for the security guard? Or a bellboy? Your logic is all wrong.

Your scenario would only work if the client just asked for any taxi and did not specify the use of a meter. Otherwise, It makes no sense at all.

3. If he wasn't interested in the ones driving by, why did he try to flag them down? He didn't have his back turned to the road the entire time - when I saw him he was looking into the window of a massage shop, adjusting his uniform.

So the joke is actually on you for, once again, going on the attack without knowing all the facts, or thinking the situation through.

You have jumped to conclusions yet again.

[Captain Swing]

I have nothing whatsoever to contribute to this ongoing argument, or whatever it is. But I have to say that the following two quotes bother me. The difference in the way you and the guard perceived your fleeting "relationship" just makes me sad. I'm not suggesting either of you was "wrong," but it's just too bad you weren't able to be a little more receptive to what he saw as friendliness. But then again, he apparently had no idea he was annoying you, so "No harm done."


"There is a dickhead working at the hotel. Every morning when I was sitting outside furiously typing on my iPad, he would constantly come over to practise his English, even though he could see I was busy. It drove me mad!

" The young guy is not a bellboy. He's a security guard and wears a guard's uniform. It isn't his job to get taxis for clients. He only offered because "you my friend. Teach me English."

[a447]

I've been a student of languages all my life. I speak more than one.

I usually am quite happy to allow others to practise with me - I even mentioned in this report how I'd been teaching the guys in the bar. The only way to improve is to talk to native speakers. It's how I learnt.

But there are times when we are busy and have to get on with other things. I can't just switch on "English teacher mode" at someone's convenience, as much as I'd like to.

But I was never rude to him. Never. I always smiled when I was showing him I had work to do. It's just that he wouldn't give up and kept asking me questions.

At other times during the day, I was more than happy to speak with him.

The way the Thais use the English word "friend" is not the same as the way we use it. It's a much looser term in Thailand. You can be called a "friend" after just sitting with a guy for a few minutes in a bar.

I doubt very much that he would ever use the Thai word "puan" (friend) when referring to me in a conversation with another Thai.

[Captain Swing]

I've been a student of languages all my life. I speak more than one.

I usually am quite happy to allow others to practise with me - I even mentioned in this report how I'd been teaching the guys in the bar. The only way to improve is to talk to native speakers. It's how I learnt.

But there are times when we are busy and have to get on with other things. I can't just switch on "English teacher mode" at someone's convenience, as much as I'd like to.

But I was never rude to him. Never. I always smiled when I was showing him I had work to do. It's just that he wouldn't give up and kept asking me questions.

At other times during the day, I was more than happy to speak with him.

The way the Thais use the English word "friend" is not the same as the way we use it. It's a much looser term in Thailand. You can be called a "friend" after just sitting with a guy for a few minutes in a bar.

I doubt very much that he would ever use the Thai word "puan" (friend) when referring to me in a conversation with another Thai.

Fair enough. As I said, I'm not saying you were wrong. I still think it's sad. Ironic maybe. But no big deal.

P.S. I meant to ask before: What's the thing you were served that looked like a snowball?