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Thailand not Cheap (Part 2)

Bad experiences at the visa counter

No logic in leaving

Publisher

New Terrorist Law Inadequate

It’s a matter of proportion

Thailand not Cheap (Part 2)

Editor;
Now that I’m back in the country, I’m having some work done on the house. One of the projects is a larger room for my daughter as she is outgrowing her Thai size bedroom. In America, the first part of this project would be completed by a carpenter and his helper in maybe two days for $1200 - $1400. At the two week mark, the 2 to 4 Thai workers that show up for work are (to be polite) getting there. With quality at only about 80% to 85%, nothing is really straight, square, or level, and cost is at about B80,000 ($2000).

Why is this? Well, the inability to use power tools is a factor. An inability to read plans, visualize in-wall objects (plumbing and electrical wires), make accurate measurements, etc. etc. etc. When I previously contracted a farang managed company all I got was very expensive Thai quality. The materials were of better quality, but the speed, fit, and finish of the work was the same - marginal to poor.

When I feel a migraine coming on, I break out the power tools and do what Thais call a day’s worth of work in about 15 minutes. This almost always prompts a negative reaction as Thais can only lose face in this instance, but I would rather watch paint dry then watch either the let’s make work for ourselves or the trial and error method of construction.

On the few occasions when a worker attempts to use a power tool, he almost always trips the GFI breaker and complains that “Farang Fie, no good!”, not even realizing that the breaker saved him from getting shocked when sticking his frayed wires into the outlet. My electrical work is actually done to international standards with 3 wire outlets, which are properly phased with earthed safety grounds and supplied by correctly sized wiring and breakers.

A number of years ago a friend working in a factory here calculated that Thai labor cost was more than 40% higher per widget than in a similar factory in the U.S. Basically, Thai workers’ low wages were only surpassed by their lower productivity which was about 1/25th that of a U.S. worker who could master modern tools and building methods. I asked him how he could afford to do business here? His reply was rather interesting.

First, his Thai partners were able to get quality raw materials at rock bottom prices by bribing officials. Second, with lax pollution laws, he could hire “One Hung Low” disposable company to cart away the hazardous waste. Of course the “One Hung Low” Disposal Company, run by “Big Man”, simply dumps the stuff in a nearby river. Unfortunately, it appears that most Thai companies and some multinationals are here going business under the same basic rules.

When one exits the go-go bars and begins using his large brain vice his small one, he will see that Thailand is indeed expensive. Quite frankly, I think big western business should demand equal treatment and a level playing field for western businessman and workers at all levels, as in the long run it will benefit their bottom line. The only thing fueling the Thai economy seems to be the rape, plunder, and pillage of it’s resources, which is unsustainable, and not the high efficiency of the Thai work force which is normally rated in the 35th to 40th range worldwide.

There is no way Thailand will compete with China in the cheap goods “warm body” worker market. Instead of increasing recreation time in Thai schools, Thailand should encourage skilled western blue-collar workers to come work in Thailand and open it’s markets to fair competition so Thais can learn first hand what it takes to be a highly paid, productive worker - education combined with both hard work and smart work. Maybe then the water, telephone, cable TV, and electricity will work all the time. Who knows, UBC may even stop having regular unscheduled outages and Thais will actually stop at red lights. I’ve got to start drinking seriously again and stop this day dreaming!
Pattaya ‘Beach’ Bum

Bad experiences at the visa counter

Dear Sir,
I am wondering if any of your readers have had a similar experience to the one my wife and I are facing.

My wife is Bangkok born and has been a naturalised New Zealand citizen for more than 3 years; while I am a born and bred NZer having worked in Asia all my life, 18 of those years in Thailand.

In November last year my wife’s 38 year old friend; a nun from a Wat in Suphanburi, applied at the NZ Embassy in Bangkok for a visitor visa; she had all kinds of hurdles thrown at her by the Thai staff even though she was furnished by us with all sponsorship guarantees, etc., and finally after us being forced to post a 75,000 baht bond for her, she was issued a visa nearly 3 months later. She stayed with us in NZ for 3 weeks and returned to Thailand.

On the 7th July this year my wife was in Bangkok and she and her 41-year-old sister, a schoolteacher in Bangkok, went to apply for a visitor visa for her to travel back here with my wife early in August. A 30-minute interview was held with my sister-in-law at that time. She was told the visa would be issued in 15 to 20 days; however, after more than a month she was being told there was some hold-up but it was still being considered. I then became involved, only to discover that the case officer had misinterpreted the interview and made it appear that my sister-in-law had worked without a work permit on her previous visit to NZ in 1999/2000, which she definitely had not.

I have taken the matter up here in NZ with various ministers of the government, and others, who couldn’t care less. Stories like this are quite common evidently, I know of several others myself; but the plot thickens greatly when we read in our major daily The NZ Herald on 4th November that the second local (Thai) staff member of the NZ visa section this year had just been fired for taking bribes.

It disturbs me greatly, and I wonder what happens when a Thai-born person in this country, New Zealand, has a celebration, bad accident, or a bereavement or similar and wishes to have their relatives here at their side.

It is hoped that you publish this and if possible please include my email address for anyone interested in contacting us.
Best regards and thanks,
Vic and Usa Bowman, Whangarei, NZ
<[email protected]>

No logic in leaving

Hi there,
Been a lot about visas, visa runs, visa scams, visa everything lately. Has anyone got any idea as to the logic of farangs having to leave the country to obtain a re-entry visa when they are already here? Why doesn’t immigration simply do the necessary here in Thailand and charge for it? I’m all for more money for the Thais, the more they can squeeze out of us rich bastards the better!
Richard Walton
655 View Talay Condo
Block B

Publisher

Some people think the publisher
Is one whose block of stock
Enables him to play all day
And never mind the clock
Well, he may be a wealthy man
And he may have his say
But he is one who usually
Puts in a long hard day
Although he has his subordinates
He has a tough job to do
And he is never satisfied
Until he sees it through
The daily flow of printers ink
Is running through his veins
The same as in the writers and
Reporters whom he trains
He may not have the time to give
Each one his special care
But by his proven policies
He does more than his share.
B. Phillip Webb Jr.
2003

New Terrorist Law Inadequate

To the editor:
Half-hearted measures seldom accomplish anything.

According to articles in Thailand’s leading English-language newspapers, on November 14, the American Embassy in Bangkok began to fingerprint applicants of non-immigrant visas “as part of its world-wide effort to improve security”.

The procedure has been requested by the Homeland Security Act, which was enacted in response to recent terrorist attacks against the United States.

The newspapers mentioned, however, that the U.S. consul in Bangkok said there would be exceptions to the rule: “children under 14, applicants over 79 years old, employees of foreign governments and international organizations traveling on official business”.

This provision defeats the purpose of the new program.

Children and the elderly are unlikely to be terrorists, but there have been terrorist attacks carried out by children and the elderly in the past.

It is well known also that terrorists use employment by governments and international organizations and travel on official business as cover. Indeed, immigration officials of many countries strip-search persons traveling with diplomatic passports.

Some years ago, I met a top immigration official from a Latin American country on vacation. In the course of his many years of work, he had caught airline pilots and other crewmembers, diplomats, aid workers, human rights advocates et al smuggling gems, cash, antiques, archeological artifacts, valuable artwork, rare animals, marijuana, hashish, heroin, cocaine, small side arms, toxic poisons, pornographic material and “bizarre stuff” out of the country. Often enough, diplomatic pouches contained illicit and possibly dangerous things and many of the carriers were part of long-running smuggling operations. Prostitutes were trafficked in and out of the country with diplomatic and United Nations passports, and sometimes in the guise of job fillers for human rights organizations.

I had heard all this before, from many other sources, including the smugglers themselves. And I had seen a number of smugglers, with whom I was traveling, get caught. On several occasions, I was fortunate not to have been taken into custody with my traveling companions.

The point is that terrorists can be any age and in any line of work.

The Germans, using diplomatic cover during the First World War, conducted terrorist attacks, then called sabotage, in the U. S.

Exempting “employees of foreign governments and international organizations traveling on official business” can only aid and abet terrorism against the United States.
Signed:
Harold Lewis

It’s a matter of proportion

Editor;
I agree with earlier contributors and subsequently “PTY rider” (Vol XI no: 45) who hate the systematic overcharging practiced by baht bus drivers. I do not attempt to defend the indefensible. What I am advocating is that we keep this malpractice in proportion and we do not equate the extra B5 per journey to a crime against humanity. Calm down guys. Far worse things are happening. And far better things also.

Taking an overview (Olympian?) of my life in the Kingdom it does come into my list of debits. The credits far outnumber the debits, however, and I hope to continue living here. I will not bore anybody with my pet hates but there are several (including this one) that I attempt to keep in perspective.

I assume all residents will have read the new immigration rules re: long-term residence. These are due to become law next July. They are very extensive and those of us who may not be able to comply with them will be sitting at BKK airport wondering, “What we will do with the rest of our lives.” I do not think any one of us will be saying, “Oh good, at last I am getting away from the baht bus overcharging in Pattaya.”

I found a translation of the new rules at the website:

www.gmorning.info/features _ruling_out_foreigner.htm

Enjoyed the letter from Ian A. (Vol X1 no: 46)
Ken Osborne

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
are also on our website.