DLock

Quite the same graffiti. What's the meaning of this meme?

This was on the Central Festival overpass where they are digging the hole.

the street artist responsible for this meme is named bon. he's from bangkok, and an actual artist who has been commissioned all over SE ASIA. you can find his work all over phuket - in nai harn, he painted the old concrete building near the lagoon with a fish, on thalang road in town, just near soi rommanee, he painted a bird, he's got a bunch of stuff scattered around kathu as well. if you are familiar with the bodega guest house in patong, he painted the entire second floor. i'm proud to say he's painted my kitchen chairs and my shoes; i've known him for nearly 3 years.

if you would be interested in seeing his work, not complaining about it, you can search him on facebook under mue bon.

I doubt this "street artist" resorts to poorly stenciled images...I'd say someone is imitating his work, because it sucks.

But a "street artist" painting shoes and kitchen chairs? I wonder if Banksy ever did that?

Looking at lack of helmets in isolation is simplifying the problem.

Yes, wearing proper helmets will definitely reduce deaths and injuries.

But the problem is so much more - unlicensed riders, unregistered bikes, unroadworthy bikes, children riding, drunk riding, speeding etc.

The Thai Government either don't care or don't know how to tackle the problem.

It's not that hard to impose serious fines and prison terms, impound bikes, teach school kids, etc....but I doubt this will ever happen. Not the Thai way.

Chiang Mai declares 18 districts disaster zones

The province has recorded its lowest temperatures in years during the past 5 days

Does the government have it all wrong then?

.

This is what it's all about -

"The province is requesting an additional budget worth 42 million baht to secure winter gear and relief packages."

That was precisely my inclination when reading so many on-the-ground reports contradicting it.

Must admit, that's exactly the thought I had. Pretty sad that we automatically think that way isn't it?

Which markets will purchase Thailand's 4-5 year old rice, if they can sell it at all? Are they seriously waiting to sell it for more than they gave the farmers? Other countries will just buy Vietnam's rice instead. They won't care where it came from as long as it's fresh. I see Thais chowing down on the old stock of rice while the new stuff will be sold overseas. What a $hitty mess.

That's very good point.

Who wants old rice when there's plenty of new rice around.

The only answer is to dump it & face the wrath of the WTO!

As far as I'm aware they don't print a "best before" date on each grain of rice.

Thus, the onus will be on the Thai Government to divulge the harvest dates of the rice they are selling at bargain prices.

You see where I'm going with this?

The age of the rice is irrelevant. We are dealing with crooked, greedy, lying people. They have sold their souls already. Selling bad rice is easy.

Wherever anybody goes in the world there's an economy already in place. The economy has pretty much nothing to do with the relatively minor numbers of foreign residents I would think....unless you are talking about tourist spending which is a different thing.

If this is true then 'the economy' dictates the general wage levels for different tasks. Same like it does in my home country I would think...

Service relationships exist in all economies, hospitality, domestic...even the professions are essentially service relationships. It seems indeed true that some people have a particularly personal, emotional, negative response to the notion of service.

I don't myself really. I worked in menial 'hospitality' for many years when I was younger. Always enjoyed it...never felt 'less than'....ever.

I have no real idea of what wage is 'right'. Just finding out. I do know when you give people too much and expect too little, you actually breed hostility. I also know that exploitation is never right or justified.

A fair day's work for a fair day's pay has been the maxim of the labour movement and I believe in it.

I was talking to a man in his 20's....unskilled but going to night school.

He told me he was getting 4,500 baht a month at the restaurant he just left for a 6 day week. He said that was too low for him.

He moved to a new job working late at night in an hotel and now gets 8,000 for a 6 day week.

I think I'll learn more by just talking to locals and just finding out hat they think.

For what it worth.. Mike...

Mike, I agree with you.

It's either a very simple problem, or a very complex one...I haven't decided yet.

But bottom line is that I will pay what I have to pay to get the service level I expect. I'm not trying to pay as little as possible as some people think. I'm aiming for a service level and will pay what I need to get that.

Problem is that I don't know what that number is and can't find the people that I need and the service and experience level is generally below what I expect.

I will figure this out.

that is just a measly 7200 baht per month, why don't you ask yourself is it fair to pay that amount for a live in gardener cum security man cum hand man?

I actually pay him 9,000baht per month, plus house and all utilities, plus 1 month bonus, holidays and bike.

He was earning about half that in his previous job.

You are a newbie, and know not what you post, so I'll go easy on you this time. Yes, I think 9,000 is fair, but he doesn't, so I am forced to pay what someone will work for and that is called "market forces". Thailand essentially has zero unemployment so employees have plenty of choice. I am ok with that.

In answer to you next question, no I could not live or 9,000 baht per month, in fact I cant live on 9,000baht per day. But chances are, everywhere you go where Thai people work are probably paid around the same, or often less if the owner can get away with it.

Bringing Western logic into this debate is flawed and ignorant. Go read some of the many other threads debating the minimum wage to understand.

Google says that white rice will last 4-5years.

Although it says Jasmine rice can last indefinitely if stored correctly.

So, assuming the Thai Government can keep building or finding warehouses, this could go on for many years making several people very rich in the process.

The Aquarium shop located in the Khamtieng garden market, which is located behind Lotus on the Superhighway has all the testing kits you need.

I bought separate nitrate, ammonia and PH tests last week.

Good aquarium shop if you haven't been there. Very clean and healthy fish.

Threw a red sock in the wash accidentally?

Everything pink?

It happens.

I seem to remember the store in Airport Plaza on the lower level has some bigger shirts.

Well Jigger, a 25 year old, according to your profile, driving a Lexus, even an LS250, and a new Toyota Land Cruiser, and from a family of panel beaters. I am impressed. Perhaps that is why car repair costs are so high!

Does someone walk in front of your car with a red flag, as used to happen in the UK, so you don't drive too fast?

Do your many, 8 at most, years of driving experience ( with some of the fastest cars available to the public- your words), qualify you to label two people you have never met, or seen drive, as a "self-serving moron" and a "brainless dope" respectively?

I think you should be a bit more circumspect in your judgement of other peoples driving ability.

Felipesed, actually his quote was "...These are the 3 vehicles I currently use..."

Probably Mommy and Daddy's cars judging by the type of cars and only a 250cc motorcycle...so I understand the penis envy.

....and the claim to driving some of the "fastest cars available"...he means when he takes them out for a test drive after fixing the car that someone else crashed...probably going too fast. It's called irony.

Run along junior.

In cases of domestic dispute, the police officers will do their best to help settle the matter amicably between the two people before it goes down the criminal prosecution route.

That is obviously what they are trying to do.

Stealing my property after we have separated cant really be a domestic matter as it occurred after the relationship ended, and does the Police really have the right to deny me to file charges? I strongly told him that any meting was out of the question as long as no charges was filed.I could accept to withdraw my charges at a later point but to have a meeting with her when the Police so obvious was on her side did not thrill me.

To get it done efficiently you need to bring a thai friend with you to do the talking ,ive generally found for all matters serious a thai is needed to speed up the process or you get palmed off to the tourist police who refer you back to the real police who tell you to report it to the tourist police ........

farang grievances are not taken seriously at many police stations ,maybe in part because they have difficulty understanding what a distressed farang is trying to report exactly or maybe theyre just lazy and think if they ignore it you will go away and they can get back to their television watching ......

I had my Ex Thai Girlfriend and our baby daughter with me, in order to accomplish just that. She is far from naive and we did discuss this with her family before we took the trip to this city. Neither her, me or her family thought this was "not enough" for getting the police to help me. What I have been told later is that she had, either by her self or trough her "tuk-tuk" lover connections within the police. It was late in the day and not enough time to get a Lawyer for a second round that day. I had 9 cracked ribbs, was eating a lot of painkillers and lost my nerve and choose to not wait one more day for the Lawyer. I got a strong feeling that something was very wrong and decided to pull out and regroup. This was just one week after my initial run and I was neither physically or mentally in a good shape.

Ok, now this is all just starting to sound like an excerpt from a random "Thai did me wrong" book.

Money is long gone, Son.

SLESQ, Thanks for taking the time to post this. A lot of wisdom there that I will take on board and see if it helps.

Just out of curiosity, can I ask what duties you expect from a maid? Is it important that she live on the grounds or can she just work days? I might be able to find someone if you give me more information.

Ridewings, my place is moderate sized house and only me and my wife living here, sometimes friends or family, but no kids.

Basic duties would be floors, laundry, bedroom and bathrooms, basic tidying up. No cooking required. Very basic.

I am leaning towards Maid staff coming in every day (6 days week).

Location is Samoeng Rd. Property is quite large and isolated.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Interesting that no one showed any interest in poking at JOB SATISFACTION.

I will say couples take a job for one of two basic reasons (or both).

1. Desperate for income, cant' find anything paying more (survival)
   
2. Conditions sound the best; good perks, extras (e.g., free room and board, telephone, use of motorcycle)
   

But then they will only stay on the job if they like it and there are multiple factors involved here). For example:

1. They love the job; they enjoy it doing it, it is challenging
   
2. It is what they will have to do anywhere and this employer treats them better than any other they have had. They enjoy the treatment by their employer while accepting they have to work.
   

The OP said money, room & board, days off, etc., do not seem to be sufficient to keep them for more than about 2 years.

So what are the other factors? Even though the soap opera comments were sarcastic, how are the staff treated?

Is there a common language? Can the OP talk to them as people, not just employees, ask them about their kids, their parents' health, etc.? Do they feel free to come and talk about a family problem? Or is it a limited Thai/English language employee/boss arrangement where the only exchanges are basically job directions?

Where do the couples actually end up when they leave? That could be a very important "tell". Making less money, working harder, no free room and board, etc. would indicate they were not happy with the working conditions.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: Where is the OP's house? Living and working on the property may limit their social life with the rest of the world. They may, after a couple of years, just feel too isolated. They can not wander over to their cousin's house for dinner one day, walk to the wat where all their family goes on a holiday. Maybe too many times they just want to have a good bowl of noodle soup or kao mun kai for lunch and couldn't get there from "here". Live-ins are isolated; not many people want to be isolated from the world like that.

Maybe he would have better luck with commuters?

P.S. Just saw OP's last post. Sound like he has figured it out, but I will post this anyway.

Noise, I think you are on to something.

Regardless of higher salary, house, bike, bonus month salary, I think isolation is one of the key factors.

When they leave, they tend to go back to farming or construction earning maybe 6,000baht per month. Work is harder, but they have that social aspect after work and Sunday's. There is no bad feelings when they leave.

I got stopped at well over 200kmh on my motorcycle racing another bike just north of Lampang (first long straight after the mountain).

Told to go talk to the Policeman sitting in a little bus shelter. He asked the other Policeman what speed I was doing and he looked at a clipboard and said 200.

They gave me an on the spot fine of 200baht and gave me a paper receipt.

As I was getting back on the bike, the Policeman said to keep the paper. I asked why? he said if I get caught again further down the road I can show I paid already.

So, I basically had a license to ride as fast as I wanted. So, I did.

Some valid thinking...and the usual idiots.

If I thought paying 20,000 baht per month would make them work any better and stay longer, I would have no hesitation paying it, but I'm not convinced. Most of the staff we have hired had minimal experience - from construction crews or farming, so were earning half what I paid. So, I'm not sure money is the solution. If I could find experienced staff I would also pay that amount, but there are no experienced domestic staff around.

Boredom? Could be part of it.

I tend to think it's being away from family and friends so much and missing the Lao Kao, gambling and Thai stuff. I give them as many of the Thai days off when we are not traveling, but I get the feeling they feel isolated and miss this.

On one hand I'm glad it's not unique to me.

I may try finding a good Thai Gardener/Handyman/security to live on site and bring in an experienced maid every day. Finding a couple that has experience is difficult.

Appreciate the input.

I seem to have problems with Domestic staff every 2 years or so. I don't know why and I am seeking advice.

My staff (husband and Wife team) receive 300 baht per day each (9am - 5pm), 6 days a week, get a small private house to live in on the property, all utilities, most holidays, 13 month bonus and a week off at Xmas and Songkran...and a motorbike and phone.

We travel quite a bit and need very reliable and trustworthy staff.

The Man is gardener, hand man and security. The Woman is housekeeper - no cooking required. The job is really not that difficult or stressful.

Usually, they start off great and once trained do a good job and seem motivated for a year or 2. Then they start coming late, requesting more days off, performance starts slacking, get lazy...and then eventually, they just leave for no reason given. This has happened 3 times...although one staff was stealing my stuff, so I fired them.

I am looking for input into people that have had staff for 5 years or more and tips on why you think your staff stay. Do you treat them as family or are you quite firm?

I would pay more if I thought I would get better staff, loyalty or stay longer.

Next question is where to find new staff....and why isn't there an agency to connect Thai staff with foreign employers. I'm tired of putting up signs and doing interviews of people with zero experience.

Advice appreciated.

I purchased mine from Patong Hospital. I believe it was about 3,000baht per vial.

Make sure you know how and where to administer it and you have needles stored with it.

I had mine because my dog got bit...survived that bite, but not the next. Stupid dog.

My guess is the average Thai mule is an uneducated and poor individual.

I doubt I'd rejoice in her or his capture.

...and greedy and stupid.

They know what they are doing.

CMK...I don't get it.

You will waste a lot of time, energy and money trying to get your stuff back. You will fail.

Your mentality is still too Western and unrealistic for Thailand, especially rural Thailand.

TheBlether suggestion is the obvious one, and I'm sure a Lawyer will be happy to relieve you of some more money without being up-front that your chance of getting your stuff back, especially in a reasonable timeframe, is almost nil.

She sounds like she has the attitude and vindictiveness to fight to the death. You on the other hand, do not. She has the language, the family, the laws and the police on her side. You just need to accept that you cannot win and it's really not worth the fight.

I wish you luck.

"Some people" pretend they have a lot more willingness to fight than what they really have. The family? Not for long. Police? Lets see. Worth the fight? Not in money, but its not about money for me anymore. Please just wish me good luck because i'm not doing this just for myself. Every stupid Farang that loses on walkover makes it harder for all of us.

I can understand that sometimes it's a matter of principle and that regardless of cost or certainty of winning, you have to make a stand against those that take advantage of things because they think they can.

You sound like you know what you are up against.

I cheer you on from the sidelines and wish you success.

Keep us informed.

I repeat:-

There is an obvious difference between a man, whatever his sexual preferences or gender issues, using the ladies toilet to urinate or defecate and someone, of either sex, peering by some means at people doing the same.

It seems that, obvious though the difference is, some people are unable to grasp it!

i am sorry you struggle, however your inability to grasp the point makes you unworthy of further clarification.

What on Earth makes you think that I am struggling to understand my own point?

What on Earth makes you think that I need you, or anyone else, to clarify my point for me?

Really?

So what is the obvious difference between a man "whatever his sexual preferences or gender issues, using the ladies toilet to urinate or defecate and someone, of either sex, peering by some means at people doing the same"?

...

But I believe that any outwardly appearing man, regardless of sexual orientation, if he can stand up and pee, should use the mens toilets.

...

That is supposed to be controversial?

Not at all...it's just my opinion.