17 hours ago, MW72 said:

6 days training. What more could you ask for?

Most of which went on lunch breaks, turning up late at 10.30 late, going home early at 4, and many hours playing on their smart phones in the toilet.... oh, and not forgetting the weekends and bank holidays off too.

I get a kick out of all the guys bashing the Thai's work ethic, their methods and the decisions they make. 

 

Have a look at the Euro heat index tables and see how long your Euro (or USA) super workers would be allowed to work under the normal conditions of heat, humidity and sun beating down in LOS.  You may safely get a few hours out of them in an 8 hour day, but they'd be legally entitled (required, even) to take quite a few breaks just to keep from keeling over in the heat.

 

We had hundreds of Thais working for us and they didn't last long if they didn't work hard, and it was our Thai supervisors that canned them.  And they did amazing work- especially the welders.

 

Next, compare the $10's of thousands of USD or Euro's you'd spend mobilizing all the equipment, crew, supervision, safety personnel, and waste management teams to chop down and haul off a tree in London or NYC and compare that to the thousand baht or so it probably cost to cut one down in BKK.  When the GDP per capita is 1/10 of what it is "back home" things happen differently.   It's an economic reality- and I'd add, a big reason a lot of the guys posting here can afford to retire nicely in Thailand.  (I wonder if the Thais have a joke that starts "How many Brits does it take to chop down a tree...")

 

Plus, trees grow.  Root structures eventually compromise the safety and stability of nearby roads, sidewalks, buildings, wires and put everyone in the area at risk.  It's a shame when beautiful trees need to come down.  But if it's either a tree coming down, or risking someone being killed by the damage the roots cause, I'd go with cutting down the tree just about every time.  Just like the rest of the world.

 

2 hours ago, bacwan said:

Yea, you're right. I could. And your point would be?

Yes, Steven, do stick to the point. BKK is an ugly concrete city.

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

I get a kick out of all the guys bashing the Thai's work ethic, their methods and the decisions they make. 

 

Have a look at the Euro heat index tables and see how long your Euro (or USA) super workers would be allowed to work under the normal conditions of heat, humidity and sun beating down in LOS.  You may safely get a few hours out of them in an 8 hour day, but they'd be legally entitled (required, even) to take quite a few breaks just to keep from keeling over in the heat.

 

We had hundreds of Thais working for us and they didn't last long if they didn't work hard, and it was our Thai supervisors that canned them.  And they did amazing work- especially the welders.

 

Next, compare the $10's of thousands of USD or Euro's you'd spend mobilizing all the equipment, crew, supervision, safety personnel, and waste management teams to chop down and haul off a tree in London or NYC and compare that to the thousand baht or so it probably cost to cut one down in BKK.  When the GDP per capita is 1/10 of what it is "back home" things happen differently.   It's an economic reality- and I'd add, a big reason a lot of the guys posting here can afford to retire nicely in Thailand.  (I wonder if the Thais have a joke that starts "How many Brits does it take to chop down a tree...")

 

Plus, trees grow.  Root structures eventually compromise the safety and stability of nearby roads, sidewalks, buildings, wires and put everyone in the area at risk.  It's a shame when beautiful trees need to come down.  But if it's either a tree coming down, or risking someone being killed by the damage the roots cause, I'd go with cutting down the tree just about every time.  Just like the rest of the world.

 

But if it's either a tree coming down, or risking someone being killed by the damage the roots cause, I'd go with cutting down the tree just about every time.  Just like the rest of the world.

 

Not all, in more informed countries planting of the correct tree is overseen. Building too near to old established trees with TPO's (tree preservation orders) for example is not automatically allowed.

 

If properly managed the only risk is of broken branches in a storm, and with good maintenance that mostly would be an ongoing thing. 

 

Hugh storms etc, well you don't not plant trees because of what could happen. 

1 minute ago, chrissables said:

Not all, in more informed countries planting of the correct tree is overseen. Building too near to old established trees with TPO's (tree preservation orders) for example is not automatically allowed.

 

If properly managed the only risk is of broken branches in a storm, and with good maintenance that mostly would be an ongoing thing. 

 

I'm not going to hold the poorly chosen location of a 50-200 year old tree against the current planning administration(s).

 

But you do make valid points, and we'll see if the trees they plant today are better planned.  Or, more correctly, our kids and grandkids will.

 

6 hours ago, chrissables said:

Plus, trees grow.  Root structures eventually compromise the safety and stability of nearby roads, sidewalks, buildings, wires and put everyone in the area at risk.  It's a shame when beautiful trees need to come down.  But if it's either a tree coming down, or risking someone being killed by the damage the roots cause, I'd go with cutting down the tree just about every time.  Just like the rest of the world.

 

Perhaps with better training in arboural studies /landscape architecture/horticulture/urban design or any of the other  cross disciplinary areas of knowledge, the right decisions could be made taking into consideration the species of the tree ,the location,soil types and other subterranean conditions and services in ground plus having a look at what the rest of world is doing in tree management and urban design.  A quick trip/junta down to Singapore  to stay in the finest of hotels for a while may be suggested or invite one of their experts up to BKK  to lay some strategies down if they can handle the blow to their egos to find out other cities are able to do it better  and safer without too much bother.