Why do Thais not care about a neat and clean home?

[johng]

14 hours ago, sirineou said:

Haven't you seem the movie WestWorld?

 

The recent  TV series  was very good  second season starts April 22nd

https://www.hbo.com/westworld

Edited April 9, 2018 by johng

[balo]

Thais do care about their bodies , I would say Thai girls are more hygienic than their western counterpart.  

But its all about the culture and how they grew up in a traditional Thai house ,maybe the whole family sleeping on mats on the floor . And in traditional way they also eat from a mat on the floor so of course they need to clean every day . 

 

Even if it's messy inside doesn't mean they do not clean , Thai style. 

 

[metisdead]

A post containing an offensive racist comment has been removed, the flaming reply has been removed as well. 

[BEVUP]

I have a place in a Moo Baan & it's spotless inside & out 

We both chip in 

Wife says sometimes can,t tell the difference if I clean something out of the ordinary

[attrayant]

When I first moved to Thailand back in 2011 and visited the inlaws' house (where I presently live) for the first time, I thought they had just moved in because it looked like all the moving boxes had been unpacked but nothing had been put away yet.  No no, I was told, that's how it always is.  As my brother inlaw (who spent five years living with me in Washington DC) likes to say, "everything is everywhere".  I've managed to keep myself sane by commandeering what used to be a two-car garage and turning into my office, where I stay most of the day.

 

When the Brother inlaw complains to his father about all the 'stuff' laying around everywhere, an irritated response always shoots back: "You were never poor like I was!".  And thus we come to the understanding that everything has micro-value and must always be saved.  Great piles of things in every corner of every room equates to personal wealth.  Stuff ≈ money.

 

This leads to a huge organization problem.  Since nothing has its own place and everything can be anywhere, things are often just left lying in the last place they were used.  Tools that were used to tighten a loose cabinet handle are just left on the nearby countertop when the job is done.  Are you looking for the screwdriver?  You'll have to ask whoever used it last or walk around the house hoping to run across it.

 

To make matters worse, there are decorative knick-knacks everywhere.  There is barely one empty square inch of table or cabinet space anywhere.  Any time a little trinket is found, it gets a home among all the other odds and ends on any of a number of tables, shelves or cabinets.  For example:

 

     

 

Enormous wooden carvings with miscellaneous items casually strewn atop.  That massive bell-shaped object behind the stack of handkerchiefs and next to the remote control and the yellow embroidery thread for use on a sewing machine that we don't own?  Who knows what that is.  Its sole purpose seems to be just to take up space.  And by the way, there's nothing in this room that can be remote-controlled, so who knows what that RC is for.  That light fixture/wall sconce is not actually wired to power, but Father in law thinks it looks just fine there, perched precariously on top of that wooden elephant stampede carving.

 

There are lots of chairs that serve as emergency storage closets and a place to put leftover parts of other chairs (there's a head rest and back support form from an office chair that can't be found):

 

 

Here's a small shelf in the hall way, complete with massage devices, accountant's visor, clock displaying the wrong time, metal book ends that are propped up on the edge of the top shelf as some sort of decoration, blueprints/plans to some unknown building, body powder, several purses and shoulder bags, stacks of paper and old opened mail, several disposable enemas and lots and lots of bags of random pills and herbs.  I asked what some of the pills and herbs are.  Nobody is sure exactly what they are, but we need to keep them in case somebody needs them in the future. 
 

 

The kitchen buffet table is actually a place to store more enormous wooden carvings, a fedora, a big novelty bottle of whiskey and, of course, office supplies:

 

 

In the dining room, we have somebody's home composting/fertilizer business fermenting on the floor:
 

 

And just around the corner, the pile of boxes, containers and plastic bags at the end of the rainbow:

 

 

When bows and ribbons are removed from gifts, they are hung from curtain rods and door knobs (and sometimes on the trees & bushes outside) as festive decorations.  Hundreds and hundreds of old books are stored - of all places - outside!  In this heat they've all dry-rotted and the binding will crack if you try to open them.  Many appear to be textbooks that the brothers in-law used when they went to college, which would have been 20-30 years ago.  Strangely, they're almost all quite thin (~50 pages) paperbacks rather than thick, heavy hard-covers as I would expect textbooks to be.  There are books on accounting best practices, animal husbandry and telecommunications protocols that are seriously obsolete (ISDN and frame relay, anyone?).

 

And I found this little gem.  You never know when it'll come in handy again:

 

 

At first I felt bad posting some of these pics, but mother and father inlaw are both totally okay with this.  It's not a source of embarrassment at all.  When people visit, they first thing they see is how much STUFF we have, and that seems to be a source of pride.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by attrayant

[smtsetup]

It is because the Thais have no time nor energy for interior design and decoration, let alone for boring things like cleaning and gardening after they have taken care of their necessary daily business. Which is 

1) taking selfies and making social media updates 

2) doing their face and hair 

3) watching poyoyoyoiiiiing shows on TV

 

So it is not laziness. It is all about priorities. Sure, they do like living in a clean and nice looking house. If somebody (= the falang boyfriend) either does that for them or pays for maid services.

[Damrongsak]

Pic of the outside of my sister-in-law's house, from Google street view (555).  And a few  of our house across the street behind theirs.  To be fair, they recycle stuff for a good part of their income.  I get some nice old knives, tools and bits of antiques free.

 

Fortunately, our back porch faces in the opposite  direction and has a more pleasant view.

 

 

[mike1967]

My girlfriend refused to clean a rental property and would only clean a house I built that would obviously have to be in her name. What do you make of that then? ??

[mike1967]

7 hours ago, smtsetup said:

It is because the Thais have no time nor energy for interior design and decoration, let alone for boring things like cleaning and gardening after they have taken care of their necessary daily business. Which is 

1) taking selfies and making social media updates 

2) doing their face and hair 

3) watching poyoyoyoiiiiing shows on TV

 

So it is not laziness. It is all about priorities. Sure, they do like living in a clean and nice looking house. If somebody (= the falang boyfriend) either does that for them or pays for maid services.

So true 555

[catman20]

Most people in the west take a lot of pride in a neat and clean looking house and room.

I've often noticed that houses and also rooms of many Thais resemble junk yards.

It's mostly not about money, as cleaning just needs some time and decoration or plants are not that expensive here.

Is it really just laziness?

 

 

 

YES!

[catman20]

cos they live like animals in the boonies 

[catman20]

17 minutes ago, mike1967 said:

My girlfriend refused to clean a rental property and would only clean a house I built that would obviously have to be in her name.

 

when would the house OBVIOUSLY  have to be in her name ?

 

What do you make of that then?

 

foolish ? stupid ? fool and his money soon parted ? she different and the list goes on.

 

 

 

[mike1967]

7 minutes ago, catman20 said:

when would the house OBVIOUSLY  have to be in her name ?

 

What do you make of that then?

 

foolish ? stupid ? fool and his money soon parted ? she different and the list goes on.

 

 

 

Well, I'm sure there's ways of buying land in a farang name but then she wouldn't want to clean that either. I never have and never would buy anything that wasn't in my name. Mind you, she had enough time to video me cleaning a beautiful house I rented up north for a couple of months. She's still staying in her filthy room and I have a lovely clean apartment 555

Edited April 10, 2018 by mike1967
Posted before completing

[Bundooman]

On 4/8/2018 at 5:13 PM, Peterw42 said:

People are confusing neat with clean. My wife loves clutter and is untidy "BUT" the floor gets moped and swept 2-3 times a day, clothes get washed after a 5 minute wearing, I had to re-grout the shower because she scrubbed all the grout away. 

She is still trying to break the world record for hoarding plastic bags, cardboard boxes and take-away containers.

Are we married to the same woman?

[Nowisee]

Some people are hoarders and will not throw out things as they see value in its future.  
Some people are not tidy and their living space has clutter in mass.  

Some people are not clean.  Dirty floors, dirty bathroom, bugs and usually poor hygiene.

Some people are neat and clean, but not spick and span.

 

Don't know the psychology of any of this behavior.

There could be some relationship to poverty and dirtiness, but not always the case.  I just don't think it's race specific, more a learned/observed behavior, could be more prevalent amongst certain cultures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:29 PM, sipi said:

You're kidding me.

That is what I have seen too,... most Thai homes I have been in were quite clean, even hovels in the Bkk slums were clean inside... 

[overherebc]

Guy and his wife just moved from the house next door and what had been a nice big garden when they rented the place was an overgrown mess.

House inside took a couple of days to clean by the owner.

Renter was from UK. Go figure.

[Nurseynutcase]

I have read all of these postings.  My observations are;

Being brought up in a sh1thole I take pride in keeping our house spotless.

Having money and a huge house does not always= clean.  A friend in the UK whose house is worth over £1 - all paid for is an absoltute sh1thole - infested with mice etc

Another friend also in the Uk has a house valued at £500,000 is living in a pit.

 

We have a young Thai girl who lives with us and she had a very steep learning curve to cope with when she moved in.  Her room is immaculate and cleaned and polished every week.  To give you an idea of how rough her life was she left school at 13 to work on the rice farm in Issan, slept on the floor, cold showers, one room for the extended family.  A few months ago i asked her  if she was going back to see her grandmother(who brought her up) - she said she wanted to but did not want to stay there as the place was so very dirty and not staying there would upset her grandmother.  The girl is screwed up about what to do.

 

It does not seem to matter about upbringing, amount of money available or time - some people live in a sty and some do not.  I think it is the same in alot of countries.

[ferguston]

I returned home one evening and walked into our bedroom and thought we had a burglary  until the wife said she was trying on her new jeans and shirt and looking for her phone charger!

[owl sees all]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:48 PM, KC 71 said:

My wife,Stepdaughter,and nephew spent the whole day cleaning the house just the other day.it depends who you are with !

My wife, her daughter and a couple of others spent a day cleaning Grandma's house. First time in 5 years! Was really a mess when they started. Much better now. But outside!!!! Just sweeping rubbish from one place to another.

[puffy]

Why do people make such gross generalizations. Why can't people realize their experiences are not every bodies experiences.

The majority of my Thai friends have immaculate houses, far better than people I knew in England. That is not to say I am stupid

enough to start a thread saying "why are Thai houses cleaner than houses in the west" as just because that is my experience it

clearly doesn't constitute a fact.

 

[Ajarnbrian]

Why do some farang not shower every day? Guess that`s culture too.

[ThaiWai]

I wait until the whole family is dressed and ready to go to the beach. Then I say "but we can't go until the house is cleaned up". The sad faces is my reward. Asking nicely does nothing. They need an incentive. 

[pgrahmm]

I think it's a simple matter of ornamentation versus practicality.....

I was raised with a formal dining room & living room - adorned with crystal, mementos, portraits, pictures, heirlooms, keepsakes, etc.....

From there it want to family rooms versus formal rooms (dining, reception, entrances) & basically untouched carpeting in my houses.....

My wife (and daughters) keep a clean house - but every shelf is out to be used....Shelves I would use for ornamental are now about 50% taken by useful? Categorized stuff....

The walls are reserved for pictures, etc.....

Basically, I've given up = it's a fusion of cultures....

What they see as storage we see as useful display space....

My house, garden, wife, & children are well organized, clean ,and fine.....It's just about 180' off (normal) from what I WAS used to.....I can live with that....

Is it micro managed to the point of fixation = no.....Is it clean (but maybe cluttered) = yep.....

 

So do I need to change or do they?

Neither - there's wiggle room for both sides....

Edited April 10, 2018 by pgrahmm

[Krataiboy]

On 4/8/2018 at 5:13 PM, Peterw42 said:

People are confusing neat with clean. My wife loves clutter and is untidy "BUT" the floor gets moped and swept 2-3 times a day, clothes get washed after a 5 minute wearing, I had to re-grout the shower because she scrubbed all the grout away. 

She is still trying to break the world record for hoarding plastic bags, cardboard boxes and take-away containers.

Snap! 

 

And's here's what some British backyards look like, just to redress the balance a little. . . 

[i claudius]

They dont keep their homes clean? Wow please tell my wife.she was never told that

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Ridler]

An elderly Thai lady once told me that Thai people live like pigs, they just don’t see the mess, dust or the dirt

[NoshowJones]

Mrs Possum does.

[flexomike]

On 4/8/2018 at 8:59 AM, wildewillie89 said:

The Mrs, and also her folks, like to have a lot of useless stuff laying around the house that makes it look a tad clattered, but the houses are cleaned everyday. Whereas back home, nowhere near as much stuff laying about the place, but by no means was the place cleaned as often.

We just added a storage space when we built the outdoor kitchen, so now inside is a win win.

I did the same thing, now the storage place is full of junk, should have made it twice as big

 

[spidermike007]

I guess you have never been to Alabama. Or Arkansas. Most of the Thai homes I visit are super clean. And tidy. And the floors are mopped five times as often as in the US. Depends on how random a sample you are referring to. Certainly there are some who have no pride. But, most seem to. If you want to see dirty homes, travel to India. It is also a class thing, one might assume.