11 hours ago, kannot said:

Its  actually  easy to mitigate it  all, you start as  soon as its  light, 6am, you stop at 10.30 am and do nothing until about 3-4pm then work until dark, Ive done this the last 5  years when temps often exceeded 38c on my land.

Laying concrete, digging, shovelling stone by the ton, etc etc If you do this you can get in at least 7  hours  full work in a day.

Thanks; I agree. Where there's a will there's a way. Right :-) 

 

I've often wondered if the heat effects Thais like it does individuals born/raised in cold climate or seasonal climate countries?  I often wonder how my wife can be hot, but when it goes to a/b 28 C she's cold?

 

Speaking a/b women: Around here women work in the rice fields all day when it's hot.... but it seems "too hot" for Thai men. I really don't know why Thai women allow this behavior by the typical Thai male. Do women here put men on a pedestal - to drink/gamble/run around but not work? 

9 hours ago, bangrak said:

No credit cards, debit cards, same-same but, very, different, especially for bankers...

By the way, it was published in 'the other paper' the average debt per head in Thailand is now at 10 months of salary... 

Debt is usually incurred b/c of a lack of self discipline. To remain somewhat debt free....under usual circumstances ...if an individual waited for cash in hand to purchase (except for essentials - or emergency) then they would avoid debt. From what I've observed there is little discipline (self or by others) in Thailand.  Seems the "live for today" is a driving force culturally.

Never been to Brunei, but Singapore seems to be doing fairly well with no minimum wage. 

 

If you want to earn more money learn a skill that people are willing to pay more money for. If you already have a job make yourself more valuable to your employer take on additional responsibilities and learn new aspects of your job/profession. If all you can do is dig a hole or lay bricks (not very well) don't expect to be living high on the hog. This applies to anywhere you live in the world, not just restricted to the country of Thailand.

Part of the problem is the lack of progression in employment. My wife worked for Charoen Optical for 10 years - her reward - still getting the same basic pay as those just joining the company. Had a responsible job for a lot of that period (stock taking at branches throughout Thailand). Also friends and family of managers would get jobs and be promoted within a year. Where is the motivation to work hard?

 

The above is also probably why so many Thais prefer to work for themselves, because they know if working for someone else they will rarely receive any reward for working hard. They see this so often that if they are offered a reward based on effort/achievement, they do not actually believe it.

 

Years ago when land and housing could be had for peanuts, working hard for a while could get you some significant results, now the same effort would just get you enough to pay the bills.

 

Not just Thailand. In the UK, i was able to buy a house in 1975 at the age of 23, and pay off the mortgage 6 years later. If you told University graduates now that they could own a house outright by the age of 30 they wouldn't believe you. Most know that they will only ever own a house after they get their inheritance or if they marry, both work, forget about kids and work until they are over 60. Wage slavery it now is. Equality was growing until the 1970's, since the 1980's equality has declined - in most of the western world, and although in developing countries the middle class is growing, most do not benefit, only the rich.