Thailand 4.0 :a rant

[GreasyFingers]

We are in the process of moving house in the next few days so we needed to set up the internet and change True Visions to the new house.

 

Item 1. Where we are now none of the internet providers could connect us to their network as we are too far away from their nearest connection (even though we offered to pay the cost).

Off we go to 3BB in Lomsak to set up the connection to the new location. No problem, the wife signed all of the paper work as that is easier for them. I asked about receiving the monthly invoice by email and paying it over the internet. No problem the girl said, just download our app. But I replied I only use the phone for calls and SMS, can I pay through my laptop. You will need to contact our call center for that.

This is an internet service provider and I cannot receive an invoice by email (the lady would not take my email address) and pay from my computer that I do for all other accounts.

 

Item 2: Then we went to the True shop to have the dish removed and connected to the new house. No problems, the wife signed all of the paper work and we were off. We did not specify a day for the change as we were flexible but received a call the it would be done in 2-3. Again no problem with that. Later, at night, we turned the tv on and there was no signal. OK, disconnect the router and tv from the mains to see if it was a router problem. No, still no signal. Asked the wife to call True to get it connected again. No, Thai cannot do that. After a shouting match that the world does not operate that way, I contacted the call center. Small waiting time, very pleasant lady with good English, she will have some one call me back. 50 minutes later no call so back to the call center. Again only a small wait and the man said he would call back in 10 minutes after reading my call log. 30 minutes later still no call so back to the call center. Another pleasant lady, asked me to hold for a minute and miraculously the tv was back on. Why was this not done after the first call?

If I acted like a Thai we would have been without tv for a few days (no problem for me but her father likes to watch the muay thai fights every night).

 

How on earth do they even talk about Thai 4.0 when two of their bigger suppliers cannot get thing right.

[BobbyL]

I still find it incredible that in 2018 if it rains my True TV and wifi usually go off. This was happening when I first came here in 2010 and still now. I live pretty much as centrally in Bangkok as you can. 

[BritManToo]

In thunderstorms, I usually lose my entire electricity supply.

Internet still works though (UPS).

[BritManToo]

11 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

This is an internet service provider and I cannot receive an invoice by email (the lady would not take my email address) and pay from my computer that I do for all other accounts.

You can pay 3BB using their website, and your account.

The girl got it wrong.

[Kwasaki]

All sounds like the norm to me, I go for ride out on my motorbike and pay either at True office or you can pay 7-11.

Since fibre-optic cables have come no problem with internet in any weather.

We have PSI on sat dish no problems.

We have True tv on cable no problems.

Surprise of problems Bkk they use to get everything first.

Out lying areas hang on it's coming. ?

 

[CharlieH]

I'm just surprised you expected any different and havnt learned by now.

 

As for "cant connect" there is always wi-net for when there is no cables.

 

Never believe what the first one says as the next will be different. ?

[AtoZ]

This week I wanted to pay by VISA in 711 as it was few thousands

 

"No can't do sir"

 

I point on the sticker (on the counter, behind her, on the door...) "we accept VISA"

 

"No can't do sir"

 

Soon year 2019

[Hayduke]

On 9/12/2018 at 2:21 PM, AtoZ said:

This week I wanted to pay by VISA in 711 as it was few thousands

 

"No can't do sir"

 

I point on the sticker (on the counter, behind her, on the door...) "we accept VISA"

 

"No can't do sir"

 

Soon year 2019

 

Look on the bright 4.0 side…soon your long-awaited Mangmoom card will also be of no use at a large number of convenient locations.

 

 

[CanterbrigianBangkoker]

Mr. GreasyFingers:  - the incidents you're relaying shouldn't come as any sort of surprise if you have lived in LoS for more than a few months to be fair.

 

I've lost track of the amount of times I have asked for assistance (with very simple things) in a corner shop / supermarket or similar retail situation - for instance help with finding a specific product - and the response from the first 'staff member' was along the lines of 'sorry we don't stock that right now', or 'we're out of that product', only to then find the item I was searching for myself or go on to ask a more apparently switched on 'staff member' and get the opposite response - and be shown roughly where the item should be. Although on occasion in Tesco (Lotut) I have asked for the whereabouts of something and just had a sad sack shop boy wave his arm very vaguely in one direction or another and run off without being able to be further interrogated. The same goes for a myriad of other situations too numerous to recall in their entirety, but taxi drivers spring to mind as another prime example. All down to laziness? I don't always think that's the case.

 

It's all a bit laughable, but this is the primary flaw with the culture in Thailand, to my mind - the reason for these responses is  1)deference and bashfulness (to varying extents) mixed with 2) the overwhelming desire not to lose face and admit you don't know the answer to a question, however basic it might be, and end up looking 'silly'. The second reason being the overriding one in most exchanges, IMO.

 

This is still often the case even if one can speak Thai to a reasonable level, as I can. This is one of the areas where our cultures differ most I feel, in the West, god knows we have our flaws as a civilisation (some specific societies being better than others ?) but I've literally never experienced the same problem in the UK or on the continent for that matter. Most of us grow out of that silly, effete (child-like) behaviour around the time of late prepubescence, in my experience at least.

 

The moral here is, sadly - in such situations, don't accept the first response as the truth, if you have a reason to believe the reality is to the contrary. Such is the ubiquity of this issue that when I do encounter a more ballsy Thai who is both savvy and bold enough to actually assist, that I'm genuinely and pleasantly surprised. My missus was and remains one of these exceptions, luckily, but even she often suffers from the same general inability to bring other Thais up on their incompetence / malady of face-saving actions. It's just hard-wired into them from a young age and is probably the prime reason why they have developed in the way they have. It's not unique to Thais either, but I think it's perhaps more extreme here, which is certainly a problem that needs to be overcome if Thailand 4.0 is ever to gain legs.

 

Sidenote: Despite my ramblings above, I do generally like the Thais as a people, they're a relaxed and irreverent lot that don't always take themselves too seriously. They are often kind, hospitable, friendly and warm individuals. Just to balance out the criticisms above, and prove I'm not another totally jaded TV member - there are some things I admire about the Thais, including their palpable community spirit, solidarity and civic pride which is sorely missing from my native land these days, as well as their closeness with and devotion to family - again a real merit and something we have slowly lost in the West for a number of reasons. If only we could blend the two cultures together more effectively then perhaps we could find harmony? Maybe more 'farang' need to have more kids out here and affect the culture / gene-pool from within? As I have done. Your welcome Thailand ? . Rant complete...  

 

ขอบคุณสำหรับความเอื้อเฟื้อเผื่อแผ่ประเทศไทย

 

[jgarbo]

On 9/12/2018 at 2:21 PM, AtoZ said:

This week I wanted to pay by VISA in 711 as it was few thousands

 

"No can't do sir"

 

I point on the sticker (on the counter, behind her, on the door...) "we accept VISA"

 

"No can't do sir"

 

Soon year 2019

Did you speak Thai or English? I use Thai whenever possible, very polite and patient. Rarely any problems, though sometimes the "first girl" may be from another section and standing in for her friend who knows. Then the "second girl" will fix it.

[Faikham]

Don't worry about it. Thailand 5.0 is right around the corner!

[fittobethaied]

Well, if this is going to be a rant topic, then I'm going to tell you about my day. My Thai widow neighbor asked my wife to take her to the bank to deposit into her account an insurance settlement check written on a U*B Bank draft on demand. Her name on the check started with Mrs., but her name on her ID card started with Ms. The teller handed her back the check and said "no can do. If that wasn't stupid enough, we next headed to U*B Bank to cash the check and were told that unless she had a U*B account she couldn't cash the check. They would gladly open an account for her but she would have to leave 1000 baht in the account, and the poor lady can't afford to do that. Then, I took her to another branch of the first bank and they accepted the deposit to her account, but said that the computer system may reject the deposit by tomorrow because of the Mrs/Ms problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone and having an out-of-body experience. I have never seen such a country where employees simply cannot think for themselves, and will spend 30 minutes telling you every reason why they can't help you instead of focusing on finding a way to solve such simple problems. Half my day was wasted and my blood pressure is through the roof. When am I going to wake up from this nightmare?   

[CharlieH]

"When am I going to wake up from this nightmare?"   

 

When you either pass through immigration as you leave the country! 

OR

When you adopt the "up to you or mai pen rai" attitude, after all, things can only stress you if you allow them to. ?

[NCC1701A]

Here in Hua Hin, like today, as soon as I hear the sound of distant thunder everything electronic gets shut off. 

[fittobethaied]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

"When am I going to wake up from this nightmare?"   

 

When you either pass through immigration as you leave the country! 

OR

When you adopt the "up to you or mai pen rai" attitude, after all, things can only stress you if you allow them to. ?

Well, I'm 8 years in and counting, but it's not getting any better. I can't seem to heal long enough for my attitude to change. Every time I go out of my home I get hit with situations like this every single time. The insanity in this place is just never ending! 

[CharlieH]

11 minutes ago, fittobethaied said:

Well, I'm 8 years in and counting, but it's not getting any better. I can't seem to heal long enough for my attitude to change. Every time I go out of my home I get hit with situations like this every single time. The insanity in this place is just never ending! 

I can relate as I am 12 yrs in. But believe me in that the hardest part in my opinion is letting go of the "western" expectations in those type of circumstances. You wont get so stressed and live longer. ?

 

I always look at it like we were taught "chess" and play by those rules, they play "tiddlywinks" and you cant apply your rules to their game. ?

[LomSak27]

30 minutes ago, jgarbo said:

Did you speak Thai or English? I use Thai whenever possible, very polite and patient.

I speak pretty good Thai but if I am with my girlfriend invariably, as in 90 per cent of the time, they will ignore what I have said in totally understandable Thai, and ask my girlfriend. 

 

I know of a person who has spent most of their life in Thailand, and speaks better Thai than most farang ever will and has the same thing happen.    Go figure

[GreasyFingers]

1 hour ago, fittobethaied said:

Well, if this is going to be a rant topic, then I'm going to tell you about my day. My Thai widow neighbor asked my wife to take her to the bank to deposit into her account an insurance settlement check written on a U*B Bank draft on demand. Her name on the check started with Mrs., but her name on her ID card started with Ms. The teller handed her back the check and said "no can do. If that wasn't stupid enough, we next headed to U*B Bank to cash the check and were told that unless she had a U*B account she couldn't cash the check. They would gladly open an account for her but she would have to leave 1000 baht in the account, and the poor lady can't afford to do that. Then, I took her to another branch of the first bank and they accepted the deposit to her account, but said that the computer system may reject the deposit by tomorrow because of the Mrs/Ms problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone and having an out-of-body experience. I have never seen such a country where employees simply cannot think for themselves, and will spend 30 minutes telling you every reason why they can't help you instead of focusing on finding a way to solve such simple problems. Half my day was wasted and my blood pressure is through the roof. When am I going to wake up from this nightmare?   

I have an account with the Kasikorn bank that takes the withholding tax out when it is well below the limit where they should. When I claim it back I get a cheque from the Dept. of Revenue and the K bank will not let me deposit back into the same account.

[Lacessit]

If the OP is going to live in the middle of B**<deleted>, Thailand he should expect the modern world is not going to intrude all that often.

I pay cash for everything here, so all this stress about whether one can pay with a Visa card or on the internet is irrelevant to me.

I guess living in Thailand is a bit like judo - one is more successful if they use their opponent's strength against them.

[upu2]

On 9/12/2018 at 8:47 AM, BobbyL said:

I still find it incredible that in 2018 if it rains my True TV and wifi usually go off. This was happening when I first came here in 2010 and still now. I live pretty much as centrally in Bangkok as you can. 

If your signal is via radio then the rain will affect it very badly. When you go over 300MHz for the carrier the attenuation is exponential, hence this is why you lose the signal as the transmission is in the 2.4GHz band

[GreasyFingers]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If the OP is going to live in the middle of B**<deleted>, Thailand he should expect the modern world is not going to intrude all that often.

I pay cash for everything here, so all this stress about whether one can pay with a Visa card or on the internet is irrelevant to me.

I guess living in Thailand is a bit like judo - one is more successful if they use their opponent's strength against them.

I wish I had the time to do that. Out here there is too much work just keeping the weeds down.

[CharlieH]

7 minutes ago, upu2 said:

If your signal is via radio then the rain will affect it very badly. When you go over 300MHz for the carrier the attenuation is exponential, hence this is why you lose the signal as the transmission is in the 2.4GHz band

Well bugger me ! There is a sound technical logical answer. I was happy thinking it was just a crap system !

You ruined that now ?

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, CanterbrigianBangkoker said:

It's not unique to Thais either, but I think it's perhaps more extreme here,

 

True, as is the rest of your post. My first experience with 'face loss' was in Hong Kong, when I ordered some chicken wings. After some time had passed I looked around to ask my waitress where my order was but she was nowhere to be seen. I summoned a waiter and he reported back that he found her hiding as they didn't have wings and she didn't want to tell me. It's like dealing with small children who have not yet grown up to accept responsibility.

[connda]

On 9/12/2018 at 8:47 AM, BobbyL said:

I still find it incredible that in 2018 if it rains my True TV and wifi usually go off. This was happening when I first came here in 2010 and still now. I live pretty much as centrally in Bangkok as you can. 

Heck, when it rains virtually everything in the village goes off - but - my True Wifi.  Considering I have the router attached to a UPS, I'm good for web surfing in the dark.

[Media1]

Email me when Thailand 1 is online. Look behind the counter at immigration  lol.. There dinasour. 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, GreasyFingers said:

I wish I had the time to do that. Out here there is too much work just keeping the weeds down.

I hope you have a Work Permit for that.

[The manic]

4 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

Well, if this is going to be a rant topic, then I'm going to tell you about my day. My Thai widow neighbor asked my wife to take her to the bank to deposit into her account an insurance settlement check written on a U*B Bank draft on demand. Her name on the check started with Mrs., but her name on her ID card started with Ms. The teller handed her back the check and said "no can do. If that wasn't stupid enough, we next headed to U*B Bank to cash the check and were told that unless she had a U*B account she couldn't cash the check. They would gladly open an account for her but she would have to leave 1000 baht in the account, and the poor lady can't afford to do that. Then, I took her to another branch of the first bank and they accepted the deposit to her account, but said that the computer system may reject the deposit by tomorrow because of the Mrs/Ms problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone and having an out-of-body experience. I have never seen such a country where employees simply cannot think for themselves, and will spend 30 minutes telling you every reason why they can't help you instead of focusing on finding a way to solve such simple problems. Half my day was wasted and my blood pressure is through the roof. When am I going to wake up from this nightmare?   

It appears to me the cause of the problem was the old lady using the Politically Correct, Feminist Ameciricanism, 'Ms' instead of the more specific and traditional 'Mrs'. Anyway: No good deed goes unpunished. 

[vinegarbase]

On 9/11/2018 at 9:16 PM, GreasyFingers said:

Where we are now none of the internet providers could connect us to their network

Do you use AIS for your cell phone service? 

 

Get an unlimited data plan on your cell phone for 450 baht a month and then just use your cell phone as a hotspot for internet at home. When you go out you have the additional benefit of having unlimited 4g wherever you go so you save from paying an extra bill. Also I have had the power go out at my home but no problem because my internet was running through the AIS 4G so I could still get online.

[curtklay]

 I was at Global House buying a small gas BBQ grill they had on sale. A clerk got one out of the back, put it in a cart, and walked me up to the check-stand. The cashier rang it up, and while the sale price was correct, there was some kind of additional charge tacked on for about $7. I pointed to her monitor, and said “what is that?”. All I got in response was laughter. I said, “ no seriously, what is the additional charge for?” She had already run my credit card, and was waiting for me to sign the slip. I turned to the clerk for help. They had a discussion about the price, and he confirmed the sale price, but didn’t know what the added $7 was for. Then he said, “sign the slip please”. I said, “wait a minute, something ain’t right”. He goes over to the main desk, comes back, points to the extra charge, and says “free”. I say, “OK I still don’t know what it is, but if it’s free, fine”. They just stand there looking at me. She hands me a pen, and says “sign please”. I said “no, the amount isn’t right, and I’m not signing until you correct it”. Now a Manager comes over, studies the transaction, and says “oh, the cash register is wrong”. I say “yes”, and he says “sign the slip please”. I say “are you nuts?” Everybody is laughing. The guy behind me says to me, “their cash register charged you the wrong price.” I say, “yes, I know that” and he says “sign the slip.” I say “no, I’m not signing a slip with the wrong price on it. They have to void the transaction and start over again.” He says “oh.”    Finally the cashier figures it out, re-rings the sale, and gives me a correct slip to sign. She also gives me a copy of the voided slip. Everybody’s laughing except me.

I’ll never understand what goes through their brains. She obviously knew how to correct the error, but apparently expected me to sign it anyway. Is it laziness, stupidity, or what? A guy told me one time that he was overcharged at a 7/11. When he pointed it out to the cashier, she said “you’re a Farang. You can pay.”
 

[GreasyFingers]

11 hours ago, vinegarbase said:

Do you use AIS for your cell phone service? 

 

Get an unlimited data plan on your cell phone for 450 baht a month and then just use your cell phone as a hotspot for internet at home. When you go out you have the additional benefit of having unlimited 4g wherever you go so you save from paying an extra bill. Also I have had the power go out at my home but no problem because my internet was running through the AIS 4G so I could still get online.

No. The phone is for calls and SMS. I need at least a 15" screen to read so the phone is not connected to the internet.