The week that was in Thailand news: Waging War on Lip Service

[rooster59]

The week that was in Thailand news: Waging War on Lip Service

 

 

Everywhere you look these days people seem to be declaring war on something or other. 

 

Thai immigration was going after the "Bad Guys". Big Joke refined the attack narrowing the battle to the Dark Skinned Baddies. Prayut and Prawit just want to put their khaki gloves on to bash anyone who doesn't agree with them as they take a leaf out of Drumph's book and attack fake news. Only the clueless TAT and tourism minister have no idea who the enemy is, but that is hardly relevant.

 

They couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag of Durian Kit-Kats let alone count the number of tourist arrivals accurately.

 

The most popular Thai war recently - adopted by the rich and those who aspire to be richer - is the War Against Plastic and its inherent arch-foe plastic bags (with handles).

 

Seven Eleven are said to be leading the battle from the front with other retail giants set to step into the fray big time for what Blackadder might satirically have called the "Final Push" against plastic on December 4th - Thai Environment Day. 

 

But everywhere I look there are plastic bags, plastic products and people using them as if there is no tomorrow. Will a "D-Day" here or a "TE -Day"  there make a blind bit of difference? Of course it won't. What needs changing is this society's whole behavior when it comes to waste, recycling and proper disposal.

 

I wish someone would start waging war on one of the greatest perils facing Thailand - barefaced, unadulterated Lip Service.

 

Rooster is as guilty as the next person in being part of the throw away society. I throw recyclable  items in the trash - out of sight out of mind. I admit it - even if each time there is an increasing strong feeling I am doing something wrong, exhibiting behavior I should change.

 

Sure I have turned down plastic bags at 7/11 for years but I'm inconsistent. It's often easier to just smile and accept when they put my already plastic packaged milk in a double plastic bag at Big C so it won't break. I smile - I'm usually too busy packing the weekly shop to bother. Besides I use the bags for my household waste. These are just some of my pitiful excuses.

 

When in England recently staying with my sister I joined her in putting everything in its correct recycling place - paper here, plastic there, cans on this side, glass on that. I felt better about myself - better about the environment. I was willing to do my bit if not exactly for the sake of Mother Earth at least for my own conscience.

 

Back in Thailand at my condo building there is no recycling scheme. So it was back to my old and entrenched habits. Everything in the trash, taken away by the maids, by the dustmen to a landfill I'd rather not think about....once again, out of sight and out of mind. 

 

Having been a long term adult, if not a child, of Thailand,  I am not immune to the service of lip.

 

When I came to Thailand in the 1980's it looked as though the country could lead the way in recycling because that is what many poor people did for a living. You rarely saw bottles or cans or even cardboard boxes lying about. Though only worth a few satang they were, in bulk, valuable to those collectors trying to scrape a meager existence. This still goes on of course but the scavengers are losing their role in the war on waste to the giant corporations and their need for image enhancement via photo opportunity.

 

I wish someone would stop these solitary days of action. All they do is pander to the worst qualities in people. And make it appear something is actually being done. The reality is nothing is achieved. And nothing will be until the government and big business acts to force the people through money, shame and policy to change their habits. 

 

I have hope for the Thais but being quite like them I know that nothing will change unless they are forced - and especially feel the pain in their pocketbook. 

 

My final word on the matter was news that a Sperm Whale had been found in Indonesia dead with 6 kilos of plastic waste in its stomach. I thought , is that all!? ; he clearly hadn't been swimming in Thai waters. 

 

The week on Thaivisa began with those TAT bods engaging in yet more inane spin. Without a shred of real evidence they claimed that the much trumpeted visa on arrival scheme was working wonders. Suddenly the tourists - mostly from Uzbekistan I shouldn't wonder - were back in droves.

 

Who are they trying to fool? Certainly not the traders in Chiang Mai who told Chiang Mai News that things were dire in the north. One headline called for the return of farangs after the Chinese exodus. It stopped short of adding "everything is forgiven". 

 

That may be a bit late as the competition for the tourist dollar heats up in places like Cambodia and Vietnam. 

 

With all this doom and gloom Rooster was starting to think that a chill pill was a good idea. Or maybe turn to medical weed! Then the angst was ratcheted up another notch as the Thai authorities refused patents to scurrilous foreigners who want a piece of the kingdom's maryjane action. 

 

Dream on - the Thai Tobacco Monopoly's days may ultimately be numbered but will probably be replaced by a new agency - the Thai Marijuana Monopoly. The money in the potential trade is just staggering hence all the shenanigans. 

 

Mrs Rooster thinks I am being crass when I put my nose to fresh readies from the bank and say "horm na!" - but she appreciates where I'm coming from.

 

Rooster is a proponent of the decriminalization of all drugs not just marijuana. But I believe in strict regulation of some of the most harmful and insidious - like heroin, ice, tobacco and alcohol. 

 

When one mentions the last two of these people think you just drifted in on wacky baccy. But it is just history and politics that dictates what is good and bad for us. Most people don't let facts get in the way of a good drugs rant. 

 

Never one to rant, the calm and collected Maj-Gen Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn was pictured receiving an apologetic "wai" from a mini van owner who 'mentioned his name in vain' to avoid investigation by Phayathai police in Bangkok. 

 

BJ, with that characteristic twinkle in his menacing eye, said he wouldn't press for charges of defamation. But he warned others that might use his name to get off the rap that he would show no leniency if they were up to mischief. 

 

Most surprising was that the Maj-Gen then gave out his personal mobile number. He urged people to call if they have a problem with miscreants using his name. He may live to regret that though I expect someone of his standing won't find it too hard to get another number. And it all added to the friendly PR being bandied about this week.

 

If BJ is not the next - or one but next - national police chief you can put me down as Surprised of Ratchayothin. 

 

Meanwhile other police expressed themselves satisfied with the "crackdowns" on crime ahead of the Loy Krathong celebration that was held on Thursday. These media events are nothing more than PR exercises slathered in lip service to make it appear that the RTP are doing something constructive.

 

When the commanding officer of these "raids" stands up to deliver his little speech about what his men are doing - following government policy, bringing  the evil ones to justice etc etc -  he is barely able to keep a straight face. His men DO laugh as they are dismissed to conduct more pointless activity.

 

No one finds any wrong doing because that is not the intention. When I translate such stories and give the contrary intention - that they really are looking for trouble makers and illegals -  they always get a lot of clicks. The story a few months back that the Pattaya police found no prostitution in Walking Street was a case in point. 

 

They weren't looking for any and had no intention of arresting anyone even if a lady boy had come up to the chief and offered to stroke his truncheon in a local shorty for 500 baht. 

 

It was appropriate that the raids - OK PR stunts - were done in advance of Loy Krathong. It's a charming festival but the traditions it espouses are wrought on the altar of lip service. Millions apologize to the Mother of H2O for polluting her waterways and simultaneously float away their troubles. How convenient and effacing it all is.

 

Next day the rivers and canals are even filthier and the people just as miserable - but at least they have had an hour or two of fun, been seen to do the right thing and gained some all important merit, whatever that is. 

 

And so to some Rooster Awards. Most Imaginative Excuse and Most Pathetic Excuse goes not to the myriad truck drivers and their failing brakes but the nasty piece of work from Loei who walloped a 60 year old lady repeated over the head with a piece of wood as he stole her money. "I only meant to hit her once," he burbled. "But she wouldn't go down".  If he thought he might get a degree of clemency for that he should think again. 

 

Prize Plonker goes to the man who met a "suay maak maak" woman on a dating site then sent "her" 89,000 baht in loans after a few Line chats. He compounded his idiocy by expecting the police to do something when the lady in question disappeared into the cyber ether with his hard earned. 

 

While the "Wasting Your Belgian Breath" award goes to the bods at that country's embassy who seemed to genuinely think that the Thai authorities would listen to their pronouncements on improving the situation on the roads via "more stringent legal enforcement". 

 

Bless! If there is one example of the Gold Standard in Lip Service it is when the words "stringent" and "enforcement" are put on the same page, let alone in the same sentence. 

 

Finally following last week's comments about people banging on about the need for work permits came news that a British man who catches snakes on Koh Samui really couldn't give a monkey's. 

 

Philip Brook from Stoke was featured on national TV as he used his bare hands to arrest a three meter King Cobra and return it to nature. Aware that such a story would bring the WPP (Work Permit Police) out from behind the safety of their keyboards I contacted Philip who told me that his activities at Samui Snake Rescue fall into a gray area when it comes to immigration. But the point is that he is seen to be doing good for Thailand and helping the local people. 

 

In the end if you do that the Thais will turn a blind eye to almost anything. 

 

Even if you take their jobs!

 

Rooster.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-11-24

[Stargeezr]

Thanks or another good read Rooster, 42 more sleeps, and I will be  in BKK

enjoying the sites.

[Artisi]

Is sleeping on the job, taking peoples jobs? 

[scottiejohn]

30 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Is sleeping on the job, taking peoples jobs? 

NO!  It is a prerequisite. 

[Prissana Pescud]

Good post yet again.

I must add that some locals visit my residence in the boonies to collect used metal containers and plastic bottles of all sizes. For a few baht to my ever loving wife.

But you are correct in the overuse of all things plastic as bags and wrapping. Even when you suggest that you can do without it to the counter staff, it makes no difference, everything must be double wrapped including pre wrapped food.

On a vacation to Koh Samui last year, noticed a disturbance in central tourist area near a plastic polluted block of scrub. Locals were stamping on the heads of mini cobras that were coming out of the spare block of land.

I wish that pommy bloke had been there, maybe a few would have been spared. Even though I am not sure that so many cobras should be in built up tourist areas. Oh Well 

  

[alexlm]

I don't understand because I'm not a native English speaker.

What is lip service? First I imagined it was some kind of Women make up trend or something and the shops were fighting each other for clients. But it looks like it's not that at all...

I do not understand even with Google's help.

Can anyone explain it without any irony or sarcasm, please?

I want to know so I need genuine detailed explanations.

Thank you for that

Edited November 25, 2018 by alexlm

[Prissana Pescud]

1 hour ago, alexlm said:

I don't understand because I'm not a native English speaker.

What is lip service? First I imagined it was some kind of Women make up trend or something and the shops were fighting each other for clients. But it looks like it's not that at all...

I do not understand even with Google's help.

Can anyone explain it without any irony or sarcasm, please?

I want to know so I need genuine detailed explanations.

Thank you for that

Lip service is seeming to go along with something when you intend to disregard it later. You promise to change an outcome but disregard it later on.

Politicians do this all the time. For instance all politicians make grand promises before an election. After they are elected, the promises they made are totally ignored. This is called "lip service" to the promise they made. (they make the promise moving their lips but never intended to  do the service)  ie, they are liars but as this seems harsh, it is called "lip service".

If you are taking the pease with this question, I am sure the moderators will enlighten you.

[Katia]

2 hours ago, alexlm said:

I don't understand because I'm not a native English speaker.

What is lip service? First I imagined it was some kind of Women make up trend or something and the shops were fighting each other for clients. But it looks like it's not that at all...

I do not understand even with Google's help.

Can anyone explain it without any irony or sarcasm, please?

I want to know so I need genuine detailed explanations.

Thank you for that

Essentially, saying nice things about something/someone.  Sometimes it is used in a positive sense-- "The service was great at the restaurant; I've been paying them lip service"-- but also used (as here) in a negative sense-- a type of hypocrisy.  That is, he's talking about how great it is to save plastic but doesn't do it himself in practice.

[Prissana Pescud]

4 minutes ago, Katia said:

Essentially, saying nice things about something/someone.  Sometimes it is used in a positive sense-- "The service was great at the restaurant; I've been paying them lip service"-- but also used (as here) in a negative sense-- a type of hypocrisy.  That is, he's talking about how great it is to save plastic but doesn't do it himself in practice.

I also tend to agree with you.  If you pay a respect to a food server and the food was average, you are making a falsehood, you are paying a "lip service"

[473geo]

An example of lip service

 

Speaking out accepting responsibility. Condemning the current situation. Accepting the need for change. Accepting change will be beneficial, claiming already working on solution for the good of all, as a priority. Stating anticipated change will bring the subject into line with international standards and agreements.

 

Subsequently failing to deliver any noticeable change

Edited November 25, 2018 by 473geo

[Prissana Pescud]

Enuf of the lip service. How about Thailand tackles the plastic bag explosion.

[473geo]

We know about reusable bags at supermarkets, to re-enforce this a charge for bags is probably the best way to get the message across, then simply remove the thin plastic bags and supply only re-usable at a price, supply paper bags to hold fruit - but what about fish and meats?

 

The pouring of drinks into a plastic bag with ice may require a little more thought - for example

 

Certainly a return to glass bottles is surely another option - especially if there is a refundable charge for return

 

Interestingly our water supplier charges 10 baht for plastic bottles not returned!!

[Prissana Pescud]

1 minute ago, 473geo said:

An example of lip service

 

Speaking out accepting responsibility. Condemning the current situation. Accepting the need for change. Accepting change will be beneficial, and already working on change for the good of all, as a priority. Stating anticipated change will bring the subject into line with international standards and agreements.

 

Subsequently failing to deliver any noticeable change

 

4 hours ago, Prissana Pescud said:

Good post yet again.

I must add that some locals visit my residence in the boonies to collect used metal containers and plastic bottles of all sizes. For a few baht to my ever loving wife.

But you are correct in the overuse of all things plastic as bags and wrapping. Even when you suggest that you can do without it to the counter staff, it makes no difference, everything must be double wrapped including pre wrapped food.

On a vacation to Koh Samui last year, noticed a disturbance in central tourist area near a plastic polluted block of scrub. Locals were stamping on the heads of mini cobras that were coming out of the spare block of land.

I wish that pommy bloke had been there, maybe a few would have been spared. Even though I am not sure that so many cobras should be in built up tourist areas. Oh Well 

  

Please give up on "lip service" and do something about the overuse of all plastics in Thailand. 

[Prissana Pescud]

4 minutes ago, 473geo said:

We know about reusable bags at supermarkets, to re-enforce this a charge for bags is probably the best way to get the message across, then simply remove the thin plastic bags and supply only re-usable at a price, supply paper bags to hold fruit - but what about fish and meats?

 

The pouring of drinks into a plastic bag with ice may require a little more thought - for example

 

Certainly a return to glass bottles is surely another option - especially if there is a refundable charge for return

 

Interestingly our water supplier charges 10 baht for plastic bottles not returned!!

Aust is introducing a policy to have shoppers bring their own permanent shopping bags to supermarkets. Seems a good idea

[473geo]

Another issue is the vacuum/pre packed foods, polystyrene and plastic! where to go with that one? 6 muffins/ 4 cakes in a plastic container? is a plastic bag worse or actually an improvement?

Perhaps it the littering that requires attention? Education on the disposal? stop people just dropping plastic bags anywhere? Throwing polystyrene anywhere!

There are many issues to be addressed.

 

Perhaps more pressure on suppliers to improve to more acceptable packaging in some cases?

 

I have to say there are frequent village clean ups in my area - great people

Edited November 25, 2018 by 473geo

[Prissana Pescud]

55 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Another issue is the vacuum/pre packed foods, polystyrene and plastic! where to go with that one? 6 muffins/ 4 cakes in a plastic container? is a plastic bag worse or actually an improvement?

Perhaps it the littering that requires attention? Education on the disposal? stop people just dropping plastic bags anywhere? Throwing polystyrene anywhere!

There are many issues to be addressed.

 

Perhaps more pressure on suppliers to improve to more acceptable packaging in some cases?

 

I have to say there are frequent village clean ups in my area - great people

There is no plastic cleanup in my area. My wife agrees that it is a huge problem but does not want me to get involved due to the politics.

The real problem is to how to dispose of polystyrene and film plastic (including general plastic bags) There must be a solution?

 An economic solution for poorer persons to collect it seems the best one. Any suggestions 

[Katia]

1 hour ago, 473geo said:

We know about reusable bags at supermarkets, to re-enforce this a charge for bags is probably the best way to get the message across, then simply remove the thin plastic bags and supply only re-usable at a price, supply paper bags to hold fruit - but what about fish and meats?

 

The pouring of drinks into a plastic bag with ice may require a little more thought - for example

 

Certainly a return to glass bottles is surely another option - especially if there is a refundable charge for return

 

Interestingly our water supplier charges 10 baht for plastic bottles not returned!!

Don't they give you your drink in a plastic bag often because they've poured it out of the glass bottle (which they will then return for recycling)?  (Otherwise, when I've seen drinks in bags, it's just an alternative to a plastic cup, so which is worse?)

 

I once avoided the bag by just telling the vendor I'd drink it right there-- then simply handed the bottle back.  Not doable in every situation, but I was really thirsty, lol.

[473geo]

3 minutes ago, Katia said:

Don't they give you your drink in a plastic bag often because they've poured it out of the glass bottle (which they will then return for recycling)?  (Otherwise, when I've seen drinks in bags, it's just an alternative to a plastic cup, so which is worse?)

 

I once avoided the bag by just telling the vendor I'd drink it right there-- then simply handed the bottle back.  Not doable in every situation, but I was really thirsty, lol.

Such as iced coffee is mixed but needs a container, and yes not sure which is worse, cup or bag, but I believe education on disposal when used is a major factor

[alexlm]

5 hours ago, Prissana Pescud said:

Lip service is seeming to go along with something when you intend to disregard it later. You promise to change an outcome but disregard it later on.

Politicians do this all the time. For instance all politicians make grand promises before an election. After they are elected, the promises they made are totally ignored. This is called "lip service" to the promise they made. (they make the promise moving their lips but never intended to  do the service)  ie, they are liars but as this seems harsh, it is called "lip service".

If you are taking the pease with this question, I am sure the moderators will enlighten you.

Sorry but what do you mean by "taking the pease"... I'm still not native ????

[Jane Dough]

6 minutes ago, alexlm said:

Sorry but what do you mean by "taking the pease"... I'm still not native ????

The poster meant to say "taking the piece" pissibly. Either way it means "extracting the you're in". 

[Artisi]

42 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

The poster meant to say "taking the piece" pissibly. Either way it means "extracting the you're in". 

Or taking the p i ss, a real pommie saying for giving you a bit of a stir. 

To save on a lot more posts:

Pommie is Australian slang for an Englishman, and stir is to make fun at your expense. 

[TPI]

Plastic plastic, everybody complains about it! Along with the fear of running out of oil...plastic is made from oil! The income/outcome of many countries depend on the sale of billions and billions of tons of oil... the world is only playing "lip service" to the minimisation of plastic products...where is Keanu Reeves when you need someone to save the planet??