Does Thailand ever undertake time and motion studies?

[Bangkok Barry]

I doubt it. So much time seems to be wasted on various tasks. What prompted my thought was that today I have to visit my drug dealer at the local homo sapiens maintenance and repair centre to get another three month supply to keep blood pressure etc in check. Every time there are over 100 people there, no air conditioning and when I go today I expect 37 degrees. And I, and my wife, have to sit there for maybe two hours to see the doctor for two minutes and for the doctor to print out the form to take to a nurse who enters it into a computer and then we take the form to the dispensary. In my local UK we used to, and I assume it still happens, go to the local doctor, tell the receptionist we are there for a repeat prescription as nothing has changed, she looks it up on the computer and takes the form to the doctor who signs it. Two minutes instead of two hours. I'm sure that many of the people waiting with us are in the same situation, waiting to see the doctor unnecessarily. A waste of everyone's time, patient and doctor alike. Surely doctors should only be there to examine and treat people who need immediate help.

Another example is repeatedly having to provide the same information, year after year after year, to immigration when applying for an extension. Surely all that is needed is to sign a form saying nothing has changed since a year ago and acknowledging that giving false information could result in arrest and deportation, add a letter from the bank confirming the required funds, and it could be approved by the local IO in minutes. Instead, all the forms and photos have to be sent away to the regional office where, for some reason, it takes a month to process. Instead of taking five minutes it takes a month.

 

Others, I'm sure, will have other frustrating examples. And who will be the first to tell me if I don't like it to go back to the UK?

[CharlieH]

Try a builders merchant ! And many other stores, takes a short time to get what you want, but 20 minutes or more to actually pay and get out of there !

 

Immigration could/should be ALL online in this day and age of technology.Upload, confirm, done !

 

[NCC1701A]

9 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Another example is repeatedly having to provide the same information, year after year after year, to immigration when applying for an extension. Surely all that is needed is to sign a form saying nothing has changed since a year ago and acknowledging that giving false information could result in arrest and deportation, add a letter from the bank confirming the required funds, and it could be approved by the local IO in minutes. Instead, all the forms and photos have to be sent away to the regional office where, for some reason, it takes a month to process. Instead of taking five minutes it takes a month.

the answer to this is corruption. the more difficult the process and more interaction the more opportunity for corruption.

corruption is the only reason for 90 day reporting. 

 

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

Just now, NCC1701A said:

the answer to this is corruption. the more difficult the process and more interaction the more opportunity for corruption.

corruption is the only reason for 90 day reporting. 

 

 

 

 

How does that work when it can be done on-line? I'm curious.

[foreverlomsak]

of course they undertake time and motion studies, it's lunchtime and boy do they move,

[Susco]

15 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 today I have to visit my drug dealer at the local homo sapiens maintenance and repair centre to get another three month supply to keep blood pressure etc in check.

 

From your OP we now know why you need those meds ????

[colinneil]

Bangkok Barry..... You avin a laugh,????

Time and motion here, ha, ha.

Recently i went in a local d.i.y. place, not a national chain, local.

I wanted 2 kilo of 3inch nails, 3 minutes, lady went off with my 100 baht note, to find the lady cashier, after 10 minutes i just left, better things to do with my time than sit there waitng for 8 baht.

[NCC1701A]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

 

How does that work when it can be done on-line? I'm curious.

you have to do it. in person or on line it is just more unnecessary interaction. 

 

fail to report give us money. 

 

the list is endless. 

 

[foreverlomsak]

19 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

What prompted my thought was that today I have to visit my drug dealer at the local homo sapiens maintenance and repair centre to get another three month supply to keep blood pressure etc in check.

Can you not obtain them from your local pharmacy to save queueing up, would also be vastly cheaper, I get Anapril5, for my BP control, 3 months supply (90 tablets) would be about 180 Baht.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

Can you not obtain them from your local pharmacy to save queueing up, would also be vastly cheaper, I get Anapril5, for my BP control, 3 months supply (90 tablets) would be about 180 Baht.

 

Possibly. As for cost, I pay around 600 baht for a three month supply of five tablets, including the doctor fee which I think is 100 baht.

[Rampant Rabbit]

The results  would  be  hilarious and 90%  of the workforce would be out of a  job. I  guess the  best places to see real work done would  be the major  car manufacturers.

Often is the  case I see ridiculous amounts of wasted  time.

[Rampant Rabbit]

26 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Try a builders merchant ! And many other stores, takes a short time to get what you want, but 20 minutes or more to actually pay and get out of there !

 

Immigration could/should be ALL online in this day and age of technology.Upload, confirm, done !

 

Try asking my Wife   a YES  or  NO question , seems a straight answer is  never  available and if  involving another Thai it  will be 20  minutes before being told......................don't  know!

[Rampant Rabbit]

23 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

How does that work when it can be done on-line? I'm curious.

Currently it  can't  if you did  an in person 90 day when the system was down in March, it now says to contact them, ludicrous. Must have done online reports for 4  years  now and one time it's  down has ruined their system .

[Bangkok Barry]

5 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Currently it  can't  if you did  an in person 90 day when the system was down in March, it now says to contact them, ludicrous. Must have done online reports for 4  years  now and one time it's  down has ruined their system .

 

Okay. I'm lucky as I prefer in person as the IO is near a couple of supermarkets I can go to afterwards. My wife also gives the relevant officer fruit from our garden, after she did so when he made the house visit. Good to keep him onside.

[Bangkok Barry]

I might have included in my 'hospital review' the various stages 1 - go to a window where they keep the medical records and hand over the patient ID. 2 - Wait and wait and wait, and eventually be called to a desk where they ask your weight and note the reading from the printout from the self-service blood pressure machine. 3 - Wait and wait until called to line up on one of about 10 chairs outside the doctors office. 4 - Wait and wait until your turn and enter the doctor's office. The door remains open, and one particular doctor, the hospital director, calls the next patient in to sit and wait in his room while he speaks with the patient before. Zero patient confidentiality. 5 - Take the prescription to another desk where they enter the details into their computer, and wait and wait. 6 - Get the form back and take to the dispensary, and wait and wait. 7 - Receive the drugs and go to another window and pay (no waiting).
As I said, two people and two minutes to do the job in the UK, but two hours and five different people involved, plus the cashier, in Thailand. Still, the hospital does provide excellent medical care within minutes at most if need be, not hours waiting in a corridor as often in the UK, or so I read.

[Rampant Rabbit]

26 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Okay. I'm lucky as I prefer in person as the IO is near a couple of supermarkets I can go to afterwards. My wife also gives the relevant officer fruit from our garden, after she did so when he made the house visit. Good to keep him onside.

I'm  45km from the nearest  one each way total 90km.

[Bangkok Barry]

6 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

I'm  45km from the nearest  one each way total 90km.

 

Me too. Actually 50 each way, but there's a large Big C and a Makro close by to explore at the same time. Quite handy ????

[Swiss1960]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

the answer to this is corruption. the more difficult the process and more interaction the more opportunity for corruption.

corruption is the only reason for 90 day reporting. 

 

 

 

Corruption on something that is free?

[Pilotman]

time and motion studies went out with the ark.  managers, at least good ones, began to realise that there is a big big difference between working hard and working smart. 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Others, I'm sure, will have other frustrating examples. And who will be the first to tell me if I don't like it to go back to the UK?

I accept that things are different to UK,  it's the Thai way.

I attend govt hospital every 4 months and take my re-visit slip and register at 10am we then go shopping or go home and go back about 2pm, the longest I waited then to see Doc can be about an hour get a prescription, put that to hospital pharmacy, go of eat somewhere for an hour and it's usually ready for collection.

 

Thai people get there at 8am and stay all day until they get their meds. 

[fondue zoo]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

How does that work when it can be done on-line? I'm curious.

 

There looks to be a trend where they don't want to bring in tech experts from outside of Thailand and they don't have the expertise in Thailand.

[Bangkok Barry]

30 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

I accept that things are different to UK,  it's the Thai way.

I attend govt hospital every 4 months and take my re-visit slip and register at 10am we then go shopping or go home and go back about 2pm, the longest I waited then to see Doc can be about an hour get a prescription, put that to hospital pharmacy, go of eat somewhere for an hour and it's usually ready for collection.

 

Thai people get there at 8am and stay all day until they get their meds. 

 

That's a phrase my wife used to say - ''It's the Thai way'. To which I would respond, 'Yes, that's the problem'. She doesn't say it anymore.

 

I tend to go after lunch when most of the morning patients have been and gone. Now and then it might still take a couple of hours as there are so many left over from the morning. Am I surprised that so few decide to not go until the afternoon and wait only two hours or less rather than five or six hours? Not really. That would require initiative and common sense.

[Joe Farang]

2 people and 2 minutes in the UK is pretty much the way it works in Ireland also. But is it a better system where drugs are dispensed repeatedly month after month, year after year without having a proper checkup with the Doctor ?

Getting a generic set of blood tests every now and then is very limited.

[Golden Triangle]

@Bangkok BarryThe only  reason I see the Dr is if I have a problem, a few months back I had a problem with my ankles swelling, it would appear that I had developed a reaction to the BP medication I had been using for decades, literally.

 

He did the usual and gave me a different drug, I checked my BP twice a day at home and recorded the results for him, my BP readings were a lot more stable and the swelling in my ankles disappeared in about 2 weeks, now I just get my meds from the local pharmacy & check my BP a couple of times a week.

 

I'd love to know what you're taking if you only get 5 tablets for 3 months.

[CharlieH]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

How does that work when it can be done on-line? I'm curious.

Could that be why its NOT possible for many to use the online system for months ? Because the online system was stemming or stopping the flow of tea money on late reports etc ? Just a thought.

[Joe Farang]

3 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Try a builders merchant ! And many other stores, takes a short time to get what you want, but 20 minutes or more to actually pay and get out of there !

 

Immigration could/should be ALL online in this day and age of technology.Upload, confirm, done !

 

 "All online", "Upload, confirm, done"

 

That's all well and good when it's straightforward. My worst experience with Immigration was with UK Immigration and I'm not British nor was a visit to UK a part of my plans.

My Thai wife and I were coming to Ireland for the first time, so I booked flights from Bangkok, Heathrow, Ireland. We were just transitting through Heathrow so I didn't give it a second thought. After the flight booking it came to my attention that my wife might need a UK visa just to transit through uk.

I went online and searched and searched on the UK Immigration site and the best info I could find was "She May" need a Visa.

So then I went to the Online application page and filled in the pre check questions and to my horror found out she would need to go through the whole process of applying for a visa as if she going to UK.

I went through the online process(just to see where it led)

Questions like "Where will you be staying" were answered with Heathrow Airport and even entered the phone number for Heatrow.

"How much money will you have for your stay, Give details", "£10 for a sandwich and cup of tea"

Then at the end of the application, the fee was in US $ would you believe.

Needless to say, we didn't go ahead with the application due to cost and time constraints with appointments required at embassy etc.

Email queries to UK Immigration regarding the "May be required" went unanswered

The Airline responded by saying UK Immigration rules had nothing to do with them.

So we took the risk and turned up at Bangkok Airport and she was refused boarding on Qatar Airways. The email saying UK immigration had nothing to do with them was basically dismissed. They agreed to put my wife on another route for free 12 hours later, but I had to pay to book another flight.

I understand the common travel arrangement between uk and Ireland (no Immigration checks) was the root of the issue, but there should have been a clearer Instruction online. Maybe it's better nowadays

[sherwood]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I might have included in my 'hospital review' the various stages 1 - go to a window where they keep the medical records and hand over the patient ID. 2 - Wait and wait and wait, and eventually be called to a desk where they ask your weight and note the reading from the printout from the self-service blood pressure machine. 3 - Wait and wait until called to line up on one of about 10 chairs outside the doctors office. 4 - Wait and wait until your turn and enter the doctor's office. The door remains open, and one particular doctor, the hospital director, calls the next patient in to sit and wait in his room while he speaks with the patient before. Zero patient confidentiality. 5 - Take the prescription to another desk where they enter the details into their computer, and wait and wait. 6 - Get the form back and take to the dispensary, and wait and wait. 7 - Receive the drugs and go to another window and pay (no waiting).
As I said, two people and two minutes to do the job in the UK, but two hours and five different people involved, plus the cashier, in Thailand. Still, the hospital does provide excellent medical care within minutes at most if need be, not hours waiting in a corridor as often in the UK, or so I read.

Same in my neck of the woods. And the Doctor wonders why my B.P is over the top.

I dont go any more.

[ColeBOzbourne]

Reminds me of waste disposal in many South American cities, and sometimes Thailand. You can't find a trash can along the street, so everyone drops trash at their feet without a second thought. By evening it looks like the landfill blew in on a storm. Late at night the sweeping crews come through and sweep up all the trash and put into bags. Then the street people tear open the bags. Before morning the trucks come through to load it and haul it. In the morning merchants spray sidewalks and streets with water and it looks squeaky clean again...until that afternoon. Much of that could be avoided by simply placing trash cans along the street for public use. Others argue that it would put a lot of people out of work as the street sweepers would no longer be needed.

[Saltire]

Well the title made me laugh out loud for real!

 

Mainly because my first job out of university was a trainee Industrial Engineer (Time and Motion man). Fortunately it was with a very large employer of that era and I very quickly transferred to a new job in the IT Systems Department. However this was after I had picked up the essentials of time and motion study.

 

This served me ok in my new jobs but with my natural flair for logical  thinking, left me pretty much looking at how everything I observed in daily life could be improved. Sometimes this was very handy when I graduated to very large IT projects, but I saw inneficiences absolutely everywhere, and still do.

 

As for Thailand I have thought several times how trying to streamline operations such as you outline in hospitals (my local one is identical) would be the challenge of a lifetime. I have watched this fiasco many times and have wished (for a nano second) that I could be employed to streamline it. However in reality that would be a sure fire route to a mental breakdown!

 

 

 

 

 

[Lacessit]

Standing in a line at any Big C, Tops or Tesco here, the answer is no. The checkout chicks obviously don't have any clock on them, they frequently chat to a neighbor or friend while other people wait.

Go into any Aldi store in Australia, the target all checkout staff have to meet is 3000 items an hour.

Apply that standard in Thailand, and every checkout person here would be fired after one day.