Working With The Thai Mentality?

[elkangorito]

Thai Engineers are one thing but what about Thai "tradesmen"? So far, the work I've seen done by Thai "tradesmen", has been at best, woeful (disregarding some domestic civil projects).

Did a Thai engineer wire your house for you? Did a Thai engineer do your plumbing for you? Did a Thai engineer design & personally build your house for you? If they did, you are probably very lucky & you may have also paid a premium for these services. However, I don't think that is, or will be the case.

In the meantime & excluding "engineering", what about the standard of work in the "majority" of the country? Mind you, Thai attitude does play some part in this but as I've mentioned before, there is no need to tolerate mediocrity.

[samran]

I was thinking about this thread this morning.

You see, I was sitting in a meeting with a CEO, CFO and senior management of a thai publically listed company, which employs a fair few people. A highly professional and successful company. I like their mentaility.

Based on intelligence, business success, dedication, work ethic, management style, etc etc etc they'd wipe the floor here with most people here, including me.

But, alas, I also understand the other side of the coin, and I like Soundman's glue story. Bloody hilarious.

[mrtoad]

I don't know about you guys, & I may be wrong, but I read the post about 130 Kbps as a cynical reference to a useless broadband network and connection speeds..

Cheers.

I was thinking the same, but maybe Guesthouse is aware of a new currency.

[naka]

Guesthouse.

Let me try again.

The point I was trying to make was this :-

If in your opinion Thailand's engineers are so excellent, then why have I never

in all my years heard of a world class Thai brand ?

I could rattle off a hundred US, Euro or Asian world class brands but nary a one home grown in Thailand.

Naka.

[GuestHouse]

I suspect the reason for that has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with the inward looking focus of Thai society. Hence the almost total lack of Thai brands on the International market for any product of service.

However, my view, and the view is that Thai engineers and designers can and do compete very well against engineers and designers elsewhere in the world - A view shared by many of the international O&G, Chemical and Pharmceuticl companies who spend their money on Thai engineering and design services.

[Payboy]

They all want to get paid without having to do anything in return.

about sums it up.....

[JetsetBkk]

A view shared by many of the international O&G, Chemical and Pharmceuticl companies who spend their money on Thai engineering and design services.

Not just because they're cheap?

[meemiathai]

Guesthouse, Ive notice you have changed over the years regarding your posts. Did you just excape death or something???

I have too. But everyone changes.

[AlexLah]

Now working and living in Asia for four years and the last two years living in BKK Thailand.

Responsible for the Asia Pacific region so I get to see and talk with a lot of my company's employees from low to the highest levels.

The reactions I see here are not so much specifically Thai related but can be observed throughout the region in my humble opinion.

A lot has to do with the local GM, if he is a bonehead and does not (want) to understand he/she has to surround him/herself with good quality people you will end up deeply frustrated as not much gets done (meaning the things you would like to see achieved).

In general most Asian GM's do not want to hire people smarter then them, but believe me, in my company it would not be that difficult......

And surprisingly a similair situation I find when working at HQ in my home country and observing from here. Those people that go with the flow and do not point out the weaknesses within an organisation and not give suggestions on how to improve are the ones that get promoted, now why is that?

Anyway it is about Thailand so I will write down a few experiences I had recently. I will not give all the examples from the last two years here, as it would be a long read.

I am a very patient person and always try to be understanding and try to adapt to local culture where I can and still feel OK.

I am aware of rote learning that is practised throughout Asia but is changing slowly for the better.

So when my company asked me to make an assesment of the skills and knowledge of the Thai staff I refused as a lot of staff was new and never had some form of training. So I had a discussion with the management team at Asia HQ and we agreed I would give them a monthly training for one year (2 days a month) to upgrade their skills and knowledge and each training ended with a questionaire and they had to score at least 70%.

Performance linked to carreer opportunities, salary and end year bonus.

This was all explained to them and before each training started a trainee manual in Thai language was provided so that they could study and re read what was explained during the training. It included pictures and pictograms just to make sure people that were not so good in reading would understand by looking at the pictures and picto's.

I tested this concept with a few friends who have no idea about this bizz at all and they were able to have an 80% score after study for a day.

To make a long story short now after 11 months of training I can say that at least 80% of the staff here either have no brains at all or are just to stubborn to accept that there is another more efficient way to do things.

I have told them my concerns and that they will loose their job if they will not achieve at least a 70% positive score next month when doing the final exam.

A few of them bought new cars with a loan based on their current salary

I have been fair and honest to them but it seems they just do not care. Another thing I noticed is that of the 20% good performers 90% are females.

Another thing that really is a pain in the a55 is the whole "Face" thingy.

Today I asked one off the staff (Product Manager by e-mail and copy the GM and HQ) if she could check if one staff member finished proof reading some documents as was promised by him (In front of the team) and in a 1 on 1 meeting 2 months ago.

He just denied ever having agreed with that and told he was very upset by making him loose face by sending that e-mail.

The GM from HQ sended out an e-mail asking where the document was/is and who could answer this question.

Then a lot of phone calls where made and recieved by my product manager who was asked by me to check on the progress and she told me if I could send an e-mail back to HQ that it was all just a misunderstanding on who suppose to do the proof reading and that it would be ready by end of next week.

This message came from the GM Thailand.

My blood was boiling at that time as I did not agree letting this guy get away with his behaviour. The Product manager fully agreed and told me that such actions are a source of all the "Gossip" that takes place in Thai workplaces.

So I sended out an e-mail to all involved that there was some kind of misunderstanding but also thanked the culprit to take up the task of proofreading and getting the result back by the end of next week.

I also made it very clear that this was the one and only time I would do this for him and if he ore anyone else did again something similair I would make it public in front of all.

Call me cultural insensitive but I found it is the only way to get things done, at least in my company.

I asked a Thai that had worked some years in the US and she fully agreed. To get things done you have to be though and make very clear that people understand what you expect from them and when. If no result, repercussions will follow, ultimately resulting in a job loss for those that not listen and follow.

Kind regards,

Alex

[GuestHouse]

Guesthouse, Ive notice you have changed over the years regarding your posts. Did you just excape death or something???

I have too. But everyone changes.

The views I have expressed here are views that I have consistantly expressed - That I believe the Thais I have had the pleasure of working with could easily hold their own in the international job market (they are taking jobs of westerners). So no change there.