Thais Know Best In Thailand " Coz They're Thai "

[junkofdavid2]

When I was new here, I always thought that the Thais new better than us in practically everything concerning Thailand, simply just "because they are Thai".

(On simple important questions such as "which is a stronger bank", etc... and simple trivial questions as well)

How many of us do the same thing and were surprised to see otherwise?

I don't intend for this to become a "Thai bashing" thread; but instead, hopefully it may even be funny.

*When I later grilled the Thai friend who recommended Krung Thai as "stronger" and "more stable" instead of Siam City Bank... he went around and couldn't give a straight answer and by the end of the conversation, he was even talking about how ugly and old fashioned the sign and logo of Siam City Bank was compared to Krung Thai. I know now through moodys.com that Krung Thai is indeed "stronger", but the serious reasoning of the chap was hilarious

[Carib]

True, but they worry less too, isn`t it great?

[Svenn]

Ya, poor kon isaan get cheated the most in krung thep in everyday sales/exchanges, probably more than farangs.

[beerchang]

junkofdavid2,

I been here 6 years and let's just say if I asked a trivial question, (ur example, which is the stronger bank?) to a local Amphur market stall holder for example. After some deep thought, I would expect him to say Bangkok Bank is stronger than TMB because there's a big crack in the side of TMB's building! Suppose it's 'who' you ask. Need to find a wealthy businessman who knows answers to this type of question. Lot of sodding about for an answer to a trivial question!

'Thai bashing'....never from me, but can I farang bash please? You wanna know an answer to a trivial question, ask a retired farang. Especially one who's been here nearly a year. They know ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! It's AMAZING! But only ever ask one farang one question. Ask another farang who knows ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, the same question, you'll get a different answer! (just check out TV's forums)

I put my hands firmly up in the air and admit to NOT knowing everthing. I will find the right person to ask 1st. Or if i'm bored and fancy a trivial argument with someone.....I'll ask the wife!!!

Yep, I see this thread being funny.

[dumball]

How do you know the first person you ask is right ? Usually , the last place we look is where we find what we are looking for .

[h90]

Well think for your home country....how many idi*ts are there. If you would be a Thai in Germany/USA/France you would think they know it better, but in fact they might be complete idi*t.

Being stupid does not stop at borders it is found everywhere.

[DP25]

If you asked an American or Euro 'which bank is the strongest' I can guarantee that the VAST majority of people will have no idea and will answer in a similar way. That's a <deleted> stupid question to judge national characteristics on.

[jdinasia]

If you asked an American or Euro 'which bank is the strongest' I can guarantee that the VAST majority of people will have no idea and will answer in a similar way. That's a <deleted> stupid question to judge national characteristics on.

I agree ...

If asked which bank was strongest between 2 banks from my home country .... I would have no clue. Then again I would have looked at the OP as if he were clueless and wandered off ... I wouldn't have answered.

[imaneggspurt]

I asked my thai wife what is illegal?,. she replied " a sick bird " ?.........

[GuestHouse]

True, but they worry less too, isn`t it great?

Thais worry less...

[h90]

If you asked an American or Euro 'which bank is the strongest' I can guarantee that the VAST majority of people will have no idea and will answer in a similar way. That's a <deleted> stupid question to judge national characteristics on.

I agree ...

If asked which bank was strongest between 2 banks from my home country .... I would have no clue. Then again I would have looked at the OP as if he were clueless and wandered off ... I wouldn't have answered.

Well I must admit for my country I don't know as well......And even people on the stock market don't know as it seems.

[dumball]

Ignorance is bliss , 'tis folly to be wise .

[ironhut]

Sticking to the basics...

Why is it that I often know a quicker way to get somewhere than my driver? And he's been driving for over 30 years in Bangkok!

[h90]

Sticking to the basics...

Why is it that I often know a quicker way to get somewhere than my driver? And he's been driving for over 30 years in Bangkok!

Because you are most probably in a management position. Maybe would a Thai Manager sent to London also know the way faster than his 50 year old driver.

I saw a lot of silly Taxi-driver but they also came just a relative short time before to Thaksin.

My Bangkok-staff here always knew every way.

What I found is that no one is looking at a map. They explain each other. With these explanations I could not find anywhere but the Thais can.

Due to different cultures and strength and weakness in languages the results are different.

And specially not forget: here everyone who is smart has his own business.

[spiderman2]

Well I must admit for my country I don't know as well......And even people on the stock market don't know as it seems.

Thats easy to answer, i personally own the banks that are safest Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, RBS, HBOS and the Post Office.

However I only own them when the lose money.

[Lost in LOS]

Ok, maybe i can give a real one for the OP

I used to go to this Thai restaurant in Jomtien a lot. if I drink water at dinner it was always cold but never at lunch. I kept telling the owner to put the water in the refrigerator at night since i figured they ran out at night and didn't refill till lunch. they opened late for lunch one day and I saw them plugging in the drink refrigerator. i asked the owner what she was doing and she said they unplugged it each night to save electricity. I tried to explain that they used more electricity by doing that instead of keeping them cold all night. she new better, kept up the practice, and i kept getting warm water until i finally stopped going back. And before you say it, I don't like ice. Not a question of being stupid but probably grew up without a refrigerator and didn't have a clue.

[khaowong1]

Sticking to the basics...

Why is it that I often know a quicker way to get somewhere than my driver? And he's been driving for over 30 years in Bangkok!

[njpski]

How do you know the first person you ask is right ? Usually , the last place we look is where we find what we are looking for .

Of course, it will be the last place (usually) - why continue looking if you have already found the thing! lol

Maybe there should be a Thai bashing thread - that way all the sneaky nasty bashers can go there rather than pollute all the other threads.

As for which bank is best, as others pointed out, the experts have got it horribly wrong, and meanwhile the ordinary Joes in every country are bailing out the wealthy, unbelievable!

(I feel better now )

PS The taxi driver DOES know the quickest, cheapest way, but hey, not enough profit in that! He is probably a merchant banker in his spare time

Edited October 31, 2008 by njpski

[Datsun240Z]

Sticking to the basics...

Why is it that I often know a quicker way to get somewhere than my driver? And he's been driving for over 30 years in Bangkok!

Or maybe he wants to make a bit more money.... !

[Crossy]

Ok, maybe i can give a real one for the OP

I used to go to this Thai restaurant in Jomtien a lot. if I drink water at dinner it was always cold but never at lunch. I kept telling the owner to put the water in the refrigerator at night since i figured they ran out at night and didn't refill till lunch. they opened late for lunch one day and I saw them plugging in the drink refrigerator. i asked the owner what she was doing and she said they unplugged it each night to save electricity. I tried to explain that they used more electricity by doing that instead of keeping them cold all night. she new better, kept up the practice, and i kept getting warm water until i finally stopped going back. And before you say it, I don't like ice. Not a question of being stupid but probably grew up without a refrigerator and didn't have a clue.

It's been a while since I did any thermodynamics, but I've just demonstrated that it is actually CHEAPER to unplug the fridge at night (it gets a bit boring here sometimes).

I'm assuming it contains only water, so spoilage is not an issue and neglecting inefficiencies in the compressor system. Any physics graduates can confirm my findings?

[PeaceBlondie]

I ain't no physics teacher, but my daughter in Texas is....I think you save electricity by turning off the unit all night.

So there you go, we schmexperts cannot even figure out energy efficiency. An electrical engineer might know. But I once asked a similar question of my utility company's energy conservation service, and they said an incandescent bulb has no startup surge. I never knew for sure.

But my plumber knew nothing about Old Testament theology, and my pastor could not fix a clogged drain. Similar here, ask somebody who ought to know.

But we ask questions that we do not need to know the answers. Thais are sometimes wise not to answer.

[bkkjames]

I ain't no physics teacher, but my daughter in Texas is....I think you save electricity by turning off the unit all night.

So there you go, we schmexperts cannot even figure out energy efficiency. An electrical engineer might know. But I once asked a similar question of my utility company's energy conservation service, and they said an incandescent bulb has no startup surge. I never knew for sure.

But my plumber knew nothing about Old Testament theology, and my pastor could not fix a clogged drain. Similar here, ask somebody who ought to know.

But we ask questions that we do not need to know the answers. Thais are sometimes wise not to answer.

hear hear, it's better to keep your mouth closed and have people think you are stupid than to open it and have it confirmed....that's what my wife tells me anyway.

[Cuban]

>.....but I've just demonstrated that it is actually CHEAPER to unplug the fridge at night....

I was going to put a comment on this thread about asking Thais questions, but this is more interesting.

I think it will depend on how much water/beer/etc. is in the fridge and at what temperature when the store closes, then how much the contents heat up during the night. If warm water bottles are loaded into the fridge just before they unplug it I would expect the savings to be limited. If the fresh stock of water bottles were left out at night, and so cool down are then added to the existing stock in the morning when the fridge is turned on I would expect a saving to be noticed.

However, many places have a padlock on the fridge so this is also the secure storage location as well.

Asking Thais a question: At dinner with a friend and our Thai partners some time ago we were discussing the impending credit/debt situation in general (this was about four months ago), my friend asked his wife, "How many of your friends have credit cards?" A fairly simple well defined question with the objective of gauging the debt that might exist. Her answer was, "Do you want a credit card?" Completely ignoring the question, blind to the fact they have lived together over five years and aware of the financial situation of my friend (not short of credit cards). Not the first time I have encountered this either socially or in the office. I will sometimes 'remind' staff that when I ask a question I am seeking an answer to that question, not what they think - they might think I am asking. It does encourage me to ask clear closed questions that they can't screw up with a yes or no answer.

However, they do prefer to give a 'yes' answer where possible, so when asking do they understand what I am saying is met with a 'yes' - then ask them to tell me what I am asking gets a different response, I just get the image of one of those small chained up monkeys they use to harvest coconuts and a caption bubble coming from the mouth, "See I told you should have hired me for this job, I've got a degree in nuts....!"

[sylviex]

Asking Thais a question: At dinner with a friend and our Thai partners some time ago we were discussing the impending credit/debt situation in general (this was about four months ago), my friend asked his wife, "How many of your friends have credit cards?" A fairly simple well defined question with the objective of gauging the debt that might exist. Her answer was, "Do you want a credit card?" Completely ignoring the question, blind to the fact they have lived together over five years and aware of the financial situation of my friend (not short of credit cards). Not the first time I have encountered this either socially or in the office.

Right -- there's an assumption of a personal/pragmatic motivation behind the question. I suppose ... perhaps ... Thais are not very much disposed to discsussing things from theoretical/hypothetical point of view (?)

However, they do prefer to give a 'yes' answer where possible, so when asking do they understand what I am saying is met with a 'yes' - then ask them to tell me what I am asking gets a different response.

That's an old & effective teaching technique -- but does it go down well with your workers ?

Edited October 31, 2008 by sylviex

[Cuban]

> That's an old & effective teaching technique -- but does it go down well with your workers ?

Depends on the staff member in question, the lower level staff like the simple exchange - difficult to get it wrong.

Best tip to to close each exchange on a particular topic with, "Is there anything else you know about X?"

Higher staff, not always those with a degree take note, better at giving information out without being chased for it.

But yes in social exchanges there is a tendancy to bring topics down to a personal level.

[Crossy]

I'll post something sensible when I can get tables to work properly

Edited October 31, 2008 by Crossy

[Jimjim]

When I was new here, I always thought that the Thais new better than us in practically everything concerning Thailand, simply just "because they are Thai".

(On simple important questions such as "which is a stronger bank", etc... and simple trivial questions as well)

How many of us do the same thing and were surprised to see otherwise?

I don't intend for this to become a "Thai bashing" thread; but instead, hopefully it may even be funny.

*When I later grilled the Thai friend who recommended Krung Thai as "stronger" and "more stable" instead of Siam City Bank... he went around and couldn't give a straight answer and by the end of the conversation, he was even talking about how ugly and old fashioned the sign and logo of Siam City Bank was compared to Krung Thai. I know now through moodys.com that Krung Thai is indeed "stronger", but the serious reasoning of the chap was hilarious

It's true. People just won't know everything about their home country or city, etc. but you may assume they do as they've been there a while and you haven't. It's true anywhere.

[Tod Daniels]

Never for get the old adage; (actually a line from the 1997 movie; The Devil's Advocate with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves) which says:

"The WORST vice is advice"

Keep your own counsel, do your own research, and make your own decisions..

Trust NO ONE..

[johnwills]

Never for get the old adage; (actually a line from the 1997 movie; The Devil's Advocate with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves) which says:

"The WORST vice is advice"

Keep your own counsel, do your own research, and make your own decisions..

Trust NO ONE..

Have to agree with that, trying to get any detailed information out of a Thai can be a nightmare.

[Tyree D.]

I know my way around and I hate when I'm traveling with one and they insist some place is somewhere and they refuse to take my way until we get lost. Then I just stare at them.