Value For Time

[yogi]

dear members

i m staying in bangkok since 5 years,but 1 thing irritates me is,....

thai people dont understand value for time,they are always late on appoinments,

i understand traffic problems of bangkok,but there are many other ways to reach any plance on time.

and they dont even say sorry for being late,as if these is their routine activity.

i am facing this problem everyday,and is seriously driving me nuts.

please share ur ideas on this

thnx

[Wolfie]

Well after 5 years i would have thought you would understand the concept of "Thai Time" by now

Just do what i do, tell them a time 30 minutes before you actually want them, i.e. if you want an appointment at 2:00pm, tell them to arrive at 1:30pm

[yogi]

ya i m doing that,but i hate this sabbai sabbai mentality

[phetaroi]

i m staying in bangkok since 5 years,but 1 thing irritates me is,....

thai people dont understand value for time,they are always late on appoinments,

i understand traffic problems of bangkok,but there are many other ways to reach any plance on time.

and they dont even say sorry for being late,as if these is their routine activity.

i am facing this problem everyday,and is seriously driving me nuts.

please share ur ideas on this

Hi Yogi,

I won't be living in Thailand for a few more months, but since 1985 I have visited almost yearly, sometimes for two months at a time. As soon as I began gaining Thai friends, and I've been very close with a few for almost 20 years, I began experiencing "Thai Time". One thing that has helped is that I have become more relaxed myself about time...I used to be almost obsessive about punctuality. However, I have tried to compromise about times to meet people...I explain to them how I view time...usually laughing with them about the cultural difference. Then we get to the point where when we're going to meet I ask them to give me a realistic time to meet, with the understanding that 30 minutes after that I'll be gone because I'll assume something has come up and they can't make it...and we'll catch up with each other next time. To be honest, it's worked remarkably well.

[Wolfie]

That's just unfortunate - you will never change that attitude... learn to deal with it or learn to work around it - trust me, its better for your blood pressure that way

[yogi]

That's just unfortunate - you will never change that attitude... learn to deal with it or learn to work around it - trust me, its better for your blood pressure that way

ya have to be cool on my side.

[Aswin]

yeah, I hate it too and I'm thai. lol

"sabbai sabbai" hehe

I usually call them on the cell phone an hour before, asking if they left yet. 30 mins later call again and ask, "OK where on the road are you exactly ?" and so on and so forth.

[Thaddeus]

yeah, I hate it too and I'm thai. lol

There you go OP...... commentary from a Thai.

As Wolfie said, just learn to live with it, don't try to fight it.... it took me a while, but not five years <deleted>.

[yogi]

wow thats an honest comment,form thai........

[yogi]

yeah, I hate it too and I'm thai. lol

There you go OP...... commentary from a Thai.

As Wolfie said, just learn to live with it, don't try to fight it.... it took me a while, but not five years <deleted>.

ya it din took me 5 years but,i thougt i will make my business ppl n friends too understand,but now i gave up

[Thaddeus]

dear members

Dear members

i m staying in bangkok since 5 years,but 1 thing irritates me is,....

I have been living in Bangkok for five years, and during that time, there is still one thing that irritates me.

thai people dont understand value for time,they are always late on appoinments,

i understand traffic problems of bangkok,but there are many other ways to reach any plance on time.

The Thai people that I have been in contact with don't appear to realise that time is money and they are constantly late for appointments that I have made with them. I understand that Bangkok is one of the most congested places in the world (traffic wise) but they should be able to make allowances for that.

and they dont even say sorry for being late,as if these is their routine activity.

To add insult to injury, they don't even try to make amends by saying 'sorry' when they are late.

i am facing this problem everyday,and is seriously driving me nuts.

See note below this quote

please share ur ideas on this

Has anyone else experienced the same?

thnx

Thanks

N.B. I don't normally pull people up on their use of our common language (I did it once and regretted it, hi Martin) the odd dropped capital letter, the missing "'" every now and again, the misuse of were where and we're.... no problem.

[soundman]

Let's try and keep to the topic of "Thai time" please.

yogi - Whilst I understand English may not be your native language, please try to employ some sort of spell checker so communication on the Thai Visa forum is a little easier.

ya it din took me 5 years but,i thougt i will make my business ppl n friends too understand,but now i gave up

For example: I have just read your post (quoted above) and have no idea what you are trying to convey. If you want people on this forum to take you seriously, please put some effort into making your posts and topics readable.

Thank-you.

[Vegemite]

dear members

i m staying in bangkok since 5 years,but 1 thing irritates me is,....

thai people dont understand value for time,they are always late on appoinments,

i understand traffic problems of bangkok,but there are many other ways to reach any plance on time.

and they dont even say sorry for being late,as if these is their routine activity.

i am facing this problem everyday,and is seriously driving me nuts.

please share ur ideas on this

thnx

I am with you Yogi,

they drive me crazy as well.

" I will see you tomorrow at 9.00 AM " means that I will leave sometime after 9.00 AM and probably stop for some food on the way, maybe visit the sister who lives close to the food shop and take care of her baby for a couple of hours while she goes shopping.

Get stuck in the traffic ect. ect..

Sometimes you are lucky to see them by the evening .

To make it worse, it took a full hour of talking on the phone yesterday to organise all this and when the the said visitor finally does arrive, they will all sit on the floor and eat for another hour before WE can do anything.

Day finished.

It blows my mind.

[seank]

Thank you for posting this topic Yogi as I have being wondering for the last few weeks why everyone (Thai) seems to be so lax with appointments.

I thought it was just the people I was dealing with but it seems that this is the norm rather than a rarity.

My thoughts are that Thai people are constantly hungry so need more time to eat hence are late for appointments.

Ps: I had no problem understanding your post

[yogi]

I am with you Yogi,

they drive me crazy as well.

" I will see you tomorrow at 9.00 AM " means that I will leave sometime after 9.00 AM and probably stop for some food on the way, maybe visit the sister who lives close to the food shop and take care of her baby for a couple of hours while she goes shopping.

Get stuck in the traffic ect. ect..

Sometimes you are lucky to see them by the evening .

To make it worse, it took a full hour of talking on the phone yesterday to organise all this and when the the said visitor finally does arrive, they will all sit on the floor and eat for another hour before WE can do anything.

Day finished.

It blows my mind.

thanks for sharing vegemite

yes you are so right,they have sisters in every corner.

after explaining everything on phone,they might ask same question again and get confuse for time.

this is what they call SABBAI SABBI.............................

[yogi]

Thank you for posting this topic Yogi as I have being wondering for the last few weeks why everyone (Thai) seems to be so lax with appointments.

I thought it was just the people I was dealing with but it seems that this is the norm rather than a rarity.

My thoughts are that Thai people are constantly hungry so need more time to eat hence are late for appointments.

Ps: I had no problem understanding your post

hi seank

no its common with all of us,they all are late.

and yes these street food is too tampting for them,they dont even realise importance of their work.

talking of my business structure i am in diamond & jewellery business,its lexuary product,so we have very few working hours,because they wakeup late,and in this few working hours also they are late......... its realy pissing me off.

thanks

[phetaroi]

Thank you for posting this topic Yogi as I have being wondering for the last few weeks why everyone (Thai) seems to be so lax with appointments.

I thought it was just the people I was dealing with but it seems that this is the norm rather than a rarity.

My thoughts are that Thai people are constantly hungry so need more time to eat hence are late for appointments.

...

hi seank

no its common with all of us,they all are late.

and yes these street food is too tampting for them,they dont even realise importance of their work.

talking of my business structure i am in diamond & jewellery business,its lexuary product,so we have very few working hours,because they wakeup late,and in this few working hours also they are late......... its realy pissing me off.

Wow...lots of stereotypes here!!! Yes, it does seem as if Thais like to eat...all the time. ANd yet, not many seem very fat, so I guess they eat what and when they need.

But in terms of attention to work, I have 3 very close Thai friends with whom I often travel around the country and have gotten together with very frequently in Bangkok. One is just as you describe. Lax about work, always seems to be able to take off time, and perhaps a bit lazy. Another is the complete opposite...almost a workaholic, working for an American subsidiary, finds it difficult to sqeeze in much time for sanuk (although when he does, he enjoys life). The third is right in the middle...serious about work, but puts the job in a healthy perspective about life.

Three people, of course, isn't much of a sampling, but here may be a hint. The lazy/happy friend is an upcountry guy...very rural family...farmers. The workaholic's family has lived in Bangkok most of their lives. The fellow in the middle has lived in Bangkok all his adult life, but visits his family in the Nakhon Ratchasima region often.

It might be interesting to look at your situation from another perspective -- what do you think they say about you? ;-)

[yogi]

petharoi,you must be lucky to have honest and hardworking people with you,

but i was trying to discuss on normal thai timing.

i think thai mass dont take time factor seriously.

thanks for sharing

take care

[tw25rw]

My theory is that they are an agricultural people at heart and tend to do live a life unaccustomed to hurrying, because time isn't really money as long as it gets done eventually.

[mrtingtong]

Its simple if they work for you - fine them for lateness.

If they don't work for you and have a history of shoddy timekeeping, start phoning every 15 minutes, 2 hours before you are due to meet them.