Thailand Has Changed From A "repair Everything" Culture To A "throw Away" Culture In 10 Years.

[Dakhar]

I'd have to be, blind and retarded to believe that Thailand is rapidly becoming a throw away society...

Come now, we are talking about a place that you can't even walk down the side walk due to the amount of junk in the way, and push carts, food stalls/huts etc etc etc.

We have guys at work that repair anything and everything, from 250K USD medical diagnostic equipment to 20$ vacumm cleaners.

Just the other day I told some of the staff I wanted to buy a dremmel, and they produced 3 broken ones, and said all I have to do is get on of them repaired and I'd be good to go.....

Granted I had to order the parts from e-bay so they could be fixed, but the point is, why did they have 3 broken dremmels in the first place???????????? I'd of tossed them out a long time back. Regardless, the fact that they kept them over the years saved me 3K baht.

[think_too_mut]

!0 years ago, when I came to Thailand on my first visit, I was amazed to see that everything would be repaired. Nothing was thrown away or placed in a junk yard as in many Western countries.

.

.

.

.

.

This is only one example of the few occasions where a device was defectuous and nobody wanted to repair it but instead was offering a brand new device although repair would be very easy.

A sad evolution for Thailand.

Before you make such a claim, consider how far "throw away culture" can go. Japan.

Things that are valuable assets in Thailand get thrown away while perfectly functioning.

Sometimes, while nobody is watching, taken out and left to anyone who would take them:

Or, just ride them away, park as if all is OK and never come back. Just abandon them. Someone, some day, will report that the bike has not moved for months and city council will take them to the storage (fenced off land under highways) and keep them for 1 month.

Not only push bikes, but motorbikes . They get abandoned too:

What happens toi them?

Before North Korea tested it's nuke bomb, they were sold per kilo (both pushbikes and motorbikes) to Pyongyang, put on that 1 per month month ferry, and Commies in North Korea would then distribute them to party officials.

I saw a picture from floods in North Korea, one guy was half wheels in water and his pushbike had that front basket. The basket itself cost 40US$, could be his 6 month's wage. How and where did ge buy the complete bike?

Now, that's the "throwaway" culture that no Western country, let alone Thailand, has replicated.

Edited January 18, 2009 by think_too_mut

[PhilHarries]

What happens toi them?

Before North Korea tested it's nuke bomb, they were sold per kilo (both pushbikes and motorbikes) to Pyongyang, put on that 1 per month month ferry, and Commies in North Korea would then distribute them to party officials.

I saw a picture from floods in North Korea, one guy was half wheels in water and his pushbike had that front basket. The basket itself cost 40US$, could be his 6 month's wage. How and where did ge buy the complete bike?

Now, that's the "throwaway" culture that no Western country, let alone Thailand, has replicated.

That's not a repair culture, that is just an advance on the charity clothing boxes where unwanted garments are distributed to the poor within a country or overseas. An admirable scheme that solves one country's problem with unwanted bicycles (in this case) and another's problem with a lack of such items.

What the OP is on about is the repair and continued use of goods often by their original owners. Whilst Thailand is not rapidly becoming a throwaway society, as correctly said by Dakhar, it is inevitably moving in that direction. As endure's experience shows there comes a point when the parts plus labour costs to repair outweigh the cost of a new item, then simple economics takes over.

[think_too_mut]

That's not a repair culture, that is just an advance on the charity clothing boxes where unwanted garments are distributed to the poor within a country or overseas. An admirable scheme that solves one country's problem with unwanted bicycles (in this case) and another's problem with a lack of such items.

What the OP is on about is the repair and continued use of goods often by their original owners. Whilst Thailand is not rapidly becoming a throwaway society, as correctly said by Dakhar, it is inevitably moving in that direction.

Then you can imagine what happens to repairs.

No repair shop exist at all. My iPod (then 400US$) that had HDD problem was replaced on the spot within minutes.

No shoe repair shops. The "Minute man" booths at supermarkets do only key cutting.

Malfunctioning, broken or lost remote control junks entire flat screen TV.

(then it cost 30$ sticker to buy at 7-11, slap it on the screen and take it out for collection once a month).

As endure's experience shows there comes a point when the parts plus labour costs to repair outweigh the cost of a new item, then simple economics takes over.

The root of it is actually ill-spotted. It's in fact, something worth celebrating.

It's the raising productivity that makes parts or entire equipment (how much is a play all DVD player? How much it was 5 years ago?) worth less and less. It's getting into Thailand too.

More integrated and soldered guts make it also technically impossible: anyone tried to upgrade a DELL laptop or Gateway PC? Their low price comes from once-for all fixed to motherboard omellet of parts that have to go out altogether as 1 part.

[JimsKnight]

Ho ho ho ho really so they didnt take any social security benefits in the Uk then bring their VERY extended families and almost never used the hospitals here............. they sure got milked eh hahahaahah?

I think he means how The British occupied their countries by force then bleeding them dry of anything of value.

BS

[Maigo6]

Ho ho ho ho really so they didnt take any social security benefits in the Uk then bring their VERY extended families and almost never used the hospitals here............. they sure got milked eh hahahaahah?

I think he means how The British occupied their countries by force then bleeding them dry of anything of value.

BS

Ok, The British Did not occupy their countries by force and did not plunder their countries to profit The British Empire.

[chrisyork]

To try and get back to topic.

Certainly where we are (Lopburi province, eastern edge against Isaan) the repair culture is well and truly alive! Local visible highlights include a '60's Alfa GTV coupe and a Citroen CX high roof LWB presidential limo with full complex hydrualics. Anyone who can keep either of those running as daily drivers needs major medals!

Oh, and when my watch needed mending (auto wind up type) a chap with classically myopic pebble glasses had all the guts out on a tiny street stall on the pavement, springs and cogs everywhere! And it hasn't missed a beat in the 18 months since!

Chris

Edited January 18, 2009 by chrisyork

[phuketsub]

After 20 years of living here, I agree totally with the poster on his observations and also with his emotional reaction to it. The first fan I ever owned, given to me as a present, lasted about 12 years. The second one about 5. The next one about 3. It seems to be the same way with many other electronic items

I do find it helps to stay away from the cheap brands from China, although the name brands manufactured there are still fairly reliable.

My experience is that the extra money you need to fork out for Japanese stuff is worth the investment.

[Garret]

If this repair culture is gone. could you please tell my wife. My whole house is crammed with stuff she is going to get repaied one day......

[bangon04]

I think it depends on where you live in Thailand. My wife bought me a ghetto blaster five years ago, and the cd lid became defective, wouldn't stay closed. We took it back to the shop in Phetchabun, and it was repaired for us, free of charge, while we were shopping. We have over the years, bought several electrical items from this shop, and are obviously valued customers. For certain, the next time I buy anything electrical, I'll definitely look there first.

Many people on these forums conjure up all sorts of excuses for "Thai-bashing", but I've always found it's the same in all countries, and I've been to many, most folks are OK. Treat people decently and in general you get treated decently in return.

I bought a really cheap DVD player in a major store (with a French sounding name) in Bangkok and the disc tray went haywire after a few weeks. I had one try at invoking the "guarantee" but gave up because I felt my time was better spent doing other things. I bought a new (imported) one.

So I gave the defective one to the in-laws in Isaan, and it has been fixed and is still working fine there after several months.

[coalminer]

After 20 years of living here, I agree totally with the poster on his observations and also with his emotional reaction to it. The first fan I ever owned, given to me as a present, lasted about 12 years. The second one about 5. The next one about 3. It seems to be the same way with many other electronic items

I do find it helps to stay away from the cheap brands from China, although the name brands manufactured there are still fairly reliable.

My experience is that the extra money you need to fork out for Japanese stuff is worth the investment.

Thanks for sharing my viewpoint on this subject.

On your sentence that it is better to fork out the extra money for a Japanese brand, I have my doubts on that.

I bought five years ago a "second hand" Suzuki Samourai.

The car goes every 5,000km to the official Suzuki dealer and the same Suzuki dealer make every repair on the car.

Yet, my Suzuki Samourai has more Mitsubishi parts as Suzuki parts.

The answer I get from the Suzuki dealer is that Mitsubishi parts are exactly made to be fitted in a Suzuki Samourai.

Off course, I can get an original Suzuki spare part.

But them I have to wait about 3 months for delivery and pay the double.

-);

[dogleg]

...built in condelsence ...e.g. old cars designed to last forever new cars with life expectancy of average 13 years,.....designed so,...P.S.Is it just a coincidence my new mobile phone battery charger gives up every 2 years???

And your "new" mobile phone is how old? 2,4,6 years? Better go back to using your old one.

[daveh]

Coming home, I opened the boiler to check what was wrong and I found out that Pressure Switch (a micro switch) was defect.

I replaced the micro switch (15 Baht) and the boiler was working again.

Why didn't you do that in the first place? They still seem to repair some electrical goods, tv, dvd,cd and the like but things have come down in price and people have more money.

With no disrespect intended for the OP, the reason he didn't was the same reason the shop owner didn't. It wasn't worth his time.

I no longer live in Thailand, but when I was there, I too really appreciated the fact that you could get many things fixed people in the West wouldn't bother fixing. The main reason for this is the cost of labor in different countries. We are able to buy inexpensive TVs in the US that were built with low cost parts and labor in China. If it breaks, we'd have to pay someone at least one hour, probably two for labor plus parts. Frequently this is more than the price of a new TV. So we don't fix things because it just isn't worth it.

If you want to fix things, you basically have to fix it yourself. I just finished fixing my garage door opener. Some people like to tinker around, I know I do. But for most, it just isn't fun, so it's just a waste of time. They'd rather pay someone else to do it for them.

With the internet and the easy availability of replacement parts and instructions, I think you'll see an increase in DIYers, but not to the extent of it having a major impact on society.

[loong]

My 10 month old JVC television developed a fault and so I could have sent it for repair under guarantee. But with some makes the guarantee only covers parts, not labour and I'd have to get it to one of the JVC repair shops and collect it. The local TV repair man came and looked at it, took it away and brought it back the next day. Good as new for 300 Baht.

You could hardly claim that good service is the norm in Thailand, but these small repair shops offer a great service

[coalminer]

My 10 month old JVC television developed a fault and so I could have sent it for repair under guarantee. But with some makes the guarantee only covers parts, not labour and I'd have to get it to one of the JVC repair shops and collect it. The local TV repair man came and looked at it, took it away and brought it back the next day. Good as new for 300 Baht.

You could hardly claim that good service is the norm in Thailand, but these small repair shops offer a great service

Yesterday, while having a beer with my Thai neighbor, I brought this topic up and got he gave me a totally different answer as the answers I've got in this forum.

Water boilers are appliances where a minor mistake can get you (and maybe other users with you electrocuted. Many people have been electrocuted after repairing such a device or modifying it yourself..

No repair shop is keen in repairing such appliances.

The fact that I'm a fahrang makes it worse.

So, the shop owner gave me the "advice" to buy a new one.