simon43 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I've just got back from the AirAsia ticket office at Phuket Airport. As I spoke to the ticketing staff I watched with amusement as her young son (about 5 years old), played with the office/ticketing computer and - horrors of horrors! - started deleting various files!! But it seems quite normal and totally accepted in Thailand that staff can bring their young children to work with them. Presumably there is no-one available in the family to take care of them. Do pre-school playschools not exist here? Or are they too expensive for the avergae income? If you were a manager of Thai staff, would you allow your staff to bring their kids to work? Would you be shunned if you forbade your staff from bringing their kids to work? Oh also - if you had booked a ticket with AirAsia from Phuket, it may be that your seat reservation has just been cancelled Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumball Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 It would appear to be a normal thing to do , at 5 the child should already be attending school , the biggest problem I see is an almost total lack of Thai parents disciplining their offspring , unless it is with a hand or a stick . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 So, on a SATURDAY you saw a kid at the airport ..... You think you saw files deleted? (Amazing .. were you behind the desk?) What about your kid? Do you drag your kid around when being a volunteer TP? Or at the hotel? etc etc etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Having a bad day Jdinasia??? Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaiWai Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I've just got back from the AirAsia ticket office at Phuket Airport. As I spoke to the ticketing staff I watched with amusement as her young son (about 5 years old), played with the office/ticketing computer and - horrors of horrors! - started deleting various files!! They might at least get him answering the phone. Nobody else is ever available to do so at Air Asia! But it seems quite normal and totally accepted in Thailand that staff can bring their young children to work with them. Presumably there is no-one available in the family to take care of them.Do pre-school playschools not exist here? Or are they too expensive for the avergae income? Yes; that's probably a fair reading of the situation. If you were a manager of Thai staff, would you allow your staff to bring their kids to work? Would you be shunned if you forbade your staff from bringing their kids to work? I think it is acceptable on an occasional basis, under various conditions: if a reasonable explanation is given, no other care is available, the parent can adequately supervise the child, the child can answer phones , the child has no contagious diseases, the parent can carry out their work without too much interference and so on. People used to do this fairly commonly this in "the west" a decade or two ago. You might incur some dislike if you forbade the practice outright; however, that's your right as manager if you consider it best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Having a bad day Jdinasia???Simon Nope .. just find your claims a bit 'suspect', not to mention the frequent complaining to be a bit over the top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumball Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Having a bad day Jdinasia???Simon Nope .. just find your claims a bit 'suspect', not to mention the frequent complaining to be a bit over the top I read the post more as a questioning comment about a certain observation . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 The observation being ... seeing a toddler deleting files on a computer? Exactly how does one see this without standing behind the desk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 As said, it was just an observation and comparison with the UK etc, not a complaint! ..Exactly how does one see this without standing behind the desk? [\quote] Because the AirAsia office is a corner office, so it was very easy to see the computer screen on the side that was perpendicular to where I was. This screen was behind the right shoulder of the staff dealing with my query, so they couldn't see what the boy was doing! Anyway, it explains why AirAsia never answers the phone - they are too busy retrieving the deleted files Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Sorry simon ... I've been there many times ... you are dreaming to say that you could see a kid deleting files. I bet Air Asia would be interested in your public claims though! (probably some serious liability to be making those claims Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manjara Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Sorry simon ... I've been there many times ... you are dreaming to say that you could see a kid deleting files. I bet Air Asia would be interested in your public claims though! (probably some serious liability to be making those claims This is Thailand! Have you heard of people being sued for making innocuous comments about a company? Sorry, I can't find a 'Gareth Hunt coffee' smiley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Sorry simon ... I've been there many times ... you are dreaming to say that you could see a kid deleting files. I bet Air Asia would be interested in your public claims though! (probably some serious liability to be making those claims This is Thailand! Have you heard of people being sued for making innocuous comments about a company? Sorry, I can't find a 'Gareth Hunt coffee' smiley! Actually .. yes I have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briggsy Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 In the public sector, during the school holidays, offices are FULL of children. One very senior manager complained to me she knew it was very detrimental to the work environment but could do nothing as it had become a perk of the job for staff members with children. In the end, this particular office, one of the excellently-funded ones, ran children camps free of charge for the holiday period as a solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightcrew1 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I see at the airport here in Bangkok frequently. Nobody seems to mind - but it's usually because the child is sick or the babysitter, be it the grandmother or aunt are busy that day. Of course this is in the back offices and not at the front where the passengers are. But, if the staff member of the child who is there is working at the front the other staff just chip in and help. I've even sat while in the crew room with a child several times over the years and helped them find games on the computer. I think it's great that everybody helps out and that staff, supervisors, managers don't seem to mind. You would be hard pressed to find this in the west except on a designated bring your son or daughter to work day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) Sorry simon ... I've been there many times ... you are dreaming to say that you could see a kid deleting files. [\quote] :) - Look JDinasia, it's a VERY hot day. I think you have heatstroke or something - go and lie down.... Or maybe go up to the airAsia office on the 3rd floor, stand at the righthandside window and then look at the computer on the lefthandside window. You will be close enough to read passenger names and details quite easily.... Simon Edited January 31, 2009 by simon43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 As said, it was just an observation and comparison with the UK etc, not a complaint! ..Exactly how does one see this without standing behind the desk? [\quote] Because the AirAsia office is a corner office, so it was very easy to see the computer screen on the side that was perpendicular to where I was. This screen was behind the right shoulder of the staff dealing with my query, so they couldn't see what the boy was doing! Anyway, it explains why AirAsia never answers the phone - they are too busy retrieving the deleted files Simon The "corner office" ... "on the third floor"? It's not hot here ... but I am sure you had best inform the Air Asia call center and the main office about your concerns. (Or maybe arrest the child for violating the aviation act of 2548?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumball Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 JD , you are normally a pretty lucid poster , but in this thread you tend to come across as what I would term as 'An injury to the finger with a needle or pin ' , sorry , just an observation , not crititism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 JD , you are normally a pretty lucid poster , but in this thread you tend to come across as what I would term as 'An injury to the finger with a needle or pin ' , sorry , just an observation , not crititism Yes, I agree. Is this attack simon week, must be, afterall I don't see how anybody could take acception to what he said. JD, Are you okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Well that makes one normally lucid poster for this entire thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 JD , you are normally a pretty lucid poster , but in this thread you tend to come across as what I would term as 'An injury to the finger with a needle or pin ' , sorry , just an observation , not crititism Yes, I agree. Is this attack simon week, must be, afterall I don't see how anybody could take acception to what he said. JD, Are you okay? "deleting files"? and you don't take exception to it? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Maybe the lady behind the counter said to her child, "Ohh no, you just deleted a file, move away my little sweetheart". However it was probably said in thai??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Maybe the kid said, "Ohh krud, there goes the data base". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Maybe the kid said, "Ohh krud, there goes the data base". Just as likely .. given the scenario (that can in no way be true ... just hyperbole) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakeha Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Would love to get into your bitching but to answer the original post... It's perfectly normal. Even overseas - if the business is run by thais and thais are employed they generally welcome the kids. What a great system. When did we farangs get so anal (like in this thread!) that we stopped wanting our kids around??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Actually his mother (if she was the parent), was busy dealing with my query and couldn't see what the child was doing. The boy was not intentionally deleting files but was randomly hitting keys. I could see that the unfortunate result of his keyboard-banging was the deletion of some files, including some graphic files An application that was open on the screen also suddenly disappeared from the screen with the 'Windows busy' icon depicted for a few seconds!! Trying to bring this back onto topic, I do remember my father taking me to work in the UK when he was a university professor. I was maybe about 4 years old and I recall sitting on the floor of the lecture room playing with my toys whilst he lectured students on Old Norse, (which of course I did not know was Old Norse at that tender age...) Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 enough of the bickering folks. jeez. please get back on topic. which is talking about parents taking their kids to work with them, in case you forgot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Would love to get into your bitching but to answer the original post...It's perfectly normal. Even overseas - if the business is run by thais and thais are employed they generally welcome the kids. What a great system. When did we farangs get so anal (like in this thread!) that we stopped wanting our kids around??? Ohhh no, I wouldnt necessarily agree with what you are saying. The other day I took the old girl down to get her hair done, she wasnt happy with some of the other salons we have tried in the area, so she decided she wanted to try a new one. From the minute she got there until the minute she left there was a small girl (daughter of the women doing her hair), this destructive little child was pushing, poking and climbing upon my old lady. When the kid got bored with this, it started pulling at things and knocking them over etc etc. I had disappeared for a while to go and stare at eye candy and get a coffee & upon returning the child set upon me. On numerous occassions I told the child to stop & go away (in thai), as did the old lady when she was trying to have her hair done....THE KID WAS A BLOOOOODY MENACE & shouldnt have been in the workplace, especially when there was hot equipment laying around. Having said that, a well behaved child is a different story. Personally, if I'm having something service, fixed or whatever, I'm paying for that job to be done, I don't want someones brat stuffing around with it. Should a child be playing with the booking computer at the front counter of the local airline office.....probably not, isnt real professional, is it? Anyway, poor ole simon has been heavily critised this afternoon & he didnt really deserve it....but nevermind, hes got thick skin & a thick head , so he will be right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakeha Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Fair call Neverdie. Let me correct myself: When did we farangs get so anal (like in this thread!) that we stopped wanting our well behaved kids around??? The pesky little brats can stay with granma! For the record... my little girl's an angel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Fair call Neverdie. Let me correct myself:When did we farangs get so anal (like in this thread!) that we stopped wanting our well behaved kids around??? The pesky little brats can stay with granma! For the record... my little girl's an angel of course she is ....by the way when does she get out of juvi? . On a serious note I agree with you, its great to see children with their hands and feet tied, mouth gaged, in the corner of the room....thats how it should be, that way they're not getting up to no good behind ur back. I think simon was comparing what happens here with what happens in the west, where in many places children are certainly not welcome in the work place. A lot of large corporate type places have arranged child care etc, many thias i imagine would rather leave the kids at home too, until they are old enough to really help. Anyway, back to my dungeon.....i still have a couple of the neighbours children down there, they're almost finished their electric shock treatment too (Shouldnt even joke about it, probably have the BIB knocking in no time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakeha Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Angels are to Devils what Devils are to Angels Re the east west thing... that's my point. All the thais in NZ (that I know) that run their own businesses welcome kids at work... just as is my experience in Thailand. The farangs don't. I like the fact that it's a thai thing that seems to be accepted wherever thais run businesses. I've called the BIB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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