im dumfounded by this,here is only one example and im not being disrespectfull in any way to thai people but i want to understand their logic. going from tha kanto to udon thani ( 86 kilometres ) i drive up the road ( 5 kilos i know because i clocked it ) from kumpanwapi and i see a road sign udon thani 48 kilo, i drive onto kumpanwapi five more kilo and see another road sign udon thani 40 kilo then only 5 metres on and on the same side of road and the same size of sign yet another sign udon thani 41 kilo. figure it out.

I am having a hard enough time figuring out your post mate. Then I come to the road signs.

Ok got it. The guy in charge of the signs was a really big fan of the movie Groundhog Day.

Your mile counter might be a bit dodgy, how old is your car?

Seems like the signs are wrong though from what you have said. Thailand is no exception to that though my friend.

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

Depends which road you take, if there's 3 different roads you'd get 3 different distances.

Lao Khao.

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

Buying rope (and hose pipe) by weight is a great idea (for the retailer) You have no idea how many feet per Kg or whatever so are sure to buy twice as much as you need, AND they don't have to waste time uncoiling it to measure it

Excellent business sense

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

Buying rope (and hose pipe) by weight is a great idea (for the retailer) You have no idea how many fet per Kg or whatever so are sure to buy twice as much as you need, AND they don't have to waste time uncoiling it to measure it

Excellent business sense

While I would like to agree, I think you are giving them too much credit in this case.

Talking about Rope has got me thinking.

Maybe they place the signs in order of weight? The heaviest sign is furthest from the destination

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

Buying rope (and hose pipe) by weight is a great idea (for the retailer) You have no idea how many fet per Kg or whatever so are sure to buy twice as much as you need, AND they don't have to waste time uncoiling it to measure it

Excellent business sense

While I would like to agree, I think you are giving them too much credit in this case.

Never underestimate the ingenuity of a lazy man out for a quick buck

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

Buying rope (and hose pipe) by weight is a great idea (for the retailer) You have no idea how many fet per Kg or whatever so are sure to buy twice as much as you need, AND they don't have to waste time uncoiling it to measure it

Excellent business sense

While I would like to agree, I think you are giving them too much credit in this case.

Never underestimate the ingenuity of a lazy man out for a quick buck

I stick with my original thought on this point, lazy or not.

When naively questioning Thai logic in the past I have often been told 'this Thailand. Not same your country'. The secret is 'no think to mut'. It's the only way

Lao Khao.

Thai magic.

Maybe old signs new roads. They don't appear to remove the old signs when they build new roads, by passes etc. seen it in the UK too so I don't see the relevance to Thai logic?

Cheers, Rick

When naively questioning Thai logic in the past I have often been told 'this Thailand. Not same your country'. The secret is 'no think to mut'. It's the only way

Yes of course. As long as you're happy to be seen as a stupid farang the only way is to "no think to mut".

Obviously the locals don't "think to mut" either, but that's clearly the way to go. They're absolutely right, "not same your country". Its an unfortunate tendancy in out country to actually think. How could we be so stupid???

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

The idea of paying for rope by the kilogram is not unique to Thailand, I have encountered this in Algeria as well.

Wait until you have to buy rope by the kilogram and not by metre.

As long as you can still order it by length, I don't see anything wrong with paying for rope by the kilo since their is constant multiplier between the two measures. In fact, this could simplify things by having the same price per kilo for all ropes. Thicker ropes would then be more expensive per meter as you would expect.

However, if you go to the store and they ask you how many kilos of rope you want, then this is crap.

Dave.

How long is a piece of rope?

It's not rocket science...

Some signs are showing the distance to the start of the province, amphur etc..

Others to the borders of Town itself and others to the centre of town.

When naively questioning Thai logic in the past I have often been told 'this Thailand. Not same your country'. The secret is 'no think to mut'. It's the only way

A lot to be said for this approach to life.

How long is a piece of rope?

The correct answer is: twice the distance from either end to the middle.

I have seen quite a few similar types of mistakes along the highways of America and Canada. Why do you make it a "Thai eccentricity"?

Same story in Hua Hin. Look at the 1st sign out of HH and then check it against your clock and then again when you get to BKK. Old roads and they don't change the signs.

Had a chuckle last night when out with the dog, we walked under some power/telephone cables crossing over the entrance to a soi.

One of the cables had a "5.5m" sign hanging on it to warn truck drivers of the height.

Trouble was, some one had run a much lower cable later and not bothered to move and change the sign.

When compared to Americans, and probably many other Westerners as well, Thais are not as concerned with actual distance but rather the time it takes to travel it.

Ask an American how far it is from San Diego to San Francisco, and you will be told "500 miles." As a Thai how far it is from Udon Thani to Bangkok, and you will be told "eight hours."

The desire for quantifiable numerical catagorization is a very American cultural imperative which is not universal. Many places, to include Thailand, do not seem to place such importance on numbers.

So perhaps the people setting up the signs are not as concerned with absolute accuracy.

......I have often been told 'this Thailand. Not same your country'......

I have often heard from electricians that Thai electricity does not need grounding.

Road signs here are done in a sloppy haphazard fashion. Even Thais have a hard time with them. Not one of their strong points apparently.

Depends which road you take, if there's 3 different roads you'd get 3 different distances.

no ,not three different roads,same road on same side of road.anyone travelling this route will see for themselves.

Maybe old signs new roads. They don't appear to remove the old signs when they build new roads, by passes etc. seen it in the UK too so I don't see the relevance to Thai logic?

Cheers, Rick

no, i do not think so all the signs were on the same road ,on the same side of the road and it was the only main road leading from tha kanto to udon thani. the sides were all same size etc and looked the same and anyway why wouldnt they have cheched and tooked the old ones down,also the thing that really got me was the sig that said udon thani 41 kilometres then not 20 yards ahead on same side of road another sign udon thani 40 kilometres.

As long as you're happy to be seen as a stupid farang the only way is to.

Thais are usually quick to call 'em as they see 'em...