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.

well maybe not rocket sience to you but the signs are all the same and obviously if the distance was to say the airport in udon thani then surely it would say so. dont u think ? thats rocket sience for you !!

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.

Insightful observation, my friend. Unfortunately for most, it has to be spelled out and such comparatives attached to connected abstract. As this example might surely apply to rhetorical inquiry that still persist within the the Farang kingdom. The linear and institutional manner of a Western thought process will more than likely clash with one that sets itself of a intuitive cyclical nature.

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.

A freind of mine briefly calls to say he's on his way. I tell him to avoid the limos and take a green and yellow cab from the airport. He does so.

Clutching a bit of pair on which he's scrawled 'Pattaya' he starts to panic after the 3rd sign when Pattaya disappears. The driving must have gone wrong somewhere as he's now heading for a place called 'Phat taya'. In a panic but with growing courage he reaches bamlamung, turns the taxi around and heads back to the safety of the airport, where he calls me.

At least he's safe, he tells me, and didn't end up in Phat taya.

Now if that happened to a Thai he'd have thought 'Oh, well. It'll be different.' Too lazy to be worried he'd have slept in the knowledge that he could buy 3 kilos of rope when he got there.

If I wanted to go there I wouldn't start from here.

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.

If there is one type of rope and you know the measurement between Kg's/Metres this make perfect sense.

Buying say 186 metres would be a doddle, compared to having someone individually measure out each single metre (Probably badly).

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.

A freind of mine briefly calls to say he's on his way. I tell him to avoid the limos and take a green and yellow cab from the airport. He does so.

Clutching a bit of pair on which he's scrawled 'Pattaya' he starts to panic after the 3rd sign when Pattaya disappears. The driving must have gone wrong somewhere as he's now heading for a place called 'Phat taya'. In a panic but with growing courage he reaches bamlamung, turns the taxi around and heads back to the safety of the airport, where he calls me.

At least he's safe, he tells me, and didn't end up in Phat taya.

Now if that happened to a Thai he'd have thought 'Oh, well. It'll be different.' Too lazy to be worried he'd have slept in the knowledge that he could buy 3 kilos of rope when he got there.

...jai yen yen No such generalising as absolutes. Superlatives use makes you look a fool.

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

you right i asked 10 metre rope

the man said

i sell kilo you want 10 kilometre

Did he then 5 minutes later try to sell you 11 kilometers for the price of 9?

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

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

Yes, that reasoning was tried on me once.

How long is a piece of rope?

How big your wad meester?

TheThai Rope Trick

Returning to the long a winding rd of Op this is common stick to furlongs

or I as read somewhere.

If all the girls in Esan were laid end to end nobody would be the least surprised.

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.

There's a relatively simple explanation for this. There are too many unknown variables which add on time to a commute that Thais just estimate using average travel time rather than distance. Bangkok is a pretty small city and a 35km commute across town would take 25-30 minutes max in the western world would take 2 hours in Bangkok because of traffic, officials blocking roads, etc..

In Bangkok, I tend to tell distance by BTS and MRT stations. I might also use time such as "20 minutes away", probably because the trains are more or less unaffected by traffic etc.

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.

There's a relatively simple explanation for this. There are too many unknown variables which add on time to a commute that Thais just estimate using average travel time rather than distance. Bangkok is a pretty small city and a 35km commute across town would take 25-30 minutes max in the western world would take 2 hours in Bangkok because of traffic, officials blocking roads, etc..

There are simple explanations for both methods, for that matter. No one way is particularly better than the other. It is just a matter of culture and way of thinking.

For me, as a creature of the West, I prefer the distance. Then, knowing my driving habits, the time of day, and all the other variables, I can determine how long a trip might take.

But for a Thai who travels by bus, the fact that Loei is closer as the crow flies to Maehongson than it is to Bangkok has very little relevance because both the time and cost to take a bus from Loei to Maehongson is more than to take a bus to Bangkok. So from the wallet and the time a person is sitting on the bus perspective, the actual distance is not that important.