What Do You Dislike About Living In Samui?

[itishothere]

Two excellent,, well balanced posts Rob!

I would agree with this. Very well written and in my case kind of sums up why I am here. There is rough and smooth wherever we go. I guess the knack is finding your own 'balance' as RobSamui says. Some can. Some can't. Some give up trying to find it.

Everyday on the news I see stuff happening around the world. Back in the UK I would be made to feel involved in it, responsible for it even. Here, well all this news isn't so consuming. Life does continue - it has to. Thailand has made me a more relaxed person. And my blood pressure is a lot lower than it used to be!

[Higgins]

In answer to the OP. Plurks that come here and want to make it just like it is where they came from. Cos its for the better.

And that ever present good-old-not-so-healthy sense of superiority that they have over the locals and local ways.

[mudkicker]

Great posts, Rob. I fly to Thailand in 12 hours or so and will be on Samui by Wednesday, hoping to stay six months. I'm still here in Ireland and it's 6am and I can't sleep...

[carmine]

Great posts, Rob. I fly to Thailand in 12 hours or so and will be on Samui by Wednesday, hoping to stay six months. I'm still here in Ireland and it's 6am and I can't sleep...

Then you will also be delighted to know that the bad weather is due to finish when you arrive on Samui.

[Pia]

In answer to the OP. Plurks that come here and want to make it just like it is where they came from. Cos its for the better.

And that ever present good-old-not-so-healthy sense of superiority that they have over the locals and local ways.

How true.

[BigC]

not so much dis like just fustration of how samui has a muang ( city ) status but still not quite a city yet though i hope that what is happening now is just fustrating like power cut while they are upgrading the electric and roads that r not finished yet with the tar making. I just hope that this shit is for the greater good.

I would like to see some proper proffesional shopping plazas with more things to do that are indoors and not realy on tesco lotus. I mean like mega mall like in Phuket. Also avalablity of products. proper brand name PS3 shops and basically i wish samui would modify quickly before people get too fustrated and go before samui is fully developed.

Also i hope that the mayor can basically just tidy up and organise the island more like group all the electric wires together. and the eletrci posts that are nearly at right angles.#

I get bored of the excus that This is Thailand.

yes this is Thailand but it is an expensive part of Thailand so i would appricate more quality for my money.

This is not some Amper village in the middle of the jungle somewhere this is a proper Amper Muang which need alllot of TLC.

Raaar i am a lion !!!!!!!

[limbos]

Big C,

In my opinion Samui is too small to warrant a Central Festival shopping mall like in Phuket and Pattaya. Way to few potential customers to warrant such an investment.

[Tracer Round]

I think to speak broadly, I am always exasperated with the general attitude that, "A crappy, sub-par job is acceptable." There is almost no area here where this does not apply. Service, craftsmanship, construction, concern for others, the list is endless. It's difficult to find any aspect of life and living in Samui where you can look at something with admiration that it has been a job well done and with a pleasing aesthetic. Or that it is environmentally harmonious. Or without the taint of greed or profiteering.

An earlier poster (much lauded) extolled the virtues of not having to pass inspections for vehicles or construction and so on, among other things. I think we all enjoy cutting corners, but the cumulative result is a degraded living environment, corruption and lackadaisical work mentality.

[smokie36]

Big C,

In my opinion Samui is too small to warrant a Central Festival shopping mall like in Phuket and Pattaya. Way to few potential customers to warrant such an investment.

More trees more hammocks and wyf you complaining about Big C.....its only a 10k round trip to Bangers!

aye now we see why....I fear limbos is correct though....

[robsamui]

I think to speak broadly, I am always exasperated with the general attitude that, "A crappy, sub-par job is acceptable." There is almost no area here where this does not apply. Service, craftsmanship, construction, concern for others, the list is endless. It's difficult to find any aspect of life and living in Samui where you can look at something with admiration that it has been a job well done and with a pleasing aesthetic. Or that it is environmentally harmonious. Or without the taint of greed or profiteering.

An earlier poster (much lauded) extolled the virtues of not having to pass inspections for vehicles or construction and so on, among other things. I think we all enjoy cutting corners, but the cumulative result is a degraded living environment, corruption and lackadaisical work mentality.

I guess that earlier post was me!

But what you're on about here is a particularly Thai thing and part of their insulation from the rest of the world. They genuinely do think they are doing a good job (in whatever sphere it might be) as they have nothing with which to compare it. They trot off to their universities and spend two years on a degree without having a clue that this then puts them at a level of education not much above International Baccalaureate standard - ie about the level of a high-school leaver at the age of 18 in the West. And that's not taking into account the abysmal overall level of general education. These same graduates are the ones that put sticking plasters on their faces when they get toothache or think 'fresh juice' means that the can has only just been opened.

Take the 'gold standard' of massage training here - being 'Wat Po' trained will get a girl a job anywhere as it's reckoned to be the tops. And yet you can get a Wat Po certificate as the basic level with 5 (five!) hours training. Even the top Wat Po qualification only needs 3 months. It's the same in every walk of life. All you need to be a qualified hair stylist is to rent a room and put a few mirrors in and a couple of the right kind of chairs. I called an 'electrician' one time to track down a break in an underground cable - he turned up with a screwdriver, black tape and a knife and peered in fascination when I gave him my test meter to use as he'd never seen one before.

(And when it comes to national engineering projects, such as the sky train, then the Thais need outside help ... and they just hate this!)

I'm not intending to mock, and this is one of my pet hates, too: sometimes it appears almost arrogant they way that confidently breeze up to do a job they just don't have a clue about and somehow manage to bodge up a working kind of result. And then they get puzzled and annoyed by us farangs shaking our heads and going all superior because we are not happy with it. And there are competent and skilled tradesmen and engineers around - the problem is that you never know what you're going to get as, as far as the Thais are concerned, every one of them is convinced they can turn their hand to anything.

But then we have to trace this back to politics and education (or the tragic lack of it) and the nationalistic brainwashing they receive as children. And, I guess, if we don't like it we can go back to our own countries! Me, I prefer to dig a little hole, climb in, smile benignly at the innocence of the people around me and thank God for the sunshine. Oh . . what am I saying . . .

R

[Boater]

Big C,

In my opinion Samui is too small to warrant a Central Festival shopping mall like in Phuket and Pattaya. Way to few potential customers to warrant such an investment.

they had planned to build one on the land between bigc and makro, but i understand the planning permission was rejected to build there....

[Boater]

I think to speak broadly, I am always exasperated with the general attitude that, "A crappy, sub-par job is acceptable." There is almost no area here where this does not apply. Service, craftsmanship, construction, concern for others, the list is endless. It's difficult to find any aspect of life and living in Samui where you can look at something with admiration that it has been a job well done and with a pleasing aesthetic. Or that it is environmentally harmonious. Or without the taint of greed or profiteering.

An earlier poster (much lauded) extolled the virtues of not having to pass inspections for vehicles or construction and so on, among other things. I think we all enjoy cutting corners, but the cumulative result is a degraded living environment, corruption and lackadaisical work mentality.

I guess that earlier post was me!

But what you're on about here is a particularly Thai thing and part of their insulation from the rest of the world. They genuinely do think they are doing a good job (in whatever sphere it might be) as they have nothing with which to compare it. They trot off to their universities and spend two years on a degree without having a clue that this then puts them at a level of education not much above International Baccalaureate standard - ie about the level of a high-school leaver at the age of 18 in the West. And that's not taking into account the abysmal overall level of general education. These same graduates are the ones that put sticking plasters on their faces when they get toothache or think 'fresh juice' means that the can has only just been opened.

Take the 'gold standard' of massage training here - being 'Wat Po' trained will get a girl a job anywhere as it's reckoned to be the tops. And yet you can get a Wat Po certificate as the basic level with 5 (five!) hours training. Even the top Wat Po qualification only needs 3 months. It's the same in every walk of life. All you need to be a qualified hair stylist is to rent a room and put a few mirrors in and a couple of the right kind of chairs. I called an 'electrician' one time to track down a break in an underground cable - he turned up with a screwdriver, black tape and a knife and peered in fascination when I gave him my test meter to use as he'd never seen one before.

(And when it comes to national engineering projects, such as the sky train, then the Thais need outside help ... and they just hate this!)

I'm not intending to mock, and this is one of my pet hates, too: sometimes it appears almost arrogant they way that confidently breeze up to do a job they just don't have a clue about and somehow manage to bodge up a working kind of result. And then they get puzzled and annoyed by us farangs shaking our heads and going all superior because we are not happy with it. And there are competent and skilled tradesmen and engineers around - the problem is that you never know what you're going to get as, as far as the Thais are concerned, every one of them is convinced they can turn their hand to anything.

But then we have to trace this back to politics and education (or the tragic lack of it) and the nationalistic brainwashing they receive as children. And, I guess, if we don't like it we can go back to our own countries! Me, I prefer to dig a little hole, climb in, smile benignly at the innocence of the people around me and thank God for the sunshine. Oh . . what am I saying . . .

R

another good post rob

[robsamui]

Two excellent,, well balanced posts Rob!

I would agree with this. Very well written and in my case kind of sums up why I am here. There is rough and smooth wherever we go. I guess the knack is finding your own 'balance' as RobSamui says. Some can. Some can't. Some give up trying to find it.

Everyday on the news I see stuff happening around the world. Back in the UK I would be made to feel involved in it, responsible for it even. Here, well all this news isn't so consuming. Life does continue - it has to. Thailand has made me a more relaxed person. And my blood pressure is a lot lower than it used to be!

Yep - me too. I read about pensioners being hauled into court for putting the wrong kind of waste into the wrong colour wheelie bin, but here I can just lob the whole lot over the back wall. (Jus kiddin.) But after a while all this politically correct stuff (that makes me wanna bash people sometimes)just fades out and takes on a more realistic perspective - ie really silly. I think I'd find it 100-times harder to live in England now than I would over here. Life in Thailand can get frustrating - a kind of permanent sense of impermanence - and with minor niggles and irritations everywhere if you want to dwell on them. It can get really silly over here sometimes.

But it is nothing - not a drop in the ocean - anywhere half as lunatic as what I'm told is happening all around in England and it just makes me thankful I'm not there any more.

R

[Tracer Round]

Robsamui wrote:

They genuinely do think they are doing a good job (in whatever sphere it might be) as they have nothing with which to compare it.

That statement might have some traction in Bangkok, but in Samui I think not.

I hardly think the guys who "fix" the storm grates along that part of the ring road along north Lamai think they are doing a good job; I have the feeling that they think it is a sufficient job to hold up until one breaks again (about 60 days or so).

The workmen who replaced some steps in the front of my house -- who cut metal and welded in the backyard, killing the grass and then painting parts there, killing the grass in a different area; who used a spray gun for the paint on the finished railing but didn't care to put down any protective tarp so that everything on the balcony was coated in a fine mist of white paint; who (after being told to clean up the mess and remove the old steps and supports) left all the pipe cuttings, pieces of wood, old nails and supports, and then spilled paint from buckets onto my new sandwash walkway (not bothering to clean it up when it happened so it is permanent now); who used my tools without asking and then returned all of them to different places in my workspace except my tape measure which went missing -- may have thought they had done a good job, but then I doubt they even thought in those terms (oh, and the job to put in five steps took 3 and sometimes 4 men 10 days to complete).

I have breakfast often in several places routinely and generally order the same thing. The wait staff, almost without fail, "forget" to bring salt and pepper or the napkin dispenser or, on occasion, any eating utensils. I ask, they retain the blank look of the brain-dead on their faces, turn and come back with whatever it is they should have brought in the first place. This is what a real life zombie movie would look like....

Personally, I think they just don't give a <deleted>. Instances where any human with a normal conscience would feel at least a pang of guilt or personal duty are lacking here. I think the example above of spilling paint on a sandwash pathway (that was obviously brand new) and not bothering to clean it off at the time (when the paint was wet and it was possible to do so), shows a profound lack of empathy and a selfishness that borders on some kind of pathological, emotional problem. And I should add that I told them specifically to be careful not to get any paint on the pathway...

If this is a "particularly Thai thing," then it certainly doesn't show up in any of the tourist brochures....

[samuijimmy]

Robsamui wrote:

They genuinely do think they are doing a good job (in whatever sphere it might be) as they have nothing with which to compare it.

That statement might have some traction in Bangkok, but in Samui I think not.

I hardly think the guys who "fix" the storm grates along that part of the ring road along north Lamai think they are doing a good job; I have the feeling that they think it is a sufficient job to hold up until one breaks again (about 60 days or so).

The workmen who replaced some steps in the front of my house -- who cut metal and welded in the backyard, killing the grass and then painting parts there, killing the grass in a different area; who used a spray gun for the paint on the finished railing but didn't care to put down any protective tarp so that everything on the balcony was coated in a fine mist of white paint; who (after being told to clean up the mess and remove the old steps and supports) left all the pipe cuttings, pieces of wood, old nails and supports, and then spilled paint from buckets onto my new sandwash walkway (not bothering to clean it up when it happened so it is permanent now); who used my tools without asking and then returned all of them to different places in my workspace except my tape measure which went missing -- may have thought they had done a good job, but then I doubt they even thought in those terms (oh, and the job to put in five steps took 3 and sometimes 4 men 10 days to complete).

I have breakfast often in several places routinely and generally order the same thing. The wait staff, almost without fail, "forget" to bring salt and pepper or the napkin dispenser or, on occasion, any eating utensils. I ask, they retain the blank look of the brain-dead on their faces, turn and come back with whatever it is they should have brought in the first place. This is what a real life zombie movie would look like....

Personally, I think they just don't give a <deleted>. Instances where any human with a normal conscience would feel at least a pang of guilt or personal duty are lacking here. I think the example above of spilling paint on a sandwash pathway (that was obviously brand new) and not bothering to clean it off at the time (when the paint was wet and it was possible to do so), shows a profound lack of empathy and a selfishness that borders on some kind of pathological, emotional problem. And I should add that I told them specifically to be careful not to get any paint on the pathway...

If this is a "particularly Thai thing," then it certainly doesn't show up in any of the tourist brochures....

Reading part of your post reminded me of builders /contractors in Canada (I am sure else where) who don't give a hoot about what mess they leave behind, "someone else will clean it up"... as a Landscaper I had to put up with this all the time... dumping left over cement anywhere they pleased.... electric wire cuttings everywhere... so not just a Thai issue... as much as some people love to "Thai Bash" it's Same Same anywhere... ... but not all are bad... some actually do take pride in their work... and do an excellent job... hard to find sometimes, but they are around... I agree not all are good....

I understand your frustration of them using any tools and not been returned or returned broken, I know keep every thing in the house, which is really annoying... I have made my landlord pay for things he's used (or hired help have used) & broken, surprised he usually does pay up... except for my weed eater that cost me several hundred baht to fix, he did say he'd pay half, never did see that.. I know keep it at a neighbours house, so he had to go buy his own... ha ha ha! .

But some Thai neighbours do respect my tools and do ask to borrow first & make sure they are returned... in good nick, even sharpened in the case of saw blades... I'd never have the patience to do that!

As for restaurants with bad service or not so good food, well there are a few on my "no go back again list" Lots to choose from.... so that's their loss ...

[ESB7]

I would think the 5 or 6 threads below are good enough reason to dislike and never want to live there...............great for a holiday in the dry season but the rains are the same almost every year, thats why I and many others left after the rains in 2005/6

[TheLobster]

And then the balance happens. It's like two lovers who make out a list of good and bad points about each other. There are a hundred things they don't like and only a handful they do like. But they stay together because all the negative things are vastly outweighed by the three or four good bits. And that's me and Samui.

And that's why I'm still here after 13 years!

R

And as I have just left the island for a while I have to agree with you but .......... I'll be back for sure, Samui is my spiritual home.

I just hope that all my friends manage to survive the dreadful conditions with their livelihoods intact.

[MSingh]

I would think the 5 or 6 threads below are good enough reason to dislike and never want to live there...............great for a holiday in the dry season but the rains are the same almost every year, thats why I and many others left after the rains in 2005/6

I held on for a few more Years after those Floods & i can only look upon this situation in horror, & in selfish relief that i did leave in the end..

[BigC]

Big C,

In my opinion Samui is too small to warrant a Central Festival shopping mall like in Phuket and Pattaya. Way to few potential customers to warrant such an investment.

i know what u r saying but i see so many of the samui 2 stories buildings on the main road emtpy. is it because of lack of customers or lack of demand for thise things.

I think it would be nice to take a chance. They could used the big plazas to have things like conserts and stuff. bit like the millienum dome. nowone new what to do with it but it is still psace and can still indooors.

I think things like these big plazas attract people to come and maybe even stay. There is allot to do in some of them. shooting ranges.

laser guns fighting, bunge thing for kids to jumo up and down, posh resturants and food centers.as long as the plaza did not charge too much for leasing space then it would work,

Sub shops. stalled. under ground parking. at the moment we have allot of these things but they are just randomaly scattered round the island.

also put a bit of effort in the creative deign might help. not just a croncrete standard building. somethings that u can put into the dign do not cost much extra just needs a bit of insiative

[BigC]

as much as i complain about samui lack of structure and power cuts and internet and trhis and that. i have not been able to get back for a long time and i hate to say i still miss it

[smokie36]

Big C,

In my opinion Samui is too small to warrant a Central Festival shopping mall like in Phuket and Pattaya. Way to few potential customers to warrant such an investment.

i know what u r saying but i see so many of the samui 2 stories buildings on the main road emtpy. is it because of lack of customers or lack of demand for thise things.

I think it would be nice to take a chance. They could used the big plazas to have things like conserts and stuff. bit like the millienum dome. nowone new what to do with it but it is still psace and can still indooors.

I think things like these big plazas attract people to come and maybe even stay. There is allot to do in some of them. shooting ranges.

laser guns fighting, bunge thing for kids to jumo up and down, posh resturants and food centers.as long as the plaza did not charge too much for leasing space then it would work,

Sub shops. stalled. under ground parking. at the moment we have allot of these things but they are just randomaly scattered round the island.

also put a bit of effort in the creative deign might help. not just a croncrete standard building. somethings that u can put into the dign do not cost much extra just needs a bit of insiative

If only Samui had as many monied folks as this place.

[careless]

I'm surprised nobody has stated the obvious number one dislike about living in Samui....

heading down to refill the stock on the adult beverages and finding its the wrong time of day...

[PavelGubarev]

Mold. It's in my wardrobe. It's in my car. After two days of heavy rain I had this:

[smokie36]

I'm surprised nobody has stated the obvious number one dislike about living in Samui....

heading down to refill the stock on the adult beverages and finding its the wrong time of day...

You're just shopping in the wrong places!

[careless]

I'm surprised nobody has stated the obvious number one dislike about living in Samui....

heading down to refill the stock on the adult beverages and finding its the wrong time of day...

You're just shopping in the wrong places!

Do tell....lol so many times I was in Tesco to catch the no can sell time...

[robsamui]

Mold. It's in my wardrobe. It's in my car. After two days of heavy rain I had this:

Whack it over with vinegar.

(Somebody told me this. (Thanks!))

They say it works. It doesn't make the rain go away but it stops your steering wheel and trousers going green.

R

[Master of the court]

would tottally agree on your post Rob, well written, and puts most of the ' why we dont like samui ' into prospective

Ta duck - but I would add one little extra, and it's a highly personal note - there's a certain breed of ExPat here that makes my flesh crawl. Not wanting to single out tattooed post office robbers from Essex (I've met a couple of pleasant ones) there is a whole strata of mid-to-late 30s people, all of when seem to be from the same mould, shaved heads, lots of tats, loud when drunk, coarse, belligerent, overbearing and usually each with a tiny and stilettoed mini-skirted Thai girl in tow. And they all seem to collect together in one set of bars and all knock around in bunches together. And they are usually the ones seen wandering around Tesco in their swimwear, in groups or with lady attached.

Things like beaches, construction, bars, roads and all the rest - to my mind - are distracting. There are good and iffy ones in every town. What makes a place precious is the beauty of it (Samui has it in spades), the climate (ditto) and the day-to-day interaction with the other people around. All other aspects are knitted into these basics and either make the overall experience better or worse.

But nobody's talked about balance, yet!

Put it this way. I HATE the roads and the way people drive here. I hate it when Thais in a group refer to you as 'the farang' instead of using your name. I despair at the bewildering way that Thai logic works and they way they can never admit to being wrong. I detest needing to have to make any kind of appointment here. I'm ashamed that the police system is what it is and there is no access to a legal system unless you are a millionaire. There are probably another 50 reasons why I hate this place, if I sat and spent a week noting them all down.

And then I look at the complete freedom to whack up a house or garage or shed without months of inspections paperwork and permissions. To be able to shrug sheepishly and say "sorry officer, it was my fault" knowing I can then get it over with instantly with a fine. I'm overjoyed that my car doesn't need a microscopic test every year which costs me thousands to keep it on the road if I can afford the staggering insurance rates. I love the location, the climate, the mountain, the beach, the sand and the sea and the fluffy clouds. I am free to let off fireworks to express my appreciation. I adore the handful of genuinely lovely Thai people I know and politely keep away from those with an evil glitter in their eyes. I treasure the few ExPat friends I have (all of them totally different from me as far as background, education and work goes, but each of them considerate, open-minded and informed). I really appreciate the standard of care at the (Ampur) hospital in Nathon and the low cost of it. And I worship the overall cost of living in Thailand - I'd be renting a one-room bedsit back in England.

And then the balance happens. It's like two lovers who make out a list of good and bad points about each other. There are a hundred things they don't like and only a handful they do like. But they stay together because all the negative things are vastly outweighed by the three or four good bits. And that's me and Samui.

And that's why I'm still here after 13 years!

R

Good one Rob,

I think another problem is all the Burmese people who work everywhere..........they are not like Thais and it just feel so wrong, when I think about all the Thais on the mainland who could have the Burmese jobs.

More and more restaurant also employ them now, just dont get it !!!!!

[smokie36]

Cheaper...do a better job etc..etc....

Why else?

[Master of the court]

Cheaper...do a better job etc..etc....

Why else?

I know thats the reason, but I still think many Thais can work for the same salary. I have met some nice Burmese specially in the Restaurants , but all the sales people are just terrible. Worst thing is that many 1st timer tourists to Thailand think the Burmese are Thai .

[smokie36]

Cheaper...do a better job etc..etc....

Why else?

I know thats the reason, but I still think many Thais can work for the same salary. I have met some nice Burmese specially in the Restaurants , but all the sales people are just terrible. Worst thing is that many 1st timer tourists to Thailand think the Burmese are Thai .

Not to worry mate...they'll have to take a taxi sooner or later...