Packaging In Thailand, And How To Open

[PeaceBlondie]

What are your favorite packages in Thailand that are nearly impossible to open?

One of my (least) favorites is any package that doesn't have a built-in tear strip. For example, Cadbury chocolate bars. You must destroy all the packaging (even the outer wrapper) as well as the chocolate to open.

[Steve2UK]

Those plastic bottles of chocolate-flavoured milk - when the pull-out tab in the neck breaks and you have to resort to a kitchen knife.

And legal - i.e. cellophane-wrapped - CD's........... if I ever get round to buying one, that is........

[chownah]

I hate the ones that show you or tell you how to open them but when you actually try to do it it doesn't work....especially when I've tried and failed and then a five year old child instantly opens the same package another way quickly and effortlessly.....one of the reasons why I like Thai children so much is that they can hide their smirk really well when this happens.

[Gumballl]

The last bottle of Chang beer (when you do not have a bottle opener). I always use an unopened bottle to open the one I want to drink. When I am down to the last bottle... I go looking for a Thai local. I have seen them rip the cap of the bottle with their teeth!

[lopburi3]

The new, and nice, zip seal packages that are fuzzed below the tear notch.

[markg]

Had to laugh when i saw this post.

I am always saying to my GF "f*ing asia plastic"

Why is the plastic wrapping also so thick? i am sure in the event of a nuclear war you would get some protection by putting your head inside a giant Lays packet.

I also STILL cannot open those little plastic bags of chilli sauce which are closed using an elastic band wrapped around the top a million times. I end up using a fork and destroying everything

[Gumballl]

Probably the easiest package to open is that of a cond*m.

[AlexLah]

For the plastic original CD's I have a good and easy way to open.

A lighter......

Alex

[penzman]

I also STILL cannot open those little plastic bags  of chilli sauce which are closed using an elastic band wrapped around the top a million times. I end up using a fork and destroying everything

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I never bother with the elastic band.

Poke a hole beneath it at the top of the bag.

[Gazza]

Those plastic bottles of chocolate-flavoured milk - when the pull-out tab in the neck breaks and you have to resort to a kitchen knife.

You should try pulling the tab off a bottle of cooking oil. The ring isn't even big enough to get your finger through it.

I've always had to resort to the 'Knife-to-dig-out-the-plastic-tab-while-wishing-the bottle-designer-was-with-me-at-that-moment-while-I-have-a-knife-in-my-hand' method.

Oh! and those Cup-a-Noodles that are supposed to have the silver foil top peel off in ONE PEICE so that you can replace it to keep the water hot...but they don't come off in one peice do they? No, they don't.

Then there's those opaque plastic bottles of water that you're supposed to pull off a strip of plastic. But does the strip tear off in one pull? Even when you're lucky enough and can actually get a good grip on the tab in the first place, does it come off in one swift pull? No, it doesn't does it?

So you then have to use your teeth don't you? And is this any guarantee of being able to remove the strip. No, it isn't, is it?

Small bottles of soft drinks, M150, Kritaeng Daeng etc., anyone ever tried getting the tops off those little buggers? Well, is there? I bet you'll find that the metal top just twists round and round and that's regardless of whether you can get a good dry grip on the top in the first place. Round and round the top goes, never going anywhere but round and round and round and round and......

I'd better stop now before I blow my top.

[sierra01]

I find a sharp knife often opens things quite easily, other times brute force is required!

[OlRedEyes]

Had to laugh when i saw this post.

I am always saying to my GF "f*ing asia plastic"

Why is the plastic wrapping also so thick? i am sure in the event of a nuclear war you would get some protection by putting your head inside a giant Lays packet.

I also STILL cannot open those little plastic bags  of chilli sauce which are closed using an elastic band wrapped around the top a million times. I end up using a fork and destroying everything

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One small problem. How do you get the giant Lays packet open to put your head in? By the time you've found some industrial scissors, it's all over....

They have this serrated edge at the top, to facilitate tearing. Problem is, you either end up with a tiny hole, or a packet torn in half

Good to see I'm not alone in my pet hate and confusion over Thai packaging.

I refuse to open anything these days. Just pass it on to my resident specialist

Edited December 24, 2005 by OlRedEyes

[Dustoff]

~

In our house it is a sequence of events:

My wife hears the commotion and cursing, comes to find me stomping on the package with both feet, takes it away from me and opens it without effort.

Go figure, eh?

[Heng]

Scotch Bird's Nest Beverage. How they became mega enterprise with nearly impossible open to bottles is crazy. Brands Bird's Nest on the other hand has a really easy to open bottle.

[tutsiwarrior]

Small bottles of soft drinks, M150, Kritaeng Daeng etc., anyone ever tried getting the tops off those little buggers? Well, is there? I bet you'll find that the metal top just twists round and round and that's regardless of whether you can get a good dry grip on the top in the first place. Round and round the top goes, never going anywhere but round and round and round and round and......

I'd better stop now before I blow my top.

same thing happens often with bottles of Sam Song...really annoying (hands begin to tremble, etc...)

[PeaceBlondie]

There must be a school for packaging engineers in Thailand. They must teach the students that, under no circumstances, can the consumer open the package without destroying the contents.

[Gazza]

Probably the same engineers who designed the packaging for eggs.

I can never find the top of them or see any kind of a seal to open them.

I usually have to break them open on the edge of a frying pan to get the egg out.

[Bryan in Isaan]

Probably the same engineers who designed the packaging for eggs.

I can never find the top of them or see any kind of a seal to open them.

I usually have to break them open on the edge of a frying pan to get the egg out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah. And then try closing it back up when you only need half an egg.

My favorite, and I think it was already mentioned, are those cheap, opaque water bottles. I usually end up using my car keys. I am usually very thirsty and impatient by that time.

Bryan

[PeaceBlondie]

Perhaps it was DaveinThailand who said he keeps a pair of scissors in every room of the house, for opening packages. I also let my right big thumb grow a long nail so I can open the seal of the opaque water bottle, and to peel oranges. My six pack of water bottles is enshrouded in a thick plastic wrapping that almost defies scissors. Same for six-packs of cans of Coke.

[nonthaburial]

Amazing isnt it how many people get caught out by the same things. Take for example the above mentioned cooking oil bottles. I soon learnt that apart from having fingers too big to open the ring pull, it was necessary to remove my upper garments as at least half the oil ended up on me !!!!!

[toptuan]

There must be a school for packaging engineers in Thailand.  They must teach the students that, under no circumstances, can the consumer open the package without destroying the contents.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My duplex-home is surrounded by resident Thai university engineering students. They party 24/7 and are perpetually drunk. Go figure.

Edited January 3, 2006 by toptuan

[toptuan]

I can't tell you what a relief it was to come across this thread today.

Every time I've asked a nearby (usually younger) Thai friend to open something for me, I've cringed at memories of watching my grandmother try to open the aspirin bottle or thread a needle. She was in her 80's, and I'm only in my 50's.

Cringe no more. I'm just a proud member of Thaivisa.com forum!

Misery DOES love company...

Edited January 3, 2006 by toptuan

[frodo]

Don't know what it's actually called, but it's an apparatus used for doing your dishes. The head is a sponge while the handle is a tube which you put soap into. As you wash the dishes, the soap will seep into the sponge. Less mess, less waste, and makes life easier, I guess. While trying to to open this gadget there was so much plastic around the bugger, the sponge had to be torn apart as well.

[TizMe]

I also STILL cannot open those little plastic bags  of chilli sauce which are closed using an elastic band wrapped around the top a million times. I end up using a fork and destroying everything

One of my "hey, I must have boxing gloves on my hands" moments. The Mrs can open them in 2 seconds.. I rarely even bother trying anymore.

[LindsayBKK]

Yogurt containers and those stupid pull off lids. The lip is too small to put fingers on to get a good enough grip.

Why don't Thais put the chocolate bars in the fridge so i can eat it straight away? If I do I lose half that caramel stays in the packet. (eg. Mars Bar).

[toptuan]

Yogurt containers and those stupid pull off lids. The lip is too small to put fingers on to get a good enough grip.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yogurt containers. You just reminded me of a recurring nightmare. Because you can't get a good grip on the lid, then you end up gripping the rest of the container that much tighter with your other hand, which has consequences.

Murpy's law:

When you're relaxing at home in your boxer shorts, the lid finally comes off after much struggle, but no other reprocussions.

BUT

When you're at your office desk--dress shirt, necktie, black slacks--and it's 10 minutes before the BIG MEETING, the sucker erupts with a full table-spoon of slop all over your person, making it look like you just burped the baby. Explain that at the conference table.

Yes, it's a consistent, evil conspiracy perpetrated by those drunk engineering students...

Edited January 3, 2006 by toptuan

[Dustoff]

When you're at your office desk--dress shirt, necktie, black slacks--and it's 10 minutes before the BIG MEETING, the sucker erupts with a full table-spoon of slop all over your person, making it look like you just burped the baby.  Explain that at the conference table.

I see. So after you have been sitting alone in your office for 10 minutes, the white "table-spoon of slop all over your person" when you walk into the conference is... "yogurt"

[DJ Pat]

I also STILL cannot open those little plastic bags  of chilli sauce which are closed using an elastic band wrapped around the top a million times. I end up using a fork and destroying everything

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And I thought I was the only one with this problem. I end up destroying the packaging and spilling half of the sauce.

If it's pik-nam-plaa then I make a minute hole in the corner and squirt the liquid out.

[toptuan]

"...the white "table-spoon of slop all over your person" when you walk into the conference is... "yogurt"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, Dust, I guess honesty is the best policy. "Baby vomit" would definitely be second choice (unless they were all career moms on the corporate board).

Edited January 3, 2006 by toptuan

[srisatch]

~

In our house it is a sequence of events:

My wife hears the commotion and cursing, comes to find me stomping on the package with both feet, takes it away from me and opens it without effort.

Yes; but why is it that when Thais open a packet, they make a hole just big enough for one tiny finger to get at a crisp? Of course in making the hole big enough for my finger the contents are on the floor!

Actually I hate the whole food in plastic bag business. Hamburgers in soggy cardboard boxes at home and fish and fish and chips bulging out of polystyrene or paper wet with vinegar are bad...but a whole country eating out of plastic bags!

Oh! And..Never mind Thailand. Have you tried opening any package containing a Barbie Doll? Welded into the pack and with industrial strength ties