Should Teach A Subject Called "common Sense" In Thailand.

[DavoTheGun]

Recently went to a new Market being constructed in Pattaya, Yes another one, the stalls, (Shops) are mostly 5M X 5M. and of steel construction, permanent, I noticed to my amazement they were putting the floor tiles down first and building on top of the tiles, one new owner was arguing with a guy welding the roof members as the sparks were marking the tiles! I said to him why did you put tiles down first, should be last job. He looked at me and said this is the right way to do it, I just walked away and looked around the market, the electrical wiring, no earth to these constructions, digging up new concrete for drains, no provision for Air Conditioning run off, and so on, ALL Common Sense issues. Then can talk about the driving, the deaths, motor bike drivers, Holes in Footpaths, Street Wires, all about "Common Sense"

Should be no 1 Subject at the Schools, This does not apply only to Thailand but to many other developing countries as well, why they do not take a page from the developed countries I do not know, that would be "Common Sense" I suppose.

[jij]

To quote Mark Twain, "common sense is very uncommon".

[FunFon]

It is what it is, not much point in upsetting yourself about it.

Keep in mind just making such a decision would require the MoE and school administrators to have some, and then it would be literally impossible to find qualified teachers, because no one with any would work in places where the corporate culture is dominated by abject insanity at a far higher level than what you're talking about.

All just par for the course, best to just have a chuckle and go with the flow, no one's going to listen to us outsiders anyway we don't understand Thai culture, things work the way they should given the level of development.

[USNret]

The one lesson I've learned in Thailand... Don't try to fix it! E.g., don't come between a welder and a tile layer. You won't change a thing, and no one will appreciate your efforts.

[up-country_sinclair]

Isn't it common sense that common sense can't be taught?

[Indrid Cold]

I find the lack of so called "common sense" here quite relieving.

[cooked]

The land that common sense forgot.

Europe went through the same stages 100 years or so ago.

[giddyup]

The new house I bought has all the aluminium window frames and doors installed the wrong way around. It means that all the insect screens are on the inside when they should be on the outside. When I pointed this out to the developers, they just shrugged their shoulders and continued to install them on other houses the same way. Thais are very resistant to new ideas.

[doggie888888]

I am sure the Thais think it is common sense to use a bum squirter after you take a dump. And since there are more of them than us in Thailand, it makes their sense of things more common than your version of un-common sense.
Or, maybe they don't want to be common like you.

[FunFon]

The new house I bought has all the aluminium window frames and doors installed the wrong way around. It means that all the insect screens are on the inside when they should be on the outside. When I pointed this out to the developers, they just shrugged their shoulders and continued to install them on other houses the same way. Thais are very resistant to new ideas.

-

Ignorant farang, you just don't understand Thai culture!

It is vastly more important for a lowly worker to avoid causing his idiotic boss (or whoever spec'd the way he's doing it, going to be above him in any case) to lose face than it is to do the job "right" according to some crackpot foreigner. . .

Just "common sense" really

PS Probably wouldn't cost more than what one window would back home to have the whole lot fixed if you found a way to deal directly with the workers, have them come by on their day off. . .

[doggie888888]

The new house I bought has all the aluminium window frames and doors installed the wrong way around. It means that all the insect screens are on the inside when they should be on the outside. When I pointed this out to the developers, they just shrugged their shoulders and continued to install them on other houses the same way. Thais are very resistant to new ideas.

some feel insect screens on the outside means it gets dustier more often thus needs cleaning more often. Instead of being judgemental (Thais are very resistant to new ideas), maybe you ought to try and understand why things are done in a certain way. If you can't be bothered then just insist that everything is to be your way only because it's your money etc etc etc and see how happy you'll be in Thailand after 2Weeks.

[Dancealot]

To the OP. You failed to notice the bottle of lao kao the welder was enjoying?

[arthurwait]

Our local market is currently being done up. Wet market with fish in trays of ice dripping on the floor. Fish stall holders throwing this ice water on the floor when it's melted. So what do they do ? Replace the grippy concrete with slippy tiles.

[samran]

Its the owners money. It is his to waste as he pleases.

[arthurwait]

To the OP. You failed to notice the bottle of lao kao the welder was enjoying?

Mai bpen rai. The welder failed to notice the 1mm thick steel and arc welder.

[Berkshire]

I can't help but interject here because it's so apropos:

If farang men in Thailand had more "common sense" when choosing a Thai woman, then we'd be rid of all these tales of woe that we constantly read about!

[HeavyDrinker]

I find far more tourists/'expats' check in their common sense at Heathrow/JFK etc when coming here than I see a lack of 'common sense' among the locals...

Edited March 21, 2013 by HeavyDrinker

[samran]

I can't help but interject here because it's so apropos:

If farang men in Thailand had more "common sense" when choosing a Thai woman, then we'd be rid of all these tales of woe that we constantly read about!

Indeed, common sense seems to be severely lacking amongst that particular demographic. But lets not engage in sweeping statements abut certain groups of people. Plenty of others on this thread more than capable about doing that.

[giddyup]

The new house I bought has all the aluminium window frames and doors installed the wrong way around. It means that all the insect screens are on the inside when they should be on the outside. When I pointed this out to the developers, they just shrugged their shoulders and continued to install them on other houses the same way. Thais are very resistant to new ideas.

some feel insect screens on the outside means it gets dustier more often thus needs cleaning more often. Instead of being judgemental (Thais are very resistant to new ideas), maybe you ought to try and understand why things are done in a certain way. If you can't be bothered then just insist that everything is to be your way only because it's your money etc etc etc and see how happy you'll be in Thailand after 2Weeks.

If there was some logic to putting the frames in the wrong way around I'd accept that, but there's not. I don't believe your explanation of the screens getting dustier on the outside would even occur to them. I certainly couldn't get any explanation from the contractor why he put them in that way. It also means that if the screens are on the inside, you bring any insects that may be on the screens (like mosquitoes) into the house when you close the outside windows. As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

[HeavyDrinker]

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

[FunFon]

I certainly couldn't get any explanation from the contractor why he put them in that way.

-

99% sure the answer to that is "I was told to do it that way".

But if he told you that you might want to try to "enlighten" that person and then he's in trouble with someone who actually matters in his life.

[giddyup]

HeavyDrinker, on 21 Mar 2013 - 10:42, said:

Quote

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Do you ever actually have anything constructive to say, other than just disputing someone's comments by saying "<deleted>"? If you have some contrary evidence, let's hear it.

[rene123]

There are some obvious answers to the problems with Thai building.

1. Lack of proper training

2. Lack of building codes

3. The Use of cheap labour rather than people who know what they are doing.

4. No safety standards.

On a larger scale, why do you think Japan and the USA outsources their manufacturing to third world countries? The obvious answer is to lower their costs by using cheap labour, and to duck under safety standards required at home.

[jbrain]

Did the OP notice if the welder or any other of the construction workers were wearing their safety flip flops

Edited March 21, 2013 by jbrain

[DavoTheGun]

Yes

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Your Name is appropriate, get a grip!

My GF and her grownup children make many comments and decisions every day that beggar belief, and these are all university educated people, they certainly do not teach Common Sense at Uni.

[Indrid Cold]

Yes

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Your Name is appropriate, get a grip!

My GF and her grownup children make many comments and decisions every day that beggar belief, and these are all university educated people, they certainly do not teach Common Sense at Uni.

No and why should they? such things should be taught by their parents at an early stage.

[giddyup]

Yes

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Your Name is appropriate, get a grip!

My GF and her grownup children make many comments and decisions every day that beggar belief, and these are all university educated people, they certainly do not teach Common Sense at Uni.

No and why should they? such things should be taught by their parents at an early stage.

...and who taught the parents?

[HeavyDrinker]

Yes

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Your Name is appropriate, get a grip!

My GF and her grownup children make many comments and decisions every day that beggar belief, and these are all university educated people, they certainly do not teach Common Sense at Uni.

Indeed they don't.

It's the job of parents to instill common sense into their offspring, not Universities...

Maybe it is your misunderstanding of where they are coming from which makes it seem as though they lack common sense.

I find that when people spout crap like in this OP, they really have a lack of understanding as to the way things get done in Thailand and they bring out the old 'common sense (lack of)' card, to try and explain away their own shortcomings in adapting to life here.

Now, get a grip....

Edited March 21, 2013 by HeavyDrinker

[HeavyDrinker]

HeavyDrinker, on 21 Mar 2013 - 10:42, said:

Quote

As for my comment that Thais are resistant to new ideas, that's a hard fact and not a judgement call.

It's also <deleted>. You've obviously never worked with any Thais....

Do you ever actually have anything constructive to say, other than just disputing someone's comments by saying "<deleted>"? If you have some contrary evidence, let's hear it.

The burden of proof doesn't actually fall on me. I'd rather you show me some evidence to support this 'hard fact' that Thais are resistant to new ideas, then I'll blow you out of the water....because things like the motor car, moving pictures, smoking tobacco never really caught on here did they...?

Edited March 21, 2013 by HeavyDrinker

[Thaddeus]

The best way to successfully educate any group of people is to do so in a manner whereby they don't realise they are being taught, 'The Archers' on BBC Radio 4 was a prime example of this for a couple of decades in the UK.

Instead of the moronic, slap down, shoot 'em up soaps on TV, perhaps a series called 'The Builders' featuring allegedly real life welders, brickies and tilers learn to work together, produce a quality product, and therefore all end up wealthy as a consequence.

Of course, to have an idea like that requires a degree of common sense.