The Cost of my Life in Thailand.

[NBD]

In fairness the actual construction of the house seems solid enough, no subsidence or leaky roof or anything. It's just lots of little things like windows not fitting properly, tiles all wonky, a fluorescent light I replaced the other day that was basically nailed onto a piece of plasterboard and fed through speaker wire, a built in kitchen counter that is uneven.

And yes, the Samsung microwave has to go back to some dive on Sri Nakarin, open office hours only. Fortunately it's not that far out of my way from work, but still a bit of a screw about.

[MrWorldwide]

Do not forget that also part of the "cost" of life in Thailand is not only the outlandish costs of some consumer electronics but the absolutely shoddy quality of electrical household appliances. When I first arrived, I bought what I thought was the best quality. And I learned an expensive lesson. Buy cheap, because most everything will go bust in a year or two anyway. Just look at the last four year period and I have had to buy:

3 coffeemakers (especially avoid Electrolux)

2 electric stovetops (did I mention to avoid Electrolux)

2 propane stovetops

2 TVs (should never have bought the crappy Philips; LG is better all the way around)

1 Replacement fan (the Hataris seem to work well, but other brands are junk waiting to happen)

3 DVD players (Philips again--the thing actually caught on fire while it was turned OFF)

2 laptops (the Dells apparently came with a hard drive issue that the retailer didn't think worth noting)

2 electric swizzle sticks

1 Replacement a/c

2 Remote controls for the Truevisions box

2 Toaster ovens

Won't mention the details of the office chair that broke within a year, the doorbell that fizzled, the outside lighting that stopped working after the flood.

I owned similar items in the US and some were 40 years and older and still in working without the slightest problem. I have never had so many electrical items simply fail on me as I have had here. I thought it might simply be the case that Thailand is China's dumping ground. But many of these items are assembled here in LOS. I guess I'm just enjoying the attention and craftsmanship of quality Thai manufacturing. Anyway, when you come to Thailand and buy household electronics, you better look for Buy One Get One Free, because you're going to need it real soon.

This is true actually. Not sure what the "name and shame" rules are here but my casualty list includes:

Toshiba television (lasted 18 months)

Minoya oven (gradually declined over 6 months, it was cheap, to be fair)

Samsung microwave (at the repairers for the 3rd time in the 6 months since we bought it)

Samsung Note II (Kept freezing, Samsung Thailand not the least bit interested and denied what seems to be a well known problem)

Toyota Hilux (Generally fine but rubbish finish on the leather seats and bits of trim falling off after 3 months. Fixed under warranty)

Various pots and pans that just fall to bits after a few months of normal use.

Some silly brand gas stove top that has basically 2 settings - waste gas slowly, or incinerate everything within 50 feet of the stove.

Not to mention tailor made suits that fit worse than my off the rack suits from back home, "high quality" tailor made shirts that look like Tesco T shirts after 3 washes, comedy furniture that is ready for the bin before it's assembled and a host of other minor failures with what should be decent quality goods.

Good experiences with:

Small, round Otto oven that still cooks really well after 2 years.

Sharp air conditioning that was worked faultlessly for 18 months

Ancient Honda 2 stroke motorbike that I bought for 7000 Baht 3 years ago and has never gone wrong

Ikea cast iron frying pan. It would be kind of hard to go wrong with a big chunk of cast iron, really, but nothing would surprise me.

I've never bothered with any kind of quality surge protector in Oz, but some here claim to have lost everything from fridges to televisions courtesy of problems they blame on our power companies (spikes, brownouts,day long blackouts - fun stuff). When I look at the mess of cabling hanging from the side of many buildings in Thailand (including folks who are actually stealing power..), I just shudder.

That said, I consider Samsung's quality control to be very patchy, but I see claims from folks on avforums.com that their Panasoinic/Sony/LG/whatever SuperDuper Plasma TV failed in less than a year. I've got a no-name 'TCL' here in Oz that hasn't missed a beat in over 3 years - cost all of $400 - and these guys have paid 3K+ only to be disappointed. Luck of the draw, I guess.

It's always interesting to get feedback on various brands that some folk have been burnt by - Apple and Sony are good examples. No shortage of unhappy campers online, but I've had sterling service from both. iPods, laptops, cables, Sony headphones - all good, but if I had to nominate a company that hits it out of the park for me it would be Yamaha Music. I can only hope that their Malaysian distributor provides the same level of service that the Australian arm does.

[NBD]

I'm not really a fan of Apple but I will give them their due my wife's iPad has soldiered on admirably for about a year now with all the sticky fingers and lunacy that my daughter of similar vintage can throw at it. And it does feel nicely made. My Samsung phone feels crap. It's got all the bells and whistles but it just feels naff.

As a child of the 80s, if they were to make a Walkman then Apple's would have a nice firm cassette door that closed with a click and stayed shut, Samsung would have a big flappy affair that would drop open.

[zydeco]

Do not forget that also part of the "cost" of life in Thailand is not only the outlandish costs of some consumer electronics but the absolutely shoddy quality of electrical household appliances. When I first arrived, I bought what I thought was the best quality. And I learned an expensive lesson. Buy cheap, because most everything will go bust in a year or two anyway. Just look at the last four year period and I have had to buy:

3 coffeemakers (especially avoid Electrolux)

2 electric stovetops (did I mention to avoid Electrolux)

2 propane stovetops

2 TVs (should never have bought the crappy Philips; LG is better all the way around)

1 Replacement fan (the Hataris seem to work well, but other brands are junk waiting to happen)

3 DVD players (Philips again--the thing actually caught on fire while it was turned OFF)

2 laptops (the Dells apparently came with a hard drive issue that the retailer didn't think worth noting)

2 electric swizzle sticks

1 Replacement a/c

2 Remote controls for the Truevisions box

2 Toaster ovens

Won't mention the details of the office chair that broke within a year, the doorbell that fizzled, the outside lighting that stopped working after the flood.

I owned similar items in the US and some were 40 years and older and still in working without the slightest problem. I have never had so many electrical items simply fail on me as I have had here. I thought it might simply be the case that Thailand is China's dumping ground. But many of these items are assembled here in LOS. I guess I'm just enjoying the attention and craftsmanship of quality Thai manufacturing. Anyway, when you come to Thailand and buy household electronics, you better look for Buy One Get One Free, because you're going to need it real soon.

This is true actually. Not sure what the "name and shame" rules are here but my casualty list includes:

Toshiba television (lasted 18 months)

Minoya oven (gradually declined over 6 months, it was cheap, to be fair)

Samsung microwave (at the repairers for the 3rd time in the 6 months since we bought it)

Samsung Note II (Kept freezing, Samsung Thailand not the least bit interested and denied what seems to be a well known problem)

Toyota Hilux (Generally fine but rubbish finish on the leather seats and bits of trim falling off after 3 months. Fixed under warranty)

Various pots and pans that just fall to bits after a few months of normal use.

Some silly brand gas stove top that has basically 2 settings - waste gas slowly, or incinerate everything within 50 feet of the stove.

Not to mention tailor made suits that fit worse than my off the rack suits from back home, "high quality" tailor made shirts that look like Tesco T shirts after 3 washes, comedy furniture that is ready for the bin before it's assembled and a host of other minor failures with what should be decent quality goods.

Good experiences with:

Small, round Otto oven that still cooks really well after 2 years.

Sharp air conditioning that was worked faultlessly for 18 months

Ancient Honda 2 stroke motorbike that I bought for 7000 Baht 3 years ago and has never gone wrong

Ikea cast iron frying pan. It would be kind of hard to go wrong with a big chunk of cast iron, really, but nothing would surprise me.

I've never bothered with any kind of quality surge protector in Oz, but some here claim to have lost everything from fridges to televisions courtesy of problems they blame on our power companies (spikes, brownouts,day long blackouts - fun stuff). When I look at the mess of cabling hanging from the side of many buildings in Thailand (including folks who are actually stealing power..), I just shudder.

That said, I consider Samsung's quality control to be very patchy, but I see claims from folks on avforums.com that their Panasoinic/Sony/LG/whatever SuperDuper Plasma TV failed in less than a year. I've got a no-name 'TCL' here in Oz that hasn't missed a beat in over 3 years - cost all of $400 - and these guys have paid 3K+ only to be disappointed. Luck of the draw, I guess.

It's always interesting to get feedback on various brands that some folk have been burnt by - Apple and Sony are good examples. No shortage of unhappy campers online, but I've had sterling service from both. iPods, laptops, cables, Sony headphones - all good, but if I had to nominate a company that hits it out of the park for me it would be Yamaha Music. I can only hope that their Malaysian distributor provides the same level of service that the Australian arm does.

Absolutely agree. And I do have surge protectors, battery backups on many things. And when I leave the house I usually unplug everything except the fridge. Still. Pfffft. And what about all the things that are battery operated that just give up the ghost? The remotes. The swizzle sticks. The darn flashlights.

[Cheapcharly]

well, do like me. buy nothing. u bunch of capitalists :-)

a/c is for sissies, TV for gays, and car for madam...

be a man, live cheap and be happy.!

[NBD]

well, do like me. buy nothing. u bunch of capitalists :-)

a/c is for sissies, TV for gays, and car for madam...

be a man, live cheap and be happy.!

Get back to us when you have a wife and kids...

Edited September 21, 2013 by NBD