Quality Of Thai Goods

[jing jing]

Lots of discussion about a rather simple topic... doesn't it all boil down to the fact that in most cases you get what you pay for?

Back where I came from, I don't think you could even buy a new swivel chair for 2000 baht -- you'd have had to go to a secondhand thrift store to find such a thing. IKEA, considered the option of choice for college students and the very frugal, would sell their most basic model swivel chair without armrests for about twice that amount.

On the other hand, outside of the big cities many Thai people don't even use chairs at all. I brought a couple of 85 baht plastic chairs from Big C into the village, and from the kids' reaction you'd think they were looking at the lunar rover.

Perspective, man.... perspective.

[OZONE]

I'm afraid that if life has bought you here for whatever reason, then live with the plusses and minuses or just go home whre everything is 100% to your liking.

Yep, anything Thai made is <deleted>; just stay away from it. And you should expect a lot for a 2,000 baht chair. If you were talking about a computer, then yeah, tough titties, but 2k is not exactly pocket change.

Didn't you people know by now, If you are living in Thailand, you are entitled to get anything of good quality for cheaper than everyone else in the world

2000 baht = $50.00....If you are stressing over $50 than you really need to considered finding a new job or should have saved more for retirement.

Spend the money if you want good quality product people.

[Jai Yen Yen]

The computer desk occasionally falls apart, too, but at least it survived the move.

My computer desk fell apart too - the drawers on the right side started hanging down and were difficult to close because the tracking on the "runners" wasn't right. So I up-ended it and had a look: the single most important steel bracket that fixed the drawers to the back of the desk... had no f*cking screws in it. This was bought from "Courts" - a supposed "quality" furniture supplier in the UK, but clearly things change when under Thai management.

So I put in the missing screws and noticed some others had been pulled out of the chip wood. So I installed 6 or 8 more to replace the three useless ones. Result: perfectly working desk drawers. Now, if the manufactures of this <deleted> had applied the same care to their products as I did, maybe they would get a reputation for selling good stuff, not crap stuff. Remember "Courts" furniture and electrical stores.

PS. I've also sat on and broken two toilet seats. It seems farang loos are also beyond the manufacturing capabilities of Thais.

Edited April 14, 2006 by Jai Yen Yen

[Spaniel]

If you're looking for furniture that will last then you'll just have to pay a little more. I bought a "L" shaped computer desk and swivel arm chair in 1998 from Modern Forum for B17,000 and both are in excellent shape today. As a matter of fact I'm sitting in the chair typing this message at the L shaped deskf. You get what you pay for!

[Simbo]

The computer desk occasionally falls apart, too, but at least it survived the move.

My computer desk fell apart too - the drawers on the right side started hanging down and were difficult to close because the tracking on the "runners" wasn't right. So I up-ended it and had a look: the single most important steel bracket that fixed the drawers to the back of the desk... had no f*cking screws in it. This was bought from "Courts" - a supposed "quality" furniture supplier in the UK, but clearly things change when under Thai management.

So I put in the missing screws and noticed some others had been pulled out of the chip wood. So I installed 6 or 8 more to replace the three useless ones. Result: perfectly working desk drawers. Now, if the manufactures of this <deleted> had applied the same care to their products as I did, maybe they would get a reputation for selling good stuff, not crap stuff. Remember "Courts" furniture and electrical stores.

PS. I've also sat on and broken two toilet seats. It seems farang loos are also beyond the manufacturing capabilities of Thais.

Maybe you are grossly overweight, with an ass like a money lender.

[srisatch]

Oh Simbo Thank you SO much for not even bothering to read what was written, but feeling you had to add a most helpful and interesting comment. You must have experience of money lenders. As a borrower or a lender out of interest?. Sorry that is beyond even the gross width of my experience.

But...!! Ho Ho

And the Prof said:

"Not at all but I am amazed at how many people come to the developing world for whatever reason and then moan about the fact that things are not the way they are at home.

If it grates you so much that you need to post about it on an internet forum about substandard swivel chairs then maybe the developing world is not for you and the US or Europe may be a better choice of domicile for you. I hear the swivel chairs there are beyond reproach."

I was just getting out the red ink that some drunk Thai threw in my daughter's eyes, when my wife drew my attention to the Prof's post

Out of interest, will you tell us, dear Prof, Where you are...I mean are, actually, you in LOS?

And now maybe we could ask Simbo, too. Sounds as though you could get together.

For me a vaguely interesting topic well and truly dead.

Come in Thai Bebop and kill this thread.

[Thaipwriter]

leaned back, 2 legs break off-I am not THAT heavy c.75 kg.

A bird in our office in Bangkok did the same thing the other day, laughted my nackers off.

U got any super glue?

[Thaipwriter]

I fall asleep in it all the time. Especially when reading some of the posts on this forum.

Too Funny!

[ProfessorFart]

Out of interest, will you tell us, dear Prof, Where you are...I mean are, actually, you in LOS?

And now maybe we could ask Simbo, too. Sounds as though you could get together.

For me a vaguely interesting topic well and truly dead.

I'm living in Nonthaburi. If your argument is soley based upon where anyone lives then it becomes more feeble by the second as there are many posters on this forum who do not live here yet have extensive experience of the country.

Methinks that beyond the tip of your penis srisatch, your love affair with Thailand ends.

I'm no high horse moraliser, however I get sick of pathetic no marks who whinge on about <deleted> like the poor quality of swivel chairs etc in Thailand. If such things really upset you so then head off elsewhere!

[opothai]

putting things in perspective

cost of said chair 2000bht = an average thai wage for 1 week

in the uk for the same chair 750gdp = an average uk weekly wage

and if they both fall apart very expensive in either country.

to my mind at 2000bht it would be considered expensive at 1 weeks salary. so when living in thailand why can't a falang say it is expensive for an inferior product without getting his n+ts chopped orf.

i bought a bicycle for our daughter in halfords cost 70gdp,

any way when it was delivered on the box in large wtitting MADE IN THAILAND, the mrs said why oh why buy anything made in los, cutting to the chase this bike is exellent.

i did not buy this product on price it was the model our daughter chose from the showroom floor.

so i call this value for money, if it had fallen apart yhen that would be a different department

[PeaceBlondie]

Aside from this opportunity to vent at the things that break (and we do the same in our home country), maybe some of us also have a decent concern for the future economic development of Thailand. If Thai goods never receive a good reputation, and are known to be shoddy, 25 other developing countries are in the queue to make it better, and maybe just as cheaply.

Considering its national disposition as a people, their education system, and their manufactured product quality, Thailand has little opportunity to develop into high tech, value added manufacturing, precision instruments, computer design, computer program writing, inventing like Edison and Ford and Marconi did.

I suspect most of us don't want Thailand's biggest export to remain rice.

[Guest endure]

And about the ISO label......Do you really think the Thai company is legitimately accredited with ISO 9000 status.

ISO accreditation has nothing whatever to do with the quality of goods. Its only concern is the quality of the internal business processes of the company concerned.

[monochaser]

Out of interest, will you tell us, dear Prof, Where you are...I mean are, actually, you in LOS?

And now maybe we could ask Simbo, too. Sounds as though you could get together.

For me a vaguely interesting topic well and truly dead.

I'm living in Nonthaburi. If your argument is soley based upon where anyone lives then it becomes more feeble by the second as there are many posters on this forum who do not live here yet have extensive experience of the country.

Methinks that beyond the tip of your penis srisatch, your love affair with Thailand ends.

I'm no high horse moraliser, however I get sick of pathetic no marks who whinge on about <deleted> like the poor quality of swivel chairs etc in Thailand. If such things really upset you so then head off elsewhere!

I myself will live here for now but I'm not married to the place. I'll tell you this though, I won't be spending any money here on anything other than food or lodging.

[MarkBKK]

And about the ISO label......Do you really think the Thai company is legitimately accredited with ISO 9000 status.

ISO accreditation has nothing whatever to do with the quality of goods. Its only concern is the quality of the internal business processes of the company concerned.

There's an echo in here ...

[Boon Mee]

Lots of discussion about a rather simple topic... doesn't it all boil down to the fact that in most cases you get what you pay for?

Says it all right there...

[Prakanong2005]

Lots of discussion about a rather simple topic... doesn't it all boil down to the fact that in most cases you get what you pay for?

Back where I came from, I don't think you could even buy a new swivel chair for 2000 baht -- you'd have had to go to a secondhand thrift store to find such a thing. IKEA, considered the option of choice for college students and the very frugal, would sell their most basic model swivel chair without armrests for about twice that amount.

On the other hand, outside of the big cities many Thai people don't even use chairs at all. I brought a couple of 85 baht plastic chairs from Big C into the village, and from the kids' reaction you'd think they were looking at the lunar rover.

Perspective, man.... perspective.

Nah

look here 875THB not two times 50USD

http://www.ikea.com.sg/products/category_d...83&id=0&ctype=1

I bet you can take it back if it breaks as well

[taxexile]

the average wage in the uk is NOT 875ukp/wk.

The results of the 2005 ASHE show that median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK grew by 2.8 per cent in April 2005 to reach £431. Median earnings of full-time male employees were £471 per week in April 2005; for women the median was £372.

The top 10 per cent of the earnings distribution earned more than £851 per week, while the bottom 10 per cent earned less than £235. Between April 2004 and 2005 the distribution of gross weekly pay widened, with 2.1 per cent increase at the bottom decile, and a 4.3 per cent increase at the top decile.

The median annual pay for full-time women increased by 4.8 per cent in 2005 to £19,400. Median annual earnings for full-time employees for the 2004-05 tax year stood at £22,900, up 3.8 per cent on the previous year. Full-time males earned £25,100, up 3.5 per cent.

Full-time weekly earnings in London were £556, significantly higher than in other regions, where they ranged from £386 in the North East to £450 in the South East.

The occupations with the highest earnings in 2005 were 'Health professionals', (median pay of full-time employees of £1,021 a week), followed by 'Corporate managers' (£663) and 'Science and technology professionals' (£633). The lowest paid of all full-time employees were 'Sales occupations', at £245 a week.

The monetary difference between the median level of full-time earnings in the public sector (£476 per week in April 2005) and the private sector (£412 per week) has widened over the year to April 2005; in 2004 the figures were £456 and, £403 respectively.

[monochaser]

the point is that in Thailand you do not get what you pay for, you just get ripped off and cant take the garbage back for a refund like you can in other countries

[jdinasia]

Always manage to get a few people irate!

I said: CANNOT get to BKK/CNX every time something breaks....Of course you CAN buy a decent chair in LOS...the points are

I don't EXPECT anything. I am not that upset.. of course it was ONLY a few baht, but as I said can buy a perfectly long lived chair in France for a few Euros!

I will probably sit in a 250B pink plastic chair for a while...though I have bent a few legs of those. Actually as of now sitting on a v. nice wooden box with upholstered seat

I criticise things in France and the UK, where we also live, regularly.

Why is it every time one makes a possibly 'negative' comment about LOS a whole bunch of people start saying 'You are not One of Us' 'Go Home' 'What do you expect?' I don't suppose many of you are Thai...and if you are you will surely have aspirations for LOS?!

We pay large sums in taxes here. We want, for our kids, if no-one else. LOS to be a successful and pleasant country. Not sure about the TSM/I only visit/I would like to live here/ Coming back for a few weeks element on this forum?!

Bet thyat makes for even more irate posts!

Don't misunderstand me; plenty of people on their own and with families like us trying to make a better life for themselves and contributing to the country of the choice of residence.

If we simply acquiesce in third rate goods and service, we are doing no-one any favor.

As a poster had it the other day:

Why is there no FAMILY Forum??

LOS has the capability of being a rich and important country. Lots of countries have had to move from 'basic' production to 'quality' production...otherwise the 'cheap ' labor' factor is undermined. Currently fashionable to say China labor cheaper than elsewhee in Asia, so Thai goods dependent on cheap labor, never mind the quality, are in trouble. After China where? maybe African countries, or more likely Central Asia. and the Arab World, also underdeveloped South/Central America .?

My wife tells me that one of the great lessons she learned in Europe was that you could purchase quality goods rather than rubbish, at not that much less money. She used to wander around BKK buying clothes at 199B a shot, most now in rags; she walked round Lyon and Guildford 5 years ago and bought clothes for under a tenner which she still has and wears. Same true of childrens clothes. We buy throw away clothes for the kids here. All their decent clothes come from Europe, though interestingly made4 in Thailand/Indonesia/Indonesia by companies who have Quality Controlsystems for both cloth and manufacture, at not that much more cost

Almost the only exception is shoes. These are loopily expensive for kids in Europe...but of course the ones we buy here are still apt to collapse in the rains of the UK!

Go and get wet

Geeze if you can't get to BKK to replace the crap you buy ... then why buy crap in the first place? Buy something decent and quit your bitchin'

[jdinasia]

the point is that in Thailand you do not get what you pay for, you just get ripped off and cant take the garbage back for a refund like you can in other countries

oh please ... when you spend 1/3rd the price it IS what you pay for.

Had a problem with my DVD player ... was repaired in 3 days .... had a problem with my sony TV ... was replaced ... Broke a chair ... put it out front for the garbage pickers and got a new one the next day and bought a decent one! the next time

[taxexile]

fact is , most thai made stuff is of a very poor quality and very poor design.

why do you think there are no world famous thai companies such as "sony" , "honda" , "braun" or "nikon"

you are fine with a plastic bucket or an aluminium clothes rack , or something that is traditionally thai , but for anything electrical , or anything that involves complex metal or plastic pressings its better to buy imported stuff.

furniture is hit and miss here , most furniture that copies european style is cheaply made nonsense , that may or may not last. the solid chinese styled stuff is better made but not to everyones taste.

items made by foriegn companies with a manufacturing base here are a better bet.

even the most patriotic thai will smile , shrug their shoulders and say "made in thailand" when someting ceases to function here.

its all made down to the cheapest possible price , because as another poster said , most thais will , often of necessity , go for the cheapest product.

those that want something to last will if they can afford to , buy imported goods.

attitudes are changing , and with the huge increase in peoples disposable income will come a demand for better products and better after sales service.

[Jai Yen Yen]

PS. I've also sat on and broken two toilet seats. It seems farang loos are also beyond the manufacturing capabilities of Thais.

Maybe you are grossly overweight, with an ass like a money lender.

Cheeky bugger! 5 foot 11, 86 kilos, actually (all muscle ).

I don't know any money-lenders, so can't comment on that.

[Jai Yen Yen]

Had a problem with my DVD player ... was repaired in 3 days ...

Ha, ha! Beat you - mine was repaired in 3 hours! Small shop, 2 guys working, keen to keep their satisfied customers. It was only 1 year old when I had to get it fixed and it's still working now, 2 years later...

[Heng]

PS. I've also sat on and broken two toilet seats. It seems farang loos are also beyond the manufacturing capabilities of Thais.

Maybe you are grossly overweight, with an ass like a money lender.

Cheeky bugger! 5 foot 11, 86 kilos, actually (all muscle ).

I don't know any money-lenders, so can't comment on that.

174 cms. 78 kgs. at the moment. Not all muscle but fairly solid. I'd say most of us are fairly fit as most debtors run pretty quick. Gotta stay in shape to keep up.

That said, haven't had any issues returning/exchanging anything at Home Pro, Power Mall, or any of the various Central's in Bangkok.

Edited April 16, 2006 by Heng

[Scott]

Interesting. I bought an office chair about 2 years ago and the same thing happened (but after about 2 years). It got very little use, but one day, while sitting on it, it just collapsed (no leaning back at the time). It was bought from a reputable office furnishings store as well.

It's a perennial problem of buying products here. I usually try to buy good quality foreign manufactured products, especially electrical equipment--I've had too many shocks and one house fire as a result of locally produced items. I just assumed that chairs would be a "no-brainer" to make.

Never ceases to amaze me.