Thai culture and their understanding and concept of "NOW"!

[EyesWideOpen]

Easy fix for a stopped toilet here, thanks to the bum gun. Turn off the water to the bum gun. Then unscrew the head from the

hose. Then stick the hose into the toilet. With a bit of wiggling, it will easily go past the trap in the toilet. Then turn it on full

blast. It will instantly dislodge whatever is blocking the toilet. I have done this with great success. However this system counts

upon there being sufficient water pressure. If your bum has low water pressure it will not work.....

Regarding the original thread title, since there is no tomorrow in Thailand, and certainly no yesterday, it stands to

reason there should at least be a today...... :-)

Edited August 29, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[dao16]

CLARIFICATION: NO, wooloomooloo, it was you who inferred I would be killed or "not last long" if I kept up my "attitude".

When is enough, enough? When are you in the right to be firm in your convictions and allowed to express them in a matter in which you will be heard and taken seriously? How about when a Thai causes a farang to lose face with their laughing and utter disconcern/disrespect of any given issue. After all we are all humans.

Thank you all.. 25 posts now and the solution is soda (at my time and expense of course) Yet still clueless on why Thais can't understand "NOW" or have any sense of urgency.

Well, this will sound weird, maybe, but I find that you get things moving (not only in the toilet) more quickly here by really expressing your inability or helplessness and how much you rely on these people as opposed to demanding things. Sometimes it feels bad, but it gets you places.

By explaining that you are just a helpless actor in this situation--you don't know how to deal with it and you rely on their expertise and know-how (even if you think they are inept lazy idiots)--you get them feeling important and responsible for you in a motherly/fatherly sort of way and they tend to act more quickly.

Of course, there is a line to walk here. You shouldn't cower so low that you won't be able to stand up if you need to later, but by expressing the value you think they have (or you are saying you think they have), people will be naturally inclined to help you.

Bash if you must, but this type of social interaction works well in different variations in many parts of Asia as opposed to the more direct, demanding Western approach.

In the meantime, yeah, follow one of the DIY solutions others mentioned.

Edited August 29, 2013 by dao16

[MrRealDeal]

I would expect for you that your perception will continue to be, that unless your minor complaints in life are not immediately attended to it must be because everyone else in the world is selfish, most other people in the world however will probably continue to retain their perception of you that you are the one who is demanding and selfish ....... NEWSFLASH ....... 99 percent of the people in the world fix minor problems like that all by themselves.

[mrtoad]

The shit is going to hit the fan

[snake24]

Easy fix for a stopped toilet here, thanks to the bum gun. Turn off the water to the bum gun. Then unscrew the head from the

hose. Then stick the hose into the toilet. With a bit of wiggling, it will easily go past the trap in the toilet. Then turn it on full

blast. It will instantly dislodge whatever is blocking the toilet. I have done this with great success. However this system counts

upon there being sufficient water pressure. If your bum has low water pressure it will not work.....

Regarding the original thread title, since there is no tomorrow in Thailand, and certainly no yesterday, it stands to

reason there should at least be a today...... :-)

Then the hose on your bum gum would be totally icky with shit water wouldn't it?

The advantages of having the bum gun over the japanese toilet bidet spray thing is i suppose the bum gun can double up as the bathroom floor washer too and not to mention other silly ways like yours here. Hopefully no one uses it to shower himself. Most thai bathrooms should have a drain but i do recall someone's freaking apartment toilet with no drain.

[MrRealDeal]

Easy fix for a stopped toilet here, thanks to the bum gun. Turn off the water to the bum gun. Then unscrew the head from the

hose. Then stick the hose into the toilet. With a bit of wiggling, it will easily go past the trap in the toilet. Then turn it on full

blast. It will instantly dislodge whatever is blocking the toilet. I have done this with great success. However this system counts

upon there being sufficient water pressure. If your bum has low water pressure it will not work.....

Regarding the original thread title, since there is no tomorrow in Thailand, and certainly no yesterday, it stands to

reason there should at least be a today...... :-)

Then the hose on your bum gum would be totally icky with shit water wouldn't it?

The advantages of having the bum gun over the japanese toilet bidet spray thing is i suppose the bum gun can double up as the bathroom floor washer too and not to mention other silly ways like yours here. Hopefully no one uses it to shower himself. Most thai bathrooms should have a drain but i do recall someone's freaking apartment toilet with no drain.

The bidet is a French thing not a Jap thing ......... Jap girls wearing a bikini doesn't make the bikini not a French invention

[dao16]

Easy fix for a stopped toilet here, thanks to the bum gun. Turn off the water to the bum gun. Then unscrew the head from the

hose. Then stick the hose into the toilet. With a bit of wiggling, it will easily go past the trap in the toilet. Then turn it on full

blast. It will instantly dislodge whatever is blocking the toilet. I have done this with great success. However this system counts

upon there being sufficient water pressure. If your bum has low water pressure it will not work.....

Regarding the original thread title, since there is no tomorrow in Thailand, and certainly no yesterday, it stands to

reason there should at least be a today...... :-)

Then the hose on your bum gum would be totally icky with shit water wouldn't it?

The advantages of having the bum gun over the japanese toilet bidet spray thing is i suppose the bum gun can double up as the bathroom floor washer too and not to mention other silly ways like yours here. Hopefully no one uses it to shower himself. Most thai bathrooms should have a drain but i do recall someone's freaking apartment toilet with no drain.

The bidet is a French thing not a Jap thing ......... Jap girls wearing a bikini doesn't make the bikini not a French invention

So, you haven't been on a Japanese toilet, I take it? Yes, the bidet is from France, without a doubt, but the Japanese upped the ante and went all crazy on the options, of which the bidet is just one (some even have multiple types of spray to choose from). I won't go into the heated seats and all that. Bidet 2.0

[YeaBiGgiEs]

do tell what the owner of a condo would do to cut OP time in LOS?

The OP screamed 'NOW! "FIX IT NOW' and appears to advocate a violent response for the minor matter of a blocked toilet.

lemoncake, you lack education if you think the OP will last long with such an attitude.

Did I "scream" or did I respond like I had typed. Yes, apologies for using the capital letters as it translates into "shouting" but lets just say I had a higher volume than conversation, elevated even, but I wouldn't say it was "screaming".

"Minor matter" is relative to ones perception. First time, maybe second time or a leaky faucet or loose tile is minor but a 3rd time, on a sunday, expecting dinner guests no longer is "minor" in my perception. Again I asked for mercy from remarks like this and was open to suggestions of what and how to deal with this in the future, if this was expected, an unwritten thai culture and be spared of commentary of my lasting long in LOS (inferring I may be killed?), attitude problems or insults to other supportive posters of lacking education.

Non americans would call it screaming.

I don't care who calls it what. This is my post, it happened the way I said it happened. It serves no purpose if a person wants constructive comments or feedback to not provide accurate details of a given situation. So spare the adlibbing or your rewritten version, hone up on your reading comprehension and use an online dictionary if you wish to place replies to posts that are helpful rather than replying to your fictitious version as it wastes time and serves no purpose.

[wooloomooloo]

This is my post, it happened the way I said it happened.

You still need to calm your head. I wouldn't put up with your hissy fits and flouncing attitude whether I were in LOS, the UK or standing on the Moon.

Now means now in any language along with uncontrollable sobbing because my dinner party is utterly ruined (could you and your guests adapt, sensibly, to a given situation). And if you don't do as I say I am going to wet my pants and cause you grief, so there. Violet Beauregarde?

[MrRealDeal]

Easy fix for a stopped toilet here, thanks to the bum gun. Turn off the water to the bum gun. Then unscrew the head from the

hose. Then stick the hose into the toilet. With a bit of wiggling, it will easily go past the trap in the toilet. Then turn it on full

blast. It will instantly dislodge whatever is blocking the toilet. I have done this with great success. However this system counts

upon there being sufficient water pressure. If your bum has low water pressure it will not work.....

Regarding the original thread title, since there is no tomorrow in Thailand, and certainly no yesterday, it stands to

reason there should at least be a today...... :-)

Then the hose on your bum gum would be totally icky with shit water wouldn't it?

The advantages of having the bum gun over the japanese toilet bidet spray thing is i suppose the bum gun can double up as the bathroom floor washer too and not to mention other silly ways like yours here. Hopefully no one uses it to shower himself. Most thai bathrooms should have a drain but i do recall someone's freaking apartment toilet with no drain.

The bidet is a French thing not a Jap thing ......... Jap girls wearing a bikini doesn't make the bikini not a French invention

So, you haven't been on a Japanese toilet, I take it? Yes, the bidet is from France, without a doubt, but the Japanese upped the ante and went all crazy on the options, of which the bidet is just one (some even have multiple types of spray to choose from). I won't go into the heated seats and all that. Bidet 2.0

I have been on plenty of Jap toilets ..... some better than others ! In the world of freedom of choice for toilets the Japanese are certainly in the lead.

[Rupert2]

2.

without further delay; immediately; at once: Either do it now or not at all.

Did you ever attempt to check if there is a Thai translation for the word 'immediately!' ?

Maybe there is no Thai term for this, at all, like there is no translation for 'preventive maintenance' ?

Perhaps the landlord was thinking, you uttered 'NOW,NOW' out of the rising pressure that had built up between your butter halves ?

Doesn't Noww = cold in Thai. maybe look up quickly

[Rupert2]

to the OP do you mean in the US if you yelled like this loudly at the repairman NOW they would fix it immediately?

Mind you i have lived in the US too and there were times when things were done in a shoddy manner and american bathrooms. Lord god my bathroom in my apartment didn't have a drainage system so after mopping up the floor i had to flush it down the toilet and of course they don't have the bum gun thing so it's quite gross swiping sometimes. Worst thing is americans all think they are the best in the world so somehow there isn't any need to improve anything.

Mind you ? All Americans ?

enough said!

[toybits]

Being passive-aggressive is their way of saying F__k You. Keep your cool. Be nice to them. You are not the only one with problems....

[angrybird]

Is there no "Inspector Rostnikov" in your bulding.?

[Sheryl]

Your frustration is understandable but your mode of communication is apt to be counter-productive.

in Thailand, one does not convey urgency through loud or blunt language. You are very likely to offend and that will come back to haunt you later.

Rather, you smile apolegetically and say "sorry, cannot wait because have to be able to use toilet"; or "what can I do between now and tomorrow when I need to use toilet?" and be politely persistant on the point. (It is, obviously, a valid one). Keep smiling, keep tone civil, but persist.

It is possible that there might have been a compromise arrangement possible, such as arranging for you to have the use of a toilet elsewhere in the building until yours was fixed.

the usual result of "NOW!" will be that they promise something to temporally appease you and get the h*ll away from you, and then never reappear...for this or any future repair need.

[klubex99]

To the OP

We use sodium hydrochloride It can be got in most good chemists for about 70B per kilo. Put in about 20% of the bag, then squirt the bum gun into the water so it rinses some down the pipe, leave it in overnight then flush when you wake. I guarantee you, that it will clear everything.

[aussieinthailand]

While i understand your frustration, you have to be aware that Sunday higher fee does not apply in Thailand.

Many if not most , simply do not work or answer the calls and even if they do answer, they will not come out, even if you were to offer more money.

Sometimes, it is out of people's hands and nothing can be done.

Next time, head down to your local hardware store and buy some soda.

Flush it every few days or once per week, and i think it may fix the problem.

Total cost is about 29 baht per bag, 1 bag is enough for about 3-4 flushes

Can some one tell what this (soda) is? is there a brand name? is this soda desined for pipe cleaning?

[Bluetongue]

Fascinating thread. There are those practical souls who have solutions for these sorts of problems, most of which involve going to Homepro or Wasadu and checking out what is on the shelves around the drainage & plumbing Department, thanks guys. Which is what most people would do. Then there is the OP who sounds like a pumped up ex military Colonel Blimp up in his ivory tower expecting the peasants to be at his beck and call 24/7, try getting a plumber in the West at 6pm on a Sunday, good luck and get your credit card out. And he needs to tone down a bit. Shouting or voice raising will get you nowhere here. Then there are the pedants, one of whom presents us his great knowledge of Thai by informing that there is a second Thai word spoken as now meaning stale or rotten, except that is not pronounced the same at all, followed by the second pedant who with great disdain points out that neither word in a mandarin tonal language sounds like now. Get real man, most Thais that don't know English hear the word now as meaning cold, get it, its the one that sounds like that, forget the tones. I also enjoyed a few little gems of advice from some of the normal people on here.

So here's this bloke shouting now at this Thai landlord who standing there not sure what to do, except wondering why the guy is cold, perhaps he could have offered to get some blankets. I think this would make great TV. 555

[kannot]

Stupidly Thai bog manufacturers have not caught up with the Thai pipe suppliers who use a 4 inch diameter pipe yet the toilet pan exit hole is probably less than 3 inches.

Or maybe you dump like an Elephant?

Regardless of how one "dumps", multiple flushes takes care of that as well as "courtesy flushes" when you use public restrooms to vacate the stench. However, was your response constructive or did you mean to be insulting and post the very same type of reply that I so kindly asked to spare me of?

You strike me as quite obnoxious, its Thailand get used to bad service , staff who haven't a clue, workmen who know ZERO about any construction work at all and whose only answer is " no problem" can fix again and again and again in the hope you will go away.

It matters not one bit to them to be on time or if you spent 100000000 years with a limo company never being late etc

HERE just so you know WHY you have a blockage is the prime example of STUPIDITY, this is a 2 inch hole exiting the pan, it goes into a 4 inch pipe this is the NORMAL THAI size, if the exit hole from the pan was 4 inches also it would probably never get blocked, paper will block them, I suspect so will a large dump.

This was one of my many jobs in the UK where you can shove jamrags, bog rolls, and body parts down the bog without blocking it.....more or less.

Once YOU understand why its getting blocked it might make you change something you may or may not do.

PAN EXIT HOLE 2 inch on right, 4 inch waste pipe which it goes into on left, anyone with half a brain making the toilets would start to use a 4 inch EXIT hole.

In the UK its 4 inch out of pan into 4 inch waste pipe.

[snake24]

Fascinating thread. There are those practical souls who have solutions for these sorts of problems, most of which involve going to Homepro or Wasadu and checking out what is on the shelves around the drainage & plumbing Department, thanks guys. Which is what most people would do. Then there is the OP who sounds like a pumped up ex military Colonel Blimp up in his ivory tower expecting the peasants to be at his beck and call 24/7, try getting a plumber in the West at 6pm on a Sunday, good luck and get your credit card out. And he needs to tone down a bit. Shouting or voice raising will get you nowhere here. Then there are the pedants, one of whom presents us his great knowledge of Thai by informing that there is a second Thai word spoken as now meaning stale or rotten, except that is not pronounced the same at all, followed by the second pedant who with great disdain points out that neither word in a mandarin tonal language sounds like now. Get real man, most Thais that don't know English hear the word now as meaning cold, get it, its the one that sounds like that, forget the tones. I also enjoyed a few little gems of advice from some of the normal people on here.

So here's this bloke shouting now at this Thai landlord who standing there not sure what to do, except wondering why the guy is cold, perhaps he could have offered to get some blankets. I think this would make great TV. 555

now in english doesn't sound like cold in thai. Are you sure you can speak either english or thai?

[historyprof]

Fascinating thread. There are those practical souls who have solutions for these sorts of problems, most of which involve going to Homepro or Wasadu and checking out what is on the shelves around the drainage & plumbing Department, thanks guys. Which is what most people would do. Then there is the OP who sounds like a pumped up ex military Colonel Blimp up in his ivory tower expecting the peasants to be at his beck and call 24/7, try getting a plumber in the West at 6pm on a Sunday, good luck and get your credit card out. And he needs to tone down a bit. Shouting or voice raising will get you nowhere here. Then there are the pedants, one of whom presents us his great knowledge of Thai by informing that there is a second Thai word spoken as now meaning stale or rotten, except that is not pronounced the same at all, followed by the second pedant who with great disdain points out that neither word in a mandarin tonal language sounds like now. Get real man, most Thais that don't know English hear the word now as meaning cold, get it, its the one that sounds like that, forget the tones. I also enjoyed a few little gems of advice from some of the normal people on here.

So here's this bloke shouting now at this Thai landlord who standing there not sure what to do, except wondering why the guy is cold, perhaps he could have offered to get some blankets. I think this would make great TV. 555

now in english doesn't sound like cold in thai. Are you sure you can speak either english or thai?

Yes it does. To be more accurate "now" is the closest English word for the Thai word for cold.

[BillyBobThai]

The OP needs to go out and have several good stiff drinks and rent a lady or ladyboy, his choice, and just settle down. At the rate he is going, he is going to have a stroke first.

[sustento]

The OP needs to go out and have several good stiff drinks and rent a lady or ladyboy, his choice, and just settle down. At the rate he is going, he is going to have a stroke first.

I suspect that if he rents a lady or a ladyboy (or even a boy) he'll have more than a stroke first...

[YeaBiGgiEs]

Wow! Ok.. With the exception of a few people who had something intelligent to say, made valid points and stayed on topic, Id have to say the rest of you seem to use these forums as your own playground. Most of you are disrespectful, pass judgment, make insults, get off topic, ridicule, talk down on, are condescending and practically go so far out of your way to creatively come up with someway, somehow it being the OP's fault.

Its not just me. You ridiculed the post with noisy farang, the talking on mobile in cinema, the guy who got his Lao visa in Bangkok. You make people so sorry that they ever reached out to post and request help in the first place. I've learned something by all this though which is a good thing, the very same people I left my country to get away from are pretty much the likes of most of you right here in your little safe haven. In the interest of "netiquette" I'll spare you some of my chosen adjectives.

We started out that I should have a plunger and then onto soda and the magical wonders it does, to running all my water supplies and drains at the same time to insults of elephant shits, then gas from my butter-cakes onto my attitude, then I was "screaming", then my social status not being high enough to get positive results from the demands I was making, onto I should pretend to be stupid and helpless (manipulate) Thai people to do what they should and are required to do in the first place onto the meaning of "now" in Thai language being "cold" or sounding close to it. What, now you want to say that my landlord had no idea what "now" was and I must have been speaking "Thaiglish" [Thai+English] because of my whole statement I made in English I decided to throw a Thai word of "now" in there which then wouldn't make much sense. Lets try this one.. "FIX IT COLD" "FIX IT COLD COLD". Nope sorry nice try people but unless I was referring to maybe the air-con instead of the toilet I can't agree with you that my landlord is that stupid, especially pointing out the window and saying "HOME PRO IS OPEN NOW".

FYI I also don't recall ever mentioning that both my landlords can't speak or understand english. Yet another assumption made that threw everyone off topic that they didn't know what the word "NOW" means. Also the other tenant is Thai so there are usually very little communication errors or lost in translation issues.

I was not asking a favor. This was the 3rd time in 40 days and not my problem or expense to fix and was now of great inconvenience to me yet again and my company. And what do you people think, I'm some F'n stupid idiot that did not already try all your suggestions except for soda? I ran the F'n water in every water source, I violently plunged the damn toilet and even the shower drain, I sprayed the force of the bum spray in the toilet, I filled up a large bucket of water hoping that the pressure from pouring that would work, I used a some sort of a Drano type unclogger powder (the 2nd time) with a little spray from the bum spray to get it in the pipe.

I'll make something else clear about me, I rarely ever missed a day of school, almost never used sick days at work, have too much pride to ask others for help unless extremely necessary, I'll do it myself. Whereas many people in today's world, get out of bed, stub their toe and call out of work for 3-days. I'm not a crybaby. So you better believe that before I ask anyone for anything, any assistance or any help, I've already gone through all my own resources or knowledge and it hurts and bothers me to ask others for anything.

So most of you would probably agree with this approach <ring ring> "Oh Hi Mrs So&so the is Mr This&that, Oh I'm fine thank you and yourself Oh thats nice thats good, Oh hey before I forget why I was calling, you know by gosh o golly the toilet is doing that funny thing again, Yeaaaaa I know isn't that the silliest thing, oh yeaaaaaa, well I was wondering you know it being Sunday and all and I have some guests coming for dinner, if you or your husband could just take a quick look if it isn't a bother, ohhhh I hope Im not imposing on your Sunday dinner by no means I'd never want to do that, Oh really He can? Oh I'm so thankful and really appreciate it ohhh yes yes kopkumcob Ohhh wonderful, ok see you soon, buhbye" <click>

Is that what I should do? Would I be a good fake plastic manipulative polite farang by doing that? Is that the helpless that some of you suggested?

GET THE BLANK OUT OF HERE! And spare me from ever responding to anything I post

Ok so how many times is reasonable that I maintain that type of composure? When is enough, enough? How long should I pass myself off as some passive fool who will never complain or get angry or stand my ground? You know if people view you as being passive then they view you as weak and take your kindness for a weakness and really take advantage of you.

so 83 posts and I still don't have an answer to what I have titled the post. Obviously this is a culture with no sense of urgency and their understand or concept of "NOW" is either "cold" or maybe "Later on now" "a little longer now" "not now" "now tomorrow"

[bdw]

After working in Thailand for 15 years, I'm the same way. My bosses were at their wit's end on my last job when I didn't recognize their sense of URGENCY of things I considered just standard priority.

[bdw]

Is that what I should do? Would I be a good fake plastic manipulative polite farang by doing that? Is that the helpless that some of you suggested?

So most of you would probably agree with this approach <ring ring> "Oh Hi Mrs So&so the is Mr This&that, Oh I'm fine thank you and yourself Oh thats nice thats good, Oh hey before I forget why I was calling, you know by gosh o golly the toilet is doing that funny thing again, Yeaaaaa I know isn't that the silliest thing, oh yeaaaaaa, well I was wondering you know it being Sunday and all and I have some guests coming for dinner, if you or your husband could just take a quick look if it isn't a bother, ohhhh I hope Im not imposing on your Sunday dinner by no means I'd never want to do that, Oh really He can? Oh I'm so thankful and really appreciate it ohhh yes yes kopkumcob Ohhh wonderful, ok see you soon, buhbye" <click>

Yes, empathizing with the person you're speaking to goes a long long way.

I can see very clearly you're not going to gain much credit with the Thais with your current attitude.

I would make a change before you have a coronary.

[benalibina]

Wow! Ok.. With the exception of a few people who had something intelligent to say, made valid points and stayed on topic, Id have to say the rest of you seem to use these forums as your own playground. Most of you are disrespectful, pass judgment, make insults, get off topic, ridicule, talk down on, are condescending and practically go so far out of your way to creatively come up with someway, somehow it being the OP's fault.

Its not just me. You ridiculed the post with noisy farang, the talking on mobile in cinema, the guy who got his Lao visa in Bangkok. You make people so sorry that they ever reached out to post and request help in the first place. I've learned something by all this though which is a good thing, the very same people I left my country to get away from are pretty much the likes of most of you right here in your little safe haven. In the interest of "netiquette" I'll spare you some of my chosen adjectives.

We started out that I should have a plunger and then onto soda and the magical wonders it does, to running all my water supplies and drains at the same time to insults of elephant shits, then gas from my butter-cakes onto my attitude, then I was "screaming", then my social status not being high enough to get positive results from the demands I was making, onto I should pretend to be stupid and helpless (manipulate) Thai people to do what they should and are required to do in the first place onto the meaning of "now" in Thai language being "cold" or sounding close to it. What, now you want to say that my landlord had no idea what "now" was and I must have been speaking "Thaiglish" [Thai+English] because of my whole statement I made in English I decided to throw a Thai word of "now" in there which then wouldn't make much sense. Lets try this one.. "FIX IT COLD" "FIX IT COLD COLD". Nope sorry nice try people but unless I was referring to maybe the air-con instead of the toilet I can't agree with you that my landlord is that stupid, especially pointing out the window and saying "HOME PRO IS OPEN NOW".

FYI I also don't recall ever mentioning that both my landlords can't speak or understand english. Yet another assumption made that threw everyone off topic that they didn't know what the word "NOW" means. Also the other tenant is Thai so there are usually very little communication errors or lost in translation issues.

I was not asking a favor. This was the 3rd time in 40 days and not my problem or expense to fix and was now of great inconvenience to me yet again and my company. And what do you people think, I'm some F'n stupid idiot that did not already try all your suggestions except for soda? I ran the F'n water in every water source, I violently plunged the dam_n toilet and even the shower drain, I sprayed the force of the bum spray in the toilet, I filled up a large bucket of water hoping that the pressure from pouring that would work, I used a some sort of a Drano type unclogger powder (the 2nd time) with a little spray from the bum spray to get it in the pipe.

I'll make something else clear about me, I rarely ever missed a day of school, almost never used sick days at work, have too much pride to ask others for help unless extremely necessary, I'll do it myself. Whereas many people in today's world, get out of bed, stub their toe and call out of work for 3-days. I'm not a crybaby. So you better believe that before I ask anyone for anything, any assistance or any help, I've already gone through all my own resources or knowledge and it hurts and bothers me to ask others for anything.

So most of you would probably agree with this approach <ring ring> "Oh Hi Mrs So&so the is Mr This&that, Oh I'm fine thank you and yourself Oh thats nice thats good, Oh hey before I forget why I was calling, you know by gosh o golly the toilet is doing that funny thing again, Yeaaaaa I know isn't that the silliest thing, oh yeaaaaaa, well I was wondering you know it being Sunday and all and I have some guests coming for dinner, if you or your husband could just take a quick look if it isn't a bother, ohhhh I hope Im not imposing on your Sunday dinner by no means I'd never want to do that, Oh really He can? Oh I'm so thankful and really appreciate it ohhh yes yes kopkumcob Ohhh wonderful, ok see you soon, buhbye" <click>

Is that what I should do? Would I be a good fake plastic manipulative polite farang by doing that? Is that the helpless that some of you suggested?

GET THE BLANK OUT OF HERE! And spare me from ever responding to anything I post

Ok so how many times is reasonable that I maintain that type of composure? When is enough, enough? How long should I pass myself off as some passive fool who will never complain or get angry or stand my ground? You know if people view you as being passive then they view you as weak and take your kindness for a weakness and really take advantage of you.

so 83 posts and I still don't have an answer to what I have titled the post. Obviously this is a culture with no sense of urgency and their understand or concept of "NOW" is either "cold" or maybe "Later on now" "a little longer now" "not now" "now tomorrow"

Made me laugh !

[OldChinaHam]

Where did you take this #2?

Is that like an HB?

Typical A standard, hexagonal, #2 is cut to a hexagonal height of ¹⁄₄-inch (6 mm), but the outer diameter is slightly larger (about ⁹⁄₃₂-inch (7 mm)) But maybe you should have use one of those snakes to take care of anything in the pipe before using the facility.

[Soutpeel]

my advice...assume you have a balcony, next time you have problems with the dunny...have a dump off your balcony and hope the owners car is in the carpark below...pretty sure you will get the attention you need to get your drains fixed..

just a word of advice - Caustic Soda is a pretty dangerous chemical to be messing with...so be very careful with it...

[sustento]

Wow! Ok.. With the exception of a few people who had something intelligent to say, made valid points and stayed on topic, Id have to say the rest of you seem to use these forums as your own playground. Most of you are disrespectful, pass judgment, make insults, get off topic, ridicule, talk down on, are condescending and practically go so far out of your way to creatively come up with someway, somehow it being the OP's fault.

Its not just me. You ridiculed the post with noisy farang, the talking on mobile in cinema, the guy who got his Lao visa in Bangkok. You make people so sorry that they ever reached out to post and request help in the first place. I've learned something by all this though which is a good thing, the very same people I left my country to get away from are pretty much the likes of most of you right here in your little safe haven. In the interest of "netiquette" I'll spare you some of my chosen adjectives.

We started out that I should have a plunger and then onto soda and the magical wonders it does, to running all my water supplies and drains at the same time to insults of elephant shits, then gas from my butter-cakes onto my attitude, then I was "screaming", then my social status not being high enough to get positive results from the demands I was making, onto I should pretend to be stupid and helpless (manipulate) Thai people to do what they should and are required to do in the first place onto the meaning of "now" in Thai language being "cold" or sounding close to it. What, now you want to say that my landlord had no idea what "now" was and I must have been speaking "Thaiglish" [Thai+English] because of my whole statement I made in English I decided to throw a Thai word of "now" in there which then wouldn't make much sense. Lets try this one.. "FIX IT COLD" "FIX IT COLD COLD". Nope sorry nice try people but unless I was referring to maybe the air-con instead of the toilet I can't agree with you that my landlord is that stupid, especially pointing out the window and saying "HOME PRO IS OPEN NOW".

FYI I also don't recall ever mentioning that both my landlords can't speak or understand english. Yet another assumption made that threw everyone off topic that they didn't know what the word "NOW" means. Also the other tenant is Thai so there are usually very little communication errors or lost in translation issues.

I was not asking a favor. This was the 3rd time in 40 days and not my problem or expense to fix and was now of great inconvenience to me yet again and my company. And what do you people think, I'm some F'n stupid idiot that did not already try all your suggestions except for soda? I ran the F'n water in every water source, I violently plunged the dam_n toilet and even the shower drain, I sprayed the force of the bum spray in the toilet, I filled up a large bucket of water hoping that the pressure from pouring that would work, I used a some sort of a Drano type unclogger powder (the 2nd time) with a little spray from the bum spray to get it in the pipe.

I'll make something else clear about me, I rarely ever missed a day of school, almost never used sick days at work, have too much pride to ask others for help unless extremely necessary, I'll do it myself. Whereas many people in today's world, get out of bed, stub their toe and call out of work for 3-days. I'm not a crybaby. So you better believe that before I ask anyone for anything, any assistance or any help, I've already gone through all my own resources or knowledge and it hurts and bothers me to ask others for anything.

So most of you would probably agree with this approach <ring ring> "Oh Hi Mrs So&so the is Mr This&that, Oh I'm fine thank you and yourself Oh thats nice thats good, Oh hey before I forget why I was calling, you know by gosh o golly the toilet is doing that funny thing again, Yeaaaaa I know isn't that the silliest thing, oh yeaaaaaa, well I was wondering you know it being Sunday and all and I have some guests coming for dinner, if you or your husband could just take a quick look if it isn't a bother, ohhhh I hope Im not imposing on your Sunday dinner by no means I'd never want to do that, Oh really He can? Oh I'm so thankful and really appreciate it ohhh yes yes kopkumcob Ohhh wonderful, ok see you soon, buhbye" <click>

Is that what I should do? Would I be a good fake plastic manipulative polite farang by doing that? Is that the helpless that some of you suggested?

GET THE BLANK OUT OF HERE! And spare me from ever responding to anything I post

Ok so how many times is reasonable that I maintain that type of composure? When is enough, enough? How long should I pass myself off as some passive fool who will never complain or get angry or stand my ground? You know if people view you as being passive then they view you as weak and take your kindness for a weakness and really take advantage of you.

so 83 posts and I still don't have an answer to what I have titled the post. Obviously this is a culture with no sense of urgency and their understand or concept of "NOW" is either "cold" or maybe "Later on now" "a little longer now" "not now" "now tomorrow"

If you don't like it you could always leave...