Hey Foreigner, are you talking to me?

[Blindside]

" gobsmacked " I am pretty sure that means pussified in the "American English" translation.... Can any one help??

p.s. why would you come and complain here??? You did not speak up for what you believe in, when it could have counted, so you expect us to give you a "pat on the back" now??????????

Gobsmacked actually is closer to speechless, which I was.

Don't want a pat on the back. What I want is to discourage fellow farang from engaging me in unsolicited conversations to muse on the "f_________ stupidity" of Thais (his words).

I wish I had spoken to him, but I probably would still have posted about it. You know that is partly what forums for expats are for.

[peecee]

What I find more irritating are people who don't know how to load minutes into the phone they own, and have the cashier do it for them. Meanwhile everyone waits.

It's called customer service & when I've left my glasses at home it's a great help.

[Blindside]

I suppose the OP never gets wound up by anything ever....barring the odd 'rude' foreigner

Heavy drinking gets me really riled up!

Look, 5 years ago I was in my 5th year in Thailand and basically I was really getting pissed off about everything I saw - although not venting publically. I said to my wife; screw it I am out of here and we left.

5 years on, life is pretty tough back home and I reflect on the things that are hard, both at home and in Thailand. Had a major attitude change. I have come back. I am not oblivious to things that go on, especially in Phuket which takes it to the maximum, but I have come to accept that there is not a whole lot I can do about it. If it ever really gets to me I will leave again. I think in the long run that will be the rampant greed in Phuket that continues to destroy the natural beauty and ecological health of the island.

Some feel that the OP is a BS post, but this is one thing I can encourage amongst foreigners - just because I look like you does not mean you should get me involved in a public rant. Even if you are quite justified in having it.

So 5 years ago you ran away because you couldn't handle the reality in this country, and now come on holiday and rant about people who live here and see the reality for what it is.

Makes your thread even more ridiculous.

I don't know, I thought I was doing the right thing. One of the mantra's on this forum is "if you don't like it, get going". I have always said that and I strongly believe it. I had enough and I left. I think that is the upstanding thing to do.

Sitting bitterly talking about the "reality in this country" as if it is some kind of badge seems the ridiculous position to me. I also admited to the fact that my attitude was not right the first time. This is why I am calmer and more relaxed about the "reality" here now. Surely if you understand the reality of the country then you realize that shouting at / about Thai people will get you nowhere and that without patience you are going to really hate it here? Or do I not understand the reality? Perhaps you can spell it out.

Perhaps it is because a some expats cannot actually leave - without being homeless and / or penniless in their own countries.

I am not one of them. I can go back, but I choose not to at this point.

Running away, nah not really.

By the way, I am not on holiday. I don't really recommend Phuket as a holiday destination, I prefer to get off the Island when on my breaks.

The fact / opinion that he / or I lives here has nothing to do with it. Its about how you conduct yourself. Otherwise, why do people complain about the average Russian? Largely because of the way they conduct themselves in public. So you should probably get onto some the TV members being "ridiculous" about their positions on Russians.

[EBlair48]

Puke, pee or try to crap on him...Oh wait, that's for rape.

[EBlair48]

" gobsmacked " I am pretty sure that means pussified in the "American English" translation.... Can any one help??

p.s. why would you come and complain here??? You did not speak up for what you believe in, when it could have counted, so you expect us to give you a "pat on the back" now??????????

Isn't that the result of fellatio? Or is it the sound?

[NamKangMan]

"At this point I have been waiting for almost 10 minutes." and "How do you survive in Thailand with no patience?"

May I ask, how many minutes were you prepared to "wait" before your "patience" would have been tested?

I mean, what is accectable? When does poor customer service by TESCO become TIT (This Is Thailand) and when does TIT become unacceptable to you? After how many minutes?

I dunno. Another five minutes? Ten? Depends on how much I actually need the things I'm purchasing. If I can live forf another couple of days without them I'll probably give up after ten minutes or so and just leave. I don't know what the problem is, so why should I blame the cashier? I've had ATM's at the bank go down while I was in line and had to wait half an hour for a tachnician to come. It's always a toss-up -- if I go to another machine will that take longer than waiting for them to fix this one?

I agree, though, I wish these people who think Thais are so useless would go away. Why are they here? Are they being paid large salaries by the companies they work for?

Something I learned many years ago. Mood follows action follows mood. If I force my lips into a smile and hold it, I will feel better. I will feel happier. My mood will become more sunny and the world will become a better place. If I frown and complain, the situation becomes worse and the world is intolerable.

There are other times and opportunities.

Free market trade allows anyone to spend their money, where they chose.

In many cases, the product bought at TESCO, is the same product that you can buy at BIG C, for example. That only leaves location, price and/or service delivery that may differ between the two companies.

On Phuket, location is not so much an issue. That leaves price and/or service delivery. I would sugget there is not a big difference in the price of everyday household items and food, so service delivery can be the deciding factor for consumers.

Sure, cash registers break down, but if one company has 10 check outs and only staffs 2 of them at any one time, and the other company has 10 check outs but staffs 4 of them at any one time, it stands to reason you will be served faster at one, rather than the other. Another simple example of customer service is parking. Maybe it's easier to park at one business, than the other.

So, rather than complaining, like the guy in the OP, he should be supporting the business who is offering better service.

That said, unfortunately, with many things on Phuket, there seems to be a race to mediocrity, or collusion to create a monopoly, leaving the consumer with no choice but to accept poor quality and/or service.

Edited April 2, 2014 by NamKangMan

[beechbum]

Try shopping in WA on thursday night when they have late night shopping

you would be lucky to get thru the checkout in 10 minutes even in the 8 items or less checkouts

Its no different here than anywhere else,go shopping early when the shops are not busy

Sunday is the worse day to shop here and we never go on sunday

In Perth, supermarket chains are now open until 9 pm every week night, and they also open on Sundays. That was the best day to shop when I was last there.

Gee that was quiick...NOT

Every time I’ve been back to Perth to visits the family i wondered why they couldn’t stay open latter.

[Jimi007]

I find the staff at Tesco in the shop south of Chalong circle rather annoying and very lazy as well. But I never cause a scene. I did once cause at scene at the Bangkok Bank there though! The manger was a complete twit! My ATM card from the branch in Central had broken in half. I went to Central to get it replaced, but their machine to make new cards was broken. The manager said I can go to any other branch. I went to the one in the shopping center near the Tesco as I have an account there as well. They wanted me to open a new account. I said no, please just replace my card. She refused. I called Bangkok Bank's headquarters and asked for a supervisor. She called the branch to deal with my problem. The manager hid in the back and refused to answer the phone! The supervisor called me back and asked where the manager was, I told her, hiding in the back. She said hand my phone to the staff. They were told to give me my new card. They then made me go back home to get my old passport as it was opened on it. I went really? I had my new passport, the bank book, the old card and an account and ATM card from their branch and I need my old passport? I wasn't happy with their incompetence and BS and I let them know it. I haven't gone back there since.

[grumpyoldman]

I find the staff at Tesco in the shop south of Chalong circle rather annoying and very lazy as well. But I never cause a scene. I did once cause at scene at the Bangkok Bank there though! The manger was a complete twit! My ATM card from the branch in Central had broken in half. I went to Central to get it replaced, but their machine to make new cards was broken. The manager said I can go to any other branch. I went to the one in the shopping center near the Tesco as I have an account there as well. They wanted me to open a new account. I said no, please just replace my card. She refused. I called Bangkok Bank's headquarters and asked for a supervisor. She called the branch to deal with my problem. The manager hid in the back and refused to answer the phone! The supervisor called me back and asked where the manager was, I told her, hiding in the back. She said hand my phone to the staff. They were told to give me my new card. They then made me go back home to get my old passport as it was opened on it. I went really? I had my new passport, the bank book, the old card and an account and ATM card from their branch and I need my old passport? I wasn't happy with their incompetence and BS and I let them know it. I haven't gone back there since.

Yea Jimi, banks here..........I just had SCB ding me 600thb for my ATM card yearly fee.

I asked them, "wait a minute, the ATM card means I'm not coming in and using up your people's time, you should be giving ME 600thb" smiles and laughs all around..

[anotheruser]

yea you have 3 choices really:

- say "relax bro, TIT"

- pretend you don't understand him (use a shrug)

- agree with him and get everyone hating you too

i usually go with the first. sometimes the 2nd.

i was like him when i first got off the boat. it only took me a few weeks to start going with the flow of Thailand - which is really slow and usually flowing backwards.

4

- act just like them but direct your complaints at them not the people working

Was waiting in line in the bank and there were two farang in line ahead of me, One American girl and what seemed to be her friend. There were some customers also ahead of them. While they were waiting to exchange some money they began to complain incessantly about how slow the service was and how it was the worst bank they had ever been to. The wait was admittedly a bit long but they were ready to catch the bus to Cambodia (the bank was in southern Laos) and would just wait on the bus anyway or in the station.

After awhile of listening to this lady whinge in her nauseating west coast accent and drone on about how incompetent the bank employees were... I finally said to my friend waiting in line with me "God imagine working in a bank all day long and having to deal with all of the ungrateful morons that constantly bitch about nothing. I mean these people really are the lowest form of humans I would ever want to have to deal with. These type of people shouldn't even have passports" The girl shot me a really nasty look and I just smiled at her. Everybody in the bank clearly heard what I had said including the staff.

After a few moments the sour look on her face sort of disappeared and I could actually notice her trying not to complain further. I continued to talk to my friend about how people come to third world countries and expect to be treated like royalty. I pretended not to notice that she could hear everything I said. I droned on and on about how horrible impatient tourists are in great detail. In short I was being as rude to her as she was to the people working at the bank.

After around 15 minutes had passed she and her BF exchanged the princely sums of 5 pounds10 Euros and 90,000 Kip. Of course this being a small town in southern Laos exchanging these currencies took a little while and a form was required to make each transaction.

I started going on about how moronic it was to sit in the bank to exchange small amounts of money when on the same street as the bank there are at leas 4 exchangers that require no paper work (which is true, I timed this part so they were already doing the exchange and couldn't act on those facts) and give the same rate as the bank. As she collected her $30 or whatever it came out to be she was scowling at me severely. As she walked out I said "Please hurry and don't miss your bus everybody is probably waiting"

Whenever I see tourists like this I tend to treat them like cattle. They do not have any respect and don't deserve to be treated with respect. Not sure if they realized I am just emulating their behavior or not but it sure was fun.

Next time I went into the bank all of the staff there smiled and were very friendly. They knew what I had done and that I was sticking up for them. I live in that area and the town is tiny so they know me and see me often as well.

TLDR: Tourist gets back what she dished out.

Edited April 8, 2014 by anotheruser

[paddyjenkins]

i prefer the occasional grumpiness of people who are just telling the truth than the sanctimonious, mindlessly positive about everything however bad, of the OP

[patayayaya]

I'd say its the continuous hangover these old pissed off pensioners a living with that makes them soon angry with bad service I mean how fast would you work a counter for 30 baht per hour??