Farang Tam Gern

[qualtrough]

Just acquired a second-hand Volvo. I like to do my own repairs whenever possible so I replaced the timing and serpentine belts, air filter, changed the oil, etc.--routine maintenance stuff. While I was doing this at one point I lost track of my 10mm wrench and asked my wife to help me find it. That led to a discussion about the importance of keeping track of parts, tools, etc., which then led my wife to tell me that the Thais have a saying for all the extra bits left over after a job is done, "Farang Tam Gern," the gist of which means that those bits mean that farangs (or other foreigners) use too many parts! I had heard this said before long ago. Little did I know that I would see this in action the next day. I noticed that a brake hose was ratty so bought a set of four replacement hoses. I installed the first one without difficulty, but the rear hoses were in such a cramped area that it was almost impossible for me to get at them. I therefore decided to go down to my local garage and have them installed there. Well wouldn't you know it--I walked over to check the first hose after the mechanic had installed it and noticed that it had been installed without the anti-rattle clip that keeps it firmly in place. I scouted around the floor until I found it and presented it to the mechanic and asked him to make sure that those were installed with the hoses. I am sure he said to himself, Farang Tam Gern, or worse! Can't complain too much as labor for replacing three hoses ran to 400 Baht and they let me bring in the parts (try that in the US!), but the point of my story is that if you are using an non-authorized service center you should be very careful because this attitude is pretty common.

[samran]

In otherwords....'near enough is good enough'!

[sriracha john]

Absolutely agree.

Several times when the Land Rover got worked on, it almost seemed inevitale that there was an assortment of screws, bolts, and washers left remaining on their work floor... "Finished" they would claim... "Mai Chai" we would proclaim...

and they would mutter to find where the missing bolts, etc. belonged.

same same for motorcycle work... once including a crucial bolt for holding the rear brake in place...

[qualtrough]

Speaking of Land Rovers, when I first bought mine about 9 years ago I pretty much replaced all the mechanical parts with the goal of starting from scratch. When I was having it painted the body shop owner told me that he knew all about Land Rovers, had rebuilt the engines, etc. I had some kind of a brain lapse and said, "well why don't you rebuild the engine, here are the parts." A few days later I found it sitting in his garage, cylinder head off and exposed to the rain. Some rust had already started up in the cylinders. Got it home and decided to take it apart as this guy no longer inspired any trust. I ended up stripping it down completely. Found that some of the tappet assemblies were installed bass-ackwards, and some of the rods were the wrong way round as well. There were issues with the timing chain as well. That was a close one. Still runs great-knock on wood!

I once went to a brake outfit of some renown. They used chisels to undo the large nuts that hold the hubs on. OK, I have done that too, but I had nice new nuts on there and you would expect a big garage to have the right socket. Screws ended up missing there too. That was the last time in a garage for the Rover!

[terdsak_12]

With used cars I've had in the past I always watched the guys doing the work on the car in the smaller garage. Pointing and proding every now and then.

[lingling]

With used cars I've had in the past I always watched the guys doing the work on the car in the smaller garage. Pointing and proding every now and then.

Smaller garage or large dealership makes no difference. Honda Sukhumvit can't even fill the tires with the correct amount air pressure. After each oil change I get the car back with overinflated tires. Next time I will ask them to only change the oil and not touch anything else.

(once I went to Honda Petchburi instead and got the car back with the SRS light on. they told me it would be no problem, just a problem with the airbag...)

[qualtrough]

One more thing I have noticed. Mechanics here love to torque down lug nuts to the breaking point. Sure, we don't want the wheel to fall off, but I have seen them overdo it time after time. I could not get the lug nuts off the Volvo I just acquired using the factory wrench even when I stood on it. I had to slip a 3 foot bar over the wrench to get them off, and I ended up slightly bending the wrench. If you ever think you might need to change a tire out in the sticks you should check to see if the tools you have on board will offer enough mechanical advantage to unglue those nuts, otherwise you will be stuck by the side of the road.

[techie]

Recently went into the Honda dealership in korat to buy a set of locking wheel nuts for a honda city.

The top bod in the stores brings me back four packs of four locking nuts. I try to explain i only need one pack as we only need one nut on each wheel. This guy cant grasp this idea and goes on to explain that unless every nut is a locking nut the wheels will not be safe.

At this point i have to let the missus step in and try and explain but to no avail, he just stands there smiling and pointing at the four bags and saying "good, good"..

We never bought any there..

One year we where out of Thailand for about 7 months and when back the battery was dead flat..We rang up the garage "honda" and they say they will send a team to sort it out..

3 hours later 2 guys arrive on a wave with a set of spanners and all they can tell us is that the battery is flat.. the least i was expecting to see was a pick up and a set of jumpleads...

You do need a sence of humour in Thailand..

[chanchao]

And patience.

[micheal]

hearing all of this...

is there anywhere that would be recommended?

[billd766]

A few years ago I was with my wife in a friends Volvo when we had a flat tyre close to a Jet gas station near Ayutthaya and I found that the wheel spanner would only loosen 3 of the 5 nuts.

The Jet people tried but couldn't help so my wife called the Tourist Police and gave me the phone to explain.

20 minutes later, a police pickup arrived but couldn't fix it so they called for the recovery truck. That took about 30 minutes and they fixed the problem in 10 minutes. I offered the police some money but they said give it to the recovery crew but they were delighted when we gave them a few big pomeloes.

I had to go to the Volvo shop near Asoke junction when we got back to change the chewed up (by me) wheel nuts and the proper tools, no problem.

[gstreamer]

hearing all of this...

is there anywhere that would be recommended?

For Audi & VW, Diamond Auto (023183976), near Ekamai/Rama 9 junction, I've found excellent, very professional. Had good service on my '98 Audi A4, at very resonable prices.

HTH

jake

[MaiChai]

A tip that I see the Thais do: watch the mechanic like a hawk otherwise he may make short cuts. I always see Thais doing this, so there is obviously a reason why...

[elkangorito]

A tip that I see the Thais do: watch the mechanic like a hawk otherwise he may make short cuts. I always see Thais doing this, so there is obviously a reason why...

This is exactly the same with Thai electricians...watch them like a hawk.

Maybe this is 'normal' for all Thai 'tradesmen'?