Farangs need to pay for their public road repair and upgrade.

[Happy Grumpy]

An old mate rang me up last night and I joked that I'll pop up for a visit once they fix his road.

He started laughing and told me a story that made me shake my head.

The whole village had the roads done last year, except for Soi Farang. 8 of the 10 houses on the road are non-Thais. Mostly Westerners and two run down Thai shack houses.

They were told that the budget for the public road repair and upgrade only covered every other part of the area, and if they wanted their public road done, they'd have to pay for it themselves, every other public road in the area was all done nicely and no one had to pay a baht.

Made me laugh I have to say.

[evadgib]

Alright i'll bite; if they have Thai wives why aren't they 'banging the drum'?

[Happy Grumpy]

Four of them did.

Official line came back that the budget was all used up and there was no money left to do the roads that were not done.

The only road that was not done was, yup, Soi Farang.

They were told again that they could pay to have it done, if they wanted.

[slapout]

i have seen the same thinking when a major highway was widened, money to pay Thai home owners to rebuild their homes futher back from highway consumed the entire budget alloted for all the houses so the farang owners were left to finance /pay themselves for their rebuild. one has not rebuilt to date (2 YEARS), house still setting where it was (dangerously close to highway)

It will be interesting to see who wins the stand off.

[arthurwait]

And has anyone on the whole estate ever paid any income tax ?

bet there's a load of fortunas and c classes though.

[rijb]

There's a lot of skimming in road repairs. And I don't mean the road surface.

[DLock]

It was the same when I lived in Phuket in the Baan Suan Kamnan area south of Patong.

We had to pay for our own roads down to the houses from the Government main road...but there is always 1 or 2 foreigners that refuse to pay and force the rest to cover for them.

We paid and made a decent road...then trucks used that road to build developments further down the hill and made a mess of it.

Shit happens.

[Scully]

There's a lot of skimming in road repairs. And I don't mean the road surface.

A couple of years ago I had a conversation with the head of the village regarding road repairs. He told me a large company will get the contract then they take a portion and sub contract it out. This happens all down the line until the local residents get a budget to fill in the holes and pay them a wage for the work.

I pointed out by next year the pot holes are back due to the rainy season, perfect he said then everyone gets payed again. Thai logic but logic all the same.

[CharlieH]

This happened to me just two weeks ago !!

They decided after many years to re-surface the farm track that runs outside my home, covering the hard red mud/gravel with a grey shale type surface. They started at the top of the track, stopped where my property starts, and commenced again where my property finished. Wife asked why they stopped, "ferang have money", so the wife speaks with her Father, Father disappears on his motorcycle, returns 20 minutes later, and trucks re-appear and complete the missing section outside our home.

Leave it to the Thais to sort out ! problem sorted in short time.

[Happy Grumpy]

There's a lot of skimming in road repairs. And I don't mean the road surface.

A couple of years ago I had a conversation with the head of the village regarding road repairs. He told me a large company will get the contract then they take a portion and sub contract it out. This happens all down the line until the local residents get a budget to fill in the holes and pay them a wage for the work.

I pointed out by next year the pot holes are back due to the rainy season, perfect he said then everyone gets payed again. Thai logic but logic all the same.

Contractor A quotes 300k

B quotes 350k

C quotes 800k

Eh? Contractor A only quoted 300k.

Yes, give the contract to me and I'll hire him then we split the difference between us.

[JingerBen]

What does your friend expect?

He's living in a farang ghetto.

Edited April 14, 2015 by JingerBen

[BudRight]

It was the same when I lived in Phuket in the Baan Suan Kamnan area south of Patong.

We had to pay for our own roads down to the houses from the Government main road...but there is always 1 or 2 foreigners that refuse to pay and force the rest to cover for them.

We paid and made a decent road...then trucks used that road to build developments further down the hill and made a mess of it.

Shit happens.

So...the hold outs were right.

[Happy Grumpy]

This happened to me just two weeks ago !!

They decided after many years to re-surface the farm track that runs outside my home, covering the hard red mud/gravel with a grey shale type surface. They started at the top of the track, stopped where my property starts, and commenced again where my property finished. Wife asked why they stopped, "ferang have money"

It's almost as if it eats them alive, their (Thais) money being spent on what benefits a farang.

[Happy Grumpy]

You wouldn't mind, but non-Thais can't even own the land next to the roads they refuse to repair and upgrade.

[benalibina]

The topic is....a serious joke....

[Happy Grumpy]

The topic is....a serious joke....

Amusing reality.

Thainess. Funny, innit.

[benalibina]

The topic is....a serious joke....

Amusing reality.

Thainess. Funny, innit.

Reality to make one ponder....yes....

[Happy Grumpy]

With the responses above, it could be seen as an insight as how much they value and consider Westerners living here.

Nothing unless you're paying.

[Happy Grumpy]

Do they give the famous, friendly Thai smile when they refuse to do it?

They're such a beautiful, decent, welcoming, friendly people.

[DLock]

It was the same when I lived in Phuket in the Baan Suan Kamnan area south of Patong.

We had to pay for our own roads down to the houses from the Government main road...but there is always 1 or 2 foreigners that refuse to pay and force the rest to cover for them.

We paid and made a decent road...then trucks used that road to build developments further down the hill and made a mess of it.

Shit happens.

So...the hold outs were right.

Kind off.

The road was so efficient at carrying water down the hill that when it rained really hard it went directly into their house and flooded their garage and under the front door.

...now if they'd paid their share, they could have had a say in drainage...but unfortunately they didn't...so they paid another way.

Life's like that.

[Berkshire]

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this story. Makes no sense. So the city planners are sitting around trying to figure out where the farang houses are so that the street won't be repaired at exactly those locations? And the other owners who are Thai? How about others who drive on those streets? Surely would include everyone. You guys shouldn't be so gullible.

[CharlieH]

City planners

[Happy Grumpy]

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this story. Makes no sense. So the city planners are sitting around trying to figure out where the farang houses are so that the street won't be repaired at exactly those locations? And the other owners who are Thai? How about others who drive on those streets? Surely would include everyone. You guys shouldn't be so gullible.

City planners?

Sounds like you've just arrived here.

[Happy Grumpy]

^^ Snap.

[CharlieH]

Troll comment removed

[bkkgooner]

You can feel the hatred for Thais just oozing out of this thread, but yes that is a very messed up situation and a very clear example of what happens when you have mickey mouse "village heads" who must be among the most obviously corrupt people in Thailand.

How much would it cost them to get the road done?

[kannot]

Ive just shoved a cube of concrete in the road outside my own house....wait for any repairs here youll wait forever

[watcharacters]

I like your tale Grumpy. I believe it.

[Happy Grumpy]

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this story. Makes no sense. So the city planners are sitting around trying to figure out where the farang houses are so that the street won't be repaired at exactly those locations? And the other owners who are Thai? How about others who drive on those streets? Surely would include everyone. You guys shouldn't be so gullible.

City planners?

Sounds like you've just arrived here.

You're going on and on about semantics? How about just answer the questions. Your story doesn't make any sense. Do you just make stuff up to post on TV?

4 posters on the first page all with same experiences. Including a Moderator who said it happened to him only 2 weeks ago.

Yeah, it's all BS mate.

Back on with your yellow tinted glasses, there's a few motosai taxi lads that need waiing.

[CharlieH]

A few bickering posts removed.

Believe it, dont believe it, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but be civil about it and no personal attacks.

7) You will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members, (flaming) Stalking of members on either the forum or via PM will not be allowed.