Thai men: brave, hardworking or just plain silly?

[pinkpanther99]

Yesterday I visited a new store recently built in Hua Hin.

The store is filled wall to wall with 90 percent junk, with the odd useful.

Anyway, my point of posting this is that whilst I was in the store, there was a Thai guy who had climbed up onto the ceiling of this store (which is actually a large warehouse) in order to change a lightbulb.

No harness, no ladder, attached to absolutely nothing, all whilst his boss looked on like nothing was up with any of this.

Had Somchai slipped he would have plummeted to the ground in a second and would almost certainly been killed instantly.

Now this got me thinking.

What is it with Thai men getting up to this kind of caper?

I regularly see them leaning their ladders against overhead cables, welding without wearing proper safety equipment and the like.

Are we looking at this from the wrong angle?

Rather than mocking Somchai for his stupidity, is now not the time to praise him for his bravery and exemplary work ethic? Going the extra mile for his job.

I bet your bottom dollar you wouldn't see a farang shimmying up to the top of a warehouse in order to change a light bulb

Edited November 11, 2015 by pinkpanther99

[CaptHaddock]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

[pinkpanther99]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

Fair comment.

But whatever happened to common sense?

[Jingthing]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

I actually don't agree with this.

I've been to a number of poor countries and it's a matter of priorities.

The OP has a good point -- there is a shocking recklessness you see here on a regular basis.

It's more extreme here even than in "macho" Latin American countries where you might expect that.

So, it's part of the CULTURE here. An arguably awful part of the culture.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Jingthing

[lovelomsak]

Does not look that dangerous to me. I think lots of guys would do that. He is sitting a strong cross member. Crawl out do it crawl back not a big deal. I have done things way more dangerous than that.on boats.

Edited November 11, 2015 by lovelomsak

[CharlieH]

The difference is Education, Training and awareness. That's what the "nanny" states drum into you..

Thailand, sadly, not so much.

[Jingthing]

The difference is Education, Training and awareness. That's what the "nanny" states drum into you..

Thailand, sadly, not so much.

Perhaps but I think it's much deeper than that here.

Thailand still retains a lot of the feudal culture mentality.

Peasant lives don't really matter much here, do they?

Look at the way pedestrians are treated here. They are seen as expendable peasants.

If you actually kill one assuming you don't flee the scene (so common here and almost seen as normal and acceptable) ... what does it cost you, 5000 baht, if that?

The man changing the bulb was an expendable peasant and for him to stand up and say I want the tools to do this safely, even if he had that spark of intelligence / self worth valuing of his how own life in him which is very doubtful, he'd be out of his rice bowl right quick.

Sorry, yes I live here and nobody is making me live here, but I'm never going to admire that part of this culture which is like that.

Cheers.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Jingthing

[CharlieH]

The difference is Education, Training and awareness. That's what the "nanny" states drum into you..

Thailand, sadly, not so much.

Perhaps but I think it's much deeper than that here.

Thailand still retains a lot of the feudal culture mentality.

Peasant lives don't really matter much here, do they?

Look at the way pedestrians are treated here. They are seen as expendable peasants.

If you actually kill one assuming you don't flee the scene (so common here and almost seen as normal and acceptable) ... what does it cost you, 5000 baht, if that?

The man changing the bulb was an expendable peasant and for him to stand up and say I want the tools to the this safely, even if he had that spark of intelligence of self worth valuing of his how one life in him which is very doubtful, he'd be out of his rice bowl right quick.

Sorry, yes I live here and nobody is making me live here, but I'm never going to admire that part of this culture which is like that.

Cheers.

Agree, hardly likely to refuse "the boss" that's for sure.

[Brit_Doggie]

Where were the other 2 men you know the one that holds the ladder and the other holds onto the 2 light bulbs, but w8 something is amiss here normally 1 of the thai wives/gf's attends as lookout perhaps or as norm to look on.

[WitawatWatawit]

When a gigantic office tower was being built next to my building 25 years ago, I heard stories directly from the labourers, translated by my Thai colleagues, that their boss would go ape if anyone mentioned safety and they'd be sacked. I was told that about 1 person died every month on the site, and that the family of that person would be paid 100k baht to say nothing. The cost of deaths and injuries was built into the tender price. There was no insurance for the workers.

[Thai at Heart]

The issue with this is who can force him to change. With little liability for an accident who has an incentive to change. If the owner was liable for 10 my baht if he fell off, then it would change in a second.

[NanLaew]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

I actually don't agree with this.

I've been to a number of poor countries and it's a matter of priorities.

The OP has a good point -- there is a shocking recklessness you see here on a regular basis.

It's more extreme here even than in "macho" Latin American countries where you might expect that.

So, it's part of the CULTURE here. An arguably awful part of the culture.

How about the two Nigerians who nearly drowned doing a swim test that was required before they could work offshore for my client in Port Harcourt? The guys couldn't swim but that didn't stop them just stepping off the boat like the rest of the candidates who were hoping to be hired. They were country boys that hadn't experienced a river, let alone the sea.

My point is a lot of the reckless stuff you see here is done through total, blissful ignorance of what they are doing and the consequences of anything going wrong. I was coming in from Nongplalai on the Highway 7 spur and was overtaken by a local going like a bat out of hell on a crotch rocket scooter. He made a mess of the traffic light timing and I passed him turning south on Sukhumvit. Moments later, he was haring down the inside lane and just ahead of me when he clipped a big pothole. It was arms, legs and ar5e in the air as he almost wiped out fighting to stay on the bike. I passed him again but within a minute, he was flat out and shot past me on the drivers side. He obviously hadn't wiped out before or he would remember the pain. Even if he had seen plenty of crashes and had plenty ar5e-puckering moments himself, it didn't matter and he was on his way again at top speed. Only when he does a face plant and gets severe gravel rash or worse, then maybe the penny will drop... but then again, maybe not.

Edited November 11, 2015 by NanLaew

[h90]

We are climbing a lot in our warehouse....not that extreme but still. Generally on dangerous things nothing happen, people are alert, take care or have a bad hangover let someone else do it.

The bad accidents happen on simple task...things you have done 1000 times before, when you think about meeting mia noi after work instead of thinking at what you are doing.

Some are naturals at climbing.....I am not.

[TheFishman1]

TIT

[nithisa78]

Why don't you do like my beloved Father did, start and OSHA, only for S.E. Asia.

Talk is cheap.

[georgemandm]

Why the f??k do you care not having a go out you at all , just why would you care I said the same to my thai girl friend she tells me I not care so if Thais not care about Thais why would someone from the west care about them .

She tells me this is thailand not like your Country and she has been to see how great my country is and she loves it .

So like I tell her about how f??king stupid Thais are on the roads she just says this is thailand not like your country .

And I say to her I think it is about times Thais care about Thais but she says Thais not care so I have give up and not say a thing not my country so now I think like her I not care .

[55Jay]

Brain fart during design phase. Maintenance?

Of course, light bulbs burn out and need replacing now and again. Best not put the fixtures 25 feet off the floor.

[kannot]

When a gigantic office tower was being built next to my building 25 years ago, I heard stories directly from the labourers, translated by my Thai colleagues, that their boss would go ape if anyone mentioned safety and they'd be sacked. I was told that about 1 person died every month on the site, and that the family of that person would be paid 100k baht to say nothing. The cost of deaths and injuries was built into the tender price. There was no insurance for the workers.

The lad that works for me got 3 fingers lopped off at the base, his old boss was operating some cutting machine and did it, he never got a penny compensation.........................Ah the smiling lovely Thais...................yes they are seen as expendable "nothings"

Edited November 11, 2015 by kannot

[Craig krup]

I saw an old boy on TV one night - worked for the hunt on a landed estate in England - and he had a horse hair go straight into his eye. The Lord of the Manor says, "Well, you've got another one, haven't you?", so he doesn't go to hospital and loses the eye.

Roger Scruton, the Tory philosopher, was on Radio 4 the other night. He casually remarked that humans are pretty horrible in their natural state. People forget that the classical age was built on slave labour. The only two species on the planet that will routinely engage in genocide are humans and chimpanzees. Hegel said that "all that a man has he owes to the state". What he meant was that all of the civilisation that makes you not-an-ape is bound up in the processes of a well-functioning culture. But all humans have within them "libido dominandi" - the desire to dominate. It's in that stupid bouncing indignant walk that you'll find within yourself when someone annoys you, and it takes very little to cultivate it. Thinking that other people aren't worth much is a default position for <removed\>

[willyumiii]

There is only one difference between a brave man and a foolish man.

It is called "luck".

[rgs2001uk]

The difference is Education, Training and awareness. That's what the "nanny" states drum into you..

Thailand, sadly, not so much.

Perhaps but I think it's much deeper than that here.

Thailand still retains a lot of the feudal culture mentality.

Peasant lives don't really matter much here, do they?

Look at the way pedestrians are treated here. They are seen as expendable peasants.

If you actually kill one assuming you don't flee the scene (so common here and almost seen as normal and acceptable) ... what does it cost you, 5000 baht, if that?

The man changing the bulb was an expendable peasant and for him to stand up and say I want the tools to do this safely, even if he had that spark of intelligence / self worth valuing of his how own life in him which is very doubtful, he'd be out of his rice bowl right quick.

Sorry, yes I live here and nobody is making me live here, but I'm never going to admire that part of this culture which is like that.

Cheers.

Ditch the western mindset, and consider how your average Thai views this life, the next life and the one before.

Thais arent burdened with concepts such as original sin, purgatory or hell.

This life is nothing more than a vehicle that carries them to the next.

[elliss]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

Fair comment.

But whatever happened to common sense?

Common sense , aka known as elf n safety , comes at a price.

Alas EU . is burdened with safety requirements , and compensation claims , making EU industry uncompetitive .

The recent VW , emission issue , is a polluted joke .

Growth economies ,such as India , China , Indonesia . Thailand , etc.

are not burdened with these rules , in summary , the workers in unregulated industries ,

die a premature death . Who cares?? , Profit comes first .

Edited November 11, 2015 by elliss

[rgs2001uk]

^^^ Neil Young saw through this bawana white man colonial type years ago, lets go and save the natives, LOL.

They killed us in our tepee
And they cut our women down
They might have left some babies
Cryin' on the ground
But the firesticks
and the wagons come
And the night falls
on the setting sun.

They massacred the buffalo

He came dancing across the water
With his galleons and guns
Looking for the new world
In that palace in the sun.

Thailand is full of these new age missionary types, trying to convert the masses to their western guilt riddled mind set.

Dr Livingstone I pressume?

[benalibina]

Lack of motherlove.

[spidermike007]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

Fair comment.

But whatever happened to common sense?

Sorry to disappoint you, but common sense and reason barely exist on Planet Thailandia.

[fang37]

Is "plain silly" the answer?

[pinkpanther99]

The issue with this is who can force him to change. With little liability for an accident who has an incentive to change. If the owner was liable for 10 my baht if he fell off, then it would change in a second.

Ok, I was of course joking a bit in my OP, but you are spot on here.

It's the total lack of liability that allows this kind of disregard for human life to go on here.

It is actually pretty sad when you think about it. The need to change a light bulb is deemed more important than a man's life.

[telldem]

My wife lets my 3 year old daughter sit in the front seat. I told her millions of times that the air bag can kill her. Her reply was that she drives carefully and my daughter is wearing a good luck amulet and not to worry.

[geronimo]

Not hard to understand. Safety is just another luxury not widely available in relatively poor countries.

I actually don't agree with this.

I've been to a number of poor countries and it's a matter of priorities.

The OP has a good point -- there is a shocking recklessness you see here on a regular basis.

It's more extreme here even than in "macho" Latin American countries where you might expect that.

So, it's part of the CULTURE here. An arguably awful part of the culture.

Thais have never been taught howto think critically, there's your answer.

[HooHaa]

do you mean thai men as opposed to the fine specimens of virility on this forum?