Archive for April, 2010

Two years ago, I reported on the sad state that was Thappraya road. At that time, they had already spent a couple of years dicking around with a road widening project and had got as far as reducing the edge of the road to rubble.

And here is the road today:

At first glance, it doesn’t look any better; the edge of the road still looks like a bomb site. But we have just been through two years of disruption and dust and we finally have a widened, 2×3 lane road; meaning that the bomb site has actually been moved a couple of metres to the left. Not that this improves anything. The inside lane will be used for parking, the middle lane will be used for double parking, leaving only the outside lane for driving and the inevitable accidents.

So, about four years for around a kilometre of road widening. And they have not finished yet. There is long, long stretch still to complete; this is the current state of play a little further down the road:

One they get near completion, they will come back to the start and dig it all up again. There is good money to be made from road construction. So, as long as people are being heavily inconvenienced and choked with dust in at least one part of the city, all is well with the world.

I am of the old school when it comes to child discipline. By all means start off with reasoning, then move onto threats, and then, if the threats are ignored, a quick slap to the leg works wonders. Of course, to make a lasting impression and induce life-changing behaviour, a good thrashing round the head with a baseball bat will be required; but I understand that is now illegal in certain countries.

Too often you see parents failing to discipline their kids and allowing them to do pretty much what they want. This is not a considered approach to child raising, it is laziness and a desire to avoid any form of confrontation. The end result will be a unruly teenager and an adult who does not understand that there are boundaries to behaviour; and someone who is destined to also fail at bringing up their own children.

Sadly, I notice that Thai parents are particularly bad at child discipline, especially when it comes to boys; who are pampered and indulged to a ridiculous extent and then grow up to be spoiled adult brats. The reluctance to enforce behavioural rules is the same laziness and avoidance of confrontation that you find elsewhere, compounded by the Thai “mai pen rai” attitude which means that it is considered better to just let things be as they are, rather than putting effort into a change which might result in a raising of voices, conflict or, horror of horrors, loss of face.

The government response to the latest protests on the streets of Bangkok are a reflection of this approach; and it is not just coincidence. There is a nationalistic feeling here, a concept of everyone being part of a single Thai family, that you do not find in other places. If there are street protests in Europe which go beyond the rules that have been set, the the authorities will wade in with water cannon, batons and shields, without any wringing of hands and a worrying that “we are all *insert the nationality of your choice* here”. In Thailand we have had the army making statements such as “we are all Thai and do not want to hurt other Thais”.

And the end result of this unwillingness to impose discipline and order, has been a red-shirted child that has been allowed to do pretty much what he wants. Daddy government says he has to stop, and he carries on. Daddy governments says the child must not go to a certain place or there will be arrests. The child goes and nothing happens. The child now knows that daddy is weak and inept and he can do pretty much what he wants.

The problem is compounded by the fact that daddy has another child who wears a yellow shirt and is clearly more favoured than the red-shirted child. The kid with the yellow shirt was allowed to play in the airport for many days and daddy did nothing. If daddy now starts to impose some discipline on the red-shirted child; everyone, especially the red child, is going to shout “NOT FAIR!!!”.

There are a number of possible outcomes. The red-shirted child may give up trying to annoy daddy and head back home in time to get pissed over Songkran. Daddy might grow up and stop just announcing rules and start enforcing them. If this happens, then there is the real possibility that someone will start swinging the metaphorical baseball bat to the head, or a bomb, or a machine gun.

What a mess. This is what you get if you don’t bring up your children properly. Better give your child a good spanking right now, just to be sure.

Just have to share this little gem:

Surreal brilliance. After I had watched it several times and stopped giggling, I wondered how the hell they made it. You can find out here, but it is a little long winded. In summary:

The bathroom is lifted off the set by a crane, leaving the actor standing on a partial mock-up of a boat. The shirt is dropped from wire above the actor (this failed a few times). As he leans down to pick up the shell he actually sits down on a device which moves him sideways and puts him on the horse. The only CGI is the shell turning to diamonds and the rising Old Spice container; the rest if filmed in real time. A mere 87 takes over three days to get it right.

And just to prove that Thailand can produce amusing advertisements too:

So we are sitting at our computers, as is often the case of an evening, and she who must be obeyed turns to me and says, with a solemn voice: “I have to tell you something”.

This does not bode well. We have had conversations that start this way before, and they are never easy. So I stop watching my crucial video and pay attention.

I mortgaged my car today. I need to pay for the repairs to my parents’ kitchen.
You’ve mortgaged your car?
Yes.
Without discussing with me first?
Yes.

Perhaps some background. SWMBO’s parents have a very nice house. Some years ago, they decided to extend to build a bigger kitchen area. Of course they decided to go the cheap route and employ a friend of a friend to do the work. Fast forward to the present and the whole contraption is on the verge of collapse.

Something will have to be done; but there is no rush because her father is currently posted to another part of Thailand and they are unlikely to live there for some time. Right now, her grandmother lives there and she doesn’t need to use the extra space. When we do get round to it, we will need to scope the work, get quotes, and manage a proper builder. We have discussed and agreed this approach. So what the hell was she up to?

Are you going to give the money to your mother?
Already done it.
But how is she going to manage the project when she live in another part of Thailand?
Oh, that’s OK, she will send the cash to my grandmother and she will sort it out.

It was at this point that I pretty much exploded. Her grandmother is hardly capable of managing grocery shopping, let alone house refurbishment. I could easily imagine the scenario where the cash would be quickly wasted and then granny would need even more to money to complete the job. This was a disaster in the making and I spent several minutes telling her so. After I had vented extensively, she interrupted me.

Can I just say something?
I suppose so. What?
April Fool!!

Damn her. Next year she is going to suffer.