VIBE

KRS1, on 2012-04-05 13:37:00, said:

i haff a pool in vhich i shvim (aktchually i ownlee pretend to shvim) effry day. to kill der bakteria in ze pool i zometimes yews kloreene and zometimes H²O².

and I have been taking them two or three times a week! I thought they were a hangover cure!!!! No wonder they didn't seem to work!

phil2, on 2010-07-29 23:14:41, said:

I wholeheartedly agree with what you're saying. In my four years here I have experienced the same. My wife has a hard time challenging or contradict others when they have a "Manager" title or are older than her. This became a serious issue as I'm running an IT business here and have to deal on a regular basis with banks, government officials and other "players" where the conversation has to be in Thai.

My solution to this is to never let my wife deal with them but instead ask her to act as a translator. That means that she cannot answer any questions or anything whatsoever - she is only there to translate. My wife also sits in a position where she looks at me to force the "manager" to look at me when he speaks. I also overdress and act like I'm worth a billion bucks - and it works every time. See, I hate doing this... and it took me a few years to come to realize and accept this, but in Thailand - the respect you will get is proportional to how well off and connected you seem to be. It's a big peacock game based on their primitive culture and customs.

I have had my dealing with many banks here and to expect intelligence, common sense and professionalism is wishful thinking. When they are wrong they will not admit it or will try to find a way to blame the mistake on something/someone else. When that happens never confront them. Steer them to a solution where they don't have to admit their mistake but are given a chance to make things right. And if you are a big enough peacock you will see how things magically seem to work to your advantage all the time.