Be careful of Thais working in your House

All my stories on Thailand are posted only after personal observation, research, and discussion with a wide range of Thais.

The carpenters had left some papers on top of a corner cabinet they had almost finished building. They had put away their tools, cleaned where they had been working, and were making ready to go home.

I noticed that they had not picked up the plans they had been using during the day as they usually did. I don’t know why but something told me all was not well.

I lifted up the documents and realised why they had left them there. There was a deep and very visible scratch across the top of the unit. A tool must have been accidentally pulled across it.

Their faces were expressionless but they knew the damage was not repairable. They would have to replace the top.

No apology. If I had not spotted the damage before they left, they would have insisted when they returned the next day that it was nothing to do with them, that I had ruined their handiwork.

You have to watch out for workers covering their mistakes. It happens in offices too as we shall see.

Not losing face and not owning up to a mistake is frustrating for foreigners to experience but Thais expect it to happen. It is why they do not trust but check and watch everything so carefully.