The BS you get from landlords about the utilities in Thailand

If you live in Thailand for a little while you are going to notice that you can't really rely on utilities. Power frequently goes down for entire areas without prior warning and water pressure can drop to the point of non-existence on a regular basis. Internet connectivity can also be seriously impacted and it doesn't really seem to matter which one of the providers you are using. There are many of them but which is better is just a matter of luck.

I have had several ISP's here in Chiang Mai and my experience has been that they are all pretty equally terrible.

The only exception seems to be mobile data. In Thailand I would say that I have experienced the best data speeds of any country I have ever been in and it is definitely better than in USA.

src

one thing you can really rely on the least is water pressure and this is why almost all people with a bit of money will have a water backup system complete with a pump to increase pressure to all the various nozzles and sinks in your individual house. I feel bad for the people that don't have these sorts of things because water pressure dropping to a level where you can't even take a shower happens multiple times a week in Chiang Mai and from what I hear, all over the rest of the country as well.

This is just something you get used to I guess but it doesn't make it less frustrating. The power system is pretty bad as well and all you have to do to understand why that might be is just have a look up anywhere that you go and look at the horrible mess of wires that are hanging up on any aerial power supplies that wind through neighborhoods. I am surprised that there aren't more electrical fires than there are because this is just nuts. As far as I know there is very little in the way of underground wires for electric and everything is just a mess of wires that lord knows how anyone can figure out what the heck is going on up there.

I've gotten used to it but one of the things that brings me continued irritation is that landlords, instead of just admitting that they have no idea why there is a problem will normally revert to some sort of BS answer and explanation, which to me is more upsetting than someone just saying "I don't know what the problem is, let's hope it gets sorted out soon."

Often, it probably isn't the landlord's fault though because I now speak Thai well enough to have a basic conversation on the phone with someone at a call center and when the electric, water, or internet just stops working the people at these call centers solve it by just not answering the phones until it is sorted out.

It's kind of funny when you think about it. This is the only reason why those people have that job but when they are needed the most their solution is to just not answer anyone's inquiries. I think most Thai people don't even bother to call customer service because they are well aware of the fact that nobody is going to give them an answer.

One of the explanations for poor internet connections or something that is jumping up and down as far as speeds are concerned is something that I have heard so many times that I can't help but laugh when I hear my landlord repeat it.

Sharks are biting the cables in the Pacific ocean

src

I'm not trying to say that this has never happened but seriously. Every time? If that was the case the people that own these cables would have developed some sort of shark-proof cabling wouldn't they? It's just so whimsical to me that this is the excuse that is always used whenever the internet is spotty and what a wonderful "out" that is for the people you are paying the money to in order to provide this service.

It's actually kind of a perfect excuse: It's not really their fault and if anyone were to suggest some sort of deterrent to keep sharks from biting cables then they would be labeled as someone that doesn't care about animals in nature.

My landlord manages a bunch of properties that are rented out primarily to foreigners. She does pretty well financially because of her ability to speak multiple languages. I know several people that rent through her and when we see one another it always pops up about how the woman is blaming sharks in the ocean for the poor internet connection again.

I can't really fault her, but about the 4th time she used the shark excuse I said "just be honest with me, you don't really know what the problem is, do you?" and she kind of chuckled and admitted that she didn't actually look into it because nobody on the phone is going to give a real answer.

Someone a long time ago, like in the 80's an 90's had a picture of A SHARK biting an undersea cable and someone decided that this would work as an excuse at that time for angry customers who wondered why their ISP is so slow all the time and somewhere along the line it just became a de facto excuse to this day. From what I can see from articles online that this is not a significant factor for global internet in the modern age.

I suppose just say whatever it takes to get a customer to leave you alone, right? Is this excuse used where you live or is this just a Thailand specific go-to explanation?