Living in Thailand has its ups and downs.
One of its downs is definitely dealing with administration in Thailand.
I've learned a lot living in Chiang Mai. And an enlightening lesson has been the difference between hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure.
Hard infrastructure refers to the tangible stuff we can see. It's the hospitals, the schools, the highways, the electricity, the communication lines. Thailand is a mid-level developed country now. Sure it's a little dirty sometimes, but there are decent roads throughout the country, some nice hospitals, and electricity works most of the time. Heck, the majority of Chiang Mai even has 3G coverage which is better than some western cities. So hard infrastructure is not lacking.
Where Thailand is lagging behind the world is in soft infrastructure. Soft infrastructure is the policies of governments and organizations, the banking systems, the cultural and social events and education and welfare of the people.
Here's some examples of how soft infrastructure is lacking here in Thailand.
Example 1: My wallet gets pick pocketed in Bangkok. Although I have a Thai bank account, a passport to prove my identity and a police report to confirm the theft, Siam Commercial Bank requires me to go back to the original branch I opened the account (in Chiang Mai) to replace the card or take our money. Why? Because I don't have the bank book.
It is easier to replace my Australian bank card here in Thailand. Unfortunately the banking system is more complex than it needs to be here, and stories like this are not uncommon.
Example 2: Every year to apply for my education visa, I need to go about 1 hour before the immigration office opens to get a ticket. I'll usually be there most of the day. In my application I need to resubmit 2 photographs, a copy of my university application letter (from 2 years ago), up to date academic transcripts of all semesters studied, a personally created letter from the university administration and photocopies of all my past visas and entry stamps.
The process is improving which is good to see, but I still have to ask why they need further copies of things like my university application letter, which hasn't changed, and should be on file.
Example 3: When applying for my drivers licence, I needed to have a medical certificate to test my blood pressure and eye sight. This needs to be less than 30 days old (because apparently in Thailand one's eyes can degrade in the space of 30 days). My certificate of 40 days was not accepted. I spent 5 hours going between government buildings and hospitals.
When I went to renew my licence a year later, I was told that if I renewed before the expiry date, I would only get a one year licence. If I came back after it expired, I would get a 5 year licence. This rule doesn't make any sense to me.
Example 4: In order to study 8 subjects one semester (the normal allowed limit is 7), I had to fill out a form that had to be signed by my advisor, the head of the department, the head of the business school, and by the vice president of the university. This took 3 days.
In fact the time it takes to deal with administration it so well known here that people expect most dealings to take a full day. A business owner I know here says that there is several days a year of "occasion leave" reserved just for dealing with administrative issues.
Not only does it waste a lot of time here, it also encourages people to not try and change anything or do anything new. It is a big resistance to people who want to try and be creative or entrepreneurial.
It has become clear to me living here how soft infrastructure is just as important as hard infrastructure if a society wants to grow.
