Thais and Painting

[mario299]

Nick
I don't disagree with you, but I also have dealt with our local "experts" to the extent that I know who is capable of what. When we have needed painting done, and please understand that I would rather do it myself than have the local guy do it, my lovely wife over-rules me and we have one of our previously successful painters do it, instead of me.
These guys have done, and will continue to do, excellent work for us. Yes, they are "jack of all", but who in the Thai villages isn't?.
We've been very lucky. I had the experience of new construction and remodeling work in the US for more than 30 years, and was fortunate to be able to see how Thai construction is done while our house was being built here in Thailand. Can I change it? Do I want to?
No...
But, If you want something done right and you know what right is, then give them a chance to do it right. They can and they will do a fine job for you, if given the chance.
I do know what you are saying, there are many folks that do more than what they should and more than what they know, but it only took us about 1000 years and they have been at it for more than 3000 years.
 Yes?

[ted]

But do you know in advance that you will get better than average quality work?

My experience of employing locals is that they are jack of all trades but experts in none.

A so called "professional painter", I employed for 1 day, who was employed to paint new houses being built on a Bangkok estate, not only had no brushes or rollers, but refused to use the roller tray I provided (never seen one before) preferring to dip the roller straight into the paint bucket. Needless to say there was paint everywhere.

I'm guessing you had to bring to his attention the proposed clean-up? I'm sure this "professional" would have passed it buy without a thought.....that's how they do things. Drives me completely bonkers.

[Jetmickey]

Instructional Video's are now available for the locals 

[davu]

  I had to laugh when I saw this post, having just gone through the ordeal myself. Ordeal, because my lady's daughter and husband leapt at the chance when they saw that I had bought paint and brushes, and as they were family I couldn't stop them. (I sat at the computer begging her to stop them... ' cannot, they want help..'.) So I will have finished cleaning  the last widow pane, and painting over the last drops of stray paint of the walls, some time soon. I hid the brushes when we went to Kanchanaburi.
  I don't want to go into the fact that they then bought tiles ('because they weren't expensive') that were pink. Any full blooded Englishman will tell you that only poofters have pink tiles... I also wanted cool colours...and laid them. As I say, I won't go into that. They didn't have enough so they finished off with a few blue ones...God bless my wife's family, I love them, I also have a sense of humour...

[Surinexpat]

I don't want to go into the fact that they then bought tiles ('because they weren't expensive') that were pink. Any full blooded Englishman will tell you that only poofters have pink tiles...

What makes you think that

Here's a picture of my bathroom,I think it  looks quite macho 

BTW ...my boyfriend chose the colour 
 

[davu]

certainly looks better than my bathroom. I was brought up being told that pink is sissy.  Apart from that I really didn't want 'warm' colours in a place like Thailand. I shall be looking at these tiles for the next twenty years or so saying to myself 'stay cool, go with the flow' ...