just wait and see

I have mentioned that my recent trip to Thailand made me a better person and I would like to express the amazing realisation, almost epiphany, that I had while over there.

I have for a long time been a supporter of the invisible hand of the market, the idea that if we stop restricting the marketplace it will come to our rescue and turn society into utopia. Needless to say after our trip, my confidence in this idea has declined.

First I would like to note that I believe the stress caused by work in western societies is non-existent in Thailand. The workload required by employees there is significantly lower than in Australia for a couple of reasons.

1. The low wages: everywhere seems to be overstaffed, the workload is spread out over many employees because labour is cheaper than technology in most cases.
2. The culture: Because it is too hot to wear anything serious (Like a suit) the majority of people wear singlets and shorts. This encourages a relaxed workplace where employees can be often seen napping.

The best example of this we saw at a restaurant we were having breakfast at. We were sitting and watching five contractors replace the door, two of them were holding the door stable, one was holding the ladder for the fourth guy who was screwing the door back together. The last guy was sitting taking a break. Their job ran smoothly and was finished pretty quickly.

You can compare that to the situation in Australia, this 5 man job becomes a solo job where mr handyman has to balance himself on the ladder, hold the door in place and simultaneously screw it back together. His muscles are probably aching from trying to keep everything steady for an extended period of time; his phone is probably ringing off the hook because he is also the manager and he has overbooked himself.

After work the Australian probably goes home, opens a beer and sits in front of the television because he is too exhausted to do anything else, he then announces to his wife how much he hates his dead-end job. The 5 Thai guys will probably go to the bar after this job to have a break and they all are pretty happy.

The problem is that the Australian probably gets paid more than all the Thai guys combined. The live in what is relative poverty to us. We met these people who didn’t have a shower, rather they had a hose and a bucket. But they were normal people, not like beggars or people who messed up their own lives, it is just the way that many of these people live.

And that brought me to my conclusion, that important things (Like showers) are actually inefficient luxuries that the market will do its very best to rid itself of. Because someone spending extra on luxuries (Read: SHOWERS) can afford to be paid less. And that sucks, it makes me glad that the minimum wage here is as ridiculously high as it is, even if it means we have to do the workload of 5 people.