Day three of the rent affair. Chalerm was worried. “This big problem because when we pay reception not give us receipt”, said Chalerm. He called the reception to hear about the missing money. The manager asked if we had the receipt for January. January? We had not. Now it was four months. Chalerm said they wanted me to come down to the office and talk to them again.
I met my German neighbour for the first time. It had to be fate. The German stepped out of his door just when I stepped out of my door. The German was heading for the reception to ask for news. He was surprised to hear my situation was the same as his.
He told me that he had been summoned to the office the day before and told to pay up for missing months.
The 200 year old Chinese owner was in the office. I had not seen him for a long time. He looked grim.
The receptionist was still there, pale and with swollen eyes from crying.
I gave the manager the papers I had prepared the day before. The manager received my bank statements better than I had hoped. I had marked with yellow the line where at the beginning of each month I took out a sum corresponding to the rent plus utilities from the ATM in the soi. The street address of the ATM appeared on the statement, which was a plus. The manager asked to keep the bank statements.
The German then spoke to the manager as I waited. The manager assured him that it was “no problem” and that he would get receipts later. She told me “no problem” too, and smiled. Again I understood that she wanted me out of the office as quickly as possible because of her loss of face.
In the lift back upstairs my neighbour said the tone in the office had changed since the day before. Then they had accused him of not paying and not believed him when he said he had. They had scrutinised his utilities bills, which had a red PAID stamp on them, even testing the red stamp they have to see if it was the same one used on his papers.
The change of tone means at least one more resident has the same problem, as the office staff had changed their mind about the situation between the visit from the German in the afternoon and my arrival the next morning.
The German said it could not be the receptionist girl since she was still here. Why was she not fired on the spot? I said it was Thai culture. They do things differently here.
At 7pm someone rang the door bell. Chalerm opened. It was the manager with a receipt saying we had paid for February, March and April. No mention of January.
I asked Chalerm what the manager had said. “Nothing”, said Chalerm. Did she explain what had happened? “No.”
Tags: apartment, Bangkok, gay Thailand
April 26th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Watch those idiots I dont trust ANY OF THEM!!
April 26th, 2007 at 11:19 am
gawd its like a three ring circus..
April 26th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Lessons learned:
1. Make them give you a receipt on the spot when you hand over the cash. Or,
2. Open a bank account. Or,
3. Take a witness with you when you make the payment in cash.
And remember, keep smiling!!!!
April 26th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I never considered myself intolerant of other cultures before, but I sit here reading this thinking that I would probably have not left their office yesterday. More likely I would have taken a seat and refused to move until a reciept was provided to me.
What would have happened if I were in your situation and had done that? Would it have put you in jeopardy somehow if you had done that? Do they have any pull for or against you when it comes to residing in the country or not?
Not getting a reciept for January is troubling.
-Whystler
April 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I agree with those who say, it’s time to move. Get looking. I am considering a move too, it’s just such wonderful weather to be hoofing around Bangkok in search of a loom.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
… dont forget. We all make mistakes. And in all countries can be bad guys. So its a bad situation but i mean not thai specific.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
For me this is GOOD news.
They have acknowledged it’s their mistake (or whatever it was) and are now treating you correctly by giving you receipts.
I wonder if the absence of the january receipt is yet another simple mistake. Best to ask them for it while they are in the ‘admitting liability’ frame of mind.
I suspect a member of staff may be missing in days to come.
(I mean given the boot, not murdered!)
April 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Best to ask them for it while they are in the ‘admitting liability’ frame of mind.
Good point. I will ask the manager tomorrow.
The receptionist is still here. I saw her in the corridor right now even as it is after office closing hours. She had brand new clothes but still looked like she has been up all night crying.
I would rather hope she leaves. I don’t want to deal with her.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I wonder if the receptionist is related to the owners. In which case she may not loose her job, even though she has committed a greater crime than grand larceny if she has brought shame on the family.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
That’s always possible. Thai workplaces are often inbred. She doesn’t do much anyway, and I have wondered why she is there. She spends most of her day listening to music on her earphones or chatting on the mobile phone, or reading fashion magazines. Maybe she is the sort of relative they just had to put somewhere.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
I would suspect she is either family or someone’s “special friend” thus they will keep her and forget it….but get your January receipt while the moods are in your favor…once this is all forgotten the issue could come back up again.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:58 am
Always insist on a receipt immediately. Wait until they provide it.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Well good. Does your atm print transaction slips? Suppose you had the receptionist sign the back of the atm transaction slip when you drop the money off? Not that it would mean the rent is paid, just that you gave her the money. If they can stamp the utility bill they could stamp your little atm transaction slip too, couldn’t they?
As long as you don’t get dinged for an extra month’s rent, I’d not consider moving on account of this. Too much trouble and the next place may be no better. Certainly you’ve been through an ordeal and can’t be expected to just forget it, and a process change is reasonable to expect. If they don’t change the receptionist and won’t change the system, and won’t accommidate you with some kind of temporary ‘cash received’ receipt, I think I might dig in my heels and walk out with my money. Obviously you can go 3 months without paying rent without getting evicted, so being late on account of them not being willing to provide a receipt has to be acceptable.