After 2 weeks of absolute chaos and frenetic activity, the physical end of the business & house move is almost complete (just one car load of “stuff” to bring up, and install a house-elf for a day at the old house to spruce it up a bit for the next tenants).

We’re still unpacking at this end, but at least we’ve been able to have a full afternoon and evening at that, and the new office is up and running, with only the accounts-archives and similar to be de-boxed and shelved … still can’t find my stapler though – ever noticed how staplers always go missing when there’s a change of staff or location?

All of the stock is now roughly in position, though some of it is still in the transit boxes and not yet on the shelves.

I think we’ve got it pretty much licked now though – next comes all the address and phone/fax number change notifications, website updating, etc. – groan – that’ll take up most of this week’s mornings catching up with that lot – on and off-line.

Anyone who ordered from us between midday (GMT) Friday 23rd and roughly roundabout now-ish, your packages should be shipping tomorrow (Tuesday 27th) – we’re prioritising all those for despatch. All orders placed prior to midday 23rd went out either on Friday or Saturday and you should all have received despatch details via email by now.

Everyone that orders between now and Wednesday morning, I’m afraid it’ll be pot luck if they ship tomorrow or on Wednesday.  After that, despatch should be fully back to normal as the new warehouse and receipts/despatch area gets back up to full speed.

We had to take the network off-line at about 5pm GMT on the 23rd, for moving it, and only got things back up and running late Sunday night … because the telephone company (TOT) were two days late arriving to install the new lines.

When they finally did turn up, the engineers held us to ransom wanting an “installation fee” (in cash) to run the lines from the pole to the house, and attach a terminator and splitter inside the house.  I was ready to either drag the police into it, or put the engineer through a wall, but in the end my wife sorted it all out.  As I explained to her afterwards, what the engineers did was like someone buying a new car from the showroom, paying for it in full and completing all paperwork, then being told they had to pay extra if they wanted keys for it. She told me this was “normal” for Thailand.  I told her I had never had to pay it at my previous two houses in Chiang Mai.  That didn’t go down well.

My opinion of Thailand’s placement on the path of it’s progression from endemically corrupt banana democracy, towards an effectively governed (and policed) nation, took a severe battering during this last week or so – even more so than caused by the airport incidents eight weeks ago.  The incident with the telephone engineers was only one such incident, and it was personal, not aimed at a government leader.

There were several other events of a similar nature, and I am sure there will be more to follow in the coming few days.  I’ve still got to do a load of legal stuff that expats everywhere have to go through, but that’s the penalty for living in someone else’s country.  I’ll be blogging about it, here on Expat Eye, so that other expats (in Thailand) can see how it goes, and where the nasties pounce from the woodwork (if any).

… is now a good time to tell you all about our new mango orchard?  Yummmmmm
(Trying to stay positive)
Gaz