Drastic acts to defend rights
Sunday Star 1/5/2005 THAI TAKES BY FOO YEE PING
THAI consumers, going by a number of well-publicised cases recently, seem
more than ready for combat to defend their rights.
Their manner of airing their grievances is quite creative, albeit rather
drastic sometimes.
Whichever way you look at it, Malaysian consumers have yet to beat their
Thai counterparts in making their voice heard.
Just last week, a Bangkok homeowner caught the attention of the media and,
more importantly, the authorities, when she painted her whole house black
to “mourn” the way she had been duped into buying a property that was
earmarked for demolition.
“Tell the prime minister to come and take this house. I’ll give it to
him,” she reportedly said.
The district authorities maintained that the house was sited on public
land where a roundabout was supposed to be constructed.
But the owner, Rattana Sajathep, stood her ground. Having fought the
demolition order for 11 years, she decided to paint the house black a
fortnight ago and accused the authorities of being insensitive to victims
like her.
She also claimed that the housing developer and certain officials, through
the issuance of dubious land titles, were part of a scam to mislead house
buyers.
Her story went to the press, and the district office director subsequently
explained that he was the seventh person to deal with the case, which
began a decade ago.
He apparently conceded that there was a scam that involved several city
officials.
Now, Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin has directed a search for a new
house for Rattana. He also gave his word that the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration would foot the bill.
Rattana’s way of resorting to giving her house a new coat of paint is
pretty mild compared to the action taken by a number of motorists.
Exasperated with the multiple defects found in their car, they decided to
bash up their vehicles.
It all started four months ago when a woman, using all her might, took a
sledgehammer to her two-month-old Honda in protest against the car-maker
who, she claimed, had been indifferent to her complaints.
Besides smashing the windscreen, Duenpen Silaket, 28, also destroyed the
bonnet of the Bt1.3mil car, which was covered with a notice stating “Let
us mourn for Honda.”
Her very public act on a major Bangkok road was witnessed by scores of
people. She was even slightly injured by the shattered windscreen.
“At first I was not so worried about the squeaking noise from the engine,
or the fact that the car would automatically steer left. But the problems
got worse, and I was repeatedly unable to start my engine,” she said.
Honda Automobile Thailand Co Ltd issued an apology and arranged to talk
with her.
Duenpen’s brazen protest spawned a number of copycat acts.
One man, for instance, poured petrol on his Nissan Cefiro and set it on
fire to protest what he alleged were inadequate safety features.
These bold acts have led to great discussions among Thais.
Surely such aggressive behaviour is un-Thai?
Wouldn’t this dent Thailand’s ambition to become the Detroit of the East?
An Indonesian colleague remarked, tongue in cheek: “Why don’t they just
give their car to me?”
But as a number of people have noted, times are changing and most
consumers are no longer willing to sit still and be quiet if they think
they have been wronged.
When a forum for unhappy consumers was held at Thammasat University last
Sunday, 1,000 people turned up.
This was double the original target of the organiser.
Their grievances would ring a bell with Malaysians – poor finishing in
newly-built homes, housing developers demanding extra charges, and so
forth.
For the companies involved, surely such cases are a black eye to them. |
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