The day the internet broke
I arrived at work today and found out that in Thailand it is an unwritten rule that everyone goes to work late during the final week of the year. That’s great, but why didn’t anyone tell me this before? I could have slept in. Tomorrow is the last working day of the year for me. I’m going to get native and go in at 10 a.m. I probably won’t really, because I have a built in farang trait that makes me feel guilty for doing such things. I don’t know why, but I feel bad about myself if I’m late or am at work and not doing anything. Sometimes I’m late if something happens like I lose my keys or can’t find my shoes, but for the most part I’m there come rain or shine.
Today, however, was about as lethargic a day as I’m ever likely to have because the internet broke and, working for a website, I was limited in the tasks I could perform.
It all started at around 10 a.m. The internet just stopped. I figured it was another IT problem, like maybe someone had blown something up trying to make toast for breakfast. Someone mentioned that the internet was going to be down for three days. I laughed. What a stupid thing to say, I thought. But it turned out to be true, or at least half true. There had been an earthquake in Taiwan that had crippled the net across Asia.
From the Bangkok Post today:
Telecommunications across Asia have been severely disrupted because of damage to undersea cables caused by Tuesday’s earthquake near Taiwan. In Thailand, Internet access slowed to a crawl, with up to 90 per cent of e-mail and web access impossible. There was no word from CAT Telecom, the government monopoly which supplies all Internet service to Thailand. Repairs could take three weeks, Vice-General Manager Lin Jen-hung said, but quality would improve daily.
Work in my office today ground to a halt. The initial mood was one of relief, as people started chatting, a few lazed around on the sofas, and I think someone took a nap. After a while though people seemed to get bored and most found some sort of task to pass the time. I wrote down my goals for 2007. They largely consisted of: Making more money, becoming better at what I do, and (for my own sense of self-worth) doing something important. I need to buy a new camera and phone, and so more money would be useful.
The internet seems to be working OK now. Most websites are accessible and MSN is back. I thought True Move’s service couldn’t get any slower, but it has. Hurray for “broadband.”
