The contrast!

So I have a scooter back home ( Sym 150cc which would not have been my choice however we don;t have much in the line of choice) and then I have this Honda Wave here in Thailand ( already done 2000+ km on it) and for comparison in South Africa , which scooter I bought new so it had to go in for a 300km "check-up" and then a service again at 1000km . For each of these they charged! no free lunches there - (hello Suzuki South) . R1000 for each service!!! Insane. This morning I took my scooter to Honda in for its compulsory service at 8500km - cost was thb220 ( about R118) . this included labour , oil, sundries and was done in 20 minutes. And bonus , the guy who did the predelivery before when I bought the bike, kindly and without asking, mounted my licence disc properly into a holder I had bought and was planning to do after the service myself. Its these pockets of excellence that make the authentic Thai expereince good. Please understand, there are certainly cultural differences in many areas and you need to embrace them as the guest and don't expect them to capitulate to your way just because you are a paying tourist. I can see the tourist fatigue and I can clearly see why with every short term tourist that arrives with a heavy sense of entitlement. It's quite insane to see what the Thais have to put up with in many cases. Back to costs , at a self service car wash you can, for 20 baht ( about R12) , high pressure hose, foam wash, hand wash, rinse, and air dry your motorbike. I popped in at a physio therapist out of curiosity re their prices as I have a recurring issue at L5 vertebra in my back and their costs again are very close to south africa at R700 per session ( R650 per session if you take three). So the deeper you dive you find that the whiter the collar, the pricier it becomes.