Chinese Manager Confused Why Thai Team Doesn’t View Weekends as Optional Productivity Windows
By KIP DUNGWORTH, STAFF REPORTER
CHONBURI, THAILAND — A newly appointed Chinese operations manager is reportedly struggling to understand why his Thai staff continues to resist weekend meetings, Sunday Slack messages, and what he calls “light voluntary Saturday deliverables.”
According to employees at a mid-sized logistics firm outside Chonburi, Mr. Zhou Liang, 42, arrived two months ago with a “results-forward mindset,” a laminated KPI wall chart, and the quiet intensity of a man who refuses to diminish productivity by leaving the office to smoke cigarettes.
“He keeps asking why no one answers emails on Sunday morning,” said one project assistant. “We told him it’s because it’s Sunday morning. He blinked like we’d spoken in Morse code.”
Sources within the company say Zhou has floated the idea of a “soft seven-day work model,” in which weekends are viewed not as rest periods, but “optional productivity windows” — a phrase that has already been turned into a LINE sticker by HR.
Zhou allegedly called a Saturday Zoom call last week that was attended by exactly one intern and a confused janitor who thought it was a fire drill.
“He says rest is important, but also that 'real teams self-optimise' outside the boundaries of the calendar,” said one exhausted employee. “So now we all keep Slack open on Sundays in case he drops a spreadsheet. We don’t look at it though.”
When confronted with the idea of “Thai work-life balance,” Zhou reportedly Googled the phrase, furrowed his brow, and muttered, “But… it’s right there. The time. Why not use it?”
The company’s long-standing office manager Achara Bannarasee has attempted to mediate, offering Zhou a printed calendar with local holidays and a laminated copy of the Thai Labor Protection Act.
Zhou, unfazed, has begun referring to weekends as “Phase Zero Prep Hours.”
Team members, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were unclear whether Zhou’s demands were jokes, suggestions, or a kind of test.
“He sent us a Monday morning meeting link at 7:30 a.m.,” said one junior analyst. “We thought he got hacked.”
Zhou maintains that weekend work isn’t mandatory — just “strongly encouraged.”
“Everyone wants success,” he said. “But not everyone wants to send a PowerPoint on Saturday night. Why?”
As of press time, Zhou was seen in the office alone on Tuesday evening, sipping instant coffee and asking the security guard if he’d “seen the Q3 deck.” The guard nodded, then went back to watching The Voice Thailand.