As I have previously commented on, I play a Star Wars-themed game called Star Wars Combine [1], in which I serve as a mild-mannered logistics pilot whose job it is to make long flights delivering ships and goods across an imaginary galaxy.  The experience has led me to ponder something I have mostly taken for granted in the real world, and that is the sort of work that is required to supply people in the real world.  Truck driving and that sort of work has never greatly appealed to me, but logistics in terms of understanding supply chains and the paths of trade is something of great personal interest to my largely strategic mindset.

I bring up the subject again because my growing interest in logistical matters has come about at a time when Thailand’s own logistical situation is in a fair amount of trouble.  At first, after the flooding started affecting the Bangkok area, I was not overly stressed out, because I knew that Chiang Mai was high and dry.  However, given the amount of trade that comes through Bangkok, namely through its dominance of the airports and seaports as well as the importance of its land and rail transportation networks as the “hub” of Thailand’s trade, I was a little concerned that trouble in Bangkok meant trouble for everyone.

And such has been the case in an unexpected way, namely beverages.  In my time here in Thailand I have become fond of a particular drink, the Orange BIG cola.  Unfortunately, for the last week or two I have been unable to find this soda at all in my humble village, at least not in reasonable sizes.  Instead I have found overpriced glass bottles that are a bit too fragile (given that I am clumsy) and that has not worked out very well.  Recently I found out why this was the case, when I saw that Thailand’s beverage industry has been strongly affected by the flooding, largely because Thailand’s water filtration plants, which filter water for bottled water as well as locally bottled sodas, have been flooded [2].  This has made it more difficult for those of us like myself who aren’t interested in drinking the local water to find something suitable to drink, as the options are less pleasant.

At any rate, if life was more like Star Wars Combine, there would be an easy solution.  As a trusty and well-trained logistics pilot, I would take my Bantha Barge [3] or my company-owned BFF-1 [4] (Bulk Freighter, the equivalent of a cargo ship) and sail over to some nearby port to pick up some supplies for my village, and then come back in hyperspeed, and it would take a few days of travel before restocking the supplies.  And a little village like Baan Mae Sa Luang would not take a great amount of supplies to refill, and probably (like the Duracrete mine I over see) somewhat frequent resupply missions.

At any rate, sadly life is not like Star Wars Combine, in that making my wry sense of humor known to those who do not understand my English, given I am not able to translate my humor into Thai, except for the fact that I (and the Thai people around me) are not able to communicate in “Galactic Basic,” like “foreign language” NPC’s [5].  All of this goes to show that if you try hard enough to see the connection between life and video games, it is not very difficult to do so.

At any rate, logistics appears to be a major issue in life.  When some areas are developed to be the exclusive shipment areas for nations (or empires), that nation becomes more vulnerable to disaster.  It’s a bit odd, and intriguing, that my interest in logistics for entertainment purposes has informed my own real life and made me more sensitive to logistics in the real world (which is not all that different from the game, since the game was modeled on life, after all).  At any rate, perhaps it would be nicer if life was more like a game, but one deals with the same issues in whatever world one is involved in, as long as designers have made it true to life.  Sometimes games are not so impractical after all.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/its-a-lonely-galaxy-out-there/

[2] http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2011/10/26/in-thailand’s-water-world-getting-a-drink-is-becoming-a-problem/

[3] http://www.swcombine.org/rules/?Barges&ID=13

[4] http://www.swcombine.org/rules/?Freighters&ID=30

[5] http://www.swcombine.com/rules/?Civil_NPCs