NorthernRyland

Another person died on the road outside my house last week. I wish they would "monitor" that situation instead.

Well said. They wouldn't have it any other way.

"Why would I enforce laws when I could sit on my ass and get paid anyways" -- some Thai police officer.

It's always teenagers and anti-social types. Imagine when you were 15 if you could drive around like that annoying everyone you go past. Thai teenagers get to live that fantasy everyday and never will they get punished. Sucks to be us but it must be damn fun to be an <deleted> if you're living here.

During COVID while stuck back in the US I started watching travel vlogs and found out there's a lot of other places around the world that look nicer than where I found in Thailand. Less busy, cheaper, better weather etc... I bet many others did the same and won't be back anytime soon.

If I get involved with this she's banned from having credit cards. Full stop.

Thank you I'll show this to her.

Yes, I had this idea myself last night and I think it's the best option. As another user pointed out she can actually pay off her debt in just 2 years but she's just making minimum payments and treading water now. So foolish of her to get here and not ask for help or try to get out of it. I think what happened is when the business got into the red a few years they stopped giving bonuses and she was using that money to server the debt (like 100k/year I think she was getting). That means she's already payed back the full 1 million (or more) but it's gone mainly to interest. ????‍♂️ So anyways if we do that she'll need to keep on her same lifestyle of 90% of her income on debt but at least it will be going to principle. Use the Dave Ramsey debt snowball technique where you pay off the smaller cards first and go one by one. Then she can pay me back what I had to pay to service the interest but this time interest free. ????

That's smart. I brought this up and she said they would tell her workplace because she debt issued through them also (they notify her other creditors I guess) but this is 100% what she should be doing. Face getting in the way of doing that right as usual

Oh no, if she does that then I'm gone. I can accept bad choices when you're young but not when you're in your 40s.

omg when you put it that way. Utter stupidity. She's making minimum payments on cards that have like 20% interest + 10k deducted directly from her paycheck. The only thing reasonable is her car payment. Some % is principle but she'll never make progress in this current state. The fact she's managed to service this by rotating the cards amazes me since she's functionally bankrupt. What's even more amazing is she's gone on like this for so long and I had to bribe her to tell me. So foolish it's hard to understand.

that was basically what I was curious about and why I posted here.

It is but I'm just saying there are some reasons to have credit. People advise I get a credit card and buy things which I pay off at the end of the month so I have some credit history. I don't think I'll be doing that though. Getting a mortgage is more difficult also but I was told I you produce income proof for a few years they accept that all the same as any credit score. Seriously? that sucks. Thailand is great for rentals. Just pay cash and walk right in most the time.

Not that bad? I mean she has only 10% of her money left to for other bills. She would be technically bankrupt except she's paying the minimum payment and then using the credit from one card to pay off another. I still don't understand no matter how many times she's explained. I need a diagram or something.

Same as me. 100% agree. However, I did have a problem a couple years ago I went back to the US for a job and they wouldn't let me rent without my parents co-signing for me even though I was making 50k/year and renting a studio for $600/month.

At least she bought something useful like a house! How did she go through bankruptcy btw? I get the impression here that doesn't exist in Thailand. I forgot to mention, actually my wives only asset is her car which she makes payments on so she'd have to sell that first. It's only a few years old now and she's paid maybe 250k or so on it.

OK now this is helpful. Same thing in the US which I did personally. If you stop making payments and ignore them they'll come begging at the end. My wives situation is she's literally at 90% of her income and needs to rotate cards so she's always effectively bankrupt. Send any links in Thai if you have them. I can read Thai ok enough and if know the language to ask I can search on YouTube and listen instead of reading (which is far slower for me).

Just spoke with my wife and says if you let the debt lapse and you get a summons then they can stop you from leaving the country so you need to leave first before you plan to stop making payments. Horribly predatory laws they have over here. One time 3 years ago or so she needed 50k to avoid this happening if I recall correctly. I could pay off like 150,000 baht for one of the cards and that would give her some space to manage the rest without rotating the balances to pay the other ones off. She has a good job making 50k/month in Chiang Mai and has housing through her employer so she'd be doing really otherwise.

That's where I am and I'm a cyclist so I'm very sensitive to the road condition. This happens on nearly every road. If you pay attention to what they do, they don't make a solid foundation and then the road surface is spread thin like peanut butter. It's a scourge.

I'm not at that point yet, just looking for constructive ideas or experience anyone has.

it's something like 25k USD at todays exchange rates. No way I'm paying that. I may have a job now and can save money but I had basically nothing the majority of the 10 years I've known her and if I lose my job I'm back to where I was.

Nearly 1 million baht. Maybe if she works her whole life until retirement she can pay it off and have nothing to show for all her efforts. This isn't a mortgage btw, just needless foolish spending when she was in in her 20's. This is why household debt is 90% of GDP right now in Thailand.

They make all these treats to in the US. I one time got a credit card when I was 18 for $600. Of course being a stupid kid I ran it up to full and then didn't pay it back. All they did was call and complain. Nothing they can do except report you to credit agencies.

yeah she had all of this before I met her 10 years ago but it's starting to become a problem now. It's not loan sharks but credit card companies. They want you to think there's no risk involved in their business and you can't get out but that's not the true at least in the US. Making a criminal offense to not pay back credit cards is over the top, even for Thailand.

My wives outstanding debt is 90% of her income and she's somehow managing to service it by rotating credit cards and making minimum payments. Stupid thing ever, I know, don't bother to comment on this. If she tries to pay this off it will take her entire working career so I don't see how this is better than filing bankruptcy (if that exists!) and not having any credit at all. If your entire job is pay off debt then why not just quit and abandon the debt, either way you have $0 at the end of the month. 50-60% is some "om sin" loan she got from her work and is deducted directly from her wages so I don't think she can get out of that without quitting but what about the credit cards? Can she stop making payments wait for the threats to roll in and then negotiate it down like you could in the US?