15 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was speaking to a Chinese colleague quite recently and, ever the diplomat, I asked him why Chinese goods were such crap. He was surprised, and said that back home he had experienced no such low quality and breakages as I described. Which means either he was lying, or that they export their cheap crap to countries like Thailand where price means everything and quality means nothing, and keep the decent stuff for themselves and/or export their quality goods to countries that are willing to pay for that quality.

I think there are various level of quality Chinese products. There are chinese products made in China for foreign brands such as Apple, omron, Phillips, GM cars, ... and there are chinese products of good quality but home grown and the rest ...Thai importers buy on price first, quality second mentality because maximum profit is on their mind. I have good experience in doing chinese exports and I can say with authority that this is what goes on.  

14 hours ago, Youlike said:

Even lay-z-boy recliners cost double in Thailand compared to the West, and they are made here!

OSIM massage recliner ULOVE 2 cost tb 170,000 plus here at central param9 showroom in Bangkok while I got one here in Kuala Lumpur for around 135,000 ! 

Health products is duty free in Malaysia but maybe taxed in Thailand. 

8 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

Apple ?

The last time I checked, Apple was an American company/product. 

If, on the other hand, you're referring to the fact that Apple, along with other western companies, has outsourced production/assembly to China, I assure you it's to American standards, not Chinese, so you can expect western quality made by dirt cheap labourers. 

I'm not surprised. I've seen more than a few Thais who have a monthly income of about 15,000 baht (most of which they obviously need to spend on necessities) and managed to pile up 100,000 baht in credit card debt (2-3 cards maxed out).

 

Servicing such a debt at almost 30% interest with such a low income is a challenge. While the individual credit card limits might be alright, added up they are much too high.

31 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Servicing such a debt at almost 30% interest with such a low income is a challenge. While the individual credit card limits might be alright, added up they are much too high.

Ah, that 30% explains it.

Recent discussions with a pretty 22 yo that had a boob job revealed the 50k boobs were funded by money borrowed from the bank. A year later, paying 15k per month (but I suspect some partial or missed payments) she is now in the red for 200k.

I asked what happens if she doesnt pay. They can hardly repossess said boobage, even though they are a work of fine art. Apparently the family farm in Issan gets taken and sold off by the bank. 

Add on top loans from friends (no, not me), rent etc etc, the chances of ever paying off the debts are minimal at best. Yet she talks of car ownership, opening a business at home, travel and the like.

Not an uncommon situation methinks, where reality isnt really in the vision, and planning for tomorrow is well beneath the scope of comprehension.

Sad but true.

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I was speaking to a Chinese colleague quite recently and, ever the diplomat, I asked him why Chinese goods were such crap. He was surprised, and said that back home he had experienced no such low quality and breakages as I described. Which means either he was lying, or that they export their cheap crap to countries like Thailand where price means everything and quality means nothing, and keep the decent stuff for themselves and/or export their quality goods to countries that are willing to pay for that quality.

Yes, the Chinese crap I order from HK/China using eBay is of higher quality than sold in Thailand (Lazada is a crapshoot). If I order using US Amazon Prime, I get the highest quality crap, after paying import taxes naturally. Getting EU/US produced goods basically means using a day or two to find them or travelling to west to get them from local shops, but then you'll finally get some sort of quality.

The lack of comprehension around getting into debt is often the bigger problem.

The banks do seem to have accepted a fairly high rate of non-payment and will often offer 50% deals just to get that customer off their books.

The absurdity of having someone who cannot afford to pay a debt and then charging them additional fines for non-payment is criminal, the onus needs to switch to the lender to take responsibility and only lend to those who are capable of repaying the debt.
 

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was speaking to a Chinese colleague quite recently and, ever the diplomat, I asked him why Chinese goods were such crap. He was surprised, and said that back home he had experienced no such low quality and breakages as I described. Which means either he was lying, or that they export their cheap crap to countries like Thailand where price means everything and quality means nothing, and keep the decent stuff for themselves and/or export their quality goods to countries that are willing to pay for that quality.

The best of the Chinese product goes to Countries that have high standards,m such as the US, and Europe.

Buyers and procurement Managers in these Countries simply just dont put up with the crap that potentially could come in their domain.

However, Countries such as Thailand just dont have the same high standards, and quality control and are used as a dumping ground by Chinese producers for cheap as chips mass produced rubbish, which is then sold on to the Thai public at huge profits by Thai Business. 

6 hours ago, Ctkong said:

I think there are various level of quality Chinese products. There are chinese products made in China for foreign brands such as Apple, omron, Phillips, GM cars, ... and there are chinese products of good quality but home grown and the rest ...Thai importers buy on price first, quality second mentality because maximum profit is on their mind. I have good experience in doing chinese exports and I can say with authority that this is what goes on.  

 

That supports what i thought, then.

On 5/7/2019 at 6:41 PM, DrTuner said:

I know! Bundle the non-performing loans into packages and sell them forward! Worked like a charm in the US .. 

Fannie Mae?