Household debt at record Bt340,000

By The Nation

 

Director of the UTCC's Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, Thanawat Pholwichai

 

Household debt in Thailand has hit a record high of Bt340,000 per household, an increase of 7.4 per cent over last year at this time, according to a survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

 

Thanawat Pholwichai, director of the school’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, said on Thursday (November 28) the survey taken from November 11-23 covered 1,201 people nationwide.

 

More than 88 per cent of respondents said they were in debt, mainly due to general expenditures such as buying a vehicle or house, and to credit card spending related to their jobs.

 

More than 59 per cent cited formal debt and 40.8 per cent informal debt. Monthly instalments were costing them Bt16,000 on formal debt and Bt5,222 on informal debt.

 

Thanawat expressed concern about the historic level of household debt, which he attributed to stagnating economic growth, global trade conflicts and higher prices for consumers goods.

 

Many people yearn to be thriftier and reduce their cost of living but cannot because the price of goods continues rising, he said.

 

He expected more government economic stimuli will be needed by the middle of the first quarter of 2020 to continue floating the economy.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378868

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-11-28

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Its not just in Thailand. Pretty much every household in the world with an advanced banking system is swimming under a mountain of debt. Not only households either. Governments as well. Money has been to cheap to borrow for far to long. 

Their only hope is a bill consolidation loan with a large cash payout and an extended term. Borrow, borrow, borrow like there's no tomorrow, now that's living the American dream! (sarcasm)

28 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Its not just in Thailand. Pretty much every household in the world with an advanced banking system is swimming under a mountain of debt. Not only households either. Governments as well. Money has been to cheap to borrow for far to long. 

But other factors are quite different. 

 

Advanced economies are productive and well managed and can recover rapidly. 

 

Thailand is a regressive economy with exceptionally unproductive workforce that is also not addressing structural issues such as education. 

 

Nothing alike really 

And it's going to get a whole lot worse. Some of my wife's friends, who I thought were fairly well off are in serious financial trouble with household debt. Some have tried to borrow money, but she politely turns them down. 

 

32 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

But other factors are quite different. 

 

Advanced economies are productive and well managed and can recover rapidly. 

 

Thailand is a regressive economy with exceptionally unproductive workforce that is also not addressing structural issues such as education. 

 

Nothing alike really 

Rearrange these words.

 

Nail head on hit the.

 

1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

But other factors are quite different. 

 

Advanced economies are productive and well managed and can recover rapidly. 

 

Thailand is a regressive economy with exceptionally unproductive workforce that is also not addressing structural issues such as education. 

 

Nothing alike really 

You are joking right? The advanced economies haven't recovered since 2008, Unless you see printing [currency as a recovery? Unproductive or not. The Thai Baht is still increasing in value. Not many other countries can say that. 

Problem is, Thailand is getting too expensive, which leads to people over extending themselves. Thais have always lived on the plastic. It is a castle built on borrowed sand.... then the tide inevitably comes in.

Sorry , is that saying every household in Thailand on average is 340,000 baht in debt ?

15 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Sorry , is that saying every household in Thailand on average is 340,000 baht in debt ?

Yep, so this isn't a mind boggling figure as they seem to include home mortgages. So it is less than a year and a half income for someone on 20000 a month. After I built my second home it was more like 2 to 3 years income.

I very much doubt it's that low, with all the cars clogging up the streets and new iPhones and Samsungs clogging up people's hands.

What's wrong with borrowing when money is so cheap. I have three houses on borrowed mone. All the hoouses are rented on AirBnb and the income pays for the mortgage. I get 6% return on the 20% downpayment. Love the debt.

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Many people yearn to be thriftier and reduce their cost of living but cannot because the price of goods continues rising, he said.

What a load of rubbish. I see them daily lining up at street vendors (and I've noticed recently that the queues are getting longer) to buy dirty, cheap <deleted> food with the newest mobile phone(s) in their hands. They save on food, but are often dressed up to the nines and have all the newest phones, tablets, etc. (image).

Then, too lazy to pop out and get their lunch or dinner but happy to pay extra to have it - and drinks - delivered to the condo/office.

That's not yearning to be thriftier... that's just wasteful for somebody who's up to his/her neck in debt. 

If you can afford it, go for it lad, but, if you're in debt, cut it out and pay off the interest bearing loans asap. 

 

My Thai friend has plastic to the tune of 600,000thb from different banks. They are maxed out and she earns 18,000thb a month. This is partly due to her negligence but also her nasty little sh*t Thai boyfriend and his lifestyle.

 

I earn 650,000thb per month and my credit card limit on the one credit card I have was set at 200,000thb. I have 30,000thb on it now.

 

Yep, the Thai economy is wobbling, and debt is at unsustainable levels.

 

All gonna end in tears. 97 anyone?

 

 

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Household debt at record Bt340,000

This is likely to go even higher given that the government's new stimulus package is offering easy access low interest loans. Plus encouraging people to "eat, shop, spend and travel".

Well thought out Khun Prayut Chan-o-cha, friend of the people.

Good thing poverty is not a problem for you or your 1 % elite friends. 

 

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Household debt in Thailand has hit a record high of Bt340,000 per household

That amounts to about 10 months of gross salary for the average worker, perhaps several years of net income.  Many of those indebted have no plans to payoff the loans and many others are unable  due to everyday survival commitments.

We just achieved debt free status this month !! It's taken a while here but at least the missus is set for life with properties and business. Now I need to buy a backup plan that I can own ????????

1 hour ago, Yadon Toploy said:

My Thai friend has plastic to the tune of 600,000thb from different banks. They are maxed out and she earns 18,000thb a month. This is partly due to her negligence but also her nasty little sh*t Thai boyfriend and his lifestyle.

 

I earn 650,000thb per month and my credit card limit on the one credit card I have was set at 200,000thb. I have 30,000thb on it now.

 

Yep, the Thai economy is wobbling, and debt is at unsustainable levels.

 

All gonna end in tears. 97 anyone?

 

 

Thai banks are also responsible for extending too much credit and there is a credit bureau so these banks have the ability to check one’s situation before extending more credit. In the USA people with mountains of debt declare bankruptcy which often discharges credit card debt but that is not possible here; in fact if you have a good job the banks take you to court and often end up attaching your pay until the debt is cleared.

Wow.

 

They need to go and teach the West how to manage their household debt.

 

Around 10,000 euros including mortgages, wow. Fantastic. 

 

Probably half of all Americans over 50 owe that just for medical bills or medical insurance!! ????

 

Well done Thais. ???? 

9 hours ago, farangchuma said:

What's wrong with borrowing when money is so cheap. I have three houses on borrowed mone. All the hoouses are rented on AirBnb and the income pays for the mortgage. I get 6% return on the 20% downpayment. Love the debt.

There is good debt and bad debt. Yours as investment borrowing is good,others for consumer spending ,which will be the majority referred to here is the latter.

11 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

And it's going to get a whole lot worse. Some of my wife's friends, who I thought were fairly well off are in serious financial trouble with household debt. Some have tried to borrow money, but she politely turns them down. 

 

You probably thought they were fairly well off because they had all the trappings of a middle class family, in reality they were already borrowing beyond their financial limit to impress people. Now the reality has hit home that they actually have to pay it back.

This is common for a lot of people who have to show the friends & neighbours that they're better than they are, it's a status thing although I hate that terminology, but in this case it fits.

I grew up in different times, a non-materialistic world where I could live without things, choose to ignore things I didn't actually need or want. I live out of my <deleted> pocket..... if it ain't in there I walk past the shop window.

I own everything I have... paid for, no-one can take it away, or repossess it.

Yes it takes time to save up for it, but that's how my generation lived, not like todays society where people want everything from day one!

 

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

We just achieved debt free status this month !! It's taken a while here but at least the missus is set for life with properties and business. Now I need to buy a backup plan that I can own ????????

 

Buy a property in your home country that you can rent out.

1 minute ago, RobbyXNorway said:

 

Buy a property in your home country that you can rent out.

That's the plan.. ????

9 hours ago, djayz said:

What a load of rubbish. I see them daily lining up at street vendors (and I've noticed recently that the queues are getting longer) to buy dirty, cheap <deleted> food with the newest mobile phone(s) in their hands. They save on food, but are often dressed up to the nines and have all the newest phones, tablets, etc. (image).

Then, too lazy to pop out and get their lunch or dinner but happy to pay extra to have it - and drinks - delivered to the condo/office.

That's not yearning to be thriftier... that's just wasteful for somebody who's up to his/her neck in debt. 

If you can afford it, go for it lad, but, if you're in debt, cut it out and pay off the interest bearing loans asap. 

 

But it impresses others in the office. Especially if you can order it on the latest expensive phone.

Household debt to GDP, by country: https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/households-debt-to-gdp

 

Thailand looks quite respectable.

Not long until there'll be blood on the streets. Get your investment money ready.

1 minute ago, DrTuner said:

Not long until there'll be blood on the streets. Get your investment money ready.

 

I have been hearing that old Blarney for 10 years.

 

You May wish for it, but it ain’t going to happen.

 

Insurrection does not come naturally to Thais....... unless funded by Tacky.

My Isaan wife tells me when she was growing up in the village (not that long ago ;-)—the family had no debt.  Mom gathered food in the forest every morning, and Dad had big rice and coffee farms.  Six kids.  They had little money, but didn’t need much.  

Today, Thais have big debt—due to a modern lifestyle.  

2 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

We just achieved debt free status this month !! It's taken a while here but at least the missus is set for life with properties and business. Now I need to buy a backup plan that I can own ????????

Nice feeling isn't it? I did that over 20y ago, ever since I've been gathering wealth and now I got no money worries. It's not the income but the low expenses that allow for wealth to accumulate. Something Thais will never get because they need the idiotic face pumps.

13 hours ago, Snow Leopard said:

Its not just in Thailand. Pretty much every household in the world with an advanced banking system is swimming under a mountain of debt. Not only households either. Governments as well. Money has been to cheap to borrow for far to long. 

That's how "they" like it . It's called debt enslavement.