Teachers drowning in debt, PM reminded

[snoop1130]

Teachers drowning in debt, PM reminded

By THE NATION

 

 

New Palang Dharma Party MP Ravee Machamadol asked the prime minister on Friday (January 31) to respond to an appeal from the Thai Teachers Development Association and ease schoolteachers’ debt burden.

 

Ravee said some 400,000 teachers were in debt because of the Cremation Welfare Fund, a project designed to aid school personnel in need, and it was also affecting 45 million students and their parents.

 

“The debt problem is at a critical level,” he said. “Teachers’ houses and assets have been confiscated because they were unable to repay loans, leaving some stressed out and sick and, in the three worst cases, committing suicide.”

 

Ravee said the Administrative Court had ordered 70 per cent of teachers’ pay garnisheed to pay off their debts, placing a huge burden on retired teachers whose pension is less than the last salary they received.

 

“The Government Savings Bank is even confiscating the assets of the debtors’ guarantors, even when they have enough money to repay the debts.

 

“I ask the prime minister to take care of this problem urgently by setting up a committee of relevant agencies.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381377

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-01-31

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[saakura]

Why did they take a loan if unable to repay and now asking for a waiver?

[bwpage3]

If the teacher's aren't smart enough to manage their own

personal finances, image how the next generation of Thai students will turn out.

 

 

[RotBenz8888]

And this is only about the teachers. Imagine the scale of the loan bubble in this country.....

[Denim]

19 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

And this is only about the teachers. Imagine the scale of the loan bubble in this country.....

 

Especially amongst government officials who get loans easier than others. Ah well , they mostly support the junta government so nothing to worry about for them.

[PatOngo]

8 hours ago, saakura said:

Why did they take a loan if unable to repay and now asking for a waiver?

To buy face! Look at me, I got a house, a car and the latest iPhone.....I'm rich!

[vadid]

Let them suffer, they took on unpayable debts so that they could swan around with the latest car, phone, latest whatever. Now they should lose everything for such idiocy.

[lamyai3]

9 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

If the teacher's aren't smart enough to manage their own

personal finances, image how the next generation of Thai students will turn out.

Clearly they aren't, but since this seems to be endemic in the teaching profession here, it begs the question who is benefitting from pushing the culture of taking on unmanageable debts in this sector? 

[lujanit]

“I ask the prime minister to take care of this problem urgently by setting up a committee of relevant agencies.”

 

That’s the way, set up a committee to ponder a maybe solution.  Lots of meetings, money in pocket, no solution to the problem.

 

Maybe don’t give loans to people who have no capacity to repay.

[Assurancetourix]

2 hours ago, PatOngo said:

To buy face! Look at me, I got a house, a car and the latest iPhone.....I'm rich!

Right,

I'm rich with the  money of the bank(s) ...

 

Except that now it is the banks that are in trouble because many branch managers have agreed to make loans sometimes substantial to people who did not have or not enough guarantees;

therefore cannot grasp what does not exist.

 

[faraday]

Why should they be helped, didn't they spend the money?

 

Stick 'em debtors chokey, & let farang teachers take over.

[colinneil]

What nonsense asking to set up a committee.

The way to stop it is stop giving them easy loans.

My wife has said to me, crazy new teacher only started teaching this year arrived at school with a brand new car.

I have lost count of the number of teachers who come to our home, asking my wife to stand guarantor for them.

Not all teachers are in debt, my wife has no debt.

[SoilSpoil]

Maybe start another Chim Shop Chai program with special food stamps fot teachers.

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, Assurancetourix said:

Right,

I'm rich with the  money of the bank(s) ...

 

Except that now it is the banks that are in trouble because many branch managers have agreed to make loans sometimes substantial to people who did not have or not enough guarantees;

therefore cannot grasp what does not exist.

 

Money or no money, Gotta have that FACE!

[Lacessit]

I would speculate financial education in Thailand is almost non-existent at most levels of society. It probably suits the book of the elite to keep it that way.

I think I'd be safe in betting very few Thais understand concepts such as depreciation, variable vs fixed interest, or good debt vs bad debt. They certainly don't understand the car market here is a flat-out swindle.

The retired teachers I know in Australia are quite comfortable financially.

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by Lacessit

[tonray]

Every 10 years or so the special government bank that teachers can get home loans from, forgives loans for select teachers, usually long termers nearing retirement. I suspect this is a windup to another loan forgiveness scheme. I personally know 2 teachers that have benefited and they promptly went out and bought second houses to rent out as investments after they got their loans forgiven.

 

Also...in every school I ever worked in, young teachers with starting salaries of anywhere from 13 to 17K baht per month, purchased brand new cars immediately after being hired. In a few years they will apply and be approved for a home loan, meaning they will have likely over 4 million baht in loans with a salary of somewhere in the 20 - 22 K Baht per months range....no suprise why they're drowning

Edited February 1, 2020 by tonray

[sammieuk1]

Try reminding someone who cares????

[RichardColeman]

My wife was a teacher, she borrowed money for education. She used the money she earned to pay her debt and buy land and eventually build a house. She didn't go mod-con crazy, buy a house she could not afford, buy a car she could never pay off and generally waste her money. Myself, I decided to buy a house rather than a car when I had to make the choice, now  I am retired at 55 because of that decision (rented not sold before you think about the bridge). Greedy, foolish people generally have a lot of debt - and that's all society, no just teachers.

[Assurancetourix]

4 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

She used the money she earned to pay her debt

 

And she was a teacher!
It's amazing, a smart person will never borrow money to pay their debt.
It's a bottomless pit 

[faraday]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

What nonsense asking to set up a committee.

The way to stop it is stop giving them easy loans.

My wife has said to me, crazy new teacher only started teaching this year arrived at school with a brand new car.

I have lost count of the number of teachers who come to our home, asking my wife to stand guarantor for them.

Not all teachers are in debt, my wife has no debt.

What's the starting salary of a newly qualified ???? teacher, Colin?

 

[Ventenio]

I'm just saying......this CoronaVirus might DESTROY the baht.  Like lose 40% of it's value in 6-months and then recover for years and years and years.  This will really make those loans harder to forgive.

 

Thais are not going to Pattaya now???  This is a red flag we've never seen before.  

[colinneil]

8 minutes ago, faraday said:

What's the starting salary of a newly qualified ???? teacher, Colin?

 

Approx 15.000 baht

 

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Ravee said some 400,000 teachers were in debt because

Of living beyond their salaries... simple.

They're supposed to be smart and understand about all things.

Take out a bank loan you re-pay it plus interest, if you can't re-pay it eventually the guarantor will be approached.

Stop bitching about being in debt and take control of your finances.

[Misterwhisper]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

leaving some stressed out and sick and, in the three worst cases, committing suicide.”

Hence the Cremation Welfare Fund:

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the Cremation Welfare Fund, a project designed to aid school personnel in need

But if, as Ravee claims, the Cremation Welfare Fund IS the sole reason why these 400,000 teachers got into debt in the first place, it would be about bloody time to scrap it, because it is obviously more of a financial burden than it is of any help.

 

But then again, I am not so convinced that teachers are *only* drowning in debt because of a rather macabre-named welfare fund.

 

Could it instead be that all too many teachers are borrowing money beyond their abilities of repaying?  

[justin case]

they want to do what ? forgive the debt ? everybody keeps what they have ?

 

NO LESSON LEARNED, EVER

 

but hey, question why every MP is almost a billionaire

[Cabradelmar]

Banks making bad loans

[khaowong1]

On 1/31/2020 at 5:32 AM, saakura said:

Why did they take a loan if unable to repay and now asking for a waiver?

_{Exactly.  Trying to stay up with the Jones's.}  

[khaowong1]

10 hours ago, justin case said:

they want to do what ? forgive the debt ? everybody keeps what they have ?

 

NO LESSON LEARNED, EVER

 

but hey, question why every MP is almost a billionaire

Exactly, and the same goes for almost every Politician in Washingtion DC. 

[Number 6]

I must admit initially I thought this was proper, manageable debt from traditional needs of the teachers. A home, car for instance. Obviously, it's consumer debt which is just spending largely based on wants not needs. 400k that's what, about half public school teachers? So that's pretty much 100% of the provinces and 20% of the BKK metro?

 

The article and statements are panicky and ominous.

 

On 1/31/2020 at 7:23 PM, snoop1130 said:

Ravee said some 400,000 teachers were in debt because of the Cremation Welfare Fund, a project designed to aid school personnel in need, and it was also affecting 45 million students and their parents.

I very much want to know more about this train wreck

[LazySlipper]

Everyone here is putting the blame on the teachers. Maybe if the salaries were adequate their level of ddbt wouldn't be so high. Teaching is one of the most, if not THE MOST important jobs yet it os also one of the lowest paid, both here and in the west.