Very few Thais have emergency funds to handle an unexpected situation: study

[Nickelbeer]

Very few expats have enough to cover an emergency.  This is not a new situation.

[Kenny202]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But they do have a smartphone with LINE, and you can share your GPS location at the touch of a button.

Well I will tell you a story about that. My wife advertised her restaurant on Facebook last week. Clearly in the 6 word easy to read header was a Google maps link. We must have gotten 20 messages asking for the location of the restaurant. Google map? What Google map? And then of course there would be the punctuality issue within a window of an hour and a half of the actual meeting time.

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

Same could be said of USA citizens,

....and very real - more than likely, a higher percentage.

[jacko45k]

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

2-3 cups of tea (same teabag) a day is much more cost effective (1bht).

Living the dream eh!

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

2 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

True. I wonder how many citizens of European countries would have the funds to survive a three months period.

The big difference to Thailand there's (still) a strong social security system

Actually I would say Thais are in a better position than Europeans. Aside from the more robust family structures, in a worst case scenario you can get bananas straight from a tree and you're not going to freeze.

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Led Lolly Yellow Lolly

[The Cipher]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My MiL lives on 600bht/month pension, she'd be glad of that 'coffee money'.

I bung her 3kbht every month, as long as she doesn't come to stay with me.

Wealthiest woman in the village with the extra she gets from me.

I could probably live on 100bht/day if I had to.

Thailand is a cheap place to live.

I understand what you're saying. But my personal view is that this is the wrong perspective because it sets extremely tight constraints on a person's reality. The limits of the village essentially become the limits of a person's world in that case.

 

If you set the target to 'subsistence', sure you can live on nothing, but how many things in this world will you never see/own/do/experience.

 

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I stopped drinking coffee, 50bht x2 a day was a waste of money.

2-3 cups of tea (same teabag) a day is much more cost effective (1bht).

Yeah. Buying daily coffee isn't an optimal use money and probably bad for your health in many cases given the sugar in there. Cutting coffee purchases is probably beneficial (make at home for health).

 

But re: finances, for most people 50 THB per day ought to be immaterial. If that's making/breaking their periodic savings then I would suggest that most of them have a bigger problem than coffee purchases (ie, income sufficiency and/or expense issues elsewhere on their income statement).

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A large majority of Thai people don’t have enough money to handle an emergency situation for longer than three months, especially during such a crisis as the pandemic

Compared to whom? 

Certainly not the US. 

Thai people in general can look after themselves, the govt certainly won't. 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, The Cipher said:

If you set the target to 'subsistence', sure you can live on nothing, but how many things in this world will you never see/own/do/experience.

 I've pretty much done everything I ever dreamed and more.

Wanted to walk up to Machu Picchu, but too old to do it now.

 

[HashBrownHarry]

30 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

(same teabag)

lol

[The Cipher]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

 I've pretty much done everything I ever dreamed and more.

Man that's great! And I'm happy for you.

 

But I bet you weren't doing it on your MIL's ฿3,600 monthly income tho. Income sufficiency matters, but that's not taught in school or even in most personal finance classes (which tend to focus exclusively on saving).

 

And I'm not trying to pick on you or your MIL here. Sorry if it comes across like that. I just happen to be passionate about this topic and could talk all day about it.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, The Cipher said:

Man that's great! And I'm happy for you.

 

But I bet you weren't doing it on your MIL's ฿3,600 monthly income tho. Income sufficiency matters, but that's not taught in school or even in most personal finance classes (which tend to focus exclusively on saving).

 

And I'm not trying to pick on you or your MIL here. Sorry if it comes across like that. I just happen to be passionate about this topic and could talk all day about it.

No, I agree with you.

My first rule of income sufficiency IMHO is 'stop wasting money'.

My second rule is make your own food from basic ingredients when possible.

[Kenny202]

Just now, BritManToo said:

No, I agree with you.

My first rule of income sufficiency IMHO is 'stop wasting money'.

My second rule is make your own food from basic ingredients when possible.

You noticed those basic ingredients seem to be going up at a rate of knots? Flour, eggs....I'm talking staples too, not imported stuff

 

[BritManToo]

15 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

You noticed those basic ingredients seem to be going up at a rate of knots? Flour, eggs....I'm talking staples too, not imported stuff

Bread flour is 32bht/kg, same as it was in 2009 when I moved here.

All purpose flour still the same @ 22bht/kg.

Typhoo tea bags are 87bht/box (100), only Heladiv was available in 2009 @ 200bht/box.

Cheese is cheaper, wine coolers same price, petrol is cheaper, mortgage repayments cheaper.

Chips have recently become cheaper (was 99bht/2kg now 89bht/2Kg in Makro)

Pepsi was always 40bht/2l, suddenly it's dropped to 33bht/2l (BigC).

I've not found much going up, and that's been more than matched by the items going down.

Milk is down from 2009, was always 91/2l, but now it's 83-87bht.

Rice (cow suay) is an odd one, much more expensive in the shops, but the farmer is paid less than at any time in memory.

 

Egg prices are always up and down, but chicken feed hasn't moved.

If you're a Thai, the general says keep your own chickens, and I sort of agree with him.

Sticky rice is always free from the various family farms.

There's always Thais out in the fields around me at night, frogs/snakes/fish all free.

My misses is always out in the fields and jungle, quite a lot of her food is gathered.

Outside the big cities, many Thais live as they always did, without much money needed at all.

Edited December 24, 2021 by BritManToo

[pixelaoffy]

Current times are extremely hard but generally Thais in cities are terrible at managing money. Even if they come into alot . Like the guy with ex with 100,000 baht, they spend it on uneccessary items like a new smart phone for 40,000.

Edited December 24, 2021 by pixelaoffy

[connda]

Most Thais are up the their eyeballs in debt.  And their banks are too. 
Faux prosperity abounds. 
"Look - I have TV, Trucks, Cars, House, Bling and more Bling.  I 'rich' man."

Me:  I own everything I own debt free.  I have savings and investments.  I don't claim I'm 'rich man' because I don't give a **** about status!

[Airalee]

1 hour ago, The Cipher said:

Man I hate these coffee examples (not sure why everyone uses coffee as the example). Specifically because saving 50 THB/day isn't enough to move the needle. 50*365 = 18,250 in increased savings per year. Less than $1,000. Like, I get that it's an illustrative example, but damn - everyone seems to paint coffee as the spending villain. Maybe I'm just triggered because I buy a lot of coffee ????

I can’t think of a better example (although avocado toast seems to be the new example back in the US).  When I first came here in early 2011, just about every Thai I met would drink Starbucks frappucinos multiple times a week and laugh at me for drinking 10 baht coffees.  When I was derisively asked why I didn’t drink Starbucks, I replied “Starbucks is for poor people trying to look rich…I’ll bet that most rich people probably make their coffee at home and buy Starbucks stock instead of drinking their coffee”.

 

It’s a mindset here (and elsewhere) that I don’t understand and it’s not just coffee but extends into every aspect of their lives.  My ex-gf would never drink from the large water bottles that could be refilled from the ฿1/liter machine in our condo (serviced regularly so no argument about the cleanliness of the water). Instead, she had to have the single serve small bottles…multiple bottles per day.  Couldn’t even get her to drink from fresh store bought 1.5 or 6 liter bottles.  Same with soda.  Wouldn’t pour from a 1.45l Pepsi bottle into a cup.  Had to have the small cans at 3x the cost.

[ikke1959]

They need a study for everything.. I don't nee dto investigate I know with a bit of common sense..Household debt is very high, that means people pay with loans, than there is group of very poor people, who have to struggle every day to get food and if there were not free handouts maybe they had not food at all.. It was the whole year all over the news. In fact 75 % don't have money or enough for daily life On the other side there is group who have so much money that they don't know what to do with it. Look on the road and you see Volvo, Mercedes, Lamborghini and Ferrari cars... They are not cheap in Thailand.  they want to buy expensive flowers and plants, to show off. They can go on holiday too where ever they want with who and long and nobody cares even paid partly with 50/50 deals.. Now these people are getting 30.000 THB for shopping for tax deduction too as reason to stimulate teh economy, but it is shameful in a country with so many people who struggle in daily life.  

[Paulaew]

As many have noted in this thread, the lack of any concept of personal finance planning in Thailand is just mind boggling.

 

You would think this would be a useful topic in the schools, but in fact the teachers are often the worst culprits.

 

Government teachers have access to loan programs, and they take advantage of them to the absolute hilt. My wife is a government teacher and has millions of baht of loans. She also went through a period of excessive credit card debt, and they also have "share" programs where teachers get together and put together their own loan programs. I now have my wife on a strict no-loan program while I try to pay off some of her debts.

 

I now have family seminars where I try to explain how to manage my retirement funds when I'm gone. My 12 year old son can easily understand a simple spreadsheet that shows that a 5% annual draw on the retirement funds will give them a comfortable living while the principle will continue to grow. But my wife is completely at sea with it.

 

I am genuinely worried that my life savings will be squandered when I'm gone. But properly managed, those funds should provide enough money to live for 30 years or more. So personal finance is an issue not just for people who are living day to day.

 

Paul Laew

 

 

[overherebc]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

My wife is an ex-kindergarten teacher. During her school years - after paying her university off - she bought land, loads of it, great hills of it in fact. Now its all full of rubber and fruit and veg. OK she does not make a fortune from it, but its put her daughters through uni and fed the parents. 

 

I think the problem is that thai youth are not taught enough about savings and planning in schools and have all the abiltiy to budget as Anutin and the PM to plan a sensible opening

On your last paragraph.

Difficult to plan any saving when a new model top best ever phone comes out every 3 months.

Edited December 24, 2021 by overherebc

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

(same teabag)

Call yourself a Brit....no way. For me even ONE Typhoo bag is like drinking cat's pee (not that I have ever tried it).

Taylors YORKSHIRE Strong is the only way.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

Call yourself a Brit....no way. For me even ONE Typhoo bag is like drinking cat's pee (not that I have ever tried it).

Taylors YORKSHIRE Strong is the only way.

I'm a soft southerner, Typhoo was good enough for my parents in the 1960s, and it's good enough for me today. I've never tried cat's pee, what' it like?

Edited December 24, 2021 by BritManToo

[KannikaP]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I'm a soft southerner, Typhoo was good enough for my parents in the 1960s, and it's good enough for me today. I've never tried cat's pee, what' it like?

Read my post again!

[Airalee]

12 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

I now have family seminars where I try to explain how to manage my retirement funds when I'm gone. My 12 year old son can easily understand a simple spreadsheet that shows that a 5% annual draw on the retirement funds will give them a comfortable living while the principle will continue to grow. But my wife is completely at sea with it.

What is your wife’s reaction to these “family seminars”?  Every time I tried to explain financial matters to my ex (or any other woman I dated) I would hear the same mumbo-jumbo…

 

”nobody knows the future”

 

”you think too much”

 

”ohhh…you’re giving me a headache”

 

15 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

I am genuinely worried that my life savings will be squandered when I'm gone. But properly managed, those funds should provide enough money to live for 30 years or more. So personal finance is an issue not just for people who are living day to day.

I had a similar worry.  What is the option other than letting them sink or swim?  Is there a way of setting up some sort of trust where they get a certain amount of money per month and no more than that?  And if there was, could you trust the person setting it up?

[Paulaew]

6 minutes ago, Airalee said:

What is your wife’s reaction to these “family seminars”?  Every time I tried to explain financial matters to my ex (or any other woman I dated) I would hear the same mumbo-jumbo…

 

”nobody knows the future”

 

”you think too much”

 

”ohhh…you’re giving me a headache”

 

I had a similar worry.  What is the option other than letting them sink or swim?  Is there a way of setting up some sort of trust where they get a certain amount of money per month and no more than that?  And if there was, could you trust the person setting it up?

You have quoted my wife exactly.

 

My current idea is to set up automatic withdrawals from my retirement funds so that my wife will receive a sizeable check twice a year. Then she doesn't need to do anything to manage the principle, just accept that this is how it works.

 

If I'm lucky, I'll live long enough that my son can become the money manager. Even at 12 years old he understands how investing works. Maybe it's the Jewish blood.

 

Paul Laew

 

[freedomnow]

Where the flip is the property crash then ?

No covid support for the mortgages all this time...weird stuff.

[tonray]

4 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

I wonder how many citizens of European countries would have the funds to survive a three months period.

Yes but they are quite adept at GoFundMe when in dire straits

[JustAnotherHun]

14 minutes ago, tonray said:

Yes but they are quite adept at GoFundMe when in dire straits

Ones have GoFundMe, others sick buffaloes

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Ones have GoFundMe, others sick buffaloes

Also known as "GoFarangMe"...ha ha ha

[Chomper Higgot]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Most people in the world don't earn enough to save anything.

It's just normal, and how it's always been.

I would agree with that in general, but not entirely.

 

Every single retired expat I know in Thailand who is financially secure lived and worked through those golden years when working people could make a good living, could save, could buy a home, could have a workplace pension.

 

That ‘golden age’ is now gone. Very few ordinary working people are now able to save.

 

wrt Thailand, savings are only one part of the equation.

 

When I first came to Thailand a little over 30 years ago, Thailand had the highest distribution of land of any nation in Asia and arguably anywhere on the planet.

Thai people might have been predominantly cash poor but they also predominantly owned land, owned their houses and could feed themselves.

That changed when the ‘rice schemes’ brought about massive redistribution of land from the cash poor to the cash rich.

 

30 years ago an emergency meant going back to live cheaply on the farm.

 

Tge farm has been sold or otherwise stripped away.

 

 

[Denim]

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

That changed when the ‘rice schemes’ brought about massive redistribution of land from the cash poor to the cash rich.

Do you have any reliable in depth links detailing this. I would be very interested to learn more about this. Thanks