Thailand’s teachers accumulate combined debts of ฿1.4 trillion

[webfact]

 

Over 900,000 teachers, or 80% of all teachers in Thailand, owe a combined total of about 1.4 trillion baht, with teacher savings cooperatives being the biggest creditors, accounting for 890 billion baht. The second largest creditor is the Government Savings Bank (GSB), accounting for 349 billion baht of the amount owed by the teachers.

 

Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said today (Saturday) that the government acknowledges the debt problem of the teachers and has been trying to solve it through the Ministry of Education and other agencies.

 

She said that the efforts have been successful, to a certain extent, using debt refinancing, reduction of interest rates and the use of the teachers’ welfare funds as surety for loans extended.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailands-teachers-accumulate-combined-debts-of-1-4-trillion/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-09-19

 

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[2baht]

Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porches, I must make amends!

JJ

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by 2baht

[whiteman]

Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porches, I must make amends!

 

This is so true cheap Government money what can I send it on oh yes a car and new cell phones.  And a very big T.V.

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the government acknowledges the debt problem of the teachers and has been trying to solve it through the Ministry of Education and other agencies

Stop giving them loans whixh are over 1/3rd of their monthly income. These folks borrow and borrow in order to buy a house, a car and fancy wardrobes to impress.  My ex-wifes sister, a teacher, is 3 MThb in debt and just had to give her car back and revert to riding her motorbike to work. The car, yep you guessed it, was a Mercedes. Why does a teacher need a Mercedes if they teach in a government school? Answer, because she was able to get a loan for 100% of its value by borrowing against her home which she pays 10k Thb a month for.....she is single and it is a 2bedroom 2bath house.

[Sparktrader]

2 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Stop giving them loans whixh are over 1/3rd of their monthly income. These folks borrow and borrow in order to buy a house, a car and fancy wardrobes to impress.  My ex-wifes sister, a teacher, is 3 MThb in debt and just had to give her car back and revert to riding her motorbike to work. The car, yep you guessed it, was a Mercedes. Why does a teacher need a Mercedes if they teach in a government school? Answer, because she was able to get a loan for 100% of its value by borrowing against her home which she pays 10k Thb a month for.....she is single and it is a 2bedroom 2bath house.

Plastic people buy stuff to impress.

[2baht]

19 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

These folks borrow and borrow in order to buy a house, a car and fancy wardrobes to impress. 

Face is expensive! ????

[seajae]

time to teach thais not to live beyond their means, they get govt jobs so they can borrow and maybe get in on all the graft that happens here. The institutions that loan money need to be looked at and given limits to stop anyone borrowing more than they can afford, maybe if these institutions had to accept fault if they approved loans that went beyond a set amount/percentage of the borrowers income they would stop allowing people to put themselves in debt that went beyond what they could actually repay just to save face. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by seajae

[mikebell]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

using debt refinancing,

AKA 'writing off debts.'  The whole country is built on sand; farmers and teachers borrow and never pay back; 85%+ never pay traffic fines.  Teach them backbone.

[Bday Prang]

says a lot about teachers if you ask me  The above post about the one that bought a benz just about sums it up.  

[alien365]

It would be nice if the government would actually pay teachers a decent wage in the first place. I'm not saying it would solve everything, but it would be a start. It's all good and well saying to live within your means, but there needs to be  some quality of life still. They do a lot of work, especially paperwork, for often very little reward.

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, alien365 said:

It would be nice if the government would actually pay teachers a decent wage in the first place. I'm not saying it would solve everything, but it would be a start. It's all good and well saying to live within your means, but there needs to be  some quality of life still. They do a lot of work, especially paperwork, for often very little reward.

Problem the world over isn't it.... underpaid Government employees. Be it UK NHI workers, schoolteachers, prison officers, police etc etc. Many being tougher jobs than being a school teacher. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by jacko45k

[bamnutsak]

As if teachers are the only group of government employees swimming in debt as a result of easily-issued loans.

 

They're just the loudest screaming for debt relief.

 

Why do you think there is so much vying for government jobs here?

 

 

[cyril sneer]

1 hour ago, alien365 said:

It would be nice if the government would actually pay teachers a decent wage in the first place. I'm not saying it would solve everything, but it would be a start. It's all good and well saying to live within your means, but there needs to be  some quality of life still. They do a lot of work, especially paperwork, for often very little reward.

with a higher salary they'd only just buy and borrow more 

[sammieuk1]

The court house car park just down the road from me is rammed everyday with unfortunate borrowers I suspect its a very intolerant place for debtors ???? 

[TravelerEastWest]

1 hour ago, alien365 said:

It would be nice if the government would actually pay teachers a decent wage in the first place. I'm not saying it would solve everything, but it would be a start. It's all good and well saying to live within your means, but there needs to be  some quality of life still. They do a lot of work, especially paperwork, for often very little reward.

Agree 100%

[carlf]

3 hours ago, 2baht said:

Face is expensive! ????

Sure is!  I seem people in line every day at the cosmetic surgery clinic in my neighborhood.  Can't believe how many Thais pay fortunes to change their faces.  Quite sad as I find in general that the Thais are naturally handsome people... but too influenced by the (mostly western) images presented in films and advertising. 

 

[arithai12]

1 hour ago, alien365 said:

It would be nice if the government would actually pay teachers a decent wage in the first place. I'm not saying it would solve everything, but it would be a start. It's all good and well saying to live within your means, but there needs to be  some quality of life still. They do a lot of work, especially paperwork, for often very little reward.

I don't disagree that higher wages would be nice in principle, however

a) it wouldn't solve the debt problem, if anything exacerbate it. It is in Thai mentality that "face" is paramount, and that means  buying not only beyond their means for themselves, but also for their extended families. Double the wages,  double the debts.

b) Thailand has low wages yes, but also very low unemployment. A school teacher finds a job in no time, back in my country they can wait years. Go in a restaurant or in a hospital, there will be 3x more than necessary waiters and nurses. Basically, the higher wage is split in 3 to accomodate 3x more workers (substitute the number you want for 3).

[ExpatOilWorker]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

She said that the efforts have been successful, to a certain extent, using debt refinancing, reduction of interest rates and the use of the teachers’ welfare funds as surety for loans extended.

Successful?

2 years again the debt was only 1.1 trillion baht.

 

The cumulative debt of Thai teachers, moreover, adds up to 1.1 trillion baht and accounts for 16% of the total public debt in Thailand. Most alarming, another study of teachers in debt found that a whopping 92% admitted that indebtedness caused mental and physical distress, and this distress, in turn, negatively affected the quality of their teaching!

https://www.kenan-asia.org/thai-teacher-debt/

[AsianAtHeart]

It seems most posting here do not understand what is actually going on in this country with teacher salaries.

 

The government mandates a 15,000 baht minimum wage for teachers; BUT this is side-stepped in the schools in many ways.  The directors of the schools are corrupt.  They pocket the difference.  For example, in the town where I am now, teachers receive no more than 10,000 baht (most get 9,000).  They are made to sign an agreement when they are hired to this effect.  None of the teachers would be able to get a job at a different school for higher pay because all the schools in town do the same thing.  And if they were to lose their teaching job, they would have no financial support at all--so they acquiesce to "the system."  But "the system" goes beyond this.  If a teacher is responsible for any "infraction," that teacher can find his or her pay cut by an unfair amount.  For example, miss a day of work because you had to take your child to the hospital (or for any other reason, regardless), lose two days' pay for that month.  If you were on duty at the gate when the cement truck rolled up to pour the new slab at the school, and didn't prevent the truck from driving over, and breaking, the PVC water pipe--lose 200-500 baht.  The pay gets docked for this and for that, until, for many teachers, the pay is actually nearer to half of what the government standard has set forth.  And no one dares to complain, for it would cost him or her his or her job.  It's just the way it is.

 

At least Thailand is not so bad off as in neighboring Laos.  In Laos, a teacher may have to PAY one or two years' worth of salary just to get the job--or, at minimum, work one to several years for free before getting paid. 

 

As a couple others have pointed out, it's one thing to live within your means, but it's another thing to be receiving an honest, living wage.

[Thingamabob]

This happens every 5-10 years. The teachers have no idea as to how to better manage their finances, and no intention to do so. They buy and borrow way beyond their means, and then approach the govt for assistance. The govt usually obliges, and so it goes on.

[trainman34014]

It's all Government Workers.  All the Banks offer crazy amounts of money to Government Employees.   My Wife was a Midwife for 25 years; retired in 2008; no need for any debt as she has plenty of her own money and she has me too but the Banks are constantly offering her huge loans because she has a Government Pension.  We have been telling them for years to stop sending her this junk but they still continue as if it just falls on deaf ears.  They encourage all these people to be in huge debt when it should be done on an individual basis depending on personal circumstances; it's almost like some sinister Master Plan to keep millions in deep doo doo !

[ozz1]

Yes it's all about show I'm a government employee look at my new car and big house too bad if interest rates go up but unfortunately they don't look ahead too much

[Photoguy21]

5 hours ago, seajae said:

time to teach thais not to live beyond their means, they get govt jobs so they can borrow and maybe get in on all the graft that happens here. The institutions that loan money need to be looked at and given limits to stop anyone borrowing more than they can afford, maybe if these institutions had to accept fault if they approved loans that went beyond a set amount/percentage of the borrowers income they would stop allowing people to put themselves in debt that went beyond what they could actually repay just to save face. 

Have you ever tried telling a Thai anything and having them act on it? Maybe in a dream you had but never anywhere in reality.

[stoner]

3 hours ago, carlf said:

but too influenced by the (mostly western) images presented in films and advertising. 

must be why they are all trying to look like south koreans. 

 

[AgMech Cowboy]

It's really sad to read the cynical responses of the 'know it all' above.  A major source of the teachers debts comes from cosigning for their former student's loans. Plus, their salaries are pretty meager.

[MrMuddle]

8 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

says a lot about teachers if you ask me  The above post about the one that bought a benz just about sums it up.  

100% correct. A local teacher of English (who struggled to put a sentence together in that language) was keen to befriend me, until he found out I didn't drink. I later found out he owed money all over the place, most of it borrowed from folks he'd been drinking partners with!
Boy did he have a lucky escape, I wouldn't like to owe me money!  lol

BTW The Mercedes Benz thing is from a Janis Joplin song on her "Pearl" album, probably before your time!

[bkk6060]

The Police have similar issues.  I know one officer in Bangkok who has a monthly income of approx. 30,000 b.  Owns a condo and a car,  but after the loans are paid is left with around 3,000 b.

There just seems to be a general lack of education or care here regarding finances.  If they did give some instruction regarding finances around high school age, add driving instructions this country would be better off.

[BonMot]

This story runs annually...sigh.

 

When discussing debt real estate and to a lesser extent vehicles should be removed from the equation.

 

Having a mortgage is not the same debt as 100k in Starbucks, cosmetics and dining out.

 

It's criminal how the government allows people to wade into such debt. Thais know nothing about finance generally speaking.

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, BonMot said:

This story runs annually...sigh.

 

When discussing debt real estate and to a lesser extent vehicles should be removed from the equation.

 

Having a mortgage is not the same debt as 100k in Starbucks, cosmetics and dining out.

 

It's criminal how the government allows people to wade into such debt. Thais know nothing about finance generally speaking.

Debt is debt whether on a credit card or a mortgage or car payment. Over extending oneself is the issue and loans are given out like skittles at a party.

Edited September 19, 2022 by ThailandRyan

[BonMot]

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

Debt is debt whether on a credit card or a mortgage or car payment. Over extending oneself is the issue and loans are given out like skittles at a party.

The bank can arguably recover on the real estate if it cannot be sold outright. I disagree.