Thailand’s teachers accumulate combined debts of ฿1.4 trillion

[BonMot]

5 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

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 !

There's effectively no personal bankruptcy so the banks are pleased to take the *risk* at 20+% per year.

[ThailandRyan]

38 minutes ago, BonMot said:

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

When was the last time you saw a bank foreclosure sale here?  Many bank owned NPL homes in moobans have been empty for years....

[mommysboy]

Teachers get paid a very poor wage. Life isn't getting any cheaper these days. 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

7 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

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

My wife tells me, about 10-20 years ago, when this lady in our village was a young uni grad with a teaching degree, she had a tough time landing a job. Can't do, no positions, at all the schools in the area she was told. Finally her dad had a talk with the regional office and asked, OK how much? 100k baht was the price. Lo and behold, an opening appeared at a primary school, where she's been ever since. Indeed, she also happens to get a 9k monthly salary, all of which goes to her car payment. For the rest she often takes off for "other jobs". She is rather attractive.

 

7 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

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 get more from us farang teachers. The standard 30k farang teacher salary has been known to start as around 60k further up the chain. Director takes some, then the head of the English department, then an employment agency, if the teacher went through one. Though in recent years they've now been letting 35-40k go to us, as they've been getting fewer takers.

[Bday Prang]

8 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

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 !

They  are banks that is what they do , their aim is to get everybody in debt, there is a sinister master plan, its best not to think about it too much 

[Bday Prang]

These are supposed to educated people,  lol    They did not become teachers by accident ,  presumably most of them studied their way into it  and probably a few bought their way in to it , The fact remains that they all knew that the job was poorly paid !  But in spite of  that carried on regardless ! How weird is that  lol

                    Why would anybody choose such a poor paying job and then proceed to live beyond their means whilst going deeper and deeper into debt  

                     I can't understand What kind of fool would make decisions like that nether can I understand how they are allowed to teach children 

[Bday Prang]

10 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

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.

but they know all this before hand yet still become teachers... what's wrong with these people

[Bday Prang]

6 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

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.

What are you talking about      consigning for their former student's  loans  ??

[AsianAtHeart]

13 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

These are supposed to educated people,  lol    They did not become teachers by accident ,  presumably most of them studied their way into it  and probably a few bought their way in to it , The fact remains that they all knew that the job was poorly paid !  But in spite of  that carried on regardless ! How weird is that  lol

                    Why would anybody choose such a poor paying job and then proceed to live beyond their means whilst going deeper and deeper into debt  

                     I can't understand What kind of fool would make decisions like that nether can I understand how they are allowed to teach children 

 

10 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

but they know all this before hand yet still become teachers... what's wrong with these people

You are evidently not a teacher.  The job is not of interest to you, therefore you cannot understand why it should be attractive to others.  But the fact is, many people take up a line of work because they have talent and interest to do so--regardless of the wages.  Teachers are not alone in the category of "underpaid" in Thailand: far from it.  If pay were the only thing to be considered, there are many disagreeable jobs that would find no shortage of workers; and many honorable jobs, such as teaching, that would suddenly be unfilled.

 

If you have children, you must appreciate that someone was willing to teach them--and especially if that someone did so in dedicated fashion, putting his or her heart into the work to mold the mind of your child(ren).

 

There is no reason to disparage teachers simply because they are teachers. 

[BonMot]

9 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When was the last time you saw a bank foreclosure sale here?  Many bank owned NPL homes in moobans have been empty for years....

But that takes nothing away from my statement.

 

It remains an asset however poor, degraded. It is not money that evaporated - spent on bubble tea and nightclubs for which nothing can ever be recovered.

 

There is so called good and bad debt. This is econ101 stuff and has nothing to do with what how Thailand's banks choose to manage their loans.

 

They don't foreclose because it's in their interest not to do so. That doesn't change the fact about the quality of the debt.

 

Business, banking law does not require a host of checks and balances as in the west. Bankruptcy is still next to impossible for individuals to file. Therefore, you own that debt like a rope around your neck for life. That's a win for lenders and precisely why in these dark times banks are still happy to toss loans at people entirely unable to pay them.

 

24% interest for life is a sweet income stream.

[arithai12]

17 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

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.

Then please explain why a teacher who is already loaded with loans to be repaid, buys a new car as the first thing instead of a used one. It's their mentality, their culture, they can do what they want, but it's a fact not a cynical response.

[lujanit]

If the 1.4 trillion debt is correct and the actual pay teachers receive each month is averaged out at 9k and the house and car and probably household electronic appliances (phones, TV) need to be paid there would be very much left to buy food, pay the power, water and gas bills etc.

 

This is why loan sharks and gambling are so prevalent in Thailand.  If a figure could be put on that I think the 1.4 trillion baht figure would seem to be pittance.