Pattaya — Pattaya residents have had enough with migrant beggars, mostly Vietnamese, after they forcefully push flowers and candies to tourists.

Several residents living near Walking Street in South Pattaya revealed to local media that they have grown increasingly exasperated with migrant beggars.

 

They said these beggars, with some carrying infants to evoke sympathy, wandered around crowded tourist destinations in Pattaya and tried to forcefully sell flowers and candies to international tourists. This has caused a great deal of annoyance among tourists and has ruined the city’s reputation.

The residents assumed there was an organized operation behind these beggars, as these groups of foreign people have been previously apprehended multiple times, yet they continue to be seen repeating the same offense.

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

PHOTO: TMN Cable TV Pattaya

 

Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2023/06/21/pattaya-residents-fed-up-with-pushy-migrant-beggars/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2023-06-22

 

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1 hour ago, webfact said:

these beggars, with some carrying infants to evoke sympathy, wandered around crowded tourist destinations in Pattaya and tried to forcefully sell flowers and candies to international tourists. This has caused a great deal of annoyance among tourists and has ruined the city’s reputation.

That's like the pot calling the kettle black.....

 

I thought begging was a "reserved occupation"?

I thought this was another story about which Pattaya bar is best…

Hmmmm… i would tell them where to push their flowers….. 

17 minutes ago, HighPriority said:

I thought this was another story about which Pattaya bar is best…

I thought this was a story about the Soi cat.????????

1 for me - 2 for you?

Tell me about this. The only reason beggars infest an area is because people buy/ give to them.

DON'T.  please don't. Give to a recognised charity if you want to feel good. Many of these, bums, are organised and are merely con artists

 

16 minutes ago, harleyclarkey said:

1 for me - 2 for you?

Tell me about this. The only reason beggars infest an area is because people buy/ give to them.

DON'T.  please don't. Give to a recognised charity if you want to feel good. Many of these, bums, are organised and are merely con artists

Many of these people who give money are unaware that they make the situation worse. In addition the children are often borrowed to sit next to the beggar or they have to sell things like flowers. And according to their own statement the beggars earn up to 1000 baht a day:

 

https://thepattayanews.com/2023/06/10/crackdown-on-cambodian-beggars-in-pattaya-continues/

LoL - those "beggars" have been doing that for generations. I remember back in '93 when I'd be sitting at a beer bar and feel a tug on my pant leg and there'd be a little kid, always a girl, maybe what, 7 or 8 years old ?
She'd have a little plastic basket with a strap around her neck and the basket would be full of chewing gum and cigarette lighters.

And it wouldn't matter if it was 8 pm or 2 am, they'd still be going from bar to bar to bar.

I noticed though that "mom" was always close by, usually holding a clutch of wrapped roses and keeping an eye on the kid(s).

I guess the only real difference in the last 30 years is that for 29 of them, the authorities always said they were Cambodian, not Vietnamese. Long way for some Cong to go to beg on the streets of Pattaya. Especially when Vietnam get's it's fair share of foreign tourists already.

Loved the part where it say "has ruined the city’s reputation" !

Not the garbage. Not the continuous tearing up of the streets and sidewalks or the crappy sidewalks that are never repaired, or the traffic, or the annual flooding, or the thieving ladyboys, or the corruption.

Nope. It's the small number of "Vietnamese" beggars selling flowers and candy to tourists that have ruined Pattaya's reputation !

Considering the plod here cannot find a prostitute in Asia's biggest red light city - what makes them think they can catch beggars ? 

5 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

Many of these people who give money are unaware that they make the situation worse. In addition the children are often borrowed to sit next to the beggar or they have to sell things like flowers. And according to their own statement the beggars earn up to 1000 baht a day:

They also work in a circuit around the city. For example, the legless woman that sits near the P72 bar (or in that general area) or the guy with the gimpy leg that sits a couple hundred meters away, will stay there for a few hours and then be gone.

Only to reappear on Soi 7, or Soi Buakhao, or Beach Road. Where they'll sit for a couple hours before that spot is "refreshed" by moving the old beggar to a new location and a "new" beggar to the old spot.

I've encounted the same beggars on Walking Street, Soi 7 and the Soi Buakhao market in the same day.

And like all beggars, buskers and con artists, they always clean out their begging bowl after getting a few donations, leaving a couple small coins in it to make people think that no one has given them anything.

And you know what ? I do give them the odd 20 when I see them. Because I can't imagine how sucky their life must be or what my life would be like if I ended up like them for some reason. Even "back home" your life would suck donkey balls if you lost your legs or were crippled in some other way.

I see Thai girls often do the same, drop some loose change or a small bill in their cup, to earn "merit". No amount of "merit" is going to help me but a tiny amount of money might help them. Pretty sure they aren't sleeping outside during the day or starving for food. 

And yeah, I don't doubt they make a fair bit of money on good days. Spending 12+ hours a day sitting in one spot or another, hoping people will give you some loose change because you know the gov't isn't going to help you one little bit. More likely to rob you and throw you in jail than show any support or compassion. If they are old enough they might get a measly 600 baht a month from the gov't. 

Most Westerners would have probably taken the one-way ticket to never-never land within weeks if they had to live like those beggars do.

But don't feel guilty about not giving them anything either !

Like Mickeymous says, they usually make quite a bit as it is. And I'm sure all the Indian and Chinese tourists (that Thailand wants to replace the "Westerners" ) are more than making up for any shortage of donations that may happen from having fewer high-spending "white" people in the country.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

This has caused a great deal of annoyance among tourists and has ruined the city’s reputation.

Yeah for once I agree... This is Walking street, not beggars row.

1 hour ago, jcmj said:

Is this really news?

To the locals it seems so yes.

Good to see Buddhism thriving but the benefits system needs a little tweaking ????  

1 hour ago, DjSilver said:

Wait, so the scammers and prostitutes in Pattaya are fed up because thry can't get more money from foreigners?

 

Get a life losers, and what about life in prison or the death penalty for every Thai who just tries to scam a foreigner? Yes,  just tries and thrown in jail for life or the death penalty? That would be great.

Bit over the top don’t you think ????

" and has ruined the city’s reputation."  ROTFLOL????

While we hear how the immigration boys are out in force on a daily bases to catch over staying foreigners all around Thailand, strangely enough, those right under their noses and in plain sight are left untouched.

They used to be in Bangkok too, maybe 10-15 years ago. Remember having dinner with a date in an open restaurant and one of those pushy kids would come and repeatedly tug on my sleeve:

"Mister, buy flower for lady."

"No."

"Cheap Charlie!"

I look at her grimed face: "Dirty Diana!"

She gave me a most bewildered look and left...

 

Haven't see these little tykes for ages.

 

There is begging and there is begging. This reminded me of an instance in Germany many years ago when Marks and not Euros were in circulation. Early one Sunday morning in Munich I walked past an elderly German man sitting on the pavement, as I passed him he said softly, "Have you a spare 10 marks", I spun round in surprise, "What happened to, have you a spare Mark"? I asked. He looked up grinning, "That mein Herr is for Amateures, if you are going to give then give to a professional, we have inflation, get used to it". His cheek fascinated me and I drew closer and noticed he had taken off his shoes and placed them in front of him each with a sentence written on the pavement, the left shoe was asking the right one, 'what's the matter are you tired', the right one replied, 'exhausted, I'm full of holes, I cant keep up with you', laughing I put 5 marks in his cup, he looked up at me with feigned disappointment, "That's deflation, not inflation", "You should be in marketing" I said and walked off grinning for the next 100 meters, money well spent. 

2 hours ago, jcmj said:

Is this really news?

Nobody got beat up by security, nor robbed of a gold chain, so yes it is. Haven't been out for a good while so not been irritated by these hawkers myself.

So if you are a beggar, begging out on the street. That to me is a sign that you do not have any money and is here falsly or by fraud... Like thai goverment says to us white people "show us the money"......  And force us to "show" 400K baht or 800K baht....

 

Do the very same for these beggars and if they cannot meet the demand or they are begging in the streets, forget the Asean and just kick them out..

Mostly Vietnamese?   Come on ….

Ruined the city’s reputation?!?   Hahaha

hahahahaha, some people live near walking street and their only complaint is a couple of beggers.

First world problem right there !!

People trying to make a living just say no ????

and has ruined the city’s reputation.

A big LOL

Am currently in Hanoi and no obvious street beggars here. I did notice people who provide services, like boat operators, are very pushy about tips.

However, there are many really thin Vietnamese pushing and pulling carts so i suppose Thailand is the land of plenty for some, in the same way Thais go abroad looking for work.

But if the Vietnamese police are tough on beggars why not Thailand? 

Well things are looking up. Back in the day, back in Saigon, they used to carry around obviously sick, dying babies.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The residents assumed there was an organized operation behind these beggars, as these groups of foreign people have been previously apprehended multiple times, yet they continue to be seen repeating the same offense.

I suppose deporting them hasn't occurred to anyone?

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I suppose deporting them hasn't occurred to anyone?

They do round them up now and again.... but one gets an impression they are soon back on the street. Perhaps with a need to re-earn the money they just had to pay over.......