Thais are sinking deeply into debt

[billd766]

4 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

But almost everyone has the newest model phone…

No they don't.

[Kaopad999]

5 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

Another problem is online gambling and underground lottery 

Yes, that's also true!

[Confuscious]

12 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

They want to be rich, and live like rich already, but are too lazy to start working. Try to find somebody for whatever and but the payment is always too low or the work is too less to do it. They prefer to do nothing and borrow from family and friends than earn a bit. They only want to have big money..There is start for the solution. 

Yes, the majority of the pack are indebted because they want to show-off a standing that is too high for them.

Specially the young people are offered luxe items (Apple phones and other devices; Luxury cars; Credit Cards a go-go; Ways to spend more money than you can afford to buy (pay with IR-Code); etc.) without realising that they have to pay all this back soon.

But I know a few girls and boys who where asked by their parents to take a loan for the medical care of themselves or an elder family member and they got stuck into these debts for the rest of their lives.

Also, many people I know were tricked into buying goods during a party (with free food, free drinks, free dancing clads, etc.) and realised what they had done the day after.

[NORDO]

The average minimal wage Thai has little problem with exceeding the income to debt ratio.  After all, If they  can't make the payments, then the company can repo the new car or Iphone and the debt is forgiven.  Neat concept.

 

I know several Thais that have used this to buy a new car every few years.  Some sales people are so very anxious to complete a sale, that they will change the non-standard credit reports to meet the requirements for a sale.

[Jonathan Swift]

13 hours ago, ozz1 said:

Unfortunately its a thai thing look I have big money new car new phone but it all has to be paid back and they don't seem to budget themselves or care as long as I look good it's a shame really because they are great people but naive

vanity, status are not limited to Thailand

[Paris333]

Learning by loosing.........Our parents started their lives in a small room and went to work on foot and without mobile phones and computers. Today, the youth have everything ready and enjoy goods that they did not work to acquire.

[SoilSpoil]

6 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

And you think its better back where we come from? All of the above in your argument against my post can be undone by looking at any honest newspsper back home. an example of poor moral fiber is the homelessness. most countries right now are going through a serios homeless crisis. here the op states how poor and in debt thais are. ill take you for a walk back home in any major city and show you just how rich we are NOT

 

if we are so morally righteous then why are the foodbanks soo overwhelmingly busy and so many people sleeping in makeshift shelters?

Comparing Thailand with other countries doesn't change the fact that Thailand is internationally seen as a 3rd world country with junta regime. I feel you take this inconvenient  fact rather petsonal.

[Scott]

Off-topic post reported and removed.  

 

[jaideedave]

20 hours ago, youngster30uk said:

Not Necessarily, it is scarily easy for Police officers and teachers to get legitimate loans, pretty much irrespective of how much debt they already have. Police and teachers in thailand are the 2 groups with the highest amount of debt per capita

You can add government employees to your list.Ask me how I know..lol

[BritManToo]

15 hours ago, Bangel72 said:

Now I could not find much on actual court  decisions in these cases?  If you have high value items they are likely fair game but what about other household items, fridges, beds tv's. What about houses can they lose their house over a credit card bill? Can they take their partners belongings or is it named ownership items only like cars.

The rules are, after a court judgement they can't own land, vehicles or a bank account for 5 years.

So a quick change of ownership for the land/mc/car before the judgement.

Any other belongings (outside the named loan item) are safe from seizure.

Then after 5 years the loan is written off and they can start again.

[jaideedave]

11 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Yes, the majority of the pack are indebted because they want to show-off a standing that is too high for them.

Specially the young people are offered luxe items (Apple phones and other devices; Luxury cars; Credit Cards a go-go; Ways to spend more money than you can afford to buy (pay with IR-Code); etc.) without realising that they have to pay all this back soon.

But I know a few girls and boys who where asked by their parents to take a loan for the medical care of themselves or an elder family member and they got stuck into these debts for the rest of their lives.

Also, many people I know were tricked into buying goods during a party (with free food, free drinks, free dancing clads, etc.) and realised what they had done the day after.

When my step daughter got her 1st decent paying job after uni she got a credit card easily.She charged up so much so could no longer make the minimum payments.She eventually had to go to court and make an offer to thru the judge to forgive most of the debt.Now she can't get a cc.

BTW she wasn't living with us at the time or it wouldn't have gotten that far.

PS: Does anyone out there want to buy some slightly used ladies shoes from a large selection?

[Pouatchee]

3 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Comparing Thailand with other countries doesn't change the fact that Thailand is internationally seen as a 3rd world country with junta regime. I feel you take this inconvenient  fact rather petsonal.

i think the difference between you and me is that i am not looking to bash thais, but rather i am objective and looking at what is going on back home i am not sure which country is more 3rd world. unfortunately, on an, many people love to bash thais. don't you?

 

Forgot to write... dont you agree instead of dont you?

Wouldnt want to hurt that fragile ego.

 

BTW... why in the world would i take it petsonal... i could care less. i am just stating facts. seems like you ate taking it more personal than me

[spidermike007]

I have had a question for a long time. Many Thais love durian. The price is now 130-180 baht per kilo, including the massive skin. So, when you buy 300 baht worth of durian, you are not getting alot of fruit. Yet, the Thais buy it like it was gold. They do not seem to hesitate to spend a days wages on some of it. How does that compute?

 

It is probably the most profitable crop in the nation.

[connda]

23 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

To get a Thai bank credit card I thought Thais had to have money in the bank to cover the use of the credit card.

Nope.  Thais get unsecured credit extended to them.  Heck, I see tables in malls and Big C hypermarts where unsecured credit is being not only offered but actively pimped to Thais.

Your statement should read, "To get a Thai bank credit card I thought Foreigners had to have money in the bank to cover the use of the credit card."  That's an accurate statement for most rank and file expats.

[whitefarang]

I still have the same bike as I did 20 years ago. I can't feel sorry for them; actually, I believe they all owe it to themselves.

[SoilSpoil]

37 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

i think the difference between you and me is that i am not looking to bash thais, but rather i am objective and looking at what is going on back home i am not sure which country is more 3rd world. unfortunately, on an, many people love to bash thais. don't you?

 

Forgot to write... dont you agree instead of dont you?

Wouldnt want to hurt that fragile ego.

 

BTW... why in the world would i take it petsonal... i could care less. i am just stating facts. seems like you ate taking it more personal than me

As expected, a poorly written and emotionally laden  response. Most Thais I know feel the same about their country as I do. No bashing, just stating facts. They travel to Eutope, Japan, Australia and see with their own eyes what the state of their country is. Going backwards, 3rd world style. That you dont like to read that is up to you. Which facts are you stating btw? Maybe I missed something

[Confuscious]

27 minutes ago, connda said:

Nope.  Thais get unsecured credit extended to them.  Heck, I see tables in malls and Big C hypermarts where unsecured credit is being not only offered but actively pimped to Thais.

Your statement should read, "To get a Thai bank credit card I thought Foreigners had to have money in the bank to cover the use of the credit card."  That's an accurate statement for most rank and file expats.

When I asked for a Credit Card at my Thai bank, 15 years ago, I got a Visa Card which was in fact a Debet card as I could not use it for transactions on the Internet or on-line.
Notwithstanding I had more money in my bank account than most rural Thais.

My Thai ex-wife had a deck of credit card like a deck of playing cards and they were all valid.
She had 100 baht in her bank account.

Go figure ....

[digger70]

It's mostly the money Lenders fault like The Banks and the Loan Sharks .

If they would stop giving people money that the for sure know that they not make enough money to pay back the loan sometimes not even the interest.

The people should know themselves if they are making/earning enough money to pay back a loan. 

But then you have the people that want to keep up with the Joneses no matter what. 

I am afraid They are beyond help .

 

[billd766]

14 hours ago, billd766 said:

No they don't.

My wife and son don't have the latest smartphones. The only reason that mine is new is simply because my old one died and I needed to replace it. It should be good for about 5 years I think.

[Pouatchee]

1 hour ago, SoilSpoil said:

As expected, a poorly written and emotionally laden  response. Most Thais I know feel the same about their country as I do. No bashing, just stating facts. They travel to Eutope, Japan, Australia and see with their own eyes what the state of their country is. Going backwards, 3rd world style. That you dont like to read that is up to you. Which facts are you stating btw? Maybe I missed something

Geez is that the only card you have in your deck? You are like an old 45 rpm that keeps skipping. Emotional?... oh no i gota get the tissue now. have at i am putting you on ignore you are too borish

[johnnybangkok]

18 hours ago, Rachel de France said:

As far as I know, nobody forces people to take huge loans to buy things they do not necessarily need with money they do not necessarily have, just to impress people they do not necessarily like.

Capitalism only gives the possibility to companies to produce and sell those things, but also leaves the consumer with the liberty to not buy those, why criminalize??

Capitalism cannot be criminalized for the lack of responsibility of the consumers.

And what of the responsibility of the lenders?

There's so many on this thread with a holier than thou attitude, bemoaning the lazy Thai's who would rather borrow than work but there's very few pointing the fingers at irresponsible lenders who are handing over large amounts of money to obviously unsuitable candidates. Banks make their money by loaning and interest payments but as the sub-prime crisis showed us, they give not one jot to how they keep the profits rolling as long as the share-holders are happy and the gravy train keeps rolling. And when it all goes to $hit? Well that's not a problem as the government will bail them out as they are just too big to fail.
People with no money will ALWAYS take easy money IF it is offered to them. It is the responsibility of the banks to qualify their ability to repay this money, which is obviously not happening here and which is leading to yet another financial meltdown.   

[Jackbenimble]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:29 PM, wealthychef said:

Uh oh... this means the IMF or World Bank are going to smell blood in the water.  God help Thailand if they ask for any financial "help" from the West.  Better off letting China "rescue" you. 

They did that in the lead up to the financial crisis in'97 and then when the storm hit they literally overnight closed scores of banks and lending institutions effectively shafting the IMF. That's the prime reason why the Thai banking sector is ring-fenced from the wests. They dont behave properly or professionally even in business and is why they only really do business with other Thais. Very few are up to doing business internationally. 

[trainman34014]

21 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Yes, I've also seen families living in tin-shacks, while outside a brand-new Merc or BMW was parked... People clearly have different priorities in this country.

Got one of them near me but the Benz belongs to a Geezer who visits his 'Gik' in the Shack from time to time and gives her a few Baht.   Things ain't always what they seem !

[arro]

I was 20/21/22 in thailand and the common people struggled to " survive ",

but 23 june/july i came back and was astonished waht my friends all buyed; 

motorbike, washmachine, etc. and all this with longtherm-credit. as soon the market recovered a bit with higher wages , they really does'nt keep safe 1 satang for bad times. t.i.t.

[wealthychef]

11 hours ago, Jackbenimble said:

when the storm hit they literally overnight closed scores of banks and lending institutions effectively shafting the IMF

serves 'em right I say, good on Thailand lol. สมน้ำหน้า dudes

[Xin Loi]

On 7/24/2023 at 8:52 AM, connda said:

It should read, "Predatory Thai lending institutions prey on Thai citizenry."

Credit should not legally be extended to those who are going to be unable to repay.  This is what non-existence regulators are for - to stop institutional predation by banks, corporations, and financial institutions.

 

Keeping people in debt is the best way of controlling the masses. All nations do it and the banks love it. By 2011 the country was buried in debt that could not be repaid, by most of the borrowers.

[keysersoze276]

Did anyone read this article?  I didn’t read it or the comments.Ii have been around too long and this is the least Breaking News! article I have seen in a loooooong time. It’s like listening to a broken record.  Ues, it has been getting worse and worse since 2014. Didn’t read the comments either. If you got this far, you have a lot to learn and whatever is written above it 90+percent nonsense. Save your time by skipping these articles. We know this is a third world country led by a corrupt dictatorship and anyone who throws in their 2 cents lost 2 cents. Nothing new and nothing to see here. Life goes on and us foreigners can’t make it better. I have spoken. Enjoy the rest of the day!  Xoxo

[atpeace]

On 7/24/2023 at 8:52 AM, connda said:

It should read, "Predatory Thai lending institutions prey on Thai citizenry."

Credit should not legally be extended to those who are going to be unable to repay.  This is what non-existence regulators are for - to stop institutional predation by banks, corporations, and financial institutions.

 

??? If I understand you correctly, predatory banks lend money to people that are unable to repay.  Seems like a stupid business model. 

 

What really happens is a different story. People tell banks they can repay and then down the road realize they can't without drastically cutting expenses.  Then they blame the banks. There is a reason rates are high for certain individuals. 

[khunpa]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:04 AM, Confuscious said:

When I asked for a Credit Card at my Thai bank, 15 years ago, I got a Visa Card which was in fact a Debet card as I could not use it for transactions on the Internet or on-line.
Notwithstanding I had more money in my bank account than most rural Thais.

My Thai ex-wife had a deck of credit card like a deck of playing cards and they were all valid.
She had 100 baht in her bank account.

Go figure ....

LOL!!! Not to forget the MANY bank-books from different banks with under THB 100 in each of them…

 

[johnnybangkok]

On 7/26/2023 at 7:02 PM, atpeace said:

??? If I understand you correctly, predatory banks lend money to people that are unable to repay.  Seems like a stupid business model. 

 

What really happens is a different story. People tell banks they can repay and then down the road realize they can't without drastically cutting expenses.  Then they blame the banks. There is a reason rates are high for certain individuals. 

What absolute nonsense. So by your reasoning I could just walk into a bank and ask for a $1 million dollars on a “promise” to pay it back! Of course not. The bank will require assurances in the form of assets or regular, well paid work. If people are being loaned money without the means to pay back then it’s exactly the banks fault (much the same way it would be your fault  if you loaned money to a deadbeat friend or your girlfriends “family”). 
As I said before, poor people will ALWAYS take money if it’s offered; it’s down to the lenders to have a duty of care and make sure they are able to repay it.