I've lent money on many occasions to friends and I've lent money on a few occasions to members of My Thai woman's family. I've always been paid back, I haven't always been paid back on time but I've always been paid back. Why? I knew who I was lending the money to, I knew who my real friends were, I knew who the people were in my life that I could trust and count on.

 

The people who lend money to those that are not worthy of it, are the ones who tend to get burned. 

My THAI famih is large, farmers.  At times, things are tough due to a bad harvest.

 

On occasion, we have 'loaned' "" survival monies""  - WE do NOT expect payback. 

Asking for loans has never been abused - 1500bt outstanding - 3 cups of coffee at Starbucks.

 

One daughter ( hers ) with 2 rug rats, 1000bt, ( farmer family ) She is the one who will pay back and has done so - really not required.

One niece in university, 500bt ( gift ) on occasion, also helped by sister and other ( farmer ) family members.

 

Keeping it in the family, and a small amount of money,  NOT expecting a payback is fairly safe.

 

At the most, except in a dire confirmed emergency, I would never let loose over 2000bt.  Easier to gift a family member because, remember, my wife is married to """RICH FARANG""".  Actually she is tighter on money than I am with her family.

 

As to non family, sorry!!!

My wife lends money out all the time and rarely gets paid back. She seems OK with it so I have no issue with it.  It is her money.

 

I am asked probably on average once a year for a loan.  If I give it out it usually do it because I conclude I will get something out of it.  I'm not a saint and rarely donate ( don't look at it as a loan) anonymously.  Respect those that do but it isn't in me.  My last 20k loan/donation was for a sound system for a distant family member.  It was a wise donation in my estimation and knew it would be for non monetary reasons.  Last week after not hearing from him in months he showed up and paid it off in full which was unexpected.

lend 50k to the maid for the roof of the shamble house where her parents and kids lived

 

ex said no.

 

i had pitty and said ok...

 

ex pretended it came from her

 

supposed to work for it in small installments (1000 baht deducted from salary each month...)

 

we went on a holiday to europe

 

when we came back, the maid suddenly quitted and never to be seen again, bye bye, lesson learned, never again

4 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

I have a few friends I have lent money to and they have lent money to me.

It comes in handy, makes life easier.

Sure, but the payback is the ultimate test before any further loans.

When a casual acquaintance ask a farang for a loan, that's usually a big red flag for me. It really means that they have exhausted all of their close friends and relatives, and no one will loan them money because they know from personal experience that they'll never get it back. That's the only reason they would be coming to me, and I simply say no and walk away. If they don't like it, then they can never speak to me again, and that's fine with me.

Each situation is quite different: 

 

I loaned my sister a large sum of money for her wedding - it was a 6 month load until work bonuses came in (both her and her husband had decent jobs but had recently moved house and there were a lot of outgoings on kitting it up)... no problem - I had the cash....   It took 5 years to get the money back. I stayed out of of it to avoid family arguments, but my folks had to keep reminding her - in the end the loan was repaid with a degree of resentment - it is that resentment which really peeved me off... I didnt them a favour then I'm the bad guy expecting them to honour it.

 

Another Mate (in Thailand) - Borrowed a small amount for his 'Sin-Sod show money'... He'd recently changed jobs (to a very good job), but again had bought a house and had outgoings - he was short that month. No worries, he repaid me within a month.

 

Not one of my close Thai friends has ever asked me for money.

 

One maid (or current maid) asked for money about 12 months ago - I think it was 8000 baht. 

Her son is a tearaway... Her husband works hard (Chauffeur for a JP business man), elder son is a good lad and works hard, younger son is a 'wrong-un' always getting into fights and getting arrested. Maid works hard, holds down two jobs and has proven herself reliable and honest.

The agreement was that she receives 8000 baht (needed for some bail money for her son), and she continues working to write off the dept - I pointed out that she can't have nothing so is on half money until depth is recovered then back to normal which worked out.

 

 

In short - people will always want or need money - its up to us to be able to differentiate between the real cases and the chancers. 

 

The mother of one of my Wifes 'estranged' friends called my Wife (long story, but the friend was just too much drama and they ended up falling out), wife didn't answer as we were out - later on another friend called and there was  whole back story. This lady had build up a huge debt that was catching up with her and was calling around 'well to do' friends to grasp back any money she could - that was never going to be a loan... it was 'cash and dash'... 

 

 

 

 

 

What I did a couple of times ask them how much money they have already.

Like: I need 10,000 to pay for the hospital.

Ok, how much of that can you pay yourself? Nothing?

And did you ask other people, how much did they contribute?

And sometimes I tell them that if they show me they have already 5k of the needed 10k then I will help with the rest. It never happened that they showed me how much they collected already from others.

6 hours ago, Bundooman said:

How stupid can some people be?

 

Village idiots: "Hold my Lao Kao"

Always use the retort

 

"I can't lend money for medical reasons...

 

 

 

 

 

 

always causes amnesia"