Climbing Out Of Poverty? (say, Starting From A Slum Or The Paddy Field)

[meemiathai]

Learn English, learn Japanese, learn German.

What an insightful post, this one from a girl, as diametrically opposite from a male egotist like me could possibly be

Going through two complete threads, one of them over 250 posts, just to get the absolute same answer than you got at post #1; amazing, meemiathia that you can STILL resist to simply listen instead of babbling on and on and on...

You are incredible!

If you are not trolling, I just don't know what to say. If you were born in Isaan, guess what you will become with the ability of your brain?

Do you realize you have just extracted one small sentence from CG to prove your point but in fact her post was absolutely different from what you were trying to say?

You are either extremely clever and taking the piss or you are just incredably stupid. Which one is it? Can you tell us something about yourself?

And what is STEP ONE for my sister in law? I still don't get it!

Sorry are you colour blind to red? Tell me so I will make it blue next time.

Edited September 18, 2007 by meemiathai

[meemiathai]

People keep saying about how good the chinese are doing business. Do you realize that the chinese businessmen who are successful are going to rip you off even for you under pants. You will go naked! Are you telling people to become cold hearted? Of course I can make money too. If I don't care about the life and death of others, I can too! But I can't! I am soft hearted and I can't cheat! Same as a lot of Isaan poor people! Enjoy China if you guys think that the chinese businessmen's success is a good example!

What is STEP ONE for my sister in law?

Learn Japanese, French or what....? I heard that moon has only 1 sixth of the gravity of the earth, maybe that is why you head is so light!

[meemiathai]

Have you heard of China? I live there. And let me tell you that you are wrong. It has got nothing to do with being Chinese or Thai.

Naysayer, naysayer.

We were obviously not talking about the 1.6 billion who got stuck in China but about Chinese Thais who are clever enough as a group to have completely taken the economy of this country in their own hands in a mere 2 1/2 generations.

But we heard already, reading is not one of the skills you think is humanly possible to master easily (or was that learning how to cook noodles?). Must concentrate more on what is written here, I guess

Why do you keep getting the facts wrong?

There are 0.6 billion people in China only!

[JimmieBlonde]

What is STEP ONE for my sister in law?

Learn Japanese, French or what....? I heard that moon has only 1 sixth of the gravity of the earth, maybe that is why you head is so light!

How can I answer when I don't know what your sister does, did she leave school in grade 6 or higher, what does she do know, does she have a family, what are her responsibilities, maybe I missed those details earlier, but without them, planning something JUST for you sister is impossible

[Daewoo]

Have you heard of China?

What a f_cking ridiculous question... no I just randomly strung letters together to fill in a blank bit where I couldn't think of any nationality other than Thai...

HAVE I EVER HEARD OF CHINA???

Population 1,321,851,888 (http://wikitravel.org/en/China) only out by 100%, but don't worry, fool...

MY OBSERVATION IS;

Many Chinese are generally willing to work their @rses off to achieve financial goals... at the expense of almost everything else... Most Thai's are unwilling to work as hard as many Chinese...

Many Chinese push their children very hard to achieve academic success, far harder than most Thai's...

The effect is usually reduced after 2 generations outside of China...

But what would I know, memaithai is the authority on everything, Thai and Chinese, but still lets his Sister In-law work her fingers to the bone in a job away from her family, even though OBVIOUSLY, someone with his immense intelligence should own the world by now...

Get back under your bridge, troll.

[Ski_Goong]

It is very hard for the average Thai to increase their income so what I try to do is get them to lower their expenses. For those I try to help, I show them how they can have more money just by cutting out some vices. If they drink-I tell them drink less or stop. If they smoke...same. Gamble? Yup...same.

Most poor Thais do not know how much they actually spend on their vices. Once I show them how much they spend per year, some are willing to stop or at least decrease their spending. For those who are unwilling to change, there is no hope/help for them.

Once they stop doing those stupid things, they will have more time/money to find/fund their next business idea. It could be as simple as growing mushrooms (which are selling like crazy right now) or buying basic equipment that will allow them to produce more of what they already have.

Most Thais in my village ask me why I don't build a big house, drive a fancy car, have the best mobile phone, drink like a horse, smoke all day, have any mai noi.....I always tell them "I don't need it".

Ski and Goong....

So people can have a little bit more money in exchange for never having any fun again.

shouldnt your last sentance read...

Most Thais in my village ask me why I don't build a big house, drive a fancy car, have the best mobile phone, drink like a horse, smoke all day, have any mai noi.....I always tell them "I can't afford it"

Ummmm.....why should my last sentence read "I can't afford it?" Am I missing something? Also, are you implying that by REDUCING the amount of money spent on vices a person can't have fun anymore? Wow.......I am amazed!! I don't drink or smoke and I have a great time. I gamble on occasion but not more than I make. So I must be doing something wrong if I am enjoying my life and is sober.

If you re-read my post you will notice it says.....stop or reduce...it's a (tough) choice people have to make. I hate hearing and seeing people complain they are poor but yet spend 30-40% of their income on what I consider extremely expensive vices (alcohol, cigs, gambling, prostitutes, etc).

Life will always be about choices. I offered an opinion on how to better one's position in life not how to have more fun or less fun.

Ski and Goong...

[jts-khorat]

How can I answer when I don't know what your sister does, did she leave school in grade 6 or higher, what does she do know, does she have a family, what are her responsibilities, maybe I missed those details earlier, but without them, planning something JUST for you sister is impossible

Just because I had that thread open as well; it shows that we are going through eactly the same argumentation now for the umpteenth time:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...9696&st=225

Already 100 posts here, > 250 there and still total standstill...:

meemiathai, the case of your sister in law intrigues me quite a bit, so I actually thought about it seriously on my way home. She is a riddle to me and you will have to offer a little bit more information to help solving it.

So far I will assume the following:

- your sister in law comes from the same social background as the rest of her family yes

- your sister in law was given the same chances and choices as the rest of her family yes

- your sister in law in theory could have reached the same level of financial security or happiness as any other member of her family. The whole family in law has not reached a level of financial security

So far we know:

- she has never complained of being poor, or her circumstances, but you state that she is unhappy (else there would be no need to change her situation) I did not state she is unhappy. But that does not mean she does not want to improve.

- her work ethic is actually good, she works very hard

- still she has chosen not to learn in her youth or now, either for medical or other reasons.

just exactly what you mean that she has chosen not to learn. Learn what? Chosen what?

# Maybe you could elaborate what prevented her.

'Member of her family' as mentioned above would in this case be her own sister, eg your wife.

So, to further my assumptions:

- I assume that your wife is neither financially insecure nor abjectly unhappy, rather the opposite, that she is actually financially secure and happy to stay with you; that by defasult she does not actually share the 'poor farmers plight' we are discussing here, eg she successfully has chosen a way out of the problem that can be repeated by other indivduals

- I also assume that your own social status is comparably higher then hers, eg you not being a subsistence farmer; this is neither an attack on you nor your wife or one of those 'where did you meet her' questions, I would not care less. I just try to get a picture on relative wealth distribution and the social status attached to it

my wife has not chosen a way out of the problem, she just met me and that is it. Do you say people have chosen their way if they won a lottery? Sorry I was talking about myself!

I stated as one of the options of your sister in law to 'find a guy like you' and marry him, a suggestion you curiously never commented on. She is married to a thai guy. And even if she is not, you don't find it insulting to suggest something like that to a woman?

- if your wife was able to meet you, so it should have been possible for your sister in law to meet a comparable male person as life circumstances are assumed similar; she did not pursue this path or chose not to for unknown reasons.I really want to know if you view women as property? And are you suggesting all Isaan women who lives a hard life to look for a farang husband?

# Maybe you could elaborate what prevented her.

After we have understood what prevented your sister in law to choose all of those absolutely valid paths of bettering herself (learning or marrying socially upwards), maybe then other members of this forum can chime in to give more substantial advice.

I don't see you offering any choices. You keep saying bettering themselves, HOW?

Edited September 18, 2007 by jts-khorat

[canadiangirl]

I work in rural Isaan, I see a lot of very entrepreneurs there, who often fail because of lack of business knowledge, how to value products.

They WANT to be entrepreneurs, they don't have training, education, skill sets.

Chinese families have generations of trading in them, thats very valuable skills, Thais have rice grower, to make the leap to being a business owner is hard. Not impossible.

They exist, they just need a mentoring hand up.

That's probably true. I don't know about other countries, but in Canada, there's tons of programs for young entrepreneurs, so it's not like it's an innate skill for farang either. But we probably do have more access to skills, information, mentorship, etc.

[meemiathai]

Have you heard of China?

What a f_cking ridiculous question... no I just randomly strung letters together to fill in a blank bit where I couldn't think of any nationality other than Thai...

HAVE I EVER HEARD OF CHINA???

Population 1,321,851,888 (http://wikitravel.org/en/China) only out by 100%, but don't worry, fool...

MY OBSERVATION IS;

Many Chinese are generally willing to work their @rses off to achieve financial goals... at the expense of almost everything else... Most Thai's are unwilling to work as hard as many Chinese...

Many Chinese push their children very hard to achieve academic success, far harder than most Thai's...

The effect is usually reduced after 2 generations outside of China...

But what would I know, memaithai is the authority on everything, Thai and Chinese, but still lets his Sister In-law work her fingers to the bone in a job away from her family, even though OBVIOUSLY, someone with his immense intelligence should own the world by now...

Get back under your bridge, troll.

So oo ooorryy Sirrr! I stand corrected. You know much more about China than I do. And all 1.3 billion chinese are hard working people.

Shit, I am still shaking.