Setting Your Thai Inlaws Up To Self Sustain

[macleod101]

I am married to a Thai lady, we lived in Bangkok for 11months, and have been in the UK for 3 years in total. my wife has constantly sent money to her parents and I figured that if we got them to invest some of our money they could perhaps almost self sustain, and not need my wife to constantly poor money into them.

My wife's mum has 6 adopted children to look after and her father earns 220baht a day. they own a plot of 8rai of land in the province of Petchabun and live in a wodden house which needs knocking down and replacing with a better structure. the village they live in has a population of about 1000ppl, its very poor and off the beacon tourist track.

they suggested selling stuff out of a pick up truck or even recycling using a pick up truck, but to do this my father in law would need too give up his job, which is a risk too high to take.

I don't know what really to suggest for them too do. perhaps a specialist shop, a buffett food bar on the local highway 30 km away. A family member makes profit on selling pc's, perhaps they could open the first ever pc shop in the village of one-pee-kune, near bang sam phan..

we have about 150,000 baht for them to invest, I just want to make sure they invest in a good well though out idea..

[sibeymai]

Just give them the 150,000 baht and forget abput it. It'll be lost in no time anyway.

Safest bet would be to buy some land in your wife's name. You can probably get around 5 rai and either farm rice or start a higher value crop, maybe fish. At least your 150,000 is protected then. You might not be able to realise the cash quickly, but it's not lost either.

[Heng]

You'd need to put it in an overseas trust that they cannot touch.

p.s. you'll need more than 150k Baht.

[blizzard]

sir/ you must have realized wot would happen when u marry village people.

i agree just live with the fct you married the whole family not just the gurl.

you expect unedukated peeple to invest wisely!

its not always bout the dosh be happy the love th family gives you and yr lady.

change of thought. hmmmm they lasted this long wo you. maybe u just atm to them. like they hit big in the farang lottery. just a thought.

Edited November 29, 2007 by blizzard

[Somtham]

I am married to a Thai lady, we lived in Bangkok for 11months, and have been in the UK for 3 years in total. my wife has constantly sent money to her parents and I figured that if we got them to invest some of our money they could perhaps almost self sustain, and not need my wife to constantly poor money into them.

My wife's mum has 6 adopted children to look after and her father earns 220baht a day. they own a plot of 8rai of land in the province of Petchabun

What do they do with the 8 rai of land at this point and what kind of land is it? What are FIL's capabilities and experience? Before buying them farm land I think you need to answer those questions. If the 8 rai is just growing weeds I see no point in investing in a larger weed farm. On the other hand, if they are cultivating that land and turning a profit then more land might be a good thing to sustain their lifestyle.

rgds

[Khun Jean]

The 'famous' pick-up truck. (Big face)

If they already own one, then sell it and safe money. First get rid of all the mobile phones because these eat into the budget a lot. Do they have debts? Get rid of these first. In Thailand it is not uncommon to pay 5% interest every month and is the biggest problem for poorer people.

If they don't have those then they have a good start. It probably is best to make the 8 rai land usefull. What is it used for now? Could it be used for a better crop or even rented out to others?

If it has for instance coconut trees it would make around 8000 baht a month. With the 6-7 from the father that would make 15K. That would be not bad for a Thai family in a small village.

How old are the adopted children, if she adopted them she has a very big heart.

It might be a good idea to use the money for education. That is the best investment you could ever make. And set aside some money for real emergencies.

Investing money for people who are not used to handle it is likely to become a big drama.

Edited November 29, 2007 by Khun Jean

[Lite Beer]

They can buy a lot of whisky for 150,000 Baht.

[rixalex]

If these people having been sitting on some making money idea that just hasn't got off the ground for want of cash, chances are your donation could be well spent. If not, forget it. If you are really intent on making a donation, do so but don't yourself get drawn into fretting about how it is spent. Besides, i really don't think an outsider is well placed to know what might or might not work. No different from you asking them for advice on starting a business in the UK.

[blizzard]

in usa to make money farming one has to put in a lot of money, and still its no guarantee the money will roll in is thailand different?

[tijnebijn]

I do not think that in a village with a pop of 1000 there is anything you can make money

worth an investment . A good one would perhaps be to move to a larger village , so there

are more opportunities , not something they prefer I guess .

Another thought is that if they can specialize in something , like making food or sweets ,

but really quality taste , mom for sure can make more money out of it , more then you might think .

But for sure they like the thought their daughter can take care of them and in Thailand they should ,

so why bother to send them 5k the month or something like that , makes your gf not having worries ,

the 150k keep it as a deposit for when they have some bigger needs and give them only what they need ,

pop the money up again when emptied , guess that is the best investment her family can have .

Please just take it easy but not show them to much money , they are not used to it , just a better life

will do .

[tijnebijn]

The 'famous' pick-up truck. (Big face)

If they already own one, then sell it and safe money. First get rid of all the mobile phones because these eat into the budget a lot. Do they have debts? Get rid of these first. In Thailand it is not uncommon to pay 5% interest every month and is the biggest problem for poorer people.

If they don't have those then they have a good start. It probably is best to make the 8 rai land usefull. What is it used for now? Could it be used for a better crop or even rented out to others?

If it has for instance coconut trees it would make around 8000 baht a month. With the 6-7 from the father that would make 15K. That would be not bad for a Thai family in a small village.

How old are the adopted children, if she adopted them she has a very big heart.

It might be a good idea to use the money for education. That is the best investment you could ever make. And set aside some money for real emergencies.

Investing money for people who are not used to handle it is likely to become a big drama.

This is a pretty good advise OP.

[blizzard]

its not good advice sir.

what happens when u pay off debts for others? they do the same things that got them in debt in the first place.

coconut trees? huh?

edukation is goo d advice. but op i dont think is willing to spend what it would take to edukate all 6 kids plus momma and poppa,

shouldnt op look into what family is doing with the money their daughter sends every month be4 he decides what to do. sounds like he has found a black hole with regards to his contributions to the village economics.

Edited November 29, 2007 by blizzard

[londonthai]

it's your thai family, including your wife, who should have ideas where to invest - they live there all they lifes and know more about local economy (no, they don't have to have master degree to see the opportunities).

yes, opening a food stall, as well as a small corner shop, a laundry shop (maybe you would have to invest into several authomatic washing mashines - but the great majority of laundry shops in thailand use the old fashion, semi authomatic ones).

[chownah]

Living in such a tiny village and making 220 baht per day and owning 8 rai of land...I'd say they are pretty well set at least as far as being secure in thier home and having food on the table. They probably eat about 4 kilo of rice per day so 3 rai should provide all their rice even if the yields are low....actuallly renting out 8 rai of rice land would probably provide at least most if not all of their rice for the year. Raising a few chickens and some vegetables should be easy with all the kids around to help mom out. Maybe a cow?....depends on how far it is to the nearest available pasture land. I'd say they are proably fairly secure. In an emergency I'm assuming they could rely on you and your wife which is alot more than most Thai's have to fall back on.

Also, most Thai's are not really into self sufficient...they're more into making money so they can buy phones, motorbikes, TV's, etc.....and I've got no problem with that since I like those things too. My guess is that they already have all of these things but of course would like newer and better ones.

I'm mentioning this stuff just to indicate that you and your wife's family are probably not on the same page when it comes to the ethic of self sufficiency and what are the priorities for using additional income or the priorities of what kind of benefits should be coming from additional efforts....whether those benefits should be in the future (long term security) or in the near term (enjoying the things that money can buy). I hope you see that I am not trying to flame these people but present what I think is a likely scenerio based on my village experience.....so I could be way off the mark relative to your family.

If you want to help them be self sufficient then I think the best guess would be to get them some land that is irrigated and is very close to their house....unless their land already fits this description. Land that is far away can not be efficiently utilized because of the travel time and expense and also because of thievery. A plot of land either in the village or on the very edge might be good as it could be used for self sufficiency farming now and in the event that the village should eventually grow it could provide buildling lots.....with all the kids it seems likely that when they grow up they would be more likely to stay in the village and take care of mom and dad in their old age if there was a building lot right there with their name on it.

Chownah

[blizzard]

poor villagers using washing machines............huh?

poor villiagers eating at food stalls is a luxury they cant afford.

pop makes 220 baht a day. tv and mobiles phone? must be the least of their worries.

Edited November 29, 2007 by blizzard

[Chloe82]

What happened to the pizza shop?

[blizzard]

sense of humour too! wow, i like.

[Khun Jean]

its not good advice sir.

what happens when u pay off debts for others? they do the same things that got them in debt in the first place.

coconut trees? huh?

edukation is goo d advice. but op i dont think is willing to spend what it would take to edukate all 6 kids plus momma and poppa,

shouldnt op look into what family is doing with the money their daughter sends every month be4 he decides what to do. sounds like he has found a black hole with regards to his contributions to the village economics.

Getting rid of debts is not a good advice? Well that is new for me.

You do know that there are people in Thailand that HAVE to borrow money for an emergency or maybe something essential like virtilizer for the land or a waterpump or whatever is essential to maintain an income stream.

Not all borrow money for a new mobile or the latest gadget.

Sometimes a debt of only about 10-30K makes lives for poorer people very difficult because the interest is probably 500-2000 baht a month. Money that could be spend on other necessities and maybe even in saving for later.

I have a mobile phone (a 6 year old nokia ) and i use prepaid cards.

It uses at least 300 baht a month only to keep it working.

Getting rid of those is the first.

But try telling your family members to get rid of their mobiles. It is almost impossible i think.

But nevertheless it is a good indicator if people are REALLY poor.

Coconut, rice, rubber, mangos, whatever. If they have 8 rai land it should be able to make enough money for them, especially if the father already has a good paying job.

Combined it should be enough for the essentials.

Education is for the kids, old people not really respond well to education, they already have a lifetime experience.

The money that is send now, probably is spend for non essentials. It comes in bursts and probably on a regular schedule.

My guess, they already are self-sufficient but could use a little extra to make life more comfortable and more security.

Nothing wrong with that, it happens to be the reason why i am stil working.

[blizzard]

gettinjg rid of debts is number one in becumming financially self sufficient. but not if atm(farang) pays it off. family will just get into debt again and then farang have to pay it off again.

i do agree that money that is being sent is probably being wasted. they get it every month.

why should family change theY GET MONTHLY STIPEND. i bet they happy as poor villagers could be.

ITS THE FARANG THAT DOESNT WANT TO KEEP SENDING MONEY OVER.

it would help us to accesss situation if op told us how much munney wife sends over every month.

[Spee]

I am married to a Thai lady, we lived in Bangkok for 11months, and have been in the UK for 3 years in total. my wife has constantly sent money to her parents and I figured that if we got them to invest some of our money they could perhaps almost self sustain, and not need my wife to constantly poor money into them.

.........................

My wife's mum has 6 adopted children to look after and her father earns 220baht a day. they own a plot of 8rai of land in the province of Petchabun and live in a wodden house which needs knocking down and replacing with a better structure. the village they live in has a population of about 1000ppl, its very poor and off the beacon tourist track.

I have some differing opinions that some of the other responders, except for the investing bit, which I don't really think is a valid idea. The same goes for the time and expense to open a small store or food kitchen. There is a lot of competition, and there may be resentment if your new business takes food off some other family's table. I'm not saying it isn't worth consideration, but just be aware of all the factors.

Your wife seems a bit like my partner. She sends money home because she probably feels obligated to do so. In the minds of many Thai's, especially daughters from the country, to not take care of one's parents is to risk bad luck in the current and next life. Most likely, she would feel ashamed to not take care of them. To me, that is good karma and a sign of a kind heart and there is nothing wrong with either.

It seems fair to say that mobile phones are a big expense for a country family on a small budget. Aside from the love of jabbering, there is some value to that expense. If someone ever gets seriously ill or badly injured out in the country, that phone can be a lifeline to get some help. Is a few hundred baht a month worth the price of a life? I would say take the good with the bad, and keep the lifeline open for emergencies.

As for what to do with any other money that you may have available to help this family, I would go back to basics and take your time doing it.

- Take care of the adopted children's health, especially if they are very young. Get them in to a dentist and to see a doctor regularly for basic checkups and immunizations. Make sure they have basic oral, internal and external health. Make sure their vision and hearing are good.

- Help the kids out with some clothing. A new shirt or set of clothes to someone who has nothing can do wonders for self-esteem. Same goes for a good pair of shoes to protect their feet.

- Education is also something good to think about, although six kids in private school can add up, assuming there is one nearby. We have my partner's daughter in a private school in Phetchabun province. It is about 40,000thb per year paid quarterly, plus other expenses for bus, food, uniforms, field trips, etc.

Talk this over with your wife and let her be the interface to the family. Let her suggest some things and see what the response is. Take it slowly. See how these things go and are appreciated. This may give you an indication of how to take the next step.

From personal experience, one of my partner's brothers is a basically a good guy and a hard worker when there is work around. Unfortunately, when there is no work around, he is not too highly motivated. I've tried to help him out, by asking him to do some work at the house (e.g., painting). We agree on a fair price and he gets a small piece up front and the rest when finished. It's not much but it keeps some money in his pocket and keeps him busy for a bit.

He wants me to help him out and we've talked about some things he wants to do such as livestock (he already has one cow bought with his own money and is buying another). I would like to help him get to a sufficiency point (maybe 10-15 head or more with some good females and a good bull), but it has to be done on my time and with terms that are agreeable to me. This means slowly and one step at a time. And it will be a hand-up not a hand-out. If I help him to make a profit, then we share the reward or he pays me back, or some other terms.

It seems like both you and your wife are "jai dee mahk" and have some means and ability to be able to help these people out. I wish you well. Good luck.

[ozzydom]

I would hazard a quess that the OPs family is quite large and that the 6 "adopted"kids are not adopted in the western sense ,but are offspring of family members who have a child and within weeks pass the child on to the matriarch of the family and hotfoot it to Bangkok to work at whatever their occupation may be.

You cannot give village folk a stipend and then dictate how it is to be spent ,whether they spend wisely or piss it up on easy living and rice whiskey its up to them,if you want to give them a monthly cash present ,just give it and dont worry about what its used for .

The culture of Thai villagers generally is not of betterment in the sense that we use the word but of seeming to be doing better than their peers,which can mean having a better mobile phone or being able to buy a bottle of hooch anytime they wish..

I speak from hard learned experience as I live in a village,plus I paid off the family debt and made sure that my TW,s 5 brothers and sisters received clear title to 3 rai each of river frontage rice land ,but getting any of the lazy sods to improve their life by doing a second cash crop per year ,you have got to be joking.

.

[bendix]

gettinjg rid of debts is number one in becumming financially self sufficient. but not if atm(farang) pays it off. family will just get into debt again and then farang have to pay it off again.

i do agree that money that is being sent is probably being wasted. they get it every month.

why should family change theY GET MONTHLY STIPEND. i bet they happy as poor villagers could be.

ITS THE FARANG THAT DOESNT WANT TO KEEP SENDING MONEY OVER.

it would help us to accesss situation if op told us how much munney wife sends over every month.

I'm sure you write a lot of sense blizzard, but frankly the stupid way you have of spelling and expressing yourself makes me too bored to bother reading what you post. 'Edukation' indeed. Good grief.

[soundman]

This is easy.

Whatever scheme you think up, if you are not in control of the money, it will dissappear in the blink of an eye. Spending it quickly on all those things the inlaws have always wanted will become a priority for them. Forget about investing & regenerating cash, a new motorbike is far more important.

Don't do it.

Soundman.

[Johpa]

I am married to a Thai lady, we lived in Bangkok for 11months, and have been in the UK for 3 years in total. my wife has constantly sent money to her parents and I figured that if we got them to invest some of our money they could perhaps almost self sustain, and not need my wife to constantly poor money into them.

In rural Thailand, having a Farang son-in-law is the definition of self-sufficiency. The best thing you can do is find an investment for yourself that will generate a few thousand baat a month and that will eventually pay off the original investment, and then you send that generated income in your in-law's direction.

[JetsetBkk]

I'm sure you write a lot of sense blizzard, but frankly the stupid way you have of spelling and expressing yourself makes me too bored to bother reading what you post. 'Edukation' indeed. Good grief.

Aww, give the lad some credit Bendix! I was going to congratulate him on how much his spelling had improved, apart from "edukation" of course.

[soundman]

gettinjg rid of debts is number one in becumming financially self sufficient. but not if atm(farang) pays it off. family will just get into debt again and then farang have to pay it off again.

i do agree that money that is being sent is probably being wasted. they get it every month.

why should family change theY GET MONTHLY STIPEND. i bet they happy as poor villagers could be.

ITS THE FARANG THAT DOESNT WANT TO KEEP SENDING MONEY OVER.

it would help us to accesss situation if op told us how much munney wife sends over every month.

I'm sure you write a lot of sense blizzard, but frankly the stupid way you have of spelling and expressing yourself makes me too bored to bother reading what you post. 'Edukation' indeed. Good grief.

Its funny that, all his early posts on the board were all fairly close to being error free & nearly gramatically correct....

Must have lost his spell checker.

[tijnebijn]

He is not helping out to much anyway is he ?

[Khun Jean]

It is after 15:00, so it probably is the booze.

[paulsmithson]

I think it is highly likely you are both wasting your time! Most poor Thais do not have any ambition nor any perspective. They live as they always have-one day at a time!

20 years ago I was as niave as you and sent money to help my sister in law start a new busines in Bangkok.

She and her lazy husband simply sat on their fat <deleted> for 12 months doing nothing-till the cash was spent.

Most Thais have no ambition and no belief in theirselves nor their future!

[blizzard]

peeple concentrate on my massage not how i spell....lol.

the consensu s is if u want to be happily married to your gurl keep your mouth unopened and keep the status quo.

having a poor village people famly gain self suffiency by giving them 150, 000 baht aint gonna happen.

Edited November 29, 2007 by blizzard