Setting Your Thai Inlaws Up To Self Sustain

[Chloe82]

{quote}

According to a United Nations report issued in 2000, Thailand has 9.8 million poor people, 5.8 million ultra poor people and 3.4 million almost poor people. The total figure is 19 million, or 29.9% of the population, and is concentrated in provinces along the borders in the West, North, and Northeast regions.

You are taking numbers from a report where the data was gathered in 1999 which is only 2 years after the Asian economic crisis which crippled the Thai economy, Later on, as the economy improved, the percentage of population living in abject poverty decreased, During the period from 2000 to present the economic growth has sustained and the income level of Thai people has increased, the percentage of population living in poverty has decreased.

Hardly difficult economics to understand.

[menorah]

. 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.

You're trying to change a cultural trait that has been established for millenia! Thai culture is based on inter-dependancy not independance. The parents will expect to be 'helped out'.

Best you can do is budget the 150K as a set amount each month. Unless the family are educated (unlikely) they will not be able to adjust to your ways.

Embrace the culture and invest onlt that which you can afford to lose.

Regards Paul.

[Chloe82]

By-the-way, my original post was in responce to someone who claimed that the amount of people in Thailand living in abject poverty was a majority and not a minority.

So even if your post held any weight you would still be proving my original point as being correct.

Chloe.

Edited November 30, 2007 by Chloe82

[candoman89]

Can we stop the personal insults please. If you have nothing to add to the original subject don't post at all.

okay...........Chloe is pretty and smart (this is a personal compliment) but she uses percentages for statistics. My former stats prof said when you use percentages for statistics the statistics are like a bikini.....what they hide is more interesting than what they reveal!!!!

IMHO you should LEND the family the money in small bunches with no interest due. Check on what they do with the money before you release the next installment. But, be prepared to forgive the debt in the end if they do manage to make a go of it. If they squander it away then tell them that is it....the food trough is empty.

[DarwinK]

anyone else tink chloe is hot stuff?

Sorry, not really. Based on her posts, I find her closer to hot as in ใจร้อน

But to each his own...

[Chloe82]

anyone else tink chloe is hot stuff?

Sorry, not really. Based on her posts, I find her closer to hot as in ใจร้อน

But to each his own...

I'm not realy jai rawn, i just like having a bit of fun.

[Bagwan]

My sister in law and her husband were thrown off a farm in Petchabun that they worked for an absentee landlord when he lost it in a card game. We bought a 5 rai area of undeveloped land and got the local wood merchant to cut down all the trees. We paid him by letting him keep the wood. A charcoal burner cleared all the brush (and snakes) and kept the proceeds. We got a local builder to dig out a hole of about 500 sq yds, 30 feet deep. He kept the spoil needed to build houses elsewhere. We dug a trench to connect to the local drainage system so that we now had a substantial reservoir. So far, not a cent paid out. Then about 1000 fish were purchased and some ducks and chickens.

Two of her brothers who worked in BKK were enlisted, one a builder, the other a carpenter, and all of us pitched in to build a substantial house. I paid them slightly more than they would have expected to earn in BKK. The provider of the supporting concrete columns drilled and set the posts in the ground for us free of charge after I arranged to buy all the sand,cement and tiles from him at a very good price. I attended to the plumbing and electrics and installed following UK best practice. The family now fully understand the concept of self sufficiency.

The smallholding is now set to high quality salad stuff which is purchased on a contract basis by a local wholesaler and chillies, bananas, gourds, mangoes, tamarind, chickens, eggs and fish sold off to neighbours on a retail basis or exchanged for other foodstuffs. Everything has been done in my wife's name so that she is the beneficial owner of the land but the fruits of her family's labours accrue to them. I have paid for a sprinkler system and powerful pump since this is clearly of benefit.

They have done so well that I then purchased another 20 rai directly across the lane from the original farm(ette). A few thousand was paid for the land, which had been set to tobacco, to be thoroughly turned over and some concrete footings removed. I twisted the builders arm to gouge out another, larger water storage area and was pleased when the rains came to find that the floods brought with them large quantities of local fish. This farm is set to more quality salad stuffs, eucalyptus and to accommodate a growing herd of cows. My wife, who works, spends her money buying young calves about 6 months old every year. The plan is to sell off some of the cattle as and when we decide to move further forward and purchase more land so that the two brothers working in BKK can come back into the family fold as it were and get back to working the land and hopefully take on additional jobbing work in their particular specialties.

What I have spent would accrue to my wife when I get carted down to the wat to disappear up a chimney so that it has not been money wasted, in fact just by being around, have ensured that all investment benefits her, and indirectly, her family. All capital investment has to be justified to me and is refused unless I can see it will produce profits clear.

The family can see that everything has been done for their benefit and their commitment and endeavour has been first class. Furthermore by having to work towards attaining a better standard of living they have retained their sense of self worth and respect rather than rely on what they might otherwise regard as charity. They have been appraised by my wife that I am not a soft touch, I will only finance what is considered a need and not a want (i.e. buy your own motorbike) and that their efforts will ensure a more cheery future for all.

[blizzard]

mr bagwan

with all due respect to yr good work.

i dont think youve given a good example of a family achieving self sufficency. seeems many things were given to them and still is being given to them.

sounds to me you willing to pour money into this family to keep them self sufficient.

also the services u got werent free u just paid in a currency other than cash.

[Spee]

mr bagwan

with all due respect to yr good work.

i dont think youve given a good example of a family achieving self sufficency. seeems many things were given to them and still is being given to them.

sounds to me you willing to pour money into this family to keep them self sufficient.

also the services u got werent free u just paid in a currency other than cash.

Mr. Bagwan,

That body temperature drizzle you feel running down your leg is blizzard trying to rain on your parade and offering nothing but negativity.

On the other hand, your work and contributions are positive, admirable and a great example of how to provide a hand up rather than a hand out. You and everyone who is involved with this growing family small business should be pleased and proud. I think it's a wonderful example.

Cheers,

Spee

Edited November 30, 2007 by Spee

[girlx]

My wife's mum has 6 adopted children to look after and her father earns 220baht a day.

sounds like a hopeless case from the get go to me.

[Gary A]

Have your wife buy as much land near their farm as 100,000 baht will buy. Have her take the other 50,000 and buy a new Kubota mechanical buffalo. That extra land will keep them and the kids busy. They won't be able to sell anything because it will belong to your wife. Of course they keep all the proceeds and won't have to share it until you and your wife move there.

[thaipete]

It used to be rice in the field, fish in the river we are happy but now many Japanese companies accompany that

[Misty]

No, just asking that instead of 'Laughing Out Loud' at the figure of 13 percent, you show some statistics that show otherwise.

statistics aren't real. where the poverty line is drawn is arbitrary. each of us has a definition of poverty from which to judge.

Statistics comparing poverty levels might need some interpretation...For example, here's a list of such figures across a variety of countries.

Thailand (2004 est) 10%

China (2004 est) 10%

India (2002 est) 25%

South Korea (2003 est) 15%

Germany (2001 est) 11%

France (2004) 6.2%

UK (2002 est) 17%

USA (2004 est) 12%

Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/th...ields/2046.html

Based on this, maybe the OP should be sending money to folks in his home country.

Or is this simply a case of there being three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Cheers, Misty

[blizzard]

huh?my favorite expression.

i commended mr bagwan for his efforts. but it is disingenuine to say the family is self supporting. sounds like he is putting way more into the family to keep it self supporting , than op s wife sends her family.

if all issarn families could be so lucky when their sexy daughter s marry a farang.

[xyborg]

<br />but if u want to tr and help,, an animal show just said that pigs grow really fast......lol<br />

<br /><br /><br />

They fly too I think you'll find same as this money when they see it, fly in fly out gufaaaaaaaaaaaw

[meemiathai]

I think chloe has made a lot of good posts and she is cool.

It is pathetic though that some so called men(better to call them faggots) have to post attacks based on gender. Shame on you! Go back to school and learn a few more hundred words and come back so you can make better sentences.

You can disagree with each other but to use gender to argue about points just shows what weak men you are.

[blizzard]

huh?

who attacked chloe for being a hot babe?

[thaipete]

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.

My ex, never married but lived together 11 years, and she still works for me, I bought her parents their land in Bkk which was about to be reclaimed by the landlord, they promptly lost it to a money lender.

They took my ex from school at 11 years old and made her work tiling roof, I am still helping the parents, against my will, as she wants to win favour I would have them go for what they have done to her

[meemiathai]

huh?

who attacked chloe for being a hot babe?

Maybe I misread or misunderstood.

[blizzard]

meieiame calling tv posters faggots is not nice and is considered flaming, please be polite when flaming and not so obvious.

and can anyone tell me why pete used my post in his post.

[pnustedt]

My wife's family were in a similar position to that of the op. Now we live near the village and have set up a farming business which provides an income for both myself and any of the family who choose to work for us. The handouts have stopped and the family can make their own decisions regarding their spending priorities. I don't think you would achieve it on 150K tho.

[Heng]

Poverty is relative (as is being poor, middle class, or well to do).

The important thing is to set realistic "baby step" type achievable goals. They in all likelihood won't be moving up like George and Wheezy. These folks aren't living in difficult conditions because their Dell stock tanked or because they had a bad harvest last year or whatever... they likely achieved their current status over multiple generations. There's no quick fix.

[ozzydom]

How would you accurately measure poverty in a country that has no social security system,especially Thailand where family and relative support each other, the daily gathering of several households to share food is not just a social gathering but the haves sharing with the have nots..

Governments,United Nations,World Bank ,IMF and so on all use a different formula to measure poverty ,for instance UN say less than a US$ a day is poverty whereas others use the local cost of a basket of essential food enough to sustain a family as the poverty line.

There is no dole office for registration of unemployment,rural workers do not declare casual income etc so I have reservations about any pie in the sky statistics and percentages I read.

[TonyLeung]

chloe looks pretty cute, imho.

[kangeroo]

Hi yes when we all meet and have a thai gf that might turn out to be your wife the problem with money is always there ,i got round the problem by living near a city where she can go and work for 6 or 7 hours a day, in my case Korat she works in a family mart . Ok its only 5000 bht a month but she can give that to the family and she feels good about it and i can go and play golf . its ok for now with no problems . cheers.

[Bagwan]

Oh Mr. Blizzard. So much negativity in your posts. May I suggest you read again, this time very slowly, and make a greater effort in reaching an acceptable level of comprehension?

Everything, everything, that has been bought is in my wife's name. She owns everything. Being a happily married couple what hers is mine and vice versa. We do not consider ourselves individuals but each being one half of a pair. What we have done is to change the classification of some of our assets. Rather than a large amount of cash appearing on the left hand side of our profit and loss account, there is real estate, farm tools and implements. It has been a simple cash conversion. The bottom line has remained the same although allowance must be made for depreciation of assets. On the other hand the family have improved the properties by building fences from natural resources, keeping drainage ditches free and unencumbered.

All the family have been given is the use of the means and tools to attain a level of self sufficiency. They work and are paid in kind. They invest in their future by paying for the required fertilizer, seeds and seedlings. Since they care for the cattle they should be rewarded and they have been promised ownership of the first cow from next year's crop of calves. This will give them a start to building up their own herd of cows. It is hoped that in the fullness of time they will sell off some of them and use the proceeds to buy their own land, build a house on it etc etc.

I propose that such a scheme has all the elements of them working their way out of abject poverty by their own efforts and standing on their own two feet rather than harbouring the forlorn hope that one day a Thai Government take care of all the Thai peoples rather than just the bloated, avaricious, self serving Hi So's. I believe that sentient people would judge my family's efforts as striving to be self sufficient.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

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.

My ex, never married but lived together 11 years, and she still works for me, I bought her parents their land in Bkk which was about to be reclaimed by the landlord, they promptly lost it to a money lender.

They took my ex from school at 11 years old and made her work tiling roof, I am still helping the parents, against my will, as she wants to win favour I would have them go for what they have done to her

the paents sound like real bastards and / or complete idiots.

[blizzard]

with all due respects sir.

you have a good heart but how many poverty stricken peeple r given the tools and means to succeed.

your family is on the right track coz they at least appreciate what youve GIVEN them. they know how to cater to the boss or else they dont get paid.

yet with all youve given them it doesnt seem to be enuff as the brothers have to still work in bangkok.

so many say they dont give poor wifes family money yet it seems those give the most.

holy cow! i did reread yr original post and it contained a whole lotta i did this , i did that, i will give the ok, and very few we decided on things.

wise man say watch out what you ask for it may cum true.

is anyone able to tell im not questioning baggys intent. just his claim of a poverty stricken family attaining self suficncy without a whole lot of farang money.

Edited December 1, 2007 by blizzard

[TonyLeung]

self suficncy the key to hapee times right blizrd ?

[blizzard]

i guess so especially if the guy giving the family money to be self sufficient says so.