Everything is rapidly going downhill around the globe as far as the economy is concerned. Thailand seems to be hit with it a little slower than many countries. But with the crisis I see a lot of business failures abd workers out of job.

In your opinion which of the following are going to suffer the most of all from the downturn?

Bob the builder

Rob the realtor

Dave the developer

Pat the pimp

Mary the masseuse

Wanda the waitress

Ted the taxi driver

Earl the expat

Paul the politician

Tommy the tourist

Bill the bar owner

My appologies for not using Thai names, but I don't know many.

Feel free to extend the list.

No one is completely immune to an economic meltdown and the ensuing chaos. However, I would say Farangs with retirement income who started farming a few years ago will survive the best. Simple life etc.

I don't have retirement income, but I am a farang who started farming a few years ago (avos) - thanks for the encouraging sentiment.

Regardless of what happens in economies, people are still going to have to eat and have a place to sleep. Luxury services and products will probably take a hit, as once-rich people in general tighten their belts. Thai Tourism authorities won't figure that out for a long time, as they're so seized on thinking the development of high end tourist facilities is the only way to go: more deluxe resorts, etc.

The people who focus on services and products with practical purposes will fare comparatively well. One exception may be fortune tellers, who seem to do well in tough times, as there are always those who are driven to look to hocus pocus (and religion) to find direction in their lives.

Interesting to note the massive shedding of jobs related to Wall Street - and other types of paper pushers. None of those people produce any useful products, and the only services they provide have to do with basically pushing paper around. I don't shed a tear for them losing their jobs. Maybe some can go in to making straw baskets or moping floors - at least they'd be doing something useful.

I think Tommy the tourist will soon be out of a job.

People selling basic cheap food will do OK. I recently read that in hard times, higher end prostitutes do even better business than normal times, but I forget the reason for that.

Manote the monk.

Who Is Most Likely To Survive

my money is on "porn the ping-pong girl"

The rich will survive because - like cockroaches - they survive and prosper whatever the situation. (That's, after all, the whole point of capitalism.)

Other than them, I guess people involved in making money from non-discretionary spending will do relatively better than others but given the extent to which credit has completely evaporated, it's quite possible that they too will be screwed.

I don't have retirement income, but I am a farang who started farming a few years ago (avos) - thanks for the encouraging sentiment.

Regardless of what happens in economies, people are still going to have to eat and have a place to sleep. Luxury services and products will probably take a hit, as once-rich people in general tighten their belts. Thai Tourism authorities won't figure that out for a long time, as they're so seized on thinking the development of high end tourist facilities is the only way to go: more deluxe resorts, etc.

The people who focus on services and products with practical purposes will fare comparatively well. One exception may be fortune tellers, who seem to do well in tough times, as there are always those who are driven to look to hocus pocus (and religion) to find direction in their lives.

Interesting to note the massive shedding of jobs related to Wall Street - and other types of paper pushers. None of those people produce any useful products, and the only services they provide have to do with basically pushing paper around. I don't shed a tear for them losing their jobs. Maybe some can go in to making straw baskets or moping floors - at least they'd be doing something useful.

Well said BB and agree with you on the paper pushers, maybe they will have to do some real work.

It's curious that those who are gloating over people losing their jobs in the financial services industry where not so critical when the 'Paper Round' was pushing up their investments, their house price was rocketing and early retirement in Thailand became a possibility.

No one is completely immune to an economic meltdown and the ensuing chaos. However, I would say Farangs with retirement income who started farming a few years ago will survive the best. Simple life etc.

Funny you should say that, my wife is all for doing the simple life thing when retirement comes our way.

It is much easier to pick the horse that will finish first than the one which will finish last.

My main list: a teacher, college professor, qualified english teachers

when people get laid off, or no job------ many choose to go back to school, or some kind of education or job training

The rich will survive because - like cockroaches - they survive and prosper whatever the situation. (That's, after all, the whole point of capitalism.)

Other than them, I guess people involved in making money from non-discretionary spending will do relatively better than others but given the extent to which credit has completely evaporated, it's quite possible that they too will be screwed.

Funny how people always get this one wrong.

It's not rich people who survive and prosper whatever the situation, it's people who survive and prosper whatever the situation who get rich.

The rich will survive because - like cockroaches - they survive and prosper whatever the situation. (That's, after all, the whole point of capitalism.)

Speaking like someone who knows nothing about how “most” the rich makes their money, generally.

The rich people generally have created or control companies that provide jobs.

If they own a business, they appear rich but it doesn't mean that they are sitting on bagfuls of money. It means they have a business that is valuable, and they are very likely working very hard to keep it valuable----and extra hard trying to keep their head just above the water in this tough economy.

Pat the Pimp, NO MONEY(Tourist) the Girls will FLEE THE SCENE! Why stay and get beat up by the pimp. NUFF SAID!

A fair number of the filthy rich inherited their businesses, and some do not run that business well. One of the only Klebergs who actually ran the King Ranch (the herd of cattle) was replaced by a non-family CEO type, whilst the royalty checks on the oil kept pouring in.

Suppliers of basic goods and services will survive, including those who provide naughty services to Thai men.

The rich will survive because - like cockroaches - they survive and prosper whatever the situation. (That's, after all, the whole point of capitalism.)

Other than them, I guess people involved in making money from non-discretionary spending will do relatively better than others but given the extent to which credit has completely evaporated, it's quite possible that they too will be screwed.

Funny how people always get this one wrong.

It's not rich people who survive and prosper whatever the situation, it's people who survive and prosper whatever the situation who get rich.

I am not surprise that this comes from a big admirer of Thaksin.

A fair number of the filthy rich inherited their businesses, and some do not run that business well. One of the only Klebergs who actually ran the King Ranch (the herd of cattle) was replaced by a non-family CEO type, whilst the royalty checks on the oil kept pouring in.

Suppliers of basic goods and services will survive, including those who provide naughty services to Thai men.

Well I don't think we are discussing the very top 5% of the cream here - just the "normal/general" RICH.

I agreed on the basic staples goods suppliers, however their profits will be shrinking too due to the rising cost of overall commondities prices, and lower personal purchasing power of their customers in this tough time.

Now about "the naughty services to Thai men" - I'm positively these girls will get skinner and skinner unless they too want to jump ship to the farang circles - wife, family, kid schools, and in-law supports will always come first.

Everything is rapidly going downhill around the globe as far as the economy is concerned. Thailand seems to be hit with it a little slower than many countries. But with the crisis I see a lot of business failures abd workers out of job.

In your opinion which of the following are going to suffer the most of all from the downturn?

Bob the builder

Rob the realtor

Dave the developer

Pat the pimp

Mary the masseuse

Wanda the waitress

Ted the taxi driver

Earl the expat

Paul the politician

Tommy the tourist

Bill the bar owner

My appologies for not using Thai names, but I don't know many.

Feel free to extend the list.

Dave the developer is an interesting charecter, should the sales of property slow, then his cash flow is restricted for further developments, but will the banks see him as low risk and give him credit to continue developing, in which case he would survive and eventually emerge ok.

I think Dave will suffer....but not as much as Bill the bar owner, in hard times people tend to do take outs and drink at home...

Everything is rapidly going downhill around the globe as far as the economy is concerned. Thailand seems to be hit with it a little slower than many countries. But with the crisis I see a lot of business failures abd workers out of job.

In your opinion which of the following are going to suffer the most of all from the downturn?

Bob the builder

Rob the realtor

Dave the developer

Pat the pimp

Mary the masseuse

Wanda the waitress

Ted the taxi driver

Earl the expat

Paul the politician

Tommy the tourist

Bill the bar owner

My appologies for not using Thai names, but I don't know many.

Feel free to extend the list.

mmmmmmmm..... the common link between all the above business types is that they can all be run as "cash-in-hand" type businesses: by their nature "cih" businesses are very flexible and in theory, if managed properly, should be the last in the line to fold.

The problem with them is that their "cih" nature often means the owners have bad cash flow for anything out of the ordinary - and that equates to bad savings.

In summary: so long as Bob the builder and his buddies had the self discipline to save in the good times (and "cih" businesses are well known for bad discipline when it comes to saving) they should be just fine - in fact they should in theory be the last to fold.

Everything is rapidly going downhill around the globe as far as the economy is concerned. Thailand seems to be hit with it a little slower than many countries. But with the crisis I see a lot of business failures abd workers out of job.

In your opinion which of the following are going to suffer the most of all from the downturn?

Bob the builder

Rob the realtor

Dave the developer

Pat the pimp

Mary the masseuse

Wanda the waitress

Ted the taxi driver

Earl the expat

Paul the politician

Tommy the tourist

Bill the bar owner

My appologies for not using Thai names, but I don't know many.

Feel free to extend the list.

mmmmmmmm..... the common link between all the above business types is that they can all be run as "cash-in-hand" type businesses: by their nature "cih" businesses are very flexible and in theory, if managed properly, should be the last in the line to fold.

The problem with them is that their "cih" nature often means the owners have bad cash flow for anything out of the ordinary - and that equates to bad savings.

In summary: so long as Bob the builder and his buddies had the self discipline to save in the good times (and "cih" businesses are well known for bad discipline when it comes to saving) they should be just fine - in fact they should in theory be the last to fold.

Agreed Maizefarmer.....would Stan the scaffolder, or harry the hod see a downturn if things slowed and contracts were scarce.....or maybe a cut in contract rates???