Buddy, Can You Spare A Baht?

[marshbags]

Bangkok Post, Spectrum, Sunday November 16, 2008

Buddy, can you spare a baht?

Bangkok's central shopping district provides a steady income for beggars from across the border and their mysterious controllers.

Maxmilian Wechsler

Last Sunday at 10am, about 40 people boarded buses in Phra Pradaeng district and in other parts of Samut Prakan province, bound for nearby Bangkok.

Once in the city, the dozen or so "units" disembarked and positioned themselves at selected locations like Emporium on Sukhumvit road and the entrance to the Nana BTS station near Sukhumvit road soi 7.

Other teams occupied prime spots on bridges and walkways connecting MBK and the Siam Discovery centres. They also took up positions across the street from Siam Paragon, opposite Siam and Lido cinemas and outside Big C Supercentre on Ratchadamri Road opposite CentralWorld. By midday, all units (about 13) were ready for action. This is not a description of a planned military attack on commercial targets in central Bangkok, but of how well-organised the beggar gangs who ply the city's streets have become.

Passers-by, especially foreign tourists, appear surprised to encounter so many beggars on a Sunday, especially the large number who are not disabled.

The weekend is the most profitable time for the begging teams who appeal to the soft-hearted among the throngs of shoppers and tourists.

Some Thais give money because they feel pity for fellow countrymen who have fallen on hard times, but what they don't know is that most of these people are from neighbouring Cambodia.

Foreigners who spoke to Spectrum also assumed these beggars were Thai and were surprised to learn otherwise.

A Thai interpreter working with this reporter was also fooled, but when she asked questions the answers given were in broken Thai, and the beggars confessed they were from Cambodia.

"It is not usual for Thais - unless they are disabled - to beg like that," she said, adding that "every Thai has enough food and a place to live and they will find work if they are healthy".

The same sentiment was expressed by other Thais when they were told of the beggars' nationality after dropping a coin - some banknotes - into their cups.

A woman beggar who gave her name as La, accompanied by three children all about the same age who she claimed were her daughters, was quite talkative. She recounted a life story that was almost identical to that of other beggars we spoke to.

"They are obviously coached by whoever controls them. The only major differences between them are their names, ages and the amount of money they can collect per day," the interpreter said.

Their coach may well have been the well-built man with a moustache who seemed to supervise several women with children. He watched them constantly and warned them when the police were nearby.

His other duty apparently was to control the amount of money in the beggars' cups. When a reasonable amount was collected, he emptied the cup, leaving only a few coins. We later learned he was also Cambodian.

La said she came from Poipet, a town just inside Cambodia, because "our country is very poor and we don't have enough money to live. My husband works in a factory in Phra Pradaeng and makes only 130 baht per day - not enough to feed our three children and pay for a 2,000 baht per month apartment. Therefore I have to make extra money by begging, something I've been doing since we arrived here about two years ago.

"I beg from noon to 9pm every day. I can make 300 to 400 baht. It's easy money. Why should I look for other work?"

La, who admitted to being in Thailand illegally, said she was afraid of the police and ran away whenever she was warned of their approach. She has never been arrested.

"The thesakit [uniformed Bangkok Metropolitan Administration police] order us to go away often. We do, and return a few minutes later, after they have gone. I'm not afraid of them because they can't arrest us."

La is usually positioned on the walkway close to Siam Discovery, and sometimes gives paper cups to the children, who beg on their own nearby. "We can make more money if we separate," she said.

Unquote

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This scenario can be / is taking place in many of the tourist locations and sadly shows a bad light on the really needy members of society as many of us have witnessed over the years.

Be wary when giving alms and maybe observe the beggars for awhile before doing so.

IMHO as always

There are tell tale signs within this article that could help you decide if they are genuine and deserving.

Me, I tend to give to non beggars who are obviously in need of help, but do not ask directly for money ect. ( it doesn,t have to be money by the way, if there is a shop or stall nearby )

marshbags

Edited November 16, 2008 by marshbags

[chiang mai]

Good post. Over the years I have almost learned to spot the real beggars from the rest and in recent times there are only two or three people that I give money to whenever I see them. One of those people is a Thai man who has massively deformed limbs and for the past few years has perched on the pavement on Soi Nana, just up from the Dynasty. The women with babies (and now puppies also) just don't do it for me I'm afraid, ditto the seemingly crippled man who drags himself along the pavement on Sukhumvit/Soi 7 pushing a plastic bowl before him.

[Crash999]

A while ago a friend and I were having a pizza in Pattaya and noticed a beggar had just set up shop below us on the sidewalk. He curled his fingers and waied folks as they walked past, as if he had bad arthritis. Once his cup had more than around 4 or 5 coins in it he would take his fanny pack from behind and empty all but one coin into it. He made around 150 baht or so in the 45 minutes we watched him. Not sure who he had to pay or how much of his takings, but that's a day's factory wages so not a bad taking.