The Rural Poor Of Thailand... Some Surprises

[xenophanes]

Some interesting reading....

The Down-Trodden Rural Poor of Thailand

It's not quite what you think

Here's what you need to know about the rural have-nots of Thailand. They are the richest poor people in the Third World. And they owe none of their affluence to Thaksin Shinawatra.

Fugitive former Prime Minster Thaksin, a billionaire wanted in connection with corruption and tax-evasion on a staggeringly egregious scale, has done a remarkable job of convincing the world that he is the champion of the rural poor in Thailand, and that such prosperity as the farmer enjoys is in some way due to him. Yet all of "his" programs have been in place for decades. His well-financed public-relations machine merely invented catchy new terms for them.

In Europe and North America, farmers tend to be affluent. A comparison is therefore not at all meaningful. But take a village carpenter in Thailand's northeast and compare him with a wood-worker in a small town in Iowa. To the American, the Thai seems impoverished, his house appalling basic, his expectations in life distressingly limited. But the Thai carpenter probably lives on family land rent-free, pays nothing to moderate the climate, produces his own vegetables, chickens, eggs and pork, and rides his own motor-cycle to his jobs. He's seen the American lifestyle on TV, and it's so far beyond the range of his experience, he doesn't feel deprived or envious.

Every village in Thailand was on the electricity grid long before Thaksin came on the scene, and virtually every village family has a refrigerator, electric rice-cooker, TV, radio and a couple of oscillating fans. Almost all rural households have a motorcycle, though it may be old and battered. In every village several families own pickup trucks. Animals are no longer used for farm work except in extremely remote corners of the kingdom. If farmers don't have a mini-tractor of their own, they rent or borrow one from a neighbor.

The "landless peasant" class exists, but is very small when compared with the Philippines, India and much of South America. The rich absentee farm landlord is almost unknown. Most farming families tend a small plot of land they own outright, mortgage-free (due to unscrupulous practices in the past, an outdated, paternalistic law prevents them putting up land as security with money-lenders, though they may borrow on anticipated harvests.) They sell a small cash crop through a co-operative. Their grown-up or adolescent children supplement the family income from jobs they hold in the cities.

Thailand, like the U.S., has a fallen-through-the-cracks underclass. While statistics*, as everywhere, have to be taken with a large measure of skepticism, officially 10% of the population is below the poverty line (12% in the U.S., 14% in Britain, 36% in Bangladesh). Of course, that means the poverty line for Thailand and no international comparisons are invoked. Poverty doesn't necessarily mean doing without TV or not being able to lean a beat-up old 100 c.c. Honda Dream by the door.

Unemployment in Thailand is 1.4% -- among the lowest in the world. Here it has to be cautioned that employment statistics are notoriously unreliable. Even in advanced countries, economists cannot agree whether to include the under-employed and those not actively seeking work. But unskilled work, if not well-paid, is not hard to find. My Bangkok apartment building has had a "security guard wanted" sign out for weeks.

During the dry season, many farmers supplement their income with construction work in the cities. But some prefer to do without extra luxuries and live the slow-paced, well-fed rural life. Two or three years ago, I found it impossible for several weeks to find a plumber to put in a new bathroom. Many "peasants" have become self-employed entrepreneurs and done well for themselves. Thaksin's policies had no discernible impact on the labor force.

There is no population pressure in Thailand, since each female, on average, gives birth to 1.6 children in her lifetime. That is well below replacement level, so the population will in time shrink unless immigration is vigorously promoted. Reduction in family size was achieved through education and the perceived economic benefits of smaller families, the same way it was reduced in Europe and Japan. This got started in the 1960s.

Wealth distribution in Thailand is no more extreme than in most industrialised countries. The poorest 10% of the people of Thailand own 2.6% of the nation's wealth. The richest 10% own 33.7%. In the U.S., the comparable figures are 2% and 30%, in the U.K. 2.1% and 28.5%. These statistics may not be wholly reliable, but distribution of wealth is unquestionably much more equitable than in China, India, Brazil or South Africa. Even isolated Thai villages, especially in the central plains, would seem very prosperous to rural Pakistanis and positively utopian to most Nigerians. Thaksin's much-vaunted "village revolving development funds" financing local enterprise had their antecedents in the 1970s.

All main roads in Thailand are paved (close to First-World standards), and most secondary roads are surfaced, as are a good many of the tracks that lead into remote villages, even in the poorer north and northeast parts of the country. It was like this when Thaksin was still a bankrupt ex-cop.

There are slums in Bangkok, but you have to go out of your way to find them. Since almost everyone is employed, squatters on state land in the cities often live there by choice because it is rent-free. You certainly do not have to go out of your way to see red-light districts. Incomes from the sex industry (obviously denied to those lacking looks and personally) exceed factory wages fivefold or more. The blind and maimed can apply for state aid, but street begging is often more lucrative. One sets one's own moral priorities.

There was care at government hospitals and health clinics long before Thaksin came along with his fancy $1 scheme. Treatment is not world-class but it is medical care nonetheless. People in need of operations get them for small fees, and if they have no money the charge is written off. No one is turned away from emergency rooms at government hospitals. Doctors who went through medical school on state scholarships owe as many years of modestly paid service in rural hospitals as they had in tuition.

Almost no Thais are unable read & write. Girls on average get 14 years of schooling and boys 13 years (note that girls are ahead). About 1.75 million post-secondary students (over 20% of their age group) are enrolled in universities (ranging from world-class to barely respectable), two-year colleges or vocational schools. Bright kids from poor families get government scholarships, so up-by-the-bootstraps success stories are so common as to be unremarkable. This high rate of upward social mobility goes back at least half a century.

Infant deaths per 1,000 live births in Thailand tallies 17, compared with 180 in Angola, 153 in Afghanistan and 6 in the U.S. Life-expectancy at birth is 73.1 years (78.1 in the U.S., 66.1 in Russia). HIV-positive people make up 1.4% of Thailand's population (0.6% in the U.S.)

With a population of 66 million, Thailand has 62 million registered cellphones and 7 million landlines. Service is as reliable as it is in Europe. One-fourth of the people regularly use the Internet. Thaksin's own company, which prospered prodigiously while he was prime minister, had one-third of the nation's mobile-phone customers. He sold the firm to an investment arm of the Singapore government (and paid no income tax).

Thailand routinely exports more than it imports. It is attractive for foreign direct investment. It therefore has enormous foreign reserves, and even though the country has few natural resources to sell abroad, its reserves, at $138 billion, are the 10th highest in the world. (Britain has $56 billion, Australia $45 billion). This means plenty of capital for employment-creating new manufacturing jobs, which entice rural folk seeking work in cities. The Thai currency is so strong that even recent political troubles have not budged it.

Contrary to a widespread perception, the country's main exports are not agricultural products, but cars & trucks, motorcycles & vehicle parts (made by foreign-owned subsidiary companies). Exported pick-up trucks, the biggest single-selling item, contain negligible imported parts. One Japanese manufacturer sources its world-wide production of one-ton pickups, including those sold in Japan, from its Thai factories. Machinery is another big export, as are components for computers and other electronic goods, textiles, garments & footwear, processed food and animal fodder. Way down the list of foreign-currency earners are rice, sugar and tourism.

Over the years the Thai government has routinely produced a trade surplus, a current-account surplus and (though not this year) a budget surplus.

Since 1960 (when Thaksin was 11) no "developing" country has exceeded Thailand in average annual per-capita GDP growth. The farmers are still poor by western standards, but they've had their share of this rising affluence, and they are better off than rural folk in any other nation on earth for which we reserve the term Third World. ✹

* All statistics quoted in this article were independently cross-referenced from at least three of these sources: UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Devt. Bank, IMF, CIA, WHO, Bank of Thailand, Thai National Statistics Office. In no case is a figure quoted from purely Thai sources. In addition, plausibility comparisons were made with the statistics of a number of other countries.

[PaulDee]

Excellent and informative post, Xenophanes.

Thank you. A real eye opener.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Excellent and informative post, Xenophanes.

Thank you. A real eye opener.

Seconded!

[anon7867763]

There are still millions who wake up at the crack of dawn and do back breaking work all day long 6 or 7 days a week.Live in extremely basic houses and wouldnt survive without financial help from their offspring.Alot of them are actually in debt but its obviosly not recorded in the statistics , many of them pay high rates of interest but Unicef and world bank etc have no idea about this.If you took time to move around Bangkok and not just stay arouns Sukhumvit and the centre you will cllearly see slums that accomodate hundreds of thousands of people.A construction labour worker will typically earn around 6.000 baht a month , I´d like to see you do that.Have you ever been to many places up country ? I doubt it.

Wake up , these orginazations have no idea and just sit in their offices playing around with numbers and not reality.Most of this article is complete rubbish.

Thailand has ALOT of poverty , no people dot starve to death Thailand is known as the garden of Asia and produces alot of food but alot of people in Thailand have an extremely hard life.

Just because they smilealot , it doesn´t mean they are comfortable like the people who work in UNICEF , World bank and yourself etc

[wintermute]

If you took time to move around Bangkok and not just stay arouns Sukhumvit and the centre you will cllearly see slums that accomodate hundreds of thousands of people.A construction labour worker will typically earn around 6.000 baht a month , I´d like to see you do that.Have you ever been to many places up country ? I doubt it.

The slum workers are mostly migrants from Myanmar, Laos, etc.. Your average up country Thai folk don't come to Bangkok to lay bricks in the hot sun when there are so many stall and service industry jobs that pay better with far less effort.

Thailand has ALOT of poverty , no people dot starve to death Thailand is known as the garden of Asia and produces alot of food but alot of people in Thailand have an extremely hard life.

Statistically speaking it's far better than other developing nations and its economy doesn't hinge on tourism and agriculture like people think. I've been saying this awhile too and in my line of work I see Thai corporations making most of their money through pan-asian business.

Let's put it this way i'd rather be a peasant living in Thailand with a plot of family land to live off of than living in an urban slum in India or even some place like provincial Russia.

Edited May 9, 2010 by wintermute

[Zstarx]

Great to compare the economies of America and Thailand to see which has been managed best, could probably throw in the UK and half of Europe

[wintermute]

Great to compare the economies of America and Thailand to see which has been managed best, could probably throw in the UK and half of Europe

Greece, Spain, Portugal, etc.. are heavily in debt and will drag down the rest of the EU eventually. Not to mention the "developing" nations under the EU wing are probably economic time bombs too.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Which is why I am getting the <deleted> outta Dodge...

[philw]

There are still millions who wake up at the crack of dawn and do back breaking work all day long 6 or 7 days a week.Live in extremely basic houses and wouldnt survive without financial help from their offspring.Alot of them are actually in debt but its obviosly not recorded in the statistics , many of them pay high rates of interest but Unicef and world bank etc have no idea about this.If you took time to move around Bangkok and not just stay arouns Sukhumvit and the centre you will cllearly see slums that accomodate hundreds of thousands of people.A construction labour worker will typically earn around 6.000 baht a month , I´d like to see you do that.Have you ever been to many places up country ? I doubt it.

Wake up , these orginazations have no idea and just sit in their offices playing around with numbers and not reality.Most of this article is complete rubbish.

Thailand has ALOT of poverty , no people dot starve to death Thailand is known as the garden of Asia and produces alot of food but alot of people in Thailand have an extremely hard life.

Just because they smilealot , it doesn´t mean they are comfortable like the people who work in UNICEF , World bank and yourself etc

Absolutely right.

The quoted article is very misleading I think.

Philw

[sbk]

There are still millions who wake up at the crack of dawn and do back breaking work all day long 6 or 7 days a week.Live in extremely basic houses and wouldnt survive without financial help from their offspring.Alot of them are actually in debt but its obviosly not recorded in the statistics , many of them pay high rates of interest but Unicef and world bank etc have no idea about this.If you took time to move around Bangkok and not just stay arouns Sukhumvit and the centre you will cllearly see slums that accomodate hundreds of thousands of people.A construction labour worker will typically earn around 6.000 baht a month , I´d like to see you do that.Have you ever been to many places up country ? I doubt it.

Wake up , these orginazations have no idea and just sit in their offices playing around with numbers and not reality.Most of this article is complete rubbish.

Thailand has ALOT of poverty , no people dot starve to death Thailand is known as the garden of Asia and produces alot of food but alot of people in Thailand have an extremely hard life.

Just because they smilealot , it doesn´t mean they are comfortable like the people who work in UNICEF , World bank and yourself etc

Indeed there is alot of debt, much of it from gambling.

And yes alot of people in Thailand have a hard life. Alot of people everywhere have a hard life. Its called reality.

My father in law gets up at 5 am and works all day, he is 74 years old. He still gets the coconuts himself (doesn't do the tall trees anymore after his arm was broken by a falling coconut a couple of years ago). Does the whole smoking/ drying thing with the coconut meat, a very labor intensive practice.

He started out with nothing, orphaned at 8 years old and raised by a neighbor. He and all of his siblings bar one (the alcoholic) are very successful people. All having worked a very hard life to come from nothing to being very well to do. And all of them, despite their financial success, continue to work this way.

He doesn't drink, he doesn't gamble, he has a 6th grade education. (no school past that on the island when he was young). I have never once heard him complain about how hard it was growing up with nothing.

This isn't to say there aren't poor people with a hard life in Thailand, indeed there are poor people with a hard life in the richest countries in the world. But sometimes it is a good idea to consider these kinds of numbers when making assumptions about Thailand.

[Gary A]

Sounds like a super optimistic article to me. The 13 to 14 years of education? Where did that number come from? It must have been written by a Bangkok elite and designed to sooth his conscience..

[anon7867763]

If you took time to move around Bangkok and not just stay arouns Sukhumvit and the centre you will cllearly see slums that accomodate hundreds of thousands of people.A construction labour worker will typically earn around 6.000 baht a month , I´d like to see you do that.Have you ever been to many places up country ? I doubt it.

The slum workers are mostly migrants from Myanmar, Laos, etc.. Your average up country Thai folk don't come to Bangkok to lay bricks in the hot sun when there are so many stall and service industry jobs that pay better with far less effort.

Thailand has ALOT of poverty , no people dot starve to death Thailand is known as the garden of Asia and produces alot of food but alot of people in Thailand have an extremely hard life.

Statistically speaking it's far better than other developing nations and its economy doesn't hinge on tourism and agriculture like people think. I've been saying this awhile too and in my line of work I see Thai corporations making most of their money through pan-asian business.

Let's put it this way i'd rather be a peasant living in Thailand with a plot of family land to live off of than living in an urban slum in India or even some place like provincial Russia.

Sorry to inform you but you will mainly find many migrant workers living in tin shacks , these are tempory accomadations in and around construction sites.Actual slums (the most well known is Klong Toey)

is full of Thais not foreign workers.This is the most known slum because it is central so everybody has heard about it but there are many more.I move around bangkok by bike so i find these place which otherwise I certainly would not.

I share your sentiment regarding India , that has MEGA poverty

[473geo]

There are 2 items which I feel do not enhance your post

1) Judging the wealth of people on whether they have a fridge or truck is way below the level required to make fair comparrison, such as a home with the relevant affordable heating and cooling to make life comfortable regarding the change of seasons. Frankly I think the Thai would be aiming for the European level of housing not current African levels!!! Farmers in Europe are also subsidised at a high level (Euro 48 billiion p.a)(30 billion "on direct income support" - source:wiki)

2) The wealth distribution in Thailand never hinged on, if, how, or when, a certain political figure was around.......therefore your post could possibly be seen, not as a general information to educate people, but an awkward attempt at discrediting remarks and perceptions credited to that certain political figure

In short a clumsy attempt at a party political broadcast........shame, because most of what you say is quite true...... .

Edited May 9, 2010 by 473geo

[Heng]

Friends and acquaintances in construction vary as to what kinds of work crews they prefer. Some prefer local crews, some prefer Khmer, Karen, Burmese, etc. Hard to say "most" either way even when you narrow it down by industry (with exception of maybe the fishery/canning sector, which is highly Burmese).

[chickenslegs]

It took you several weeks to find a plumber for your new bathroom

Those rice farmers are just so wealthy they don't want to work...bastards.

[bprinceuk]

Interesting reading and all will have their own valid points depending on your personnel views on life

[Spee]

While I might not agree with everything in the article, I think it is generally on the money. Our house is out in the country in central Thailand and we get out to the towns in the area (Phetchabun, Taphan Hin, Phichit, Phisanulok) as well as the smaller areas, street markets, etc.

I think the sign of a country's strength is what happens out in the less populated areas. From the places we go, the local economies are bustling. Stores are busy. Street markets are full of all manner of meat, veg and fruit, and people flock there by the thousands every day. Producers are producing. Consumers are consuming. That is indicative of a healthy and vibrant economy and a productive community. Clean drinking water is inexpensive and plentiful. Basic medical care is available and inexpensive. Many other parts of the civilized and non-civilized world should be so lucky.

I would agree that Thailand has its share of poor, but in our neck of the woods, there are very few people living in poverty and there is often work available. At times, we have had a hard time finding people to work on the farm for 300 baht for a full day, not rich man's wages but certainly a living wage. There is a big difference between being poor and living in poverty.

[NanLaew]

While I was taking a <deleted> earlier and browsing the stats at the arse-end of a 6 week old Economist, I was heartened to read that Thai unemployment is a gobsmacking 0.9% (December).

Now where on earth did THAT gem of disinformation come from? The OP and pretty much anyone who can read joined up writing knows that the great unwashed of Isaan are a totally indolent, lazy and usually pickled lot... unless of course that 0.9% happens to be that family of ne'erdowells that live in the shack opposite my castle.

[basjke]

Fugitive former Prime Minster Thaksin, a billionaire wanted in connection with corruption and tax-evasion on a staggeringly egregious scale, has done a remarkable job of convincing the world that he is the champion of the rural poor in Thailand, and that such prosperity as the farmer enjoys is in some way due to him.

I can't say that he even tried to convince the outer world of this but he completely succeeded in making those rural Thai themselves believing his utter crap.

[basjke]

While I was taking a <deleted> earlier and browsing the stats at the arse-end of a 6 week old Economist, I was heartened to read that Thai unemployment is a gobsmacking 0.9% (December).

Now where on earth did THAT gem of disinformation come from? The OP and pretty much anyone who can read joined up writing knows that the great unwashed of Isaan are a totally indolent, lazy and usually pickled lot... unless of course that 0.9% happens to be that family of ne'erdowells that live in the shack opposite my castle.

As far as I know statistics about unemployment are taken from the agency that registers the unemployed for there compensation.Where in Thailand is an agency where the unemployed register or even would have a reason to register.

Oh I forgot,maybe they base their figures on one of those famous university polls which interview 5 people and a buffalo to generate their statistics for a country of 60 million people.

[thaihome]

The reaction to this fact based article is hardly surprising as it goes against everything so many believe about Thailand. The key point people have problem with the that Thailand is indeed a developing country, but amount developing countries it is at the top level.

One poster mentioned about the Bangkok slums, such as Klong Toey, and indeed within it are some truly deplorable housing, but next time that poster drives by one perhaps they could count the UBC dish antennas in that slum.

For unskilled labor on a constructions site, the wage is indeed just above the minimum, but anyone that knows anything about construction knows that unskilled labor is only about half or less of the workforce required. You can be sure the equipment operators, the electricians, pipefitters, welders, carpenters, etc, make a lot more.

TH

[wintermute]

I would agree that Thailand has its share of poor, but in our neck of the woods, there are very few people living in poverty and there is often work available. At times, we have had a hard time finding people to work on the farm for 300 baht for a full day, not rich man's wages but certainly a living wage. There is a big difference between being poor and living in poverty.

A better way to look at Thailand is cost of living and actual living wages. The vast majority of Thais can easily afford to eat and even afford "luxury" items like alcohol, cigs, games, etc.. Look at how bad it is in the Phillipines as a comparison. In places like that basic goods are even pricey for most of the population who survive on subsistence level wages and have to pay rent at that because the land is controlled by rich families.

Where the economics become more skewed is if you look at the income disparity in Bangkok. The reason why is because there are so many more high income earners and the rural poor who come here have to reside in substandard and squalor compared to what they have back home where they live rent free on family land.

[IanForbes]

The rural people seem to be doing okay...

I actually see more poverty around the cities.

When I go into the country (which I do often on fishing trips around Thailand) all I see are the happy faces of hard workers.

A rural Thai owned resort...

A craftsman building a river boat entirely by hand (no electric power)

Neatly tended farms far up mountain valleys

And a hand made waterwheel pounding rice into flour.

Women gathering shrimp from the river...

And young folk having fun dancing between the clapping bamboo poles

[Gary A]

While I was taking a <deleted> earlier and browsing the stats at the arse-end of a 6 week old Economist, I was heartened to read that Thai unemployment is a gobsmacking 0.9% (December).

Now where on earth did THAT gem of disinformation come from? The OP and pretty much anyone who can read joined up writing knows that the great unwashed of Isaan are a totally indolent, lazy and usually pickled lot... unless of course that 0.9% happens to be that family of ne'erdowells that live in the shack opposite my castle.

They must base that number on the number of people who are collecting unemployment benefits.

Accurate numbers?????????

[loong]

This thread is headed "The rural poor of Thailand"

I live amongst the Rural poor and so I do not agree with much of this article.

Certainly many will keep chickens, but very few grow their own vegetables and keep pigs. Vegetable plots in a village need to be fenced in otherwise they are destroyed by the foraging chickens and the packs of dogs. The need to fence in the plot makes it too expensive.

Unemployment figures are based on the governments figure for "workforce" and don't include millions of the real unemployed. I would estimate that 75% of the people in this village do not have full time jobs and work on a casual basis.

It is ridiculous to say that a "security guard wanted" sign or difficulty in finding a plumber in Bangkok proves that there is plenty of work available to the rural Thai. Most rural Thais live in rural Thailand.

Each female, on average, gives birth to 1.6 children in her lifetime ??

Total rubbish. I know very few middle age women that do not have at least 2 children. Most families around here have at least 4.

Girls on average get 14 years of schooling and boys 13 years

Maybe they get many years of schooling, but the general quality of the state education is appalling.

As is the number of holiday days. The children will go back to school next week after a long holiday but I can almost guarantee that there will be at least 3 days in the following 2 weeks that the school will be closed. Thailand must be the world leader in Public holidays.

With a population of 66 million, Thailand has 62 million registered cellphones

I am not aware that cellphones are registered. Simcards are though, and many people have more than 1 simcard registered in their name. My girlfriend had her phone stolen and tried to de-register the Sim, but was unable to do so.

[wintermute]

While I was taking a <deleted> earlier and browsing the stats at the arse-end of a 6 week old Economist, I was heartened to read that Thai unemployment is a gobsmacking 0.9% (December).

Now where on earth did THAT gem of disinformation come from? The OP and pretty much anyone who can read joined up writing knows that the great unwashed of Isaan are a totally indolent, lazy and usually pickled lot... unless of course that 0.9% happens to be that family of ne'erdowells that live in the shack opposite my castle.

They must base that number on the number of people who are collecting unemployment benefits.

Accurate numbers?????????

Jobs aren't hard to get in Thailand. Even a high school kid can get a basic food service or stall job that pays 25-30 baht an hour. Those places are always looking for people. A lot of the rural farmers are probably counted as employed because they live self sustainable agricultural based lifestyles.

[wintermute]

This thread is headed "The rural poor of Thailand"

I live amongst the Rural poor and so I do not agree with much of this article.

You're basing all of this on your own personal experiences while they took a large statistical and economic look at the entire country. Their information is far more valid than your simple anecdotal and biased perspective.

[loong]

This thread is headed "The rural poor of Thailand"

I live amongst the Rural poor and so I do not agree with much of this article.

You're basing all of this on your own personal experiences while they took a large statistical and economic look at the entire country. Their information is far more valid than your simple anecdotal and biased perspective.

Statistics are based on available data. If the available data does not accurately reflect the facts then the statistics will be inaccurate.

When a large percentage of the population works on a casual basis for cash in hand with no record of their employment, there is insufficient data to allow statistics to be accurate.

When a set of statistics are not supported by what I can see with my own eyes, I believe that my observations are more valid than the statistics.

Whenever I read about unemployment figures in Thailand, the figures are always estimated. Why estimated?

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkl...moz35&sao=0

[wintermute]

When a set of statistics are not supported by what I can see with my own eyes, I believe that my observations are more valid than the statistics.

I don't believe molecules exist because I can't see them with my own eyes.

[loong]

While I was taking a <deleted> earlier and browsing the stats at the arse-end of a 6 week old Economist, I was heartened to read that Thai unemployment is a gobsmacking 0.9% (December).

Now where on earth did THAT gem of disinformation come from? The OP and pretty much anyone who can read joined up writing knows that the great unwashed of Isaan are a totally indolent, lazy and usually pickled lot... unless of course that 0.9% happens to be that family of ne'erdowells that live in the shack opposite my castle.

They must base that number on the number of people who are collecting unemployment benefits.

Accurate numbers?????????

Jobs aren't hard to get in Thailand. Even a high school kid can get a basic food service or stall job that pays 25-30 baht an hour. Those places are always looking for people. A lot of the rural farmers are probably counted as employed because they live self sustainable agricultural based lifestyles.

I think that there are a lot of high school kids living out in the villages that would be very interested to know about these jobs at 30 Baht an hour. Most adults around here get paid between 150 and 200 Baht for a 10 hour day. Some of them have to pay 50 or 60 Baht travelling costs per day from that.