Farang Husbands And Thai Economy

[JurgenG]

Some people seem to think that without the "foreign husbands", the Thai economy would collapse.

IMO, the importance of the foreigners, especially in rural Thailand, has been greatly exaggerated.

The money they bring in is just a small fraction of what the tourism industry contributes to the local economy.

Then you have the expertise .... I see what young local entrepreneurs are doing, foreign husbands could live the country "en masse" nobody would notice.

Actually, by participating to a form of economy that is not really sustainable, one could thing that they are in fact detrimental to Thailand.

A bit controversial but I would like to know what other poster here think about it ?

[bkkjames]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

[robblok]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

Problem is James then you group the husbands with the rest of the tourists. I never said tourist don't have an impact. Im talking about expats only.

[DP25]

lol they're completely irrelevant except to the handful of chicks married to them that would be unable to find new husbands if they left

[cdnvic]

One rude comment removed.

[bermondburi]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

when you say " people " what do you mean ? Are you talking about prostitutes here or not ?

[geriatrickid]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

when you say " people " what do you mean ? Are you talking about prostitutes here or not ?

They are not prostitutes. They are personal tour guides and cultural interpretation ambassadors.

[Beetlejuice]

The problem is that we don`t know.

As far as I know Immigration have never released any statistics regarding the farang populations in Thailand or how much money they take out or bring into the country.

For example:

How many farangs are in Thailand on retirement visas and how much pension income on average are they bringing into the country?

What about the farangs that are here who own businesses or employed, have no incomes from abroad but living solely on earnings from Thailand. Are these guys actually taking out more than they are putting in? Although claiming they maybe helping by employing Thai workers, they are still well in pocket taking advantage of the cheap labour resource here.

There is a difference between holidaymakers and some tourists. There are those that are genuinely on holiday and others here long term on continuous tourist visas using the border system. How do these benefit Thailand’s economy?

How many are here long term on overstay?

Also the farangs that work offshore and only live in Thailand part time during each year.

And the farangs in Thailand on married to a Thai visas, are they living on savings, working or have businesses, incomes from abroad or what?

I would guess that excluding the holiday tourists the only farangs that are of some benefit to Thailand’s economy are the people that obtain their incomes from abroad and spending in Thailand, such as pensioners, off shore workers and those that are paid from employers abroad. Even then I would guess that most of the farangs here on retirement are on the bare minimum incomes and not the last of the big spenders.

As a whole the type of farangs living long term in Thailand are not really beneficial for the economy and would not make any difference one iota if they were not here. In fact it is more so the short time tourists on holiday or tours that actually benefit the economy,

So as I said; at present there is no way of knowing without having any statistics. We can only guess.

[bkkjames]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

when you say " people " what do you mean ? Are you talking about prostitutes here or not ?

They are not prostitutes. They are personal tour guides and cultural interpretation ambassadors.

working in massage places (legit), restaurants frequented by farangs and so on. Get your mind out of the gutter

[CanInBKK]

It's difficult to quantify the economic impact, and my gut feeling us that it wouldn't even be worth it to try. Thus I'd have to agree with the OP, compared to the tourism (Thais go upcountry on vacation as well as remitances are sent back home from office workers in Bangkok) foreign husbands have negligible and possibly detrimental impact upcountry.

[bermondburi]

Going to use Isaan as an example here seeing how most foreigners seem to be married to someone from Isaan ( myself included ). The population of Isaan is about 25 million so on a pure numbers game I would say that foreigners contribution as a percentage of anything is absolutely tiny.

Remittances. from all the people working in factories, in hotels doing shitty jobs sending back 500 or 1000 a month again by numbers I would say that it dwarfs any foreigner related remittances. Just using myself as an example ( not very scientific I know but I would say I'm pretty average ) we send about 2000 a month to MIL because she's old, but we don't do this every month. I know other people might send more but not that much more surely. And the numbers game wins it.

Local economy in rural areas . After that nice house gets built, and the new pick-up gets bought. Do foreigners really contribute that much to the local economy ? I would say no. They wont be buying that much stuff, just food and drink just like everyone else. Most people in the villages live pretty simple lives, and there isn't that much to do or many ways to spend money. That's why a lot of foreigners like it , because it's cheap.

If you look at the numbers again. Say a village has a thousand houses, how many of these houses will be foreigner related. Even if ten houses are foreigner related that is still only one percent. They might spend more than a local Thai household but relatively it's going to be a very small amount. Also, compared to the amount of money flowing about from working on the land, which drives the local economy ,again I would say that anything foreigner related would be absolutely dwarfed here unless that foreigner is a massive landowner which doesn't really happen much as most seem to have a plot of a rai or two, maybe ten at the most. I know there are going to be exceptions but I'm talking generally.

So in conclusion I would have to say that I agree with the OP and the Thai economy will not collapse with the removal of foreigner related money and the importance of foreigners in rural areas has been greatly exaggerated.

Have a nice day.

[bermondburi]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

when you say " people " what do you mean ? Are you talking about prostitutes here or not ?

They are not prostitutes. They are personal tour guides and cultural interpretation ambassadors.

working in massage places (legit), restaurants frequented by farangs and so on. Get your mind out of the gutter

so why the quotation marks round " people " then ?

[Berkshire]

Going to use Isaan as an example here seeing how most foreigners seem to be married to someone from Isaan ( myself included ). The population of Isaan is about 25 million so on a pure numbers game I would say that foreigners contribution as a percentage of anything is absolutely tiny.

Remittances. from all the people working in factories, in hotels doing shitty jobs sending back 500 or 1000 a month again by numbers I would say that it dwarfs any foreigner related remittances. Just using myself as an example ( not very scientific I know but I would say I'm pretty average ) we send about 2000 a month to MIL because she's old, but we don't do this every month. I know other people might send more but not that much more surely. And the numbers game wins it.

Local economy in rural areas . After that nice house gets built, and the new pick-up gets bought. Do foreigners really contribute that much to the local economy ? I would say no. They wont be buying that much stuff, just food and drink just like everyone else. Most people in the villages live pretty simple lives, and there isn't that much to do or many ways to spend money. That's why a lot of foreigners like it , because it's cheap.

If you look at the numbers again. Say a village has a thousand houses, how many of these houses will be foreigner related. Even if ten houses are foreigner related that is still only one percent. They might spend more than a local Thai household but relatively it's going to be a very small amount. Also, compared to the amount of money flowing about from working on the land, which drives the local economy ,again I would say that anything foreigner related would be absolutely dwarfed here unless that foreigner is a massive landowner which doesn't really happen much as most seem to have a plot of a rai or two, maybe ten at the most. I know there are going to be exceptions but I'm talking generally.

So in conclusion I would have to say that I agree with the OP and the Thai economy will not collapse with the removal of foreigner related money and the importance of foreigners in rural areas has been greatly exaggerated.

Have a nice day.

Well summarized. I would agree. The impact is negligible. I think some of the posters here may be confusing "foreign husbands" with "tourism." Two completely different animals. Whether there are expats living in Thailand or not, the tourists will still come.

[bkkjames]

so why the quotation marks round " people " then ?

if I said women and men without "" would you still give a sh*t? Quite frankly I don't.

[bermondburi]

if I said women and men without "" would you still give a sh*t? Quite frankly I don't.

it was just that it seemed like you were implying something by using them. If you didn't mean anything by it then don't use them. W'hat w;;oul'd .w.e. all? ( do) if-every-one just / put + in ran=dom punct*uation #everywhere!!!!!!!!!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The money they bring in is just a small fraction of what the tourism industry contributes to the local economy.

Depends on the definiteion of local. If you mean the Thai economy then yes, it's total peanuts. If however you talk about a impact at the grass roots level in the village, then it's.. I don't know, 'bigger nuts than peanuts', I suppose. Hard to say without any data.

Actually, by participating to a form of economy that is not really sustainable, one could thing that they are in fact detrimental to Thailand.

"Money in" is never detrimental; it gets spent and lifts the local economy. If you look at the Thais with the most money, they didn't make it themselves either.

[JurgenG]

The money they bring in is just a small fraction of what the tourism industry contributes to the local economy.

Depends on the definiteion of local. If you mean the Thai economy then yes, it's total peanuts. If however you talk about a impact at the grass roots level in the village, then it's.. I don't know, 'bigger nuts than peanuts', I suppose. Hard to say without any data.

Actually, by participating to a form of economy that is not really sustainable, one could thing that they are in fact detrimental to Thailand.

"Money in" is never detrimental; it gets spent and lifts the local economy. If you look at the Thais with the most money, they didn't make it themselves either.

I'm just going to talk about things I know, what happen in "my" village.

In my village there are a couple of business, an organic farm, a mushroom farm, a big flower market and a couple of big resorts, all managed by Thais

On the other hand there is a convenience store financed by a farang. They barely have any customers, the few time I went there, they were not very friendly and most of the time drunk.

There are also a couple of houses built by foreigners, but I don't think they have a big impact on the local economy. We employ part time a local guy to take care of the land when we are not here, the resort next door employ more than 20 people full time ...

I think I answered your questions ?

[crazygreg44]

Talking about numbers, the impact of tourism on Thai economy is actually very poor,seen by percentage to the GDP. And the impact of Farang husbands is 99,9% reserved for the family they supply, and on nobody else. Or do you rate your visit in a restaurant upcountry being important for the local economy ? Some people here mentioned it could actually been detrimental, and so do I think. This season the farang have emptied the shelves containing coconut milk in the local markets , so there is no more Tom Kha and no more creamy Tom Yam Goong left for the locals ;) !

[cat5]

lol they're completely irrelevant except to the handful of chicks married to them that would be unable to find new husbands if they left

Now ain't that the truth!

[ballbreaker]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

Article I saw said 100,000 farangs are spending 10.5 billion baht which has created 578,000 jobs in Issan. These numbers were produced by NESDB in Thailand.

If these numbers are to be believed 10.5 billion baht not being spent surely would be noticed.

[JurgenG]

There was a story a couple year's back that money sent back upcountry from "people" working in certain industries equated to 7 Billion Baht a year. I will try to find it. Suffice to say, a signficant portion of this contribution would likely come from farangs (husbands or not)

Article I saw said 100,000 farangs are spending 10.5 billion baht which has created 578,000 jobs in Issan. These numbers were produced by NESDB in Thailand.

If these numbers are to be believed 10.5 billion baht not being spent surely would be noticed.

I have a problem with these figures

First 10.5 billions is by month or by year ? or per day ?

Let's say it's per month. For 100,000 farangs, it means an average of 10,000 per person. Not that much actually.

For people living full time in Isaan, how much on average do you spend a month ?

Or how much do you send if you're not living there ?

And with 10,000 / month you support 6 jobs ? 20 to 30 persons ? Really ?

[pjclark1]

I support 1 Thai lady, 1 Thai daughter and 1 Thai grandmother.

If every white person supported 3 Thai people, that would surely be of some significance.

Even it it only meant 3 people out of the labour market.

Maybe it would be better if all the foreigners in relationships left Thailand, and the sex tourists just took care of everyone.

Let's face it the big money comes in from sex tourists and not regular guys living here. Lots of girls earning 1000-2000bht a night, then another 20,000bht a month (x4) from foreigners who think they are supporting a girlfriend from afar.

[bunta71]

Myself and three expat friends discussed this topic over dinner at my home last night.Each of us spend between one and two million baht here yearly in Thailand. This may be inconsequential yet I fail to understand how it is detrimental to Thai society. I know one university student who really appreciates getting her education paid for.

[Bagwan]

Get your mind out of the gutter

But leave your body there?

[dmax]

my wife sends / gives her family around 50,000 thb every year . its not too hard on her or me, so just think of how many farangs are married to isaan woman. just think of the farangs who are really gettin taken to the cleaners

[NanLaew]

Since statistics are notoriously unreliable or questionable in LOS, the entire debate on our worth to the Thai economy is on a slippery slope. The important thing for those needing reassurance and validation (is it me or has there been a rash of relationship and personal validation oriented threads of late?), consider your personal situation, be it single, in a relationship or married, and grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 on what you reckon you are contributing, fiscally and otherwise.

I go to sleep at night knowing my wife thinks the sun shines out of my arse.

(She probably goes to sleep at night wondering "Where the <deleted> is he?")

[slapout]

Myself and three expat friends discussed this topic over dinner at my home last night.Each of us spend between one and two million baht here yearly in Thailand. This may be inconsequential yet I fail to understand how it is detrimental to Thai society. I know one university student who really appreciates getting her education paid for.

The number you are using for expenditure would pretty well agree with what those of us with children in school (International) spend throughout the year. The vast majority earn or bring this money from outside Thailand. I would not know how to start finding a total number of farang in a like situation, but the total may be surprising to many people.