Inside Silom Burger King

[toenail]

I am an expat that visits Bangkok 1-2 time a month (I work in another city). For the last 8??? 6???? months whenever I go to Burger King on Silom after midnight, there is this woman (in her late 20;s) -now pregnate (again) using her two children (under 10 years old) to go out and sell flowers to people who are out late at night hitting the clubs and bars until ?? 3....4 in the morning. She sits in Burger King (nursing her ??3rd baby - one on the way) while she instructs the boy and girl to go out and sell roses. I realize this overweight woman must make an income, but I feel she is NOT doing her children a favor by having them out in the wee hours of the morning selling flowers to clubbers and drunks. They need to be in school. It seems that this particular fast food restaurant turns their head when this woman parks herself inside for 3 or more hours while her two children run in and out of the place to sell flowers. A couple months ago I mentioned it to the "assistant" manager at Burger King, but just got an uncomfortable Thai smile. A friend of mine that lives in Bangkok has also complained to the ones working at the counter, but no action- just smiles. The point is, this incompetant mother is using her kids to make money. I doubt they go to school the next day. I cannot find the "head office" in Bangkok to complain. "Have it Your Way" is their motto...."MY Way" -is to see these kids go to bed on time and not being used for child labor at 2 in the morning.

[soundman]

I doubt Burger King has any control over the women's activities off the premises. As far as the women being on the premises is concerned, while the store is open, the area is considered public space, and any vagrants or loiterers can only be removed by the police, who usually have to obtain a court order.

IMO BK would prefer not to have the women there, and does not condone her activities.

This is why you sometimes see businessmen in the headlines, resorting to using thugs to clear squatters etc. off properties.

[beechguy]

How many times are you going to post this?

[Orac]

How about McDonalds???

[DP25]

Might be Cambodian, drawing attention to them might just get them deported.

Never seen this woman, but there is a vagrant in Silom I've seen eating the leftovers at KFC. Never seen something like that in Thailand before. Really desperate and crazy looking skinny tall dude.

[Soutpeel]

Unless you are prepared put the cash to support her and the children, may I humbly suggest you keep your nose out of their business, you are not in the UK/US anymore.

[BigRick]

Maybe she is just trying to survive one thing I have noticed living in Thailand and Vietnam is that for the most part destitute people are really destitute not like the states where they a safety net for their lazy ways. I think her first priority is feeding her children. Mothers are so much more about their children then men are. I can't imagine that living like this is some choice other than complete poverty.

[AbdulJabaar01]

Greetings Concerned Expat,

I often go into there after my tutoring in Silom area at night or after hitting one of the local pubs to wait for a taxi on Rama 4. Between 9:30 p.m. until way past midnight, most of the customers who come in there that late of the night until about 2 or 3 a.m. are from the local gay clubs in from Soi 2, which is next to Burger King. Most of the customers have had too much to drink, got into a fight with their body slam mate for the evening. The lady has to deal with expats, sex pats, Japanese tourists, middle eastern tourists, and etc.

The only draw back from that Burger king. They removed the bathroom and there is none available expect during the day at Tops.

The lady you are speaking about, the one with child. She is ok and does a good job. You have to remember, a woman who is with child may not feel that well that day due to her internal condition. If the place gets really busy, sometimes, one of the men in the back comes up to help assist her or one of the other ladies there.

Just give him some slack, she is a good woman. Speak slowly and clearly, point to what you want from the menu. Use specific English language phrases (Yes, no, here, take away).

Good day.

[DP25]

Maybe she is just trying to survive one thing I have noticed living in Thailand and Vietnam is that for the most part destitute people are really destitute not like the states where they a safety net for their lazy ways. I think her first priority is feeding her children. Mothers are so much more about their children then men are. I can't imagine that living like this is some choice other than complete poverty.

I've never been to Vietnam but I see way more destitute people in big US cities than here. LA & SF are awash with homeless. Here at least you can rent some room for 1000 baht per month instead of sleeping in the street and pushing around a shopping cart filled with your things. Some big US cities have tens of thousands of homeless, including families and children sleeping on the streets or in abandoned buildings. When I saw the vagrant in Silom scavenging table leftovers from KFC I was surprised, but I've seen that many times at home.

[RogueExpat]

Greetings Concerned Expat,

I often go into there after my tutoring in Silom area at night or after hitting one of the local pubs to wait for a taxi on Rama 4. Between 9:30 p.m. until way past midnight, most of the customers who come in there that late of the night until about 2 or 3 a.m. are from the local gay clubs in from Soi 2, which is next to Burger King. Most of the customers have had too much to drink, got into a fight with their body slam mate for the evening. The lady has to deal with expats, sex pats, Japanese tourists, middle eastern tourists, and etc.

The only draw back from that Burger king. They removed the bathroom and there is none available expect during the day at Tops.

The lady you are speaking about, the one with child. She is ok and does a good job. You have to remember, a woman who is with child may not feel that well that day due to her internal condition. If the place gets really busy, sometimes, one of the men in the back comes up to help assist her or one of the other ladies there.

Just give him some slack, she is a good woman. Speak slowly and clearly, point to what you want from the menu. Use specific English language phrases (Yes, no, here, take away).

Good day.

After reading the first post again to try to comprehend, ahhh I've just given up....

[BigRick]

I am from Seattle trust me the homeless in the US have it a lot better than the homeless here. In the states that women would get WIC,Welfare and EBT. I have seen true human horrors here stuff that just breaks your heart. I never give jack to homeless in the states but in Thailand I am always more than happy to throw a few baht to someone who is clearly disadvantaged. I am not talking about that clown by Cetra world with his arms tucked in his jacket but more like mine victims the blind and the deformed. I even give when I see a woman with two kids but I just give them food on my way back from the market. They are still human beings and why do you need to go out of your way to hassle someone who is not as fortunate as you?

[Microwave]

I worked for KFC in Thailand (in the 1990's) and we had stores at Patpong and on Silom. The Patpong store closed at 4 am and the Silom store closed at 2 AM. In the evening we had problems with beggars in our stores or in front of our stores, heroin addicts dealing on the 3/F of our Silom store, not to mention drunken customers. Our solutions to these issues were as follows:

1. We developed a good rapport with the police (we had friends in very high places which made this relationship possible). A small box was installed on the back wall on the 3/F of the Silom store and the police had to sign the box every half hour. The heroin addicts/dealers quickly disappeared from our Silom store as a result.

2. We built a police box next to the KFC Patpong store and paid for the extra policeman to man the booth at night. While the policeman stopped much of the nefarious activity inside the store and in the area immediately outside of our store, he wasn't able to be everywhere at all times. But it did cut down on prostitutes working out of our Patpong store, drug addicts shooting up in the bathroom, and other nefarious activity in the immediate proximity of our store.

3. We were sympathetic to beggars similar to the woman the OP is referring to. But beggars often made our customers uneasy, even our Thai customers. Beggars working out of our stores also didn't have a positive effect on our image. So the police removed any beggars from our stores but did not arrest them. Soon the beggars used other locations to beg from.

My point is that all kinds of nefarious activities happened in our stores which made our customers uncomfortable, therefore we did something about it. We wanted our standards at all stores to be high, so we used our connections with the police (who actually cooperated) and stopped this nefarious activity for a number of years. We were sympathetic to beggars, but we were more concerned about the effect they had on our customers as our customers were our top priority. We had zero tolerance for any activity which made our customers uncomfortable.

My conclusion is that Burger King could easily have this woman removed from their Silom store if they wanted to. I would guess that upper management isn't aware of the situation because they're simply too lazy to go to Silom Rd. at night to witness this activity for themselves. It also may be the case that the Silom Burger King managers aren't telling their area manager (who's also not coming around at night) because they're sympathetic to this woman beggars' plight, therefore putting the plight of this woman ahead of the concerns of their customers. Perhaps that's simply their priority instead of putting their customers first.

This likely sounds harsh, but the customer comes first. The customers are our business and it was our responsibility to make the customers as comfortable as possible so that they'd return. If customers feel uneasy about this particular beggar, and customers have told the store managers about how uneasy this woman makes them feel, then Burger King should have this woman removed from the store. The customer comes first, even in Thailand.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Microwave

[DP25]

I am from Seattle trust me the homeless in the US have it a lot better than the homeless here.

I really disagree. Scale and severity is much worse back home. Beggars you see here normally have a rented place to live, and you don't see many outside of tourist areas. And the mine victims aren't even Thai, they are Cambodians. Homeless people living on the streets or in abandoned buildings is much worse and more common back home. Maybe it's better in Seattle than what I see.

[hedonist44]

Unless you are prepared put the cash to support her and the children, may I humbly suggest you keep your nose out of their business, you are not in the UK/US anymore.

[DocW]

Ever thought of buying a flower? Leave these poor people alone mate. You've been in LOS how long?

You can leave Burger King or simple leave Thailand if you don't like this. GET A LIFE MAN.

[Ponbkk]

Have you tried to contact Burger King intl in Miami, FLA via their website or telephone numbers about it?

[Sateev]

Unless you are prepared put the cash to support her and the children, may I humbly suggest you keep your nose out of their business, you are not in the UK/US anymore.

OP - I suggest you read this twice, eat your Whopper, and go home.

[Richard4849]

Mind your own business.

I've just given you the key to a happy life in Thailand.

[Junglejumbo]

I doubt that the kids will be from Thailand....it's a difficult situation. On one hand you want to help but on the other hand the more you give them something, the more they'll be there. Personally, I tend to think there's not a lot of choice for them and so just give them some lilttle money or buy their flowers (actually not so expensive...have u ever checked the price of those roses at the market?).

Everywhere is the world there are beggers and homeless hanging out in 24 hour fast food establishments. There was a mad Pakistani looking guy that used to virtually live in London's Oxford Street MadD's for a number of years.

Same in Hong Kong. I remember this basement MacD's always had about three beggers sleeping and chatting when I was there. In fact Thailand probably has less homeless in its' fast food stores, probably because 24 hr stores haven't been around long here.

[CharlieH]

Many people come to Thailand for the laid back lifestyle and "do your own thing, live and let live" attitude.

If you dont like it dont come here, mind your own business, this is not the nanny state you probably come from !

[Semper]

Yes, Southpeel gave you the right answer. And as you only see her 1-2 times a month, it should not interrupt your sleep habits.

[Bakseedaa]

Unless you are prepared put the cash to support her and the children, may I humbly suggest you keep your nose out of their business, you are not in the UK/US anymore.

Agreed...

[Phuket Stan]

There would be not be one flower seller on any street in Thailand without some of the money flowing up the chain....begging/flower selling is big business run by rather unsavoury people...most of those on the streets are Cambodian...every now and then there is token police/immigration raid made...if I was the OP I would pull my head in unless u wanted it reshaped by the nasties

[Groongthep]

I am from Seattle trust me the homeless in the US have it a lot better than the homeless here.

BigRick, I too am from Seattle. I spend half my time working at sea and split the other half between living in Thailand and living in Seattle. I agree with you 100%.

I really disagree. Scale and severity is much worse back home. Beggars you see here normally have a rented place to live, and you don't see many outside of tourist areas........

When in Seattle I live downtown (in the Belltown area) which is very near where you find most homeless. I agree with BigRick that there are plenty of safety nets here including, private, religious and governmental agencies all helping the poor and homeless. No such help exists in Thailand except maybe at the temples. The only common thread I see between Thai homeless and American homeless is the high percentage in both countries who are mentally ill. Most American homeless I see who are not mentally ill however are very often homeless by choice. In earlier times we called these guys "bums". Sure, there are some unfortunates who are genuinely down on their luck and deserving of help from anyone with half a heart but their numbers pale in comparison to the hordes of truly destitute I see on the streets of Bangkok. If you think that beggars aren't seen outside of tourist areas here in Thailand then you don't get out of the tourist areas too much.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Groongthep

[AbdulJabaar01]

It is so good to see fellow expats coming to fast food establishment in order to help this poor innocent working person with her children instead of having them beg on the streets.

Who does her job to the best she can do, in order to keep your tummy filled with fresh greasy French fries, double whoppers to help expats keep our stylish and sexy figures intact. So, he can go back to his apartment and look into the mirror and say to himself, “HOT dam_n, I’M SO SEXY.”

[DP25]

When in Seattle I live downtown (in the Belltown area) which is very near where you find most homeless. I agree with BigRick that there are plenty of safety nets here including, private, religious and governmental agencies all helping the poor and homeless. No such help exists in Thailand except maybe at the temples. The only common thread I see between Thai homeless and American homeless is the high percentage in both countries who are mentally ill. Most American homeless I see who are not mentally ill however are very often homeless by choice. In earlier times we called these guys "bums". Sure, there are some unfortunates who are genuinely down on their luck and deserving of help from anyone with half a heart but their numbers pale in comparison to the hordes of truly destitute I see on the streets of Bangkok. If you think that beggars aren't seen outside of tourist areas here in Thailand then you don't get out of the tourist areas too much.

I don't live in a tourist area, I live in a Thai area. Most beggars are in tourist areas, and beggars here usually have places to live and do it as a profession.

Maybe Seattle is better off, but the number and level of destitute I've seen in LA and SF is far, far worse than I've seen in Thailand. Anyone here than can scrounge together a few baht can have a basic roof over their head for a month. Thousands of people in big American cities are living on the STREETS. Walk through parts of SF, Oakland, LA, etc at night, there is nothing like it in Thailand. Harassment while walking the streets by dodgy homeless guys, often mentally ill and dangerous. LA is estimated to have 80,000 people living on the streets every single night, including thousands under 18. I lived in an area with huge numbers of them for years, there is nothing like that here. These people do not have safety nets anymore. There isn't remotely enough room at shelters for all of them, and even basic accommodation in the US is expensive. And with the economic in shambles these people aren't all just mentally ill or people who are homeless by 'choice'

[Semper]

I am from Seattle trust me the homeless in the US have it a lot better than the homeless here.

BigRick, I too am from Seattle. I spend half my time working at sea and split the other half between living in Thailand and living in Seattle. I agree with you 100%.

I really disagree. Scale and severity is much worse back home. Beggars you see here normally have a rented place to live, and you don't see many outside of tourist areas........

When in Seattle I live downtown (in the Belltown area) which is very near where you find most homeless. I agree with BigRick that there are plenty of safety nets here including, private, religious and governmental agencies all helping the poor and homeless. No such help exists in Thailand except maybe at the temples. The only common thread I see between Thai homeless and American homeless is the high percentage in both countries who are mentally ill. Most American homeless I see who are not mentally ill however are very often homeless by choice. In earlier times we called these guys "bums". Sure, there are some unfortunates who are genuinely down on their luck and deserving of help from anyone with half a heart but their numbers pale in comparison to the hordes of truly destitute I see on the streets of Bangkok. If you think that beggars aren't seen outside of tourist areas here in Thailand then you don't get out of the tourist areas too much.

The only common thread I see between Thai homeless and American homeless is the high percentage in both countries who are mentally ill.

So, If USA can't solve this problem. Do you think Thailand can?

[BigRick]

Shout out to Seattle I miss the forests and mountains. Honestly if I was homeless I would take Europe and America over Asia any day. See how far a homeless person gets in the ER in Thailand. The security would club them like a baby seal and throw them on the street. They actually do that kind of stuff in Vietnam at the state hospitals when the crowds get unruly. My best friends wife had one of their children born there he said never again. Basically the moral of this story is why piss on someone who is already dealing with just surviving. Its ok to throw 2k baht for single mother from Issen if she puts out but if shes not working that money maker she is a problem? Most homeless women with children have some D-bag Thai boyfriend to thank for their situation. These people are survivors here a homeless person from Europe or the States would not be able to cut it(Unless they are one of those Scamdanavians I hear about in Phuket)

[Richard4849]

See how far a homeless person gets in the ER in Thailand.

All Thai citizens are guaranteed free health care. Have been for a while.

[jackdawson]

That's funny. The lady who sits in front of the Burger King on Silom with "her" kids at night was just sharing with me that she doesn't like the farang who comes in after midnight once or twice a month and wishes the restaurant would do something about him.

Edited September 17, 2011 by jackdawson