One Million Credit Cards For Thai Farmers To Be Launched Next Month

[Buchholz]

Free "i-Pads" (generic one)...credit cards... maybe a free cell phone next. What do the rest of the province people get living outside of Isaan??? (nothing)

They are eligible for a tax rebate if they purchase a new 5 million baht villa.

Any idea who might own a development company that is currently building 5 million baht villas? Give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

Converting the 5 million into 5 billion is a nice little earner....

Interesting development on the home buyer scheme with the increase in the limit for mortgages to 5 million baht from 2 million earlier.

SC Asset (the Shinawatra company that Yingluck just left and now run by Thaksin's daughter other sister) has 1,700 houses that are just now eligible for the scheme because of the higher limit.

The potential increase to their real estate business comes to 5.1 Billion Baht.

Score another for the rural poor.

[Buchholz]

Poor farmers do not have the skill to manage wealth. Not that they are stupid, but just lack of experience.

Give credit card, they will just go shopping happy, like buy AIS mobile phone (while their land line is fine), fly AirAsia (while the bus/train is free), go stay in hotel like SC park (while relatives house is fine), etc. There is a conflict of interest here, because Yingluck give out credit card, to poor farmers, and in return some (not all) go to spend on the businesses that Yingluck family own. Ask me if there is a hidden agenda? Sama same when Thaksin give credit to Burma govt, they came to buy phone/satellite services from AIS.

I know this is off-topic but why does Sparebox2 post in pidgin english when its obvious from this post today on a different thread that he is fluent?

"Posted Today, 12:19

I don't think you are a petroleum engineer or geologist.

Some water based mud may be used, but are all accounted for and contained. They are all removed after drilling."

The difference is that that was posted by him in a non-political thread.

.

[animatic]

Trash their crops through gross mismanagement of both the flood prevention and their sales market place

and then put the poor people in debt to make up the difference. Dispicable.

Love this one:

Chalerm added the details of the bill cannot be disclosed at the moment because he wants to make sure that the public really understand its objective. He expects the bill to be submitted for Parliament's consideration in the next four or five months.

But nothing said about

returning the money misapplied or punishment other than black listing from this particular scheme.

Or if the blacklisting i s permanent or can be appealed via pasrty box. Payup Or Else,

[Reasonableman]

Poor farmers do not have the skill to manage wealth. Not that they are stupid, but just lack of experience.

Give credit card, they will just go shopping happy, like buy AIS mobile phone (while their land line is fine), fly AirAsia (while the bus/train is free), go stay in hotel like SC park (while relatives house is fine), etc. There is a conflict of interest here, because Yingluck give out credit card, to poor farmers, and in return some (not all) go to spend on the businesses that Yingluck family own. Ask me if there is a hidden agenda? Sama same when Thaksin give credit to Burma govt, they came to buy phone/satellite services from AIS.

people with money have the same problem... living beyond their means.

This is an alternative source of credit. It's an option. Better than a loan shark.

Can certainly be abused - any credit can.

As if PTP cares anything about the farmers or the poor.

Electoral results suggest otherwise.

Time to judge by actual performance. The election is long past now. Now it is time to govern responsibly and be accountable.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Reasonableman

[animatic]

Poor farmers do not have the skill to manage wealth. Not that they are stupid, but just lack of experience.

Give credit card, they will just go shopping happy, like buy AIS mobile phone (while their land line is fine), fly AirAsia (while the bus/train is free), go stay in hotel like SC park (while relatives house is fine), etc. There is a conflict of interest here, because Yingluck give out credit card, to poor farmers, and in return some (not all) go to spend on the businesses that Yingluck family own. Ask me if there is a hidden agenda? Sama same when Thaksin give credit to Burma govt, they came to buy phone/satellite services from AIS.

people with money have the same problem... living beyond their means.

This is an alternative source of credit. It's an option. Better than a loan shark.

Can certainly be abused - any credit can.

As if PTP cares anything about the farmers or the poor.

Electoral results suggest otherwise.

Electoral results just show that the Thaksin political machine is very healthy.

That is all it ever shows. Well that and ginned up results.

No need to list how many electoral fallacies the PTP has spread over the last decade.

Edited March 12, 2012 by animatic

[PoodMaiDai]

Bottom line, this does not affect farmer indebtedness up or down, just its' source.

Until the farmers get into such debt they have to give up land to pay it off.

This will end up being a land grab. Nothing more.

Here is how it will play out. The farmer will bury himself in credit card debt. He will then either lose his land to the cc company to pay it off, or he will borrow money from a bank and use his chanote as collateral. He will never be able to pay it off because he has no concept of money or how the system works, and will eventually lose his chanote to the bank.

Keep them poor, keep them working, keep them buried in debt. That's called economic slave. And as long as he's a good slave, he can continue to play the game. When he becomes a bad slave, he loses everything and goes back to the bottom of the deck where he gets to start all over. Happens all over the world.

[Colin Yai]

I am not sure I have a solution to lack of resources for farmers. I do know I come from a country where many, many people with good educations have lost everything, suffer from the fear of the next phone call from bill collectors and can not pay the interest on their line of credit. It was once a rich and powerful land, and drove much of the world's economic engine. Now, about 37% of the nation's debt is held by China, and current event suggest the house of cards is facing gale force winds.

Yes, I am referring to America. Trust me, education, financial savvy...etc...all go out the window when "free money" comes a calling. It is just human behavior. I am not an expert on Thai culture, but it does seem many "live in the present" and are not be too concerned with what may happen next.

It is hard for me to imagine this will turn out well. I am a bit concerned, since I converted all my dollars to the Baht, or as they will call it in two years... toilet paper.

I would think its a fair assessment to write that 90% of Thailand's wealth comes from the Ethnic Chinese ,ya know these guys who started a business up from scratch and now are multi billionaires who employ tens of thousands of Issan Thai's such as the CP FOODS GROUP, even "good guy" Thaksin" and the current PM are Ethnic Thai Chinese.

[whybother]

Wrong!

Debt ebbs and flows with Farmers, and that is a fact.

Economically the country thrived under Thaksin, and they were better off than ever.

When the coup occurred, everything went to ratshit.

The coupists were not renowned for governing and economic management marvels

Rice prices diminshed amongst other factors.

Then when Mr. Abhisit was hoisted into place, he did introduce a debt repayment scheme...........not focussed on the farmers, but on the money lenders. The rich people in other words.

Farmers without sufficient colateral were also brushed aside, and received nothing.

This CC program is focussed on the farmers, not the lenders and merchants.

This speaks volumes.

I would have thought that you would know the difference between the economic situation when Thaksin was PM to when the Democrats were in power.

Things started going to shit when Thaksin called elections only a year after a large election win, and then went completely to shit when the coup occurred, mainly because business doesn't like political instability. The PPP didn't do anything to improve the situation, and by the time the Democrats got into power, the whole world economy had gone to shit.

I assume that's because Thaksin wasn't in power in Thailand.

[sirchai]

Bank for Agriculture & Agricultural Cooperatives or BAAC manager, Luck Wajananawat will offer one million credit cards for farmers nationwide on April 1.

However, the BAAC manager voiced concern that farmers will use the credit to withdraw cash, instead of buying agricultural equipment. He said the BAAC will closely monitor the credit usage.

Free Lao Khao for all farmers. Will take a long time for them to realize how expensive their white whiskey really is. 7% more...

April's fool's day in March?

Thailand the hub of poor farmers with credit cards........

Edited March 12, 2012 by sirchai

[blackthorn2005]

What a wonderful way to stimulate the Thai economy, NOT!

[OzMick]

Step 1 - issue credit cards to anyone they can convince to take one

Step 2 - allow sufficient time to accumulate debt

Step 3 - PR machine into overdrive with suggestion Democrats will withdraw cards, debt repayable immediately

Step 4 - announce election

[Colin Yai]

Step 1 - issue credit cards to anyone they can convince to take one

Step 2 - allow sufficient time to accumulate debt

Step 3 - PR machine into overdrive with suggestion Democrats will withdraw cards, debt repayable immediately

Step 4 - announce election

Nice one Mick!!

[seminomadic]

Wrong!

Debt ebbs and flows with Farmers, and that is a fact.

Economically the country thrived under Thaksin, and they were better off than ever.

Then when Mr. Abhisit was hoisted into place, he did introduce a debt repayment scheme...........not focussed on the farmers, but on the money lenders. The rich people in other words.

This CC program is focussed on the farmers, not the lenders and merchants.

This speaks volumes.

Farmers were best off under Thaksin, no doubt, but there are questions hanging over the sustainability of that model, since the gov't was subsidizing the price being paid farmers per ton.

That said, I think it is something the country needs to do for other reasons, such as keeping people interested in the agricultural life so that TH can continue being #1 (jasmine) rice exporter. Too many diversions these days, kids don't want to work long hours in the sun and mud.

As with kids around the world in this generation (past few, too) they want what they want and they don't want to wait for it. And if younger Thais can still have a motorbike, cellphone, wife and mia noi on a farmers income, artificially inflated as that may be, the agricultural ways will stay, unlike the wipeout consolidation of agriculture we had in the 80's in the US.

As regards the CC program, you take an optimistic angle, but just remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is a cultural impulse to exploit here, not least of all the faceless entity of a CC program.

Edited March 12, 2012 by seminomadic

[metisdead]

A post containing a blocked link has been removed as well as a reply.

[Colin Yai]

Indebt them all again? Unbelievable.......

How to keep an uneducated majority of voters under control and fear!

As opposed to knee-jerk negativity about a Government program from those who are agenized to do so, I inquired what is the "one" good thing about this particular program.

Obviously a program such as this was not created in a vacuum, and there was some solid rationale, beyond bald politics as this Poster suggests.

Several advantages were mentioned, the primary one being the issue of were credit originates.

For the many farmers who don't have the money in a pre-emptive manner, they buy on credit now, provided by the merchants. Credit that is provided at unfavorable rates and unfavorable terms.

This program releases the Farmer from such arrangements. It gives them farmer-friendly credit access, with heavy emphasis and controls on the CC being used for their singular agriculture defined and intended purpose, as referenced in this article.

Bottom line, this does not affect farmer indebtedness up or down, just its' source.

So you think that this is going to be a success ?, all I can see is more mountains of debt for the Thai farmer, I notice you are not defending another brainwave in "The Govts rice pledging policy has failed" IMHO this insane credit scheme is going to hit the farmers even more. Edited March 12, 2012 by Colin Yai

[animatic]

Wrong!

Debt ebbs and flows with Farmers, and that is a fact.

Economically the country thrived under Thaksin, and they were better off than ever.

Then when Mr. Abhisit was hoisted into place, he did introduce a debt repayment scheme...........not focussed on the farmers, but on the money lenders. The rich people in other words.

This CC program is focussed on the farmers, not the lenders and merchants.

This speaks volumes.

Farmers were best off under Thaksin, no doubt, but there are questions hanging over the sustainability of that model, since the gov't was subsidizing the price being paid farmers per ton.

That said, I think it is something the country needs to do for other reasons, such as keeping people interested in the agricultural life so that TH can continue being #1 (jasmine) rice exporter. Too many diversions these days, kids don't want to work long hours in the sun and mud.

As with kids around the world in this generation (past few, too) they want what they want and they don't want to wait for it. And if younger Thais can still have a motorbike, cellphone, wife and mia noi on a farmers income, artificially inflated as that may be, the agricultural ways will stay, unlike the wipeout consolidation of agriculture we had in the 80's in the US.

As regards the CC program, you take an optimistic angle, but just remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is a cultural impulse to exploit here, not least of all the faceless entity of a CC program.

The only reason farmers were better off TEMPORARILY under Thaksin was the booming regional economy, and that for a time could support his crop pledging schemes to lock in his voting segments.

He's politically been dinning off that one time deal ever since. And blaming the Dems for both the before an after scenarios they had no control over, not causing nor being able to do more than make painful repairs successfully. Thaksin with PM Chavalit presided over the collapse of the entire Asian Tiger economy, and blamed the restructuring of his debris left to the Dems on the Dems. When it finally started recovering on the back of the world boom, he took credit for it.

Then the world crashed and the Dems, thanks primarily to Korn, kept Thailand afloat, even as Somchais mis-administration had left the boat to sink in their 4 months of ineptitude. So you can't give Thaksin credit for improving the farmers yields or actual prtices fetched, because he ONLY presided over a dual cyclical upswing and used it for political advantage, and does so to this day. Playing politics with memories, but doing the same old tricks and NOTHING like the old successes.

So now after another series of quick and dirty screw ups by a new 'Thaksin Puppetocracy' they are trying to pump the credit to the farmers they have put in distress, and put them in debt they can't likely get out of, because FUNDAMENTALS of economics can't support this level of debt and repayment.

Who will reap the profits?

The banks, and those influencials who buy the farmers lost land for centimes on the baht.

As usual a T-Team elite, Liegelord T's-Amart, will get the meat as the poor get the table scraps,

and perpetual debt to the warlord bosses.

Edited March 13, 2012 by animatic

[Colin Yai]

Wrong!

Debt ebbs and flows with Farmers, and that is a fact.

Economically the country thrived under Thaksin, and they were better off than ever.

Then when Mr. Abhisit was hoisted into place, he did introduce a debt repayment scheme...........not focussed on the farmers, but on the money lenders. The rich people in other words.

This CC program is focussed on the farmers, not the lenders and merchants.

This speaks volumes.

Farmers were best off under Thaksin, no doubt, but there are questions hanging over the sustainability of that model, since the gov't was subsidizing the price being paid farmers per ton.

That said, I think it is something the country needs to do for other reasons, such as keeping people interested in the agricultural life so that TH can continue being #1 (jasmine) rice exporter. Too many diversions these days, kids don't want to work long hours in the sun and mud.

As with kids around the world in this generation (past few, too) they want what they want and they don't want to wait for it. And if younger Thais can still have a motorbike, cellphone, wife and mia noi on a farmers income, artificially inflated as that may be, the agricultural ways will stay, unlike the wipeout consolidation of agriculture we had in the 80's in the US.

As regards the CC program, you take an optimistic angle, but just remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is a cultural impulse to exploit here, not least of all the faceless entity of a CC program.

The only reason farmers were better off TEMPORARILY under Thaksin was the booming regional economy, and that for a time could support his crop pledging schemes to lock in his voting segments.

He's politically been dinning off that one time deal ever since. And blaming the Dems for both the before an after scenarios they had no control over, not causing nor being able to do more than make painful repairs successfully. Thaksin with PM Chavalit presided over the collapse of the entire Asian Tiger economy, and blamed the restructuring of his debris left to the Dems on the Dems. When it finally started recovering on the back of the world boom, he took credit for it.

Then the world crashed and the Dems, thanks primarily to Korn, kept Thailand afloat, even as Somchais mis-administration had left the boat to sink in their 4 months of ineptitude. So you can't give Thaksin credit for improving the farmers yields or actual prtices fetched, because he ONLY presided over a dual cyclical upswing and used it for political advantage, and does so to this day. Playing politics with memories, but doing the same old tricks and NOTHING like the old successes.

So now after another series of quick and dirty screw ups by a new 'Thaksin Puppetocracy' they are trying to pump the credit to the farmers they have put in distress, and put them in debt they can't likely get out of, because FUNDAMENTALS of economics can't support this level of debt and repayment.

Who will reap the profits?

The banks, and those influencials who buy the farmers lost land for centimes on the baht.

As usual a T-Team elite, Liegelord T's-Amart, will get the meat as the poor get the table scraps,

and perpetual debt to the warlord bosses.

Ahh Yes "the good old days" of 90 to the pound in 1997 with Chavalit and Thaksin at the helm eh, many hotels in BKK would not take their own money to pay the bill , there was a strong rumour going round at the time that Chavalit and Thaksin made an absolute bomb when the Baht detonated ,which of course I totally ignored knowing how honest and beyond reproach both of them was

[nithisa78]

It is beyond odd what is said here.

Edited March 13, 2012 by nithisa78