Thai Workers 'Unable To Pay Bills' Despite Pay Rise

[louse1953]

Perhaps it is not right to judge, but the one that blows me away is I see Thais take motorbikes daily to go very walkable distances.

I agree,just had this conversation with the missus,why have the bike if not to ride,and they're amazed how far i roam.

[tlansford]

I really don't have an opinion as to what an adequate wage is for the Thai workers, but I don't quite understand how anyone could think that if you force companies to raise employees wages that you are automatically "injecting" those raises into the economy. Wouldn't it be more likely that the companies will adjust the prices of their products to compensate for having to pay higher wages? And if this happens, isn't this going to just raise the cost of living for the very same people who receive the wage increases?

The only way I can see a variant here is if the only companies that had to raise the amounts they paid in wages were export only companies.

Low paid workers spend 100% of their wages thus "injecting" them back into the local economy to pay for other goods and services.

[h90]

Funny that people blame everything on Thaksin, especially when you know that two of the most active Thaksin opponents were businessmen who couldn't accept they were bankrupt : Sondhi Limthongkul and Prachai Leophairatana.

Beside that I don't think that Thai are worse than anybody else when it comes to managing money. I'm sure I will be accused of being an american basher when I say the last world economical crisis was mostly caused by american people who borrowed more that they could afford to repay but it is unfortunately true. At least Thai people cause trouble only to themselves

Guess you wont join my "We hate Thaksin for robbing Thailand" Club?

May I join?

[TommoPhysicist]

Sorry, maybe I should have worded that differently. "I really don't have the time to sit down and do an in depth study on the cost of living for the average Thai" may have been more appropriate.

How much people need to earn to live is subjective. (in any country)

I can help with your survey.

I know one Thai lady that can live quite happily on 3,000bht a month

I know another Thai lady that lives on 1,000bht a month.

They are both living in their own houses on their own land in rural areas.

[h90]

I really don't have an opinion as to what an adequate wage is for the Thai workers, but I don't quite understand how anyone could think that if you force companies to raise employees wages that you are automatically "injecting" those raises into the economy. Wouldn't it be more likely that the companies will adjust the prices of their products to compensate for having to pay higher wages? And if this happens, isn't this going to just raise the cost of living for the very same people who receive the wage increases?

The only way I can see a variant here is if the only companies that had to raise the amounts they paid in wages were export only companies.

Low paid workers spend 100% of their wages thus "injecting" them back into the local economy to pay for other goods and services.

Yes, but

if they buy a fan made in China it isn't the local economic.

if they buy beer Chang instead of homebrew Lao Kao, than it makes Beer Chang more rich, only

if the owner looses exports and lie out a few labor, than a few spend more a few spend less= +/- Zero

if the owner buys a CNC lathe from Germany or China and lays off his 10 manual low cost guys and hire one CNC operator for 600 Baht per day than it might be positive for developing the country but negative for labor.

[h90]

Sorry, maybe I should have worded that differently. "I really don't have the time to sit down and do an in depth study on the cost of living for the average Thai" may have been more appropriate.

How much people need to earn to live is subjective. (in any country)

I can help with your survey.

I know one Thai lady that can live quite happily on 3,000bht a month

I know another Thai lady that lives on 1,000bht a month.

They are both living in their own houses on their own land in rural areas.

but they grow their own food and don't drink 3 beer Chang every day.

[ginjag]

H90, have to pay I'm afraid to be a member, or convince the club you are worthy of the said membership. TIT.

[Skywalker69]

Funny that people blame everything on Thaksin, especially when you know that two of the most active Thaksin opponents were businessmen who couldn't accept they were bankrupt : Sondhi Limthongkul and Prachai Leophairatana.

Beside that I don't think that Thai are worse than anybody else when it comes to managing money. I'm sure I will be accused of being an american basher when I say the last world economical crisis was mostly caused by american people who borrowed more that they could afford to repay but it is unfortunately true. At least Thai people cause trouble only to themselves

Guess you wont join my "We hate Thaksin for robbing Thailand" Club?

May I join?

you´r in, mate.

[tlansford]

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

"The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson."

The majority of people need to learn this lesson... Thais are not unique.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Mr Phil - if your idea of romance is paying a monthly salary to a wife then you should reconsider. It is well known in Thailand among Thais that a farang man who has to pay a Thai wife is a man a Thai wife could never love. Such a man who thinks he can find love by paying is an absolute joke of the local community. She has a Thai man on the side for this and pays him part of the farang monthly salary to him. You are also in great danger with a woman who demands a monthly salary from violent retribution from the pimp husband which I have seen so many times before with colleagues and news reports. I know of many farang who pay this monthly salary and I know their wives all have Thai husbands (the locals are only to happy to tell a farang and share a laugh with you ) who are in great need of beer money

I could just call you a total idiot, but I'll be more polite and accurately state that you are overgeneralizing.

The situation you describe does happen, but it's certainly not true for all, and IMO not even most.

What is your nationality? I need a convenient pigeonhole for my mental picture of you.

[billd766]

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

This made me laugh, she gives you her salary in cash and then you transfer the equivelant to a bank in her name that does not have any way of withdrawls, you also give her 1,000 Baht bonus every ten days, then you say she is responsible for her own financial situation...thats funny man!!!

What's funny about that?

It's an effective way of saving for the future and there are many time now that I wish I had listened to my wife over the years.

What would happen to his wife if he were to die suddenly and she had little money to live on.

Legally she could access the bank account and know that she wouldn't starve.

We are educating our 7 year old to save money so that if he were to need some it is there.

He gets pocket money every week and puts into a piggy bank and he can physically see his money grow.

Every so often it is put into the bank and though he knows it is there it is not the same as actally seeing it.

Instead of buying some cheap toy that will break in 20 minutes he can decide to buy a bike for 1,500 baht for example and doesn't need to borrow to do so.

Credit is fine if used sensibly but at the end of the day you always pay more for something that loses in value.

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[billd766]

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

Good to see that some farang are not paying the pimp husband his monthly salary for his beer money and karaoke girls. You have set a good example for other farang. Good on you. If more farang act like you farang will start to get respect and they will no longer call us bufallos. It is some relief to hear this story after hearing so many farang paying 10K to 100K baht to pimp husbands indirectly through their wives of course.

So yo are saying that all Thai wives married to farangs also have pimp Thai husbands. Is that correct?

If it is not correct please tell me how someone who lives in Laos knows that every Thai wife is a bigamist and that all their farang hsbands are blind and stupid.

d and stupid

If you don't know the truth then either put up or shut up.

I, for one am sick to death of you slagging of Thais and Thailand in every post you make.

If you have nothing constrctive to add to any thread then please crawl back into your fortified bunker and close the door behind you, quietly.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I can't see any similarity at all with your "many millions of "educated people" in Western "developed" countries"

I believe he may have been talking specifically about the tendency to get into debt. In the US, the average credit card debt per household (for those that use credit cards) is over USD $16,000, or about 4 months median income. And that's just credit cards, not counting mortgages, student loans etc.

IMO this tendency is not a racial, tribal, national or class-based characteristic.

And the 2008-through-the-present financial crisis shouldn't IMO be "blamed" on the American consumers for taking on debt they couldn't afford but those "too big to fail" institutions that created the ponzi schemes and eliminated effective regulatory oversight - most fundamentally the US' ever-more-corrupt political system.

[billd766]

Mr Phil - if your idea of romance is paying a monthly salary to a wife then you should reconsider. It is well known in Thailand among Thais that a farang man who has to pay a Thai wife is a man a Thai wife could never love. Such a man who thinks he can find love by paying is an absolute joke of the local community. She has a Thai man on the side for this and pays him part of the farang monthly salary to him. You are also in great danger with a woman who demands a monthly salary from violent retribution from the pimp husband which I have seen so many times before with colleagues and news reports. I know of many farang who pay this monthly salary and I know their wives all have Thai husbands (the locals are only to happy to tell a farang and share a laugh with you ) who are in great need of beer money

I could just call you a total idiot, but I'll be more polite and accurately state that you are overgeneralizing.

The situation you describe does happen, but it's certainly not true for all, and IMO not even most.

What is your nationality? I need a convenient pigeonhole for my mental picture of you.

He needs to go back to his home village as there is a vacant post for the village idiot (since he left).

[Valentine]

Mr Phil - if your idea of romance is paying a monthly salary to a wife then you should reconsider. It is well known in Thailand among Thais that a farang man who has to pay a Thai wife is a man a Thai wife could never love. Such a man who thinks he can find love by paying is an absolute joke of the local community. She has a Thai man on the side for this and pays him part of the farang monthly salary to him. You are also in great danger with a woman who demands a monthly salary from violent retribution from the pimp husband which I have seen so many times before with colleagues and news reports. I know of many farang who pay this monthly salary and I know their wives all have Thai husbands (the locals are only to happy to tell a farang and share a laugh with you ) who are in great need of beer money

I could just call you a total idiot, but I'll be more polite and accurately state that you are overgeneralizing.

The situation you describe does happen, but it's certainly not true for all, and IMO not even most.

What is your nationality? I need a convenient pigeonhole for my mental picture of you.

He needs to go back to his home village as there is a vacant post for the village idiot (since he left).

He's everywhere with his big wooden spoon & troll hat.

[hellodolly]

Mr Phil - if your idea of romance is paying a monthly salary to a wife then you should reconsider. It is well known in Thailand among Thais that a farang man who has to pay a Thai wife is a man a Thai wife could never love. Such a man who thinks he can find love by paying is an absolute joke of the local community. She has a Thai man on the side for this and pays him part of the farang monthly salary to him. You are also in great danger with a woman who demands a monthly salary from violent retribution from the pimp husband which I have seen so many times before with colleagues and news reports. I know of many farang who pay this monthly salary and I know their wives all have Thai husbands (the locals are only to happy to tell a farang and share a laugh with you ) who are in great need of beer money

I could just call you a total idiot, but I'll be more polite and accurately state that you are overgeneralizing.

The situation you describe does happen, but it's certainly not true for all, and IMO not even most.

What is your nationality? I need a convenient pigeonhole for my mental picture of you.

He needs to go back to his home village as there is a vacant post for the village idiot (since he left).

I am waiting for the string of posts on the bad parts of Lao.

Given his eye sight for sure there will be nothing rite there.

In all likelihood he left his original country because it was all wrong there.

Or he could be one of those expats that Thailand has attracted because they were unwanted where they came from. His record here in Thailand is one of living in many different parts of it. That in it's self is OK but when you hook it up to his opinions of others and taking refuge in Lao it looks entirely possible.

[hellodolly]

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

This made me laugh, she gives you her salary in cash and then you transfer the equivelant to a bank in her name that does not have any way of withdrawls, you also give her 1,000 Baht bonus every ten days, then you say she is responsible for her own financial situation...thats funny man!!!

What's funny about that?

It's an effective way of saving for the future and there are many time now that I wish I had listened to my wife over the years.

What would happen to his wife if he were to die suddenly and she had little money to live on.

Legally she could access the bank account and know that she wouldn't starve.

We are educating our 7 year old to save money so that if he were to need some it is there.

He gets pocket money every week and puts into a piggy bank and he can physically see his money grow.

Every so often it is put into the bank and though he knows it is there it is not the same as actally seeing it.

Instead of buying some cheap toy that will break in 20 minutes he can decide to buy a bike for 1,500 baht for example and doesn't need to borrow to do so.

Credit is fine if used sensibly but at the end of the day you always pay more for something that loses in value.

I think you missed what he was saying, He is the one managing her money not her. While she may be real happy to see her balance give her the book and see how long it lasts. Thais have no way of thinking of the future but they are positive geniuses at dealing with what life hands them today.

I agree with the rest of your post. It is a good idea to teach them how to save and the benefits of it. If you start on them early it will become a ingrained life time habit in their later years. Later years being after the teen rebellious years.LOL

Or as in my case when some one tells me I am spending to munch on some thing I just point out to them that they are saving for their later years I am already there.

[ginjag]

The thread says"unable to pay their bill"despite pay rise"---What <deleted> pay rise  ?????   7 counties out of 77 or so---this is a bulS##it thread, most rural Thais will not go to a bank if they have extra money, they part with it all before the end of the month---most live on credit at Mama and Papa shop, and always have done.

The part of the wording=Despite a pay rise= is stupid to say the least, unless we only want to talk about 10%.

[Asiantravel]

This comes as no surprise

IMO Thai people have for a long time lived beyond their means.

For so many Thais as soon as they get their monthly salary at

the beginning of the month they rush of to go shopping or they

go out for meals. Then when the last 7 - 10 days of they either

have no money left for food / water and they spend the last few

days of the month eating mama noodles.

They have no concept of saving and budgets, yet so many have

IPhones and Bloackberry's. Priorities are so out of whack, they

eat and be happy today and they do not think or worry about

tomorrow

" yet so many have IPhones and Bloackberry's "

what about pickup trucks and SUV's? I wonder what percentage of the population

are up to their necks in debt because they paid 500,000 to 1 million for a car?

[phomsanuk]

This comes as no surprise

IMO Thai people have for a long time lived beyond their means.

For so many Thais as soon as they get their monthly salary at

the beginning of the month they rush of to go shopping or they

go out for meals. Then when the last 7 - 10 days of they either

have no money left for food / water and they spend the last few

days of the month eating mama noodles.

They have no concept of saving and budgets, yet so many have

IPhones and Bloackberry's. Priorities are so out of whack, they

eat and be happy today and they do not think or worry about

tomorrow

That's the problem with all warm countries where they do not have to plan for the winters,Greece?

[hyperdimension]

Sorry LL I think that is very naive. I posted about this before; lets say I am single and I live in BKK. I have a high school education, if I wasn't too stupid or poor and dropped out of school. So I probably earn 9,000 bhat a month working at 7-11 and I work about 10 hours a day 6 days a week. I live in a crap 10 sqm apartment and that i pay 3,000 baht a month for and another 500 for electric and water. I have to take a hot bus to and from work everyday and it takes about an hour each way to get to/from work. I probably have to pay 15 baht each way so that is another 720 a month. Where are we now 3,000 + 500 + 750 = 4,250. Its tight already. OK now I want to eat, hmm noodles on the street are 25 baht times three meals a day times 30 days, that's 2,250. I have a cheap cell phone and I pay as you go, probably another 300 a month. Where am I 4,250 + 2,250 + 300 = 6,850. I need some water everyday and drinking the tap water is iffy so I buy a bottle of water a day and once in awhile I want some fruit or maybe a treat so lets say another 30 baht a day for other stuff like soap, toothpaste, laundry, etc. so another 900. We are up to 7,750 the government takes some taxes out so I at the end of the month I actually get 8,730. So what's left 980. Maybe this month I need some new shoes or a pair of pants or I got sick. Pretty tough life.

I think some of your numbers and calculations are off.

Based on your numbers, here is what I get:

Gross income 9000

Expenses

Rent 3000

Electricity and water 500

Transport 720

Food 2250

Telephone calls 300

Drinking water, soap, toothpaste, laundry 900

Tax 270

Total expenses 7940

Surplus 1060

Here are some things that I would change and my calculations below:

• Rent can be shared if living with another person, such as a friend, girlfriend, boyfriend or wife. So I'll halve the 3000 baht in my calculations.
  
• A "hot bus" trip costs from 0 to 8 baht. I'll use 8 baht in my calculations.
  
• Many people just eat one dish per day, and maybe a small snack in the evening. I'll include fruit here. I'll use 40 baht for daily food expenses.
  
• Telephone usage can be reduced such that it is used only when necessary. I'll use 100 baht in my calculations, but it could be much less in reality.
  
• Drinking water is often provided free with meals, but I'll add 10 baht per day for a 600mL bottle. A 1.5L bottle may cost 15 baht.
  
• I'll use 100 baht for soap and 100 baht for toothpaste per month, though actual cost would be less, as a new bottle of soap or new tube of toothpaste may not be needed every single month.
  
• I'll use 30 baht for laundry per washing machine load, twice a month.
  
• Tax is 0 if annual taxable income <= 150k baht. See http://www.rd.go.th/...ish/6045.0.html
  

Gross income 9000

Expenses

Rent 1500

Electricity and water 500

Transport (8 baht per trip) 384

Food (40 baht per meal) 1200

Telephone calls 100

Drinking water (10 baht per 600mL bottle) 300

Soap 100

Toothpaste 100

Laundry 60

Tax 0

Total expenses 4244

Surplus 4756

So more than half of the income remains for saving, leisure or more comfortable living.

Edited April 28, 2012 by hyperdimension

[Asiantravel]

Sorry LL I think that is very naive. I posted about this before; lets say I am single and I live in BKK. I have a high school education, if I wasn't too stupid or poor and dropped out of school. So I probably earn 9,000 bhat a month working at 7-11 and I work about 10 hours a day 6 days a week. I live in a crap 10 sqm apartment and that i pay 3,000 baht a month for and another 500 for electric and water. I have to take a hot bus to and from work everyday and it takes about an hour each way to get to/from work. I probably have to pay 15 baht each way so that is another 720 a month. Where are we now 3,000 + 500 + 750 = 4,250. Its tight already. OK now I want to eat, hmm noodles on the street are 25 baht times three meals a day times 30 days, that's 2,250. I have a cheap cell phone and I pay as you go, probably another 300 a month. Where am I 4,250 + 2,250 + 300 = 6,850. I need some water everyday and drinking the tap water is iffy so I buy a bottle of water a day and once in awhile I want some fruit or maybe a treat so lets say another 30 baht a day for other stuff like soap, toothpaste, laundry, etc. so another 900. We are up to 7,750 the government takes some taxes out so I at the end of the month I actually get 8,730. So what's left 980. Maybe this month I need some new shoes or a pair of pants or I got sick. Pretty tough life.

I think some of your numbers and calculations are off.

Based on your numbers, here is what I get:

Gross income 9000

Expenses

Rent 3000

Electricity and water 500

Transport 720

Food 2250

Telephone calls 300

Drinking water, soap, toothpaste, laundry 900

Tax 270

Total expenses 7940

Surplus 1060

Here are some things that I would change and my calculations below:

• Rent can be shared if living with another person, such as a friend, girlfriend, boyfriend or wife. So I'll halve the 3000 baht in my calculations.
  
• A "hot bus" trip costs from 0 to 8 baht. I'll use 8 baht in my calculations.
  
• Many people just eat one dish per day, and maybe a small snack in the evening. I'll include fruit here. I'll use 40 baht for daily food expenses.
  
• Telephone usage can be reduced such that it is used only when necessary. I'll use 100 baht in my calculations, but it could be much less in reality.
  
• Drinking water is often provided free with meals, but I'll add 10 baht per day for a 600mL bottle. A 1.5L bottle may cost 15 baht.
  
• I'll use 100 baht for soap and 100 baht for toothpaste per month, though actual cost would be less, as a new bottle of soap or new tube of toothpaste may not be needed every single month.
  
• I'll use 30 baht for laundry per washing machine load, twice a month.
  
• Tax is 0 if annual taxable income <= 150k baht. See http://www.rd.go.th/...ish/6045.0.html
  

Gross income 9000

Expenses

Rent 1500

Electricity and water 500

Transport (8 baht per trip) 384

Food (40 baht per meal) 1200

Telephone calls 100

Drinking water (10 baht per 600mL bottle) 300

Soap 100

Toothpaste 100

Laundry 60

Tax 0

Total expenses 4244

Surplus 4756

So more than half of the income remains for saving, leisure or more comfortable living.

your assumptions are totally unrealistic as far as living in Thai society

if someone is fortunate enough to have this kind of " surplus "you can rest assured

there will be someone in the village at home that needs financial support.

You have made no allowance whatsoever for sending money home to the family

Edited April 28, 2012 by Asiantravel

[Tanaka]

When Mr. Thaksin comes back all their troubles will be over. He will make them rich, just like he and his philanthropic family.

No worries, life will be good. Trust him.

It might be good. If that family returned the money they have stolen from the people of Thailand.

[siampolee]

As an aside to this current matter I went to our local Mom and Pop shop this evening for my beers and a couple of bags of ice. Beer Leos as per usual 50 baht a bottle.

Ice per bag now 8 baht an increase of 1 baht, not much but considering the old price was 7 baht the actual increase is around a staggering 14%.

To me nothing, but a lot of Thai's rely on the bags of ice to cool their drinking water through the day, and of course these are the low end workers on construction sites, guards etc.

A 14% increase is due according to the actual ice supplier was not due to increased water or electricity cost but the implementation of the basic wage of 300 baht per day.

Now we see that there is a proposal to increase V.A.T which will yet again affect the cost of living and of course those in the lower income brackets get hit the hardest...

Indeed this maladministration is screwing the average Thai into the ground whilst the other tax cuts for companies is indeed fulfilling that campaign promise of riches in six months.

Trouble is that the average Somcahai and Porntip are financing the fats cats lifestyle at the expense of their own frugal existence.

The P.T.P. the party of the people ?I

Indeed that would seem so it's the niche party of , ''the rich people.''

Thaksin P.T.P.economic policy. What's mine is mine what's yours is also mine,

The new amart is indeed shafting the electorate in a grand fashion,

Edited April 28, 2012 by siampolee

[hyperdimension]

your assumptions are totally unrealistic as far as living in Thai society

What do you find unrealistic in particular?

You have made no allowance whatsoever for sending money home to the family

Part of the surplus can go back to the family.

[rubl]

Low level workers may be complaining, but at least the farmes are rich now with the THB 350++ billion Baht spent in Produce Price Pledging

[crazydrummerpauly]

This comes as no surprise

IMO Thai people have for a long time lived beyond their means.

For so many Thais as soon as they get their monthly salary at

the beginning of the month they rush of to go shopping or they

go out for meals. Then when the last 7 - 10 days of they either

have no money left for food / water and they spend the last few

days of the month eating mama noodles.

They have no concept of saving and budgets, yet so many have

IPhones and Bloackberry's. Priorities are so out of whack, they

eat and be happy today and they do not think or worry about

tomorrow

"Thai people..." ? &lt;deleted&gt;...On planet Advanced Capitalism, founded on Consumerism, lets just be honest and make that "People" ok?

[jerrysteve]

Thats no suprise!

[jerrysteve]

Most Thais that are lucky enough to work out side of their country, cruise liners, that can speak English, do not want to come back to Thailand, coz they know how cheap Thai Employers are, and with many employers its even a struggle to get paid.