2 Out Of Three Thai Families Are In Debt: Survey

[BigJohnnyBKK]

How often do we need to repeat there is no problem with the Thai "mindset", it all depends where you live, actually with who you live.

Even in the Isan village where I go regularly people are ok but I notice that the foreigners who marry local girls tend to marry the girls from the most dysfunctional families. So most of the post here are like reporting about the life in the U.S. from a trailer park.

And unless you're talking about the very small subset of Americans that are truly affluent, well-educated, familiar and open with points of view from the outside world, it is very accurate to talk about "the average American" from that point of view.

A very very small percentage of Americans are responsible about consumer debt. Obviously it's a good idea to exclude from that discussion that group that has more cash floating around than your average African nation.

[Buchholz]

How often do we need to repeat there is no problem with the Thai "mindset", it all depends where you live, actually with who you live.

Even in the Isan village where I go regularly people are ok but I notice that the foreigners who marry local girls tend to marry the girls from the most dysfunctional families. So most of the post here are like reporting about the life in the U.S. from a trailer park.

And unless you're talking about the very small subset of Americans that are truly affluent, well-educated, familiar and open with points of view from the outside world, it is very accurate to talk about "the average American" from that point of view.

A very very small percentage of Americans are responsible about consumer debt. Obviously it's a good idea to exclude from that discussion that group that has more cash floating around than your average African nation.

"life in the U.S. from a trailer park" = "the average American"

uhmmm... if you say so

[Yunla]

IMO part of the problem here is that they have end-stage Western financial devices, without the early or mid-stage checks & balances & cultural-experience of card-debt. It is the same as handing out tablet computers to people who don't have pencils or books. Thailand has not laid the infrastructure for end-stage financing, just the same as it has not laid the infrastructure for safe roads and safe water management. It misses out the important early-mid stage development and jumps into the end-stage. This is not Thai peoples fault, they are developing and seeing the already developed countries on the TV & web, and they want the modernity today without the important infrastructure that must go in first.

For example, many people myself included, in the West, watched our hard-working parents struggle with credit card debt in the 70s & 80s and we realised that it is better to live frugally out of debt, than to live only for 'today' and have everything taken away from you at the first hurdle. But for Thailand this generational card-debt process started later. I'm seeing similar things among the daughters of my Thai friend, they have seen their mother get into huge debt very fast in Bangkok, and they don't want to live like that. I hope the next generation are more wary than their parents. The sad part is a lot of people here get into debt just paying for basics like raising kids, not on flashy cars and jewellry etc.

[sparebox2]

I have a credit card. That automatically make me have debt.

Even though i may monthly in full.

[Pib]

What a useless survey...people carrying a debt load is common across the world....with home mortgages, car loans, credit cards,etc., being where the great majority of the debt load is carried...all of this debt load supposedly providing a better quality of life.

To say it again, what a useless survey. But I guess it creates a job for some folks and gives newspapers writers something to plagiarize...and something for folks to comment on. That reminds me, did I pay my credit card bill for this month yet?

Seriously, are you that stupid or do you keep your eyes and ears closed all the time? Many don't even have a job and they buy, not second hand vehicles because that wouldn't be good enough, but NEW vehicles. As I said in my post, keeping face and getting drunk is all that matters. Wake up from your dream world.

Oh my goodness my friend you are the one that needs to wake-up from your stereotyping dream. Do you really believe all Thai's think keeping face and getting drunk is all that matters?

[regine]

Seriously, are you that stupid or do you keep your eyes and ears closed all the time? Many don't even have a job and they buy, not second hand vehicles because that wouldn't be good enough, but NEW vehicles. As I said in my post, keeping face and getting drunk is all that matters. Wake up from your dream world.

You should probably get a new girlfriend/wife/friends if this is all you see in Thailand.

He's not in a dream world, rather you're in some kind of a nightmare. Don't get angry at others because you chose to surround yourself with losers.

[Semper]

American family have no debt.

No, they only use cash money.

[JurgenG]

IMO part of the problem here is that they have end-stage Western financial devices, without the early or mid-stage checks & balances & cultural-experience of card-debt. It is the same as handing out tablet computers to people who don't have pencils or books. Thailand has not laid the infrastructure for end-stage financing, just the same as it has not laid the infrastructure for safe roads and safe water management. It misses out the important early-mid stage development and jumps into the end-stage. This is not Thai peoples fault, they are developing and seeing the already developed countries on the TV & web, and they want the modernity today without the important infrastructure that must go in first.

For example, many people myself included, in the West, watched our hard-working parents struggle with credit card debt in the 70s & 80s and we realised that it is better to live frugally out of debt, than to live only for 'today' and have everything taken away from you at the first hurdle. But for Thailand this generational card-debt process started later. I'm seeing similar things among the daughters of my Thai friend, they have seen their mother get into huge debt very fast in Bangkok, and they don't want to live like that. I hope the next generation are more wary than their parents. The sad part is a lot of people here get into debt just paying for basics like raising kids, not on flashy cars and jewellry etc.

Much better than in the west where some of the richest people give their money to manage to people who call them "muppets" ...

[billd766]

I expect the great majority of cars bought all over the world, to include in western nations, are bought via loan versus cash. I don't think I would classify folks who have bought vehicles via a loan as not being able to afford it; maybe they didn't have a large sum of cash to buy the vehicle outright but most can afford it through cash flow management (i.e., monthly payments). Of course this assumes the amount of money incoming (work/investments) each month exceeds the required outgoing amount (bills).

Most people buying cars can't actually afford them, but pernicious advertising and keep-up-with-the-Jones' false cultural status brainwashing dupes them into accessing the easy credit made available by the industry. Your "cash flow" argument is bogus for 99% of the population - if anyone gets a higher ROI on their cash than they'd pay out on a consumer loan I'd really like to find out how. And the 1% that might meet your example probably will be smart and pay cash.

The so-called "asset" often depreciates faster than the loan gets paid off, and by the time all's said and done the consumer has paid far more per km driven than if he'd limited himself to a car he could afford to pay cash for.

We need to design our communities so private cars become unnecessary anyway, they are very harmful to society and the planet and completely unsustainable long-term as the rest of the world catches up to those that developed first.

Not to mention the consequences of our continuing to rely on fossil fuels.

I feel like hugging a tree right now if I could find one. Maybe I should take out a loan and buy one.

I can sell you one of mine.

Cash only, NO credit cards or loans.

[Mosha]

My wife got a CC application form sent. "What do I do with this?" I showed her with a pair of scissors. Only debt we have is the truck, we don't need more.