Are Thais Getting Into Debt

[autan]

New holiday home, new car, new iPad. The list just keeps growing. Are some Thais getting into a whol new level of debt, because I don't see wages increasing much. It seems that if they are not earning more, they must be borrowing more.

Does anyone have an explanation as where some Thais are getting their money from ?

[payak]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

Edited August 12, 2012 by payak

[autan]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as evertime he dont she threatensto split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man.

I do kind of understand where your coming from with this, however there are a lot of Thais driving some very very expensive cars, I am no pauper but some of the lifestyles I have seen especially in Bkk and Hua Hin are eye watering. Either there are a foolish falangs around or were all kissing something.

[payak]

well many thai people do earn good money.

my wifes father built a nice home for the family, all her brothers and sisters do ok.

there not all poor, her family actualy do better then mine i would say.

not bad for an isan family

[autan]

well many thai people do earn good money.

my wifes father built a nice home for the family, all her brothers and sisters do ok.

there not all poor, her family actualy do better then mine i would say.

not bad for an isan family

What is his profession if you don't mind me asking. Be discrete though.

[Jake829]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

Yep totally agree on that one!

[payak]

he is a chef, but he worked in dubai, israel and england, does ok.

[theblether]

I don't agree with the far too easy line about the farang men providing the money. Farang relationships with thais are relatively rare in the overall mix of things....in a country with a population of 67 million it's almost an irrelevance.

The brutal fact is that far too many thais have a fatalistic attraction to debt. I know of one lady who earns 6000 baht a month and was determined to buy a new motorcycle with payments of around 2000 baht a month. When she ran short of money for monthly expenses she borrowed 5000 baht from illegal lenders and had to repay 6000 baht a month later.......and hence spins the magic roundabout of malicious debt.

Another lady i know took on a car payment of 8000 baht a month for 6 years. She earns 11000 baht a month. Unfortunately a lot of thais are going to find themselves in a world of hurt, as their attitude to money is quite unsophisticated, while the laws are draconian and the illegal lending market is highly sophisticated, pervasive and brutal.

Edited August 12, 2012 by theblether

[Styx]

it's all because of the "face" thing, even security guard must have a black berry...

[mca]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

You obviously move in extremely wide social circles.

[farang000999]

It is very possible that we are in the midst of 1997 part 2. Not just in Thailand but globally.

You have a situation where low interest rates cause assets to raise in value. Then people think that these gains are "real". They then go out and spend more or borrow more based on these gains. When those gains prove illusory, the bubble collapses.

Is this what is going on? Who knows. A few influential people in the Thai real estate market have alluded towards this.

This has been the story of the last two decades of active central bank interest rate tinkering.

Nobody wants to save money for 1% annual interest. If interest rates were 6-7-8-9% you would have individuals saving instead of splurging. Certain economists say that saving is terrible and that we should promote spending which creates economic growth which is done via artificially low interest rates. What we have seen though is one asset bubble after another with this format.

Edited August 13, 2012 by farang000999

[isanbirder]

It is very possible that we are in the midst of 1997 part 2. Not just in Thailand but globally.

You have a situation where low interest rates cause assets to raise in value. Then people think that these gains are "real". They then go out and spend more or borrow more based on these gains. When those gains prove illusory, the bubble collapses.

Is this what is going on? Who knows. A few influential people in the Thai real estate market have alluded towards this.

This has been the story of the last two decades of active central bank interest rate tinkering.

Nobody wants to save money for 1% annual interest. If interest rates were 6-7-8-9% you would have individuals saving instead of splurging. Certain economists say that saving is terrible and that we should promote spending which creates economic growth which is done via artificially low interest rates. What we have seen though is one asset bubble after another with this format.

The first post in this thread which shows any connection with the real world. This debt bubble is virtually worldwide. It's the reason why the Eurozone is staggering under massive debts... Greece, Italy, Spain etc. The US is massively in debt, and there is no way it can repay (except by printing more money).. The UK is going along the same route. Why should Thailand be any different?

[pigeonjake]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

payak,

you dont give your rich issan wife ne money at all then??

i give my wife money, just like i used to give my wife in the uk money, and i bought the house in the uk, and i lost the same house in uk when we got divorced,

its just the same here my freind, we are married its our job to keep the wife and kids, we have a small pig farm that makes a small profit so we are getting there,

and im just in the process of looking to buy a fishing park, so we might be going into that venture too, im still young enough to go to work, i work in the oil and gas industry all over the world,

and i never had problems getting ladys,in the uk, brazil, africa, dubai,or anywere else ive worked,, maybe its becouse of all the money i earn, lol,

jake

[aussiebebe]

There's a good piece on asiancorrespondant.com that answers the OP's questions. The article quotes a report from Credit Suisse First Boston:

when coupled with less than 4% inflation, annual real wage growth should come in at 7-10% over the next couple of years

and concludes that household debt in Thailand isn't unsustainable.

To specifically answer the OP's question regarding the lenders; Thais get their mortgages, auto loans and credit cards from banks and low-income Thais secure credit from Aeon and of course illegal lenders. You'll notice snaking queues outside Aeon branches on the 1st and 15th of every month.

Edited August 13, 2012 by aussiebebe

[overherebc]

I don't agree with the far too easy line about the farang men providing the money. Farang relationships with thais are relatively rare in the overall mix of things....in a country with a population of 67 million it's almost an irrelevance.

The brutal fact is that far too many thais have a fatalistic attraction to debt. I know of one lady who earns 6000 baht a month and was determined to buy a new motorcycle with payments of around 2000 baht a month. When she ran short of money for monthly expenses she borrowed 5000 baht from illegal lenders and had to repay 6000 baht a month later.......and hence spins the magic roundabout of malicious debt.

Another lady i know took on a car payment of 8000 baht a month for 6 years. She earns 11000 baht a month. Unfortunately a lot of thais are going to find themselves in a world of hurt, as their attitude to money is quite unsophisticated, while the laws are draconian and the illegal lending market is highly sophisticated, pervasive and brutal.

A few years ago I worked for a company in BKK. They got a few orders running back to back, each next depending on timely completion of the previous.( Fabrication work) Would have meant about 4 years work if it had gone to plan. Within 4 weeks the carpark was full of new pick-ups.

The GM had to get them together and explain that if they lost the next order there would not be a follow up with lots of OT. The second order was late so the work was given to other companies and within two months most of the pick-ups were gone, back to banks and finance companies.

The workers never seemed to bother though, they had to continue paying off for pick-ups they didn't have and just waited for the next big job to appear so they could start all over again.

[Berkshire]

I do kind of understand where your coming from with this, however there are a lot of Thais driving some very very expensive cars, I am no pauper but some of the lifestyles I have seen especially in Bkk and Hua Hin are eye watering. Either there are a foolish falangs around or were all kissing something.

I'm not sure where you're getting your evidence for your hypothesis, but they appear completely anecdotal. From my observations, Thais are far less addicted to debt than farangs in the west. Asians tend to save more and Thais are no different. Now if you're talking about the typical Isaan princess with her farang in tow, that's not very representative of the population at large. Perhaps you should accept that the Thais driving expensive cars can actually afford it. No need to feel jealous or envious.

[mjj]

Money and Thailand has and is a mystery to me. The number of farang giving money is negligible I think. In Bangkok there are a lot of 3m baht plus cars, very expensive housing, etc. Where does all the money come from? I have though for a long time that Thailand is not a poor country, it just has a lot of poor people in it. I'm sure if you counted all the cars over 3m baht value there would be more than there is of equal value in the UK.

A women living opposite me had to sell one of her 5 Mercedes because she could not fit them all in here parking spaces. She doesn't work.

Schools that cost 30k a year are over subscribed, where I live the expensive supermarkets and malls are always jam packed, you can't go a day without seeing at least 5 red number plates, etc.

I honestly have no idea what an average wage is in Thailand. Before people told me 10-15k a month is good money for them. Well, if that is true they are very good at saving money because what I see they have doesn't fit into that salary.

I'm starting to think the average salary is about 50k, but they just don't tell the farangs. Lol.

[meatballs]

I see expensive mercedes parked in front of 3,000 baht a month shacks here all the time. I think when a Thai has money the first thing they do is buy a pricey car. Cars are real status symbols here.

[overherebc]

I would love to see if I could find it, a Little diagram called the 'Economic Triangle' for Thailand.

Anyone got ideas where to find one that has been drawn based on real facts ?

[thenervoussurgeon]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

Is this anecdotal evidance or something that happened to you? as you seem to be very well informed

[krisb]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

thats not true. yep theyre all bad and falang all dumb. go holiday /live in another country then.bye.

[krisb]

its called working hard, rent to buy, saving up for something.48 months interest free. you know like we have/do in the west.

[WebBangkok]

lol I wonder how many farang guys get into debt BECAUSE of their Thai girlfriends lol

I know of one and just shake my head every time I see him, I am sure a lot of people who work in the corporate side of Bangkok know who he is too.

[maxme]

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

Is this anecdotal evidance or something that happened to you? as you seem to be very well informed

they get it from farang men, the foolish ones who give it.

the ones who do anything the woman says as everytime he dont she threatens to split.

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

that my friend is where the money is coming from, and its the foolish farang in debt, not the thai.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

Is this anecdotal evidance or something that happened to you? as you seem to be very well informed

Evidently a common thing in Thailand and wouldn't be surprised even most of the TV members have had some sort of this experience.

[cheechoo]

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

i ve got a bone to pick with you.

the women that guys pick in thailand arent any more attractive than the ones they got back home.................lol.

[WebBangkok]

being that they have never had an even remotely attractive woman at home they will do almost anything not to lose her.

even start bs'ing themselves.

allways the sweet handsome man who suffers, when he is broke, he is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man, when he is broke, he is no longer handsome.

i ve got a bone to pick with you.

the women that guys pick in thailand arent any more attractive than the ones they got back home.................lol.

lol you think? Well looks we all have our preferences, but I bet you that a lot back home are beached whales.

[KNJ]

Unkike the UK it is an export ecconomy, 2/3 of GDP is exports. which was 350 Billion USD in 2011

Industry (40% ) and service sectors make up the majority of GDP, farming is less than 10%

After Indonesia it is teh second largest ecconomy in SEA, with a per capita GDP of 5400 usd,

It has the 3rd lowest unemployment rate in the world.

Inflation is managable.

Large automobile manufacturing, electronics ( 70% of all hard drives in teh world are made in Thailand)

Oil reserves of 270 million barrels, gas reserves 15 trillion cubic feet

Tourism is 6% of GDP - that is a lot of inward investment and hard currency.

Major exports to USA, Japan and Europe.

10 % of people hold 1/3 of the countries wealth.

Are these numbers telling teh OP something?

[transam]

To borrow money here is far easier than farang land. If a native has some sort of government job, they are laughing, BUT those who ''pass'' a loan application are not taking into account the hole they are digging.

My Mrs sister does sod all but drink and gamble, her husband works for an electric supplier and he has borrowed hundreds of thousands, l believe against his pension payout. Problem is he soon retires and will have little left to live on.

[hanuman2543]

I live in a middle sized town in Issaan. Here you can see a lot of Mercedes E-Class (new model), Hummer, Porsche Cayenne etc and they are not driven by farangs, but rich Thais. Just look around how many high ranking Government Officials, Generals, Police Officers can afford expensive cars. I wait for the day when people like Supphot write a book " How to become a millionaire on Government wages" . It would be a best-seller for sure.

[travelmann]

Judging by some "ex friends" of my Wife's Id say yes, borrowing with constant requests made them ex friends. They're all heading for a fall, my Wife says she doesnt know why they do it she never had the need like they do, but then that's just her, even before we met she was thrifty.

However when the sh*t hits the fan it wont be their fault!!