Are Most Thai Really Frugal?

[nokia]

I have read about a Thai who spent 10b ($0.25) a day having lunch in the company cafeteria. Probably spends 20b($0.50) on dinner, and doesn't smoke or drink and rarely goes out. Is that normal for a Thai?

I always thought Thai are big spenders at month end, after pay day. Perhaps that is the exception rather than the norm for most middle income Thais?

While it's pretty normal for most of us to blow away a few hundred baht or maybe even more

to make our tummies happy each day, do you know of any Thai friends who are experts in frugality?

[Totster]

I suspect that Thais are not much different to people in then rest of the world.. some take care, others blow their money.

Also a point to note that as an expat worker you are probably on a larger salary, therefore more diposable income..

But also... why spend bt100 when you can get a decent enough meal for 10-20 baht..?

totster

[meadish_sweetball]

My experience: Individual Thais differ immensely in how they handle/spend money. No clear pattern emerges from the Thais I know.

I know some people who will drive 14 kilometers in order to find an ATM from their own bank so they do not have to pay the 20 baht fee.

I also know a girl who buys make-up for over 7000 baht per month.

...and lots in between.

[Boon Mee]

Thai/Chinese heritage are definitely more frugal than ethnic Thai - by a country mile.

[daleyboy]

I know some people who will drive 14 kilometers in order to find an ATM from their own bank so they do not have to pay the 20 baht fee.

I do that!!!! But i do it out of principal rather than being tight. I know it probably costs me more money to drive that extra bit than they are charging but it is the principal of the matter.

As for Thais we are going over old ground again. People on this board talk about them as if they are some kind of alien breed, well news flash their not they are the same as any westener just a slightly differnt shade of skin tone.

You have tight wads and big spenders, you have happy and sad............................... the list goes on. Why are people always constantly surprised to find out that Thai people are pretty much the same as the rest of us?

[blabbel]

The difference in income may explain why some consider spending less than 200Bt on lunch "being frugal".

10.000 is quite an acceptable salary in Bangkok.

[Tywais]

Thai/Chinese heritage are definitely more frugal than ethnic Thai - by a country mile.

Sure wish my wife knew that!

[GuestHouse]

When you've got to meet the monthly instalments on your 'Tabien Deng' parked in the car park every Bht saved on food counts.

[Thaipwriter]

When you've got to meet the monthly instalments on your 'Tabien Deng' parked in the car park every Bht saved on food counts.

The 59 baht "eat until you turn green color" buffett in Khon Kaen has at least 500 million baht's worth of red plate vehicles outside every night

[Stephen Cleary]

Thai/Chinese heritage are definitely more frugal than ethnic Thai - by a country mile.

Without a doubt, this comment hits the nail on the head.

This is the exact reason why the Thai-Chinese, over the period of just a couple of generations - generated the majorty of the country's wealth.

There is a huge mentatility difference between Thais and those of Thai-Chinese ancestory (though we are currently seeing change).

A rural Thai gets his salary; he is genrally seen as waltzing off to some karaoke bar, buying bevvies for everyone, paying garlands for a few dancers and within a few days he is broke til the next pay packet. He enjoys spending his money and life this way. May be he is happy with a monthly routine like this. It can be argued that this is part of 'impermanace' and 'living in the moment'.

As for the Thai-Chinese, they are the opposite (or definetely used to be!)

Whichever side you judge best - well...thats up to you. But quite obviously - there are pros and cons to which ever way you wish to spend your money.

So, as for answering Nokia's question, first you will have to differentiate between two very different peoples in this regard,..... and that is the Thais and the Thai-Chinese.

[tavarich]

My wife is very frugal with her money. She is not so inclined with my money

[Heng]

For myself, very frugal in the past. Less so now.

My aunt owns a few blocks of Ban Moh (in Bangkok). Still rides the bus when she has the chance. Owns one car, not sure which model exactly, but it's clearly one of the first Mazda's imported to Thailand (about 20-30 years old).

On the other hand there's another uncle (same Thai Chinese bloodline, same parents), runs a few of those bars/aluminum/glass shops and has every toy conceivable (including a yacht and a few DIY light aircraft).

Everyone's different.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Heng

[Wes Turner]

frugality?

Sorry, but what does it mean?

[Tippaporn]

My wife is frugal overall, bless her heart. She doesn't like to spend my money (she doesn't have a job), is extremely conscious about it, and will prefer to start hocking jewelry if she's low on cash before coming to me with her hand out. She's suggested several times to move out of our rented condo as she can't justify spending 14,000 baht every month. If I offer to buy her something when I see that she's interested in an item she'll immediately look at the price tag. If it's too much in her opinion she'll simply walk away without saying a word.

Then again, she's not so frugal when it comes to other things. She loves to buy clothes, especially shoes. I teasingly call her Imelda Marcos. But . . . she shops only the local markets, rarely the department stores.

Not long ago we were exiting a mall going down to ground level from the top level. Passing through the clothing level her eyes popped wide and the next 45 minutes found us looking at racks upon racks of shoes in various outlets. I couldn't count the number of pairs she looked at or tried on. After a while I even found myself helping her shop. But we went home without her buying a single pair.

Driving home I kept thinking about the oddity of it and asked her why she didn't buy anything. Was it because she didn't find a pair that she truly liked? She replied dryly, "If I touched them I liked them." And she touched a lot. Poor girl couldn't justify spending 2,000 baht on a pair of shoes as she was calculating how many pairs she could buy at the local market for the same money.

If she goes out drinking with her GFs money is no longer an object. Whether she has 1,000 or 2,000 baht she'll invariably come home with less than 100 baht in her pocket. Upon leaving for a night out once she stood pensively in front of me while evaluating her funds; about 1,400 baht. She sheepishly asked for 200 more, explaining that it was to be her "safety money." The next morning I asked how much she had left . . . 40 baht.

So, even if a particular person is considered frugal they may be with some things, but not with others.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Tippaporn

[mogoso]

frugality?

Sorry, but what does it mean?

My wonderful wife is frugal in all aspects, except when it comes to grocery shopping. It just has to be the freshest, the certain brand, the right cut of fish or meat for her. But once again there an exception. thats the type of pork she will buy herself ( I don't eat mammals). For some reason she buys all this fatty stuff with very little flesh marbled into it. I dunno what she does with it, as she cooks it out on the barbies side burner to keep the stink outta the house (lest I complain about odor)

[skylar]

In Bangkok, most Thais try to cut down on living expenses in order to splurge on material goods. This is why you'll see someone with a new car/laptop/great clothes/new phone living in a hole of a house with their landline cut. I'm suprised none of you have picked this up. So yes, they are frugal with everyday expenses and not so much with luxuries.

[Totster]

A rural Thai gets his salary; he is genrally seen as waltzing off to some karaoke bar, buying bevvies for everyone, paying garlands for a few dancers and within a few days he is broke til the next pay packet. He enjoys spending his money and life this way. May be he is happy with a monthly routine like this. It can be argued that this is part of 'impermanace' and 'living in the moment'.

I'm glad you said generally ! Because that's what it is, a generalisation.

Where it's true that some seem to spend their life like this, an equal number if not more will be saving their money.

In the small and not very wealthy village I live in there are 4-5 new houses being built now, 2 new cars in the village. In the main town there is a large amount of new cars on the road. Now you tell me, how can this be, if these rural Thais are waltzing off to the karoke bar and blowing their money.

Like I said earlier in the topic, It's a mix, wherever you are, there are those who are careful, and those who blow their money... yes.. even in rural Thailand

And the Chinese Ha !! Just give em a whiff of gambling and they'll part with their life savings !!

totster

[nokia]

frugality?

Sorry, but what does it mean?

Frugality means to spend as little as possible, eg on inexpensive/cheaper meals or just being thrifty in spending only what's needed, avoiding wastage in some sense but not to the extent of being miserly.

My wife is very frugal with her money. She is not so inclined with my money

That's true, try allocating a fixed sum for 'her expenditures' every month of which the remainder will go to her pocket if it's not used. i think she might become frugal after that.

In Bangkok, most Thais try to cut down on living expenses in order to splurge on material goods. This is why you'll see someone with a new car/laptop/great clothes/new phone living in a hole of a house with their landline cut. I'm suprised none of you have picked this up. So yes, they are frugal with everyday expenses and not so much with luxuries.

That's a good observation. So, middle income Thais are super savers in everyday life, but become big spenders on luxuries goods which far exceed their income, which makes the credit card/finance companies very happy.

In retrospect, generally Thai-Chinese are more frugal/thrifty than Thai, but of course there are exceptions to the norm.

Last point is the face thing, besides showing off luxuries goods, the weathiest in the group is supposed to pick up the tab on behalf of the group for the dinner/drinking binge.

[Heng]

Last point is the face thing, besides showing off luxuries goods, the weathiest in the group is supposed to pick up the tab on behalf of the group for the dinner/drinking binge.

And let's not forget that not ALL with "luxury goods" are showing them off. Just like in China, where "Chinese food" is just called "food," these "luxury goods" are often just goods to many people. It's all relative.

[astral]

Why is this limited to Thai's?

If I can buy a nutritious meal for 10 baht then that will be fine for me.

(difficult these days)

I will not buy clothes that include a 200-1000% mark up because they have

some fancy name on the label.

I come from a background where we did not have much money as I was growing up.

The old habits die hard.

Many Thai's are the same.

Astral (A tight arsed Brit)

Edited January 26, 2006 by astral

[Tippaporn]

Why is this limited to Thai's?

If I can buy a nutritious meal for 10 baht then that will be fine for me.

(difficult these days)

I will not buy clothes that include a 200-1000% mark up because they have

some fancy name on the label.

I come from a background where we did not have much money as I was growing up.

The old habits die hard.

Many Thai's are the same.

Astral (A tight arsed Brit)

I'm sure you're inclined to buy a round for your mates at the local drinking establishment. Tight arsed but not miserly, right?

[RamdomChances]

Thai/Chinese heritage are definitely more frugal than ethnic Thai - by a country mile.

Without a doubt, this comment hits the nail on the head.

This is the exact reason why the Thai-Chinese, over the period of just a couple of generations - generated the majorty of the country's wealth.

There is a huge mentatility difference between Thais and those of Thai-Chinese ancestory (though we are currently seeing change).

A rural Thai gets his salary; he is genrally seen as waltzing off to some karaoke bar, buying bevvies for everyone, paying garlands for a few dancers and within a few days he is broke til the next pay packet. He enjoys spending his money and life this way. May be he is happy with a monthly routine like this. It can be argued that this is part of 'impermanace' and 'living in the moment'.

As for the Thai-Chinese, they are the opposite (or definetely used to be!)

Whichever side you judge best - well...thats up to you. But quite obviously - there are pros and cons to which ever way you wish to spend your money.

So, as for answering Nokia's question, first you will have to differentiate between two very different peoples in this regard,..... and that is the Thais and the Thai-Chinese.

Whats a "rural thai" then...bit of a news flash, not all Thai/Chinese, live in cities with shops and buissinesses. I live in Nakorn Sawan and nearly everyone is Thai/Chinese and guess what? They are much the same as most other Thais, some will go our spending and others save.

[blabbel]

And let's not forget that not ALL with "luxury goods" are showing them off. Just like in China, where "Chinese food" is just called "food," these "luxury goods" are often just goods to many people. It's all relative.

It's the wannabes who feel the need to show off.

I keep my "goods" well hidden from public view (except the BMW), it would only cause envy and discontent.