Hundreds of westerners living on the streets of Thailand

[frankold]

Fair dos, a lot of gloating on here. Of course, none of you make a mistake right. It ain't just bar girls that can strip you of everything, your perfect Thai-Chinese honey/police lieutenant's daughter/banking clerk girl may do the same, the system is just not set up for you not to lose and it's easy to get caught up in the furore if you don't have your head switched on. It happens, even to some of the level-headed lifers on here. While I'm shrewd enough to not get stumped, and though there clearly are dolts that come here with their brain in their todger, I won't kick these folks when down, it makes me cringe.

And there in lays the problem. Too many people make their mistakes then blame 'the system', a system that totally leans towards males compared to the west.

Effectively houses etc can be owned here. Cars/Condos etc no issue at all. The problem is fools trying to live beyond their means/signing over expensove assets due to insecurities that their partner will lose interest if they don't or cash dries up.

[moe666]

Every farang arriving in Thailand for the first time should be locked in a rubber room and forced to read the Marriage and Divorce section on this forum for 24 hours straight.

After you!

or, as a second thought, no thanks!

Maybe of a certain age (60+) or a certain group (western welfare lowlifes and failures)...i believe a avarage guy with a functioning brain just wouldnt fall for the things like bargirl, sin sot, etc.

Those who broke after buying a car for girlfriend, and left with nothing on their name to buy their own ticket home...well, they fall in the above mentioned groups for sure.

Everyone in a right mind the least has a failsafe, some money outside of Thailand, out of easy reach of anyone but themselves!

Those mentioned, homeless, and happy to scavage for food with other homeless, and boost to share a smoke or a drink with...they deserve what they have!!

Most of the people who come to Thailand are just that average.

[somtampet]

Hundreds? Really?

About 200 the OP said.

There are more than that in the shopping centre at STOKE .Lets get back to reality,out of the 200 ish,how many have been ripped off by a thai girl,how many have succumbed to drink,and how many de cided to do this,spend the money and die there.

The post did say a growing population,but i think now that the multi o visas rules have been tightened,we will see less of these unfortunate people.

200, one has got to laugh anout this massive amount,and we will still have a few nerds say al of em have been ripped off by an Issan bargirl hehehehehehehehe

Give 'em time.

I thought you were going to be the first lol lol.What is so difficult finding a honest,loving thai wonen in Thailand,its easier than finding a wetern lady in Thailand hehehehehe

[moe666]

We are rank amateurs and the girls are highly skilled professionals. The culture promotes saying what other wants to hear far more than honesty. We come with notions that just don't apply here, and pay the price of that education.

Its not about what they say it is about what you want to believe.

[Bagwan]

Far too many of them wouldn't listen, they just wouldn't listen. Even in that article it says there are plenty of stories to warn them of the dangers,

We even had guys on TV boasting last week that were ready to make the same mistakes, even on here, they won't listen.

You can't stop a fool being a fool.

They wouldn't listen. Up to them.

I made the same mistake in the UK. Nobody warned me if I bought a house a wife could take 100% of it from me and have the police throw me out on the streets. Not exclusively a Thai problem.

I'm not at all sure that that is the case. My understanding is that a 'family' court may rule that the wife has the right to domicile but that after the kids are grown to adulthood then the property may be sold and the proceeds shared. Anything else is tantamount to legalised theft.

[Gsxrnz]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

QED

[Berkshire]

Funny how if you are broke and penniless and the system cant fine or squeeze anything from you they leave you alone, but if you are a potential cash cow you will be hounded from Mae Sai to Betong. I would like to add that given the right circumstances almost anyone of us could end up like this and they should be viewed with compassion instead of scorn/

"...almost anyone of us could end up like this."

I'm sorry, but no. I can never end up homeless. Will never happen. And I don't think the majority of folks posting here can either. Coming from the US, where perhaps we are a bit desynthesized due to the large numbers of homeless in every large city, I've lost sympathy for homeless folks long ago. Unless they're children who have no choice, I simply see it as their own personal decision. Instead of being responsible citizens, they choose to be responsible for nothing. Their choice.

Governments should try to help people who want to help themselves. For this criteria, the majority of homeless folks do not qualify.

[Bagwan]

Well here a great plan why not give these homeless people a job teaching English in exchange of a flight home or whatever as ASEAN 2015 is just around the corner win win situation if you ask me ...

Believe it or not, you actually need some training to teach English. Turning a semi-literate, drunken loser loose on a classroom full of children is not the answer, and it gives the rest of us a bad name.

Well said. Why don't we get them to do a stint as an accountant, a carpenter, bricklayer, plumber or electrician before we buy their ticket and send them home. Just dry them out and they'll be equally capable of performing those jobs too.

Ever hear about reserved occupations?

[bushwacker]

What I think is sad, is the governments actions to legalize the scams against the Westerner. Like the lady does not have 2 baht to rub together but she can buy land or a house with the husbands money if he signs a document that says it is not his money, he has not given it to her and he has no legal claim to it. Duh!!! Legalized theft. But this is just one example of the culture that has been set up based on take, grab, steal, lie, bribe.

Welcome to Thailand.

[Berkshire]

What I think is sad, is the governments actions to legalize the scams against the Westerner. Like the lady does not have 2 baht to rub together but she can buy land or a house with the husbands money if he signs a document that says it is not his money, he has not given it to her and he has no legal claim to it. Duh!!! Legalized theft. But this is just one example of the culture that has been set up based on take, grab, steal, lie, bribe.

Welcome to Thailand.

That is ridiculous. Nobody is putting a gun to the guy's head.

[somtampet]

We are rank amateurs and the girls are highly skilled professionals. The culture promotes saying what other wants to hear far more than honesty. We come with notions that just don't apply here, and pay the price of that education.

U speak for yourself,and dont sdpeak for the majority of thais

If u have been stitched up by a thai girl,dont vent your anger on others

[unanimosity]

We are rank amateurs and the girls are highly skilled professionals. The culture promotes saying what other wants to hear far more than honesty. We come with notions that just don't apply here, and pay the price of that education.

You have hit the nail on the head, laddie. They know all about western habits and behaviours whilst foreigners know zip about them. Rank amateurs is correct.

Foreigners step off a plane as though debarking the ivory towers of their first world advanced civilization like a knight in shining armour bending down to rescue a poor native dansel and elevate her out of third world distress by lifting her onto a big white stallion and prancing around with their trophy.

It is inconceivable that such noble, albeit egotistical, intentions could ever go awry. But, in the absence of sentiment, guilt, gratitude, and sincere emotion, it is easy to drain even the best of intentions.

[ThaiFelix]

Well here a great plan why not give these homeless people a job teaching English in exchange of a flight home or whatever as ASEAN 2015 is just around the corner win win situation if you ask me ...

Believe it or not, you actually need some training to teach English. Turning a semi-literate, drunken loser loose on a classroom full of children is not the answer, and it gives the rest of us a bad name.

Not true!! There were quite a few at the school where I worked....some could barely spell their own names and said things like 'aint' and 'firty free'.....no wat i meen!

[CIHUAHUA]

"You can't cheat an honest man. "

[mbeau]

Reading " Money number one " should be made mandatory before you can purchase a ticket to Thailand.

Add to that "A Fool In Paradise" And "A Fools Diary"

Quite amusing books, even if not taken literally the books can give a newcomer a good insight to what can and often does happen to some..

Stephen Leather - Private Dancer

A Woman of Bangkok, by Jack Reynolds, is a classic read and a perspective on how it was back in the 1950s.

[Toscano]

I advised a man at his wedding reception that he was about to be " Taken to the cleaners ". Of course he didn't believe me .

His wife was a near neighbour's daughter , who had a small business in a resort . She had already been married a couple of times and had a son by each husband .

She asked for a million baht to build a house in our village as a bride price ; where they would live with her mother .

My friend eventually bought another house and no less than three cars . His wife lives at the resort where her business is , her husband was forbidden to live their with her by a previous husband under threat to his life . I have warned this friend again and again ; now he lives at Bangkok on his pension , all his capital gone . He cannot afford an Amphur divorce . I tell him he's safer married , so he can't marry another young girl and get into deeper trouble .

My wife took my address from the father of a woman I had corresponded with and wrote to me . I had certain criteria as to whom I might marry .

My wife was in her mid forties , had bachelors degree , was a school teacher and owned her own home ; she had two grown up children , Today my wife is head teacher of her school .

[unanimosity]

We are rank amateurs and the girls are highly skilled professionals. The culture promotes saying what other wants to hear far more than honesty. We come with notions that just don't apply here, and pay the price of that education.

U speak for yourself,and dont sdpeak for the majority of thais

If u have been stitched up by a thai girl,dont vent your anger on others

Those glasses you are looking through... kind of a rose colour aren't they?

Wonder if any casino has thought of adding to their web site a "sports book" equivalent of when Thai wives will bite the hand and inherit the farm?

[Alwyn]

lots of people with lots of different opinions and views. One familiar thread that runs through most of the comments is how adept Thai ladies are at mugging off their foreign/western husbands and leaving them potless. Whilst this may very well be true it's not something that is exclusive to the Thai ladies. a lot of guys (me included) came here after a failed marriage and then getting properly roasted financially by the wife back home. My ex-wife in England was having an affair while i was workling abroad. I came out of the marriage with absolutely nothing,she got the house, car, kids etc etc So it's not just the Thai ladies that can make a bloke skint! There are plenty of comments about new arrivals heeding the warnings and the horror stories. Plenty of warnings telling new arrivals (I guess not only new arrivals as I guess I'm not the only person who knows people that have been scammed more than once!) that the smiles are false, the "handsome man" "I lub you!" is all b*llox but what everybody is not getting is that these people WANT to believe it's true. They've just had a kicking from an ex-wife back home, ego battered and now a young and seemingly beautiful lady is making a fuss over them. They WANT to believe it's for real and no warnings or relating of horror stories will make any difference! Some times it is for real, sometimes not - Just like back home! Anyway, that's enough from me, it's starting to look like a novel!!! Have a nice weekend everybody!

In reality it's no different here to back home - wherever home might be. We have a saying where I come from. Don't fall in love and get married, just find a woman you hate and buy her a house - financially and emotionally less of a problem.

Totally agree!

[BlackJack]

My GF does legal work and I have read and seen it all.

Her business is growing fast as people still make the same mistakes.

She advises clients to cover their butt and get things on paper.

If or when things go pear shaped then these documents can be used to support their case in the courts.

So guys get smart and dont think that your girls different - because 9 times out of 10 there's a family pushing her to get benefits. Your benefits.

Get all you paperwork in order - your contracts (chanots, loans etc.), your Will, car ownership, bank accounts etc.

It doesnt cost much and will save/minimise future problems.

[MobileContent]

For newcomers a lot of my friends told me, the first one is almost always the wrong one.

If those homeless westerners are really flooding Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai etc why the immigration just don't check their visa status, send them to the courts, fine them and deport them after they cough up the fines.

Sorry, I have no sad feelings for them.

[unanimosity]

I advised a man at his wedding reception that he was about to be " Taken to the cleaners ". Of course he didn't believe me .

His wife was a near neighbour's daughter , who had a small business in a resort . She had already been married a couple of times and had a son by each husband .

She asked for a million baht to build a house in our village as a bride price ; where they would live with her mother .

My friend eventually bought another house and no less than three cars . His wife lives at the resort where her business is , her husband was forbidden to live their with her by a previous husband under threat to his life . I have warned this friend again and again ; now he lives at Bangkok on his pension , all his capital gone . He cannot afford an Amphur divorce . I tell him he's safer married , so he can't marry another young girl and get into deeper trouble .

My wife took my address from the father of a woman I had corresponded with and wrote to me . I had certain criteria as to whom I might marry .

My wife was in her mid forties , had bachelors degree , was a school teacher and owned her own home ; she had two grown up children , Today my wife is head teacher of her school .

So your point is to wait until a Thai wife retires and has fewer oprions, then hope she is different?

[pogal]

I once tried to help a British man who was homeless and in a bad way, mentally and physically. I called the British embassy and they said they could not do anything unless he was incarcerated in prison or a mental institute.

They never offered any other assistance and said there was nothing else they could do. I saw the man again a week later still on the street and took matters int my own hands to help him get home.

Anyone else have experiences or information to share relating to farang street people? Any embassy comments on what to do if we find these people?

[somtampet]

I advised a man at his wedding reception that he was about to be " Taken to the cleaners ". Of course he didn't believe me .

His wife was a near neighbour's daughter , who had a small business in a resort . She had already been married a couple of times and had a son by each husband .

She asked for a million baht to build a house in our village as a bride price ; where they would live with her mother .

My friend eventually bought another house and no less than three cars . His wife lives at the resort where her business is , her husband was forbidden to live their with her by a previous husband under threat to his life . I have warned this friend again and again ; now he lives at Bangkok on his pension , all his capital gone . He cannot afford an Amphur divorce . I tell him he's safer married , so he can't marry another young girl and get into deeper trouble .

My wife took my address from the father of a woman I had corresponded with and wrote to me . I had certain criteria as to whom I might marry .

My wife was in her mid forties , had bachelors degree , was a school teacher and owned her own home ; she had two grown up children , Today my wife is head teacher of her school .

AND????

[unanimosity]

My GF does legal work and I have read and seen it all.

Her business is growing fast as people still make the same mistakes.

She advises clients to cover their butt and get things on paper.

If or when things go pear shaped then these documents can be used to support their case in the courts.

So guys get smart and dont think that your girls different - because 9 times out of 10 there's a family pushing her to get benefits. Your benefits.

Get all you paperwork in order - your contracts (chanots, loans etc.), your Will, car ownership, bank accounts etc.

It doesnt cost much and will save/minimise future problems.

Sounds like a well written advert for your GF, but you are spot on about the family coercing Thai daughters to con foreighers. Even if a daughter sets out with good intentions, the family will not allow her to sit by without tapping into and draining the foreigner's resources.

[Jimjim]

I worked with an English guy that later on it turned out was homeless around Nana apparently. Don't know what happened to him now but when you have a face and a name, you do feel badly for him. I think he actually got caught stealing so he may have been in jail for a while.

The problem was his alcohol addiction and bad choices. I could smell the drink on him at work.

[Chicken George]

Well we should be grateful that a visa is quite hard to come by after the 3 tourist visa or the streets would really be full of more rubbish from our home countries.. Yes even more social fiddlers from the UK!!

[somtampet]

We are rank amateurs and the girls are highly skilled professionals. The culture promotes saying what other wants to hear far more than honesty. We come with notions that just don't apply here, and pay the price of that education.

U speak for yourself,and dont sdpeak for the majority of thais

If u have been stitched up by a thai girl,dont vent your anger on others

Those glasses you are looking through... kind of a rose colour aren't they?

Wonder if any casino has thought of adding to their web site a "sports book" equivalent of when Thai wives will bite the hand and inherit the farm?

not rose colour,realty.Most thais are decent people,ANY COUNTRY in the world has good and bad.

Been here long enough to not have rose tinted glasses,and i dont judge everybody by few bad uns, and i think most people are of the same opinion.Many murders in uk,but do i think every brit is bad????

[Centrum]

Far too many of them wouldn't listen, they just wouldn't listen. Even in that article it says there are plenty of stories to warn them of the dangers,

We even had guys on TV boasting last week that were ready to make the same mistakes, even on here, they won't listen.

You can't stop a fool being a fool.

They wouldn't listen. Up to them.

I'm sorry..did you say something?

[Bagwan]

"In addition, romantic complications, typically with “bar girls,” can prove wretchedly pivotal. On Aug. 25, the Bangkok Post published an interview with a 61-year-old American living on the streets of Pattaya, a seaside town with an infamous sex industry just south of Bangkok. Originally from North Carolina, Sylvester fell for a local bar girl in 2009 and spent all his savings buying a car and a truck in her name. Two years later, she left him penniless. “On the beach, I have friends who are homeless Thais,” he said. “We share food, cigarettes and some alcoholic drinks.”"

In other words we have money to buy cigarettes and alcoholic drinks - but none to put a roof over our heads. Priorities, priorities, priorities. Some people will never learn. How much money you have is not as important as what you do with it.

Whatever happened to planning ahead, being self sufficient as far as possible, having targets and working towards them? It seems that Thainess is infectious and that many of these destitutes are victims of their own indulgences and now they follow the Thai lead and look around for somebody else to blame. Buddha will not provide for the morrow. Thailand is not renowned for taking care of their own so why should a farang think that their own welfare is not their own responsibility? The party is over for them unless they come to their senses and do something positive to redress a situation of their own making.

[Papadragon]

My pal's Thai wife had been married to three Westerners with good life insurance policies before she met and married him.
The first two husbands died from eating poisonous mushrooms, the third died from a broken skull.
I asked her what happened to the third husband.
She said "He wouldn't eat the bloody mushrooms..."