Hundreds of westerners living on the streets of Thailand

[phitsanulokjohn]

Lets have the uk version first.''A FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED"

Now the American version.''A FOOL AND HIS MONEY DIDN'T DESERVE TO GET TOGETHER IN THE FIRST PLACE''

Extremely sad, but the old saying''KINDNESS IS TAKEN AS A WEAKNESS''holds true i'm sorry to say.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Ironic...this same forum advertises several online-dating services for Thai girls..the same ones that will rob you blind and/or cash you in for a green card back home. What a demented world, it has truly become.

Do the same Thai girls hold a gun to your head and say ''I'm gonna rob you"or does the farang allow it to happen.Who's to blame? you decide.In case you hadn't noticed there's good and bad people of all colours,creed and religion in all walks of life.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Every airport should have this sign on the wall before you check-in

''Leave your dick at home''

Or please use your samong before your Koy.

[Notstupid30]

[Whidbeyboy]

With enough Falange moving there you can expect more homeless. It just the odds, no surprise. At least it's warm.

The homeless in my town live in much colder circumstances.

[MacWalen]

That is a sad story indeed. This is a bad world we live in.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[JAFO]

Early on in this thread it was stated and quoted many times "They do not listen". I tend to agree but I also think they come here delusional and their rational decision making ability is heavily diminished(If they even possessed it before arriving). It astonishes me that so many try and find the answers to their problems with a girl half or even more their age in a bar drinking. Self destruction pops into my mind. I guess the age old adage really is prevalent in Thailand that their is a sucker born every minute. These vulnerable old guys are easy pickings by seasoned con artists but it is not exclusive to Thailand. Happens in the US all the time. Life is about choices. We make them and live with the outcome.

I personally believe that a great number of expats that move to Thailand and neighboring countries are either escaping or have mental health issues(which includes alcohol,drug and demented sexual preferences). They are typically older and either through previous visits or word of mouth think that Thailand is the answer to most, if not all their problems. They soon find that it is not the answer to their woes and they quickly run out of money. It is not really as cheap as it all seems. When the realization sinks in, it is usually the end of the road for them as we read and hear that many jump off roof tops and balconies in all the popular resort locations. This is embarrassing for us foreigners that live in Thailand as friends back home see it and read it and wonder whats going on. Its a negative stigma that always leads to interesting discussions as people quickly generalize. There are many retired, living well, foreigners in Thailand that do not live anywhere near resort locations, that are quite happy, have a sound relationship, did not meet the woman they are with in a bar, do not drink or do drugs and just happen to find Thailand to be a place they enjoying living. I know quite a few.

I mentioned this thread to my wife(she is Thai) and she read through most of it. Her comment was "Its to bad this type of stuff gets posted as it makes it seem like all of us(Thai women) are either bar girls or always trying to scam foreigners". She said "Not all of us are and that many Thai women find foreign men to be better looking and in general nicer men". "Some want an educated, polite, respectful man". "People just want a happy life". "Isn't that what everyone wants...a happy comfortable life?"

[ericthai]

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

Interesting. Any idea where I can do free download

Free download really?? You GF already got all your money? The book is only 150-200B

[nzvic]

There seem to be more scavengers from parts of Europe in NZ also...they go to charities for free food, help etc., sleep in hostels without paying (e.g. creep in at night then hide in areas where there are no cameras)....why countries don't ensure their incoming tourists don't have enough money to keep themselves and insurance during their stay astounds me.

It's worse in NZ as we have a stupid accident compensations system (24/7 cover for everyone), so a guy fell out of his bed then feigned injury and was kept by us taxpayers for quite a time and probably still is...when I saw him in the street he walked without canes, but used them in the presence of others who knew him. Another South African racked up around half a million in hospital bills, then died, without any insurance cover so guess who pays - we do.

We have enough local bludgers without taking on those from elsewhere and Thailand is a much poorer country so can't afford to waste on others.

Of course those who don't work or pay tax here don't see it as a problem so have little understanding of enormous chunk we give up for such upkeep.

[OnTheRun]

How about the Thai government allow reciprocity in buying land? Or, Western governments disallow citizens from making purchases of land/houses etc. e.g. Thais and Thaksin types. Turn around is fair play as they say.

I mean seriously if a Westerner buys land can he take it back to his Mother country??? Restricting land purchases only keeps the rich and powerful/ rich and powerful. And it prevents a Thai land owner from possibly receiving a more substantial amount for said land - when sold.

Um.....regarding a foreigner being allowed to purchase land in Thailand, I note below the translation of the first two lines of the Thai National Anthem.

"Thailand embraces in its bosom all people of Thai blood,

Every inch of Thailand belongs to the Thais."

Should they not change that second line to 'Chinese Thais'?

[JLCrab]

Re: Lots of the posts herein, this line from the movie Broadcast News (Holly Hunter as Jane Craig):

Paul Moore: It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room.

Jane Craig: No. It's awful.

[khunron13]

Friends and family back home are sounded out for a loan, but should none be forthcoming the government will stump up the cost to be repaid upon return. Other embassies work on a similar basis.

That policy must have been introduced overnight.

You learn something new every day, isn't it ?

No, it's not something new!

[sandhurstmolonski]

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!

If the wife is cheating on you, how come you didn't win the court case?

England family court is 'no blame' system, rules of evidence also do not apply.

Essentially mum can behave as badly as she wants and still get awarded everything because 'she's their mother'.

She can also break any court order made on her because 'she's their mother'.

Woe betide the guy who brings the kids back 30 minutes late from his monthly visit, jail for him.

Same in Australia ..No Fault Divorce went out in 1972 , you are on the Back foot from moment one if you are Male .

In the West in General its just getting worse and Worse . You now have to basically apologise for being Male , as we saw recently with the " Sexist Rant " from now ex prime minister Gillard , at the then opposition leader . Sorry , Im off Topic ..But its a situation that annoys me .

At Least in Thailand Women are Women ( Generally ) 5 5 5 5 ...Unless they are Men !

[somtampet]

Ironic...this same forum advertises several online-dating services for Thai girls..the same ones that will rob you blind and/or cash you in for a green card back home. What a demented world, it has truly become.

Good post

[metisdead]

Posting in all capitals or in all bold, and using large or unusual fonts and colors is bad netiquette.

One post removed, if you do not want your post to be removed, post using normal forum default font size.

[CHRISTIANa9]

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

Interesting. Any idea where I can do free download

Free download really?? You GF already got all your money? The book is only 150-200B

PDF copy online going for USD27.

http://moneynumberone.net/

Try not to speak thru your butt.

[timewilltell]

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.

All very well but I did that, tied everything up with leases and company structures, was married for nearly a decade with several children from that relationship and living a very relaxed life together.

Now in year three of many court cases to get the assets and businesses back, with children to take care of and school, no opportunity to work because at court at least twice a month which with travel means a week a month unable to work - who would employ me? I have no home and have to live away from where I was staying.

My family back home has been supporting me as well as me selling other assets. The Thai courts are horrendously slow, the administration is corrupt because evidence is conveniently removed such as police forensic proof of fraud and the lawyers in Phuket are their own gang who work together and use every trick to delay and cause you expense hoping you will run out of the will to continue or run out of money,

You cannot choose your translator as the defence will refuse and the court translator is friends with the lawyers as they see each other daily. This means that your evidence gets twisted and often recorded as the opposite of what you said. You cannot get costs like in the west so your travel, lawyers fees and other expenses (10,000 baht for the police to prove a forged signature in.

A criminal case for instance and a percentage charge if it is for a civil claim) - all irrecoverable. So far the cost is over 2 million baht and will end up being triple that - you cannot imagine how expensive it is. Many lawyers in Phuket are so thoroughly corrupt they work against you, paid by the other side to delay or submit a useless claim you can never win.

There are many twists and turns but make no mistake, Thai law is very weak, massively biased towards the Defence, massively expensive, hopelessly biased against the foreigner in practice - not because of biased judges sometimes but more because of the whole procedure and manipulation of it by the lawyers.

Where property is involved the modes operandi is to steal the property, then mortgage it to release the asset. Money lenders, bank managers, land officials and lawyers are all involved in the scam. Even when you have proven the fraud you get nothing back because the bank is involved, protected by the law, not required to do any due diligence for a loan and you are screwed.

It is not so simple as tying everything up legally. Thailand is a place you should invest nothing in ever for your family assets or business because the law and procedures are against you as well as a sizable proportion of people all greedy for your money. Until the laws are changed foreigners should avoid investing in Thailand at all.

I am not the only one - I know of at least six other foreigners in the same boat and I suspect tree are actually hundreds. Even one of the Phuket consuls as been scammed - no one helping him either!

Maybe some of these people deserve their fate, maybe some even accept it but I am sure there are many who do deserve a helping hand and I note the selfishness of many of the posters in here. It disgusts me.

Edited September 15, 2013 by timewilltell

[Spaniel]

Is that guy who sat outside the skytrain station soliciting for donations for his ticket home some years ago still there? He seemed to be making a tidy sum.

Are you asking about the American guy that was in front of the Asoke subway station? I talked to him several times and he never asked for money although I guess he would accept it if offered. He was looking for employment, at least that's what his sign said. I haven't seen him for over a year so I guess he finally found a job.

[timewilltell]

The point I make here with that comment and on other similar threads is that farangs in Thailand could be just as exposed to risk of the loss of thier assets back in thier home country if someone they trust is planning deceit. That could leave a person homeless and potless in both country of origin and Thailand...how would many of the posters on this forum deal with that as their "lot" likely go sifting thru garbage cans and turn to alcohol and drugs for solice!

The fact is back in the West there are mechanisms in place to protect you. You can't just walk into the land office, pay the officer a few thousand baht and give him an obviously forged document and then walk out owning a property or getting a lease cancelled. You have to use a lawyer and most of them are not corrupt and are monitored by the legal profession.

It is not easy to get a forged document notorised either. A building society or bank is not specially protected and have the same responsibility under the law as other people to do due diligence. The courts procedure is expensive but awards based on success and you can recover most of your costs so the defendant has as much to risk as you.

If the lawyer does scam you you can sue them without worrying about a defamation case against you and possible deportation for daring to complain about corruption and malpractice for doing so. lawyers are quite willing to sue another lawyer in the West but not so here.

Yes the divorce laws in the West are horribly biased in favour of women as a left over from an age where women did not work and had little to no means of support if dumped. That though is a wholly different thing to the scamming, theft and malpractice that goes on in this country which is prevalent on foreigners.

[LomSak27]

The last thing I would want to be is broke and homeless in Thailand. The weak and poor are really taken care of here.

[dudu]

The problem is here and now, not, what they should have done and how they got to this point.

[Mike45]

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.

Oh well, if some guy is determined to drink and/or drug himself to rags or to death with some bar girl no one can stop him. Even if he's completely sober but chooses to throw it away on some cute thing half his age no one can stop him.

Life has choices.

Agreed but the the one thing I can never get my head round are the farangs who are not the drink and drug types, some pretty wealthy, educated etc who manage to lose their lot in Thailand, for the most part one assumes these people are not stupid and are fully aware of the reputation of Thai ladies, and even if they truly believe, she is different, they haven't had the foresight to have a plan B in case thing do go tits up......for me personally if after nearly 12 years with Mrs Soutpeel, I had the dirty done to me, I know almost exactly what she could get away with financially, based on what i have " invested" in thailand, and this is the amount i have prepared to "risk" or walk away from if need be

I have further taken the liberty of keeping the bulk of my finances offshore in an account she can't get at directly, to me it's just common sense, you don't throw your lot in and hope for the best, you need to make provision for the rainy day that might happen

A very sensible post. I'd also like to add that's its critical that she be able to get the money in case you die suddenly. Some spouses don't even know the money exists.

[Lupusthai]

Agreed but the the one thing I can never get my head round are the farangs who are not the drink and drug types, some pretty wealthy, educated etc who manage to lose their lot in Thailand, for the most part one assumes these people are not stupid and are fully aware of the reputation of Thai ladies, and even if they truly believe, she is different, they haven't had the foresight to have a plan B in case thing do go tits up....

I think you have to consider the culturally different meaning of "love" in Thailand:

Not only for Thai women (and not only for Bar girls) "Love" usually means "giving gifts - especially money -" to the beloved.

That applies to intrahuman relationships (staying together, beeing friends) and to religious relationships as well!

Most westerners - even educated ones - are just overwhelmed by the unused offers of love and friendliness...and step into the trap.

It almost happened to me 8 years ago as well:

"I'm not a bar girl, I'm a bank employee; I love you so much..."

The relationship quickly ended, when I bought my house and rented the land only on my name.

This way I lost only a 7 year old Pickup, registerd on her name.

[Pimay1]

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.

Oh well, if some guy is determined to drink and/or drug himself to rags or to death with some bar girl no one can stop him. Even if he's completely sober but chooses to throw it away on some cute thing half his age no one can stop him.

Life has choices.

Agreed but the the one thing I can never get my head round are the farangs who are not the drink and drug types, some pretty wealthy, educated etc who manage to lose their lot in Thailand, for the most part one assumes these people are not stupid and are fully aware of the reputation of Thai ladies, and even if they truly believe, she is different, they haven't had the foresight to have a plan B in case thing do go tits up......for me personally if after nearly 12 years with Mrs Soutpeel, I had the dirty done to me, I know almost exactly what she could get away with financially, based on what i have " invested" in thailand, and this is the amount i have prepared to "risk" or walk away from if need be

I have further taken the liberty of keeping the bulk of my finances offshore in an account she can't get at directly, to me it's just common sense, you don't throw your lot in and hope for the best, you need to make provision for the rainy day that might happen

A very sensible post. I'd also like to add that's its critical that she be able to get the money in case you die suddenly. Some spouses don't even know the money exists.

That would defeat the whole purpose of keeping it offshore in the first place.

[moe666]

I have been riding around Chiang Mai and all of these down and out westerners are hiding damn good as I have not spotted one so far.

If you are a loser in Thailand more than likely you were a loser at home.

[Mike45]

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.

Oh well, if some guy is determined to drink and/or drug himself to rags or to death with some bar girl no one can stop him. Even if he's completely sober but chooses to throw it away on some cute thing half his age no one can stop him.

Life has choices.

Agreed but the the one thing I can never get my head round are the farangs who are not the drink and drug types, some pretty wealthy, educated etc who manage to lose their lot in Thailand, for the most part one assumes these people are not stupid and are fully aware of the reputation of Thai ladies, and even if they truly believe, she is different, they haven't had the foresight to have a plan B in case thing do go tits up......for me personally if after nearly 12 years with Mrs Soutpeel, I had the dirty done to me, I know almost exactly what she could get away with financially, based on what i have " invested" in thailand, and this is the amount i have prepared to "risk" or walk away from if need be

I have further taken the liberty of keeping the bulk of my finances offshore in an account she can't get at directly, to me it's just common sense, you don't throw your lot in and hope for the best, you need to make provision for the rainy day that might happen

A very sensible post. I'd also like to add that's its critical that she be able to get the money in case you die suddenly. Some spouses don't even know the money exists.

That would defeat the whole purpose of keeping it offshore in the first place.

So what's your plan?

Mine certainly isn't to leave my family destitute for the rest of their lives while my money sits in offshore accounts.

[samuibeachcomber]

If you offered most of these guys a free ticket home they would not go anyway.

this is so true.when thai fever hits there's nowhere else you'd rather be...............and going home looks like a death sentence

[joecos]

These `westerners` what % are Brits . What % are Oz .It makes me sick to be the same race as these useless bums. Round them all up , & ship them all back to their original destinations . I for one have had enough . Renewing a retirement visa is now a nightmare . So its adios to the LOS .

[Pimay1]

Quotes got me again.

Mike45: So what's your plan? Mine certainly isn't to leave my family destitute for the rest of their lives while my money sits in offshore accounts.

Last will and testament with certain stipulations on cause of death.

[moe666]

These `westerners` what % are Brits . What % are Oz .It makes me sick to be the same race as these useless bums. Round them all up , & ship them all back to their original destinations . I for one have had enough . Renewing a retirement visa is now a nightmare . So its adios to the LOS .

How is renewing the extension of stay a nightmare it took me 10 min in Feb. I waited for 30 to get it back but no big deal.