The Cheap Charlie experience.

[Sam Gold]

Exactly my point - countries whose citizens traditionally had sound saving habits, such as France and Switzerland, have been backed into a corner and forced into the spiral of debt over the past six years. The people aren't responsible for the financial crisis, and it isn't relevant to mention the recent state of affairs in a debate about people's spending habits in general.

Too funny. You forgot Scotland! Sam tell me you don't really believe this nonsense do you?

I bet he wears a tinfoil hat, nobody forced anyone to borrow too much they all did it themselves.

The link between the financial crisis and household debt is undeniable.

In 2008-2009, the US lost 9 million jobs and cases of excessive debt in France soared by 20%.

Sure no one put a gun on their head and forced them to borrow, and you're free to feel contempt for them if you're comfortable with that.

The bottom line is those in power make decisions in favour of a select few and crush the ordinary people, everywhere.

[Sam Gold]

Can Westerners really label Thais as being unable to save when many of us come from countries with the highest level of personal indebtedness?

I wouldn't mind if the comments were made in the spirit of a warning as in "Don't make the mistakes we did" but they're not; some actually have the gall to suggest that we in the West are somehow less susceptible to the lure of consumerism than the Thais and therefore, are somehow superior

Drivel. Pure drivel

The debts incurred by Western countries are the result of governmental actions, not people's spending habits, so not relevant here.

Excuse me? Debts are from both. People borrowing hugs sums of money when the market and job rate was high with out a way to pay it back was one of the biggest reasons of most debt! I think you need to read and check facts a bit more. Banks lending huge sums of money to people who did not meet the qualifications for loans brought most of the banking down.

I wonder what kind of education sam gold has. People who know almost nothing about how it was back home. I work as a tax / adviser / accountant i see all kinds of income and debt. I bet guys like Sam Gold have not.

BA in marketing.

I'm no accountant but I was involved in two Europe-based businesses that suffered from the backlash in 2009 so I'm not completely clueless either.

Ok, enough procrastinating for today, thanks to all of you for your views.

[h90]

I think these labels are loaded.

When I was a yuppie and raking in the dough I spent liberally.

Now I have no choice but to watch the baht because if I didn't there would be no baht.

Does that make a cheap person or a sensible person who is smart enough to live within their means?

Yes there are extremes of frugal behavior but there are also extremes of decadent spending behavior as well.

Well I think it doesn't apply to someone who tries to live within what they can afford.

I think it is more like: Trying to haggle the motorbike taxi down from 12 Baht to 10 Baht. Eat a very good dinner, everything perfect with the service and not giving one Baht tip, just because it is possible to save this 20-50 Baht.

Getting away with 5 Baht less bus fare due to a misunderstanding and instead of correcting it, be happy to cheat them the 5 Baht.

Mean unreasonable things....not reasonable saving money.

[01322521959]

I think these labels are loaded.

When I was a yuppie and raking in the dough I spent liberally.

Now I have no choice but to watch the baht because if I didn't there would be no baht.

Does that make a cheap person or a sensible person who is smart enough to live within their means?

Yes there are extremes of frugal behavior but there are also extremes of decadent spending behavior as well.

Well I think it doesn't apply to someone who tries to live within what they can afford.

I think it is more like: Trying to haggle the motorbike taxi down from 12 Baht to 10 Baht. Eat a very good dinner, everything perfect with the service and not giving one Baht tip, just because it is possible to save this 20-50 Baht.

Getting away with 5 Baht less bus fare due to a misunderstanding and instead of correcting it, be happy to cheat them the 5 Baht.

Mean unreasonable things....not reasonable saving money.

Stop talking about me! Remember being in China Town 20 years ago and paying 2 Baht for the Chickets when they should have been 1 Baht. Got my money back, I did. Anyone beat that for "CHEAP CHARLIEANISM?"

[h90]

I think these labels are loaded.

When I was a yuppie and raking in the dough I spent liberally.

Now I have no choice but to watch the baht because if I didn't there would be no baht.

Does that make a cheap person or a sensible person who is smart enough to live within their means?

Yes there are extremes of frugal behavior but there are also extremes of decadent spending behavior as well.

Well I think it doesn't apply to someone who tries to live within what they can afford.

I think it is more like: Trying to haggle the motorbike taxi down from 12 Baht to 10 Baht. Eat a very good dinner, everything perfect with the service and not giving one Baht tip, just because it is possible to save this 20-50 Baht.

Getting away with 5 Baht less bus fare due to a misunderstanding and instead of correcting it, be happy to cheat them the 5 Baht.

Mean unreasonable things....not reasonable saving money.

Stop talking about me! Remember being in China Town 20 years ago and paying 2 Baht for the Chickets when they should have been 1 Baht. Got my money back, I did. Anyone beat that for "CHEAP CHARLIEANISM?"

that is a 100 % overcharge and 20 years ago 1 Baht was maybe like 10 Baht now.....

[marko kok prong]

I have a reasonable lump sum of money,no pension[not old enough yet}, yet my wife and her sister cannot understand that i want to live here a long time,therefore have to be careful what i spend,my wife is not so bad,but all i hear from her sister"oh you have big money,why not buy this ,build house here there,everywhere" i realise that for kon thai money is to be spent,when it runs out,oh we worry about that when it happens,it's a live today,dont plan for the future kind of thing,however my wife spent her sin sot well buying land all over the place,which will go up in value, but really i find many rural thai people because they have often lived a hand to mouth existence, simply cannot grasp saving for the future,or having a bit for a rainy day thinking,i am not thai bashing here or trying to over generalise,just my experience.

[transam]

I do wonder OP, seeing you don't post much, why the topic, what are your thoughts on the subject. ?

Might make it easier to respond.

[alanrchase]

Sorry, did not expect it to go on for so long. Have read all the comments (thanks to all). Opinions seem to be split 50/50, one persons idea of cheap is another persons idea of extravagance. My original thoughts were more about the pressure/loss of face that the term can cause. I titled it "Cheap Charlie" but maybe I should of titled it "Kiniow":because I was more interested in a Thai general life perspective than a ferang/Thai perspective. But I have enjoyed and taken note of the various replies.

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[Soutpeel]

to me a cheap charlie is someone that will come to your place with a six pack, drink your beer all night then take his home. Never suffered from it, even when money is scarce I tend to be on the generous side, I always leave a tip but the daughter will pick it up and take it then tell me off.

Being aussie I have always tended to help others when I have been able to, just the way I was raised but I will not just hand over money to the wifes family, that is strictly off limits.

To me...someone who goes into one of the shopping malls in Pattaya and sits there all day so they dont have to switch the aircon on in the condo, or the classic, steals the toilet paper from the toilets in said shopping malls so they dont have to buy toilet rolls for the house, or goes into a fast food place and steals the sachets of sauce and dont buys anything so they dont have to pay for a bottle of Heinz...

The funniest though was the TV member on the food forum who bought a pack of dried mashed potatoe ?, weighed the contents and started ranting on TV the company had short changed the bag by 20 grams..

[alanrchase]

Read that one too. Each to their own.

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[transam]

to me a cheap charlie is someone that will come to your place with a six pack, drink your beer all night then take his home. Never suffered from it, even when money is scarce I tend to be on the generous side, I always leave a tip but the daughter will pick it up and take it then tell me off.

Being aussie I have always tended to help others when I have been able to, just the way I was raised but I will not just hand over money to the wifes family, that is strictly off limits.

To me...someone who goes into one of the shopping malls in Pattaya and sits there all day so they dont have to switch the aircon on in the condo, or the classic, steals the toilet paper from the toilets in said shopping malls so they dont have to buy toilet rolls for the house, or goes into a fast food place and steals the sachets of sauce and dont buys anything so they dont have to pay for a bottle of Heinz...

The funniest though was the TV member on the food forum who bought a pack of dried mashed potatoe ?, weighed the contents and started ranting on TV the company had short changed the bag by 20 grams..

Must confess the mashed spud thread was a keyboard biting moment............

[Naam]

I am very frugal but have never been called cheap. However I don't spend time in the service sector. I do wonder why being frugal is a bad thing. People that throw away money left and right are stupid to me. Back in the states where my family live, the economy hit them hard and most are pretty tight now.

I guess what others said must be true. Those that are calling you cheap or stingy would be those that are looking for tips or free money.

I love when people premis an op by stating how long they have been visiting. So 25 years does that mean you come here 1-2 weeks every couple of years for do you winter here 6 months a year or 25 years straight. Coming here as a tourist and throwing around money for a holiday is not the same as living in a community and adding to it. I have never heard this term or the Thai equivalent used, but perhaps because I run in different circles.

People that throw away money left and right are stupid to me.

calling other people stupid because they can and are spending their money as they please is an "expression par excellence" used by a typical envious "cheap charlie".

p.s. nobody cares or is interested what the economy is doing where your family lives

[asupeartea]

It's some a$$hole trying to manipulate you.

I guess what others said must be true. Those that are calling you cheap or stingy would be those that are looking for tips or free money.

[Phoenix1312]

My staff used to call men who didn't tip them. Cheap Charlie's. That was last year so it is still used

[Nemesis7]

Awwuuuucch...some of the comment I see here hurts .....

Bit at the same times agree with Zeichen,

[Phoenix1312]

My staff would call anyone especially men who didn't tip them CC.

[asdecas]

This epithet is one that men who frequent the underbelly of life in Thailand would do well to tackle as early in the game as possible. For myself, within a matter of weeks of arrival in the mid-80s I had established a firm reputation as an ocean-going skinflint, to the extent that accusers could see I wore such phrases as a badge of honour.

As soon as it became evident that such name-slinging had no, or the opposite, effect to that desired, it ceased, much to the satisfaction of both parties who could then negotiate on the basis of mutual understanding.

Of course one is long since retired from the demimonde lifestyle, but on rare occasions it is enjoyable to employ old skills acquired all those years ago, and to note with pleasure that they still have the same effect,

[Soutpeel]

My staff would call anyone especially men who didn't tip them CC.

So if they call your customers that, imagine what they call YOU when your not around...

[Soutpeel]

This epithet is one that men who frequent the underbelly of life in Thailand would do well to tackle as early in the game as possible. For myself, within a matter of weeks of arrival in the mid-80s I had established a firm reputation as an ocean-going skinflint, to the extent that accusers could see I wore such phrases as a badge of honour.

As soon as it became evident that such name-slinging had no, or the opposite, effect to that desired, it ceased, much to the satisfaction of both parties who could then negotiate on the basis of mutual understanding.

Of course one is long since retired from the demimonde lifestyle, but on rare occasions it is enjoyable to employ old skills acquired all those years ago, and to note with pleasure that they still have the same effect,

So tell me...do some of the old skills involve stealing toilet paper from the bogs in the shopping malls so you dont have to buy toilet paper for the dunny in the condo ?...

[lostmebike]

I think these labels are loaded.

When I was a yuppie and raking in the dough I spent liberally.

Now I have no choice but to watch the baht because if I didn't there would be no baht.

Does that make a cheap person or a sensible person who is smart enough to live within their means?

Yes there are extremes of frugal behavior but there are also extremes of decadent spending behavior as well.

'When I was a yuppie..'

What a revelation!

Edited February 24, 2014 by lostmebike

[asdecas]

This epithet is one that men who frequent the underbelly of life in Thailand would do well to tackle as early in the game as possible. For myself, within a matter of weeks of arrival in the mid-80s I had established a firm reputation as an ocean-going skinflint, to the extent that accusers could see I wore such phrases as a badge of honour.

As soon as it became evident that such name-slinging had no, or the opposite, effect to that desired, it ceased, much to the satisfaction of both parties who could then negotiate on the basis of mutual understanding.

Of course one is long since retired from the demimonde lifestyle, but on rare occasions it is enjoyable to employ old skills acquired all those years ago, and to note with pleasure that they still have the same effect,

So tell me...do some of the old skills involve stealing toilet paper from the bogs in the shopping malls so you dont have to buy toilet paper for the dunny in the condo ?...

Not individual sheets, but a substantial roll of the unused, perched "on the loose" as it were, represents a substantial saving to the impecunious.

[glasswort]

I understand that the staff at a certain Immigration Office (not Jomtien)refer to those older expats who have a Thai Spouse visaas Cheap Charlies. The implication being that those people do not have the requisite funds available for a retirement visa!!!!

[dao16]

This phrase is a refuge of scoundrels. Ever work in sales and use it? Ridiculous. Who wants to spend more than they have to? Up to you if you do. I don't. And there is this guy named Warren Buffet who also fits in the "cheap charlie" category quite nicely, although he has more funds than most of us do. Read about the famous incident in which he refused to loan someone pocket money (for him) to refurbish a kitchen. Anyone who brings this up wants your money in some form.

[lostmebike]

My wife informs me that hotel/guest house soap, shampoo, shower caps and the occasional toothpaste they sometimes offer are 'ours anyway' and by us taking as much as we can will 'save us buying it from 7' when we go away. Bless 'er

Edited February 24, 2014 by lostmebike

[benalibina]

My wife informs me that hotel/guest house soap, shampoo, shower caps and the occasional toothpaste they sometimes offer are 'ours anyway' and by us taking as much as we can will 'save us buying it from 7' when we go away. Bless 'er

Whats yours is hers....the way to go. Bless you.

[Naam]

This epithet is one that men who frequent the underbelly of life in Thailand would do well to tackle as early in the game as possible. For myself, within a matter of weeks of arrival in the mid-80s I had established a firm reputation as an ocean-going skinflint, to the extent that accusers could see I wore such phrases as a badge of honour.

As soon as it became evident that such name-slinging had no, or the opposite, effect to that desired, it ceased, much to the satisfaction of both parties who could then negotiate on the basis of mutual understanding.

Of course one is long since retired from the demimonde lifestyle, but on rare occasions it is enjoyable to employ old skills acquired all those years ago, and to note with pleasure that they still have the same effect,

So tell me...do some of the old skills involve stealing toilet paper from the bogs in the shopping malls so you dont have to buy toilet paper for the dunny in the condo ?...

Not individual sheets, but a substantial roll of the unused, perched "on the loose" as it were, represents a substantial saving to the impecunious.

no worries! you are not a Cheap Charlie, just a common thief

[djhotsox]

Sorry, you miss my point. I am not asking anyone about their financial circumstances just about their experiences wkith being called "kii neow"

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Isn't "kii neow" sticky rice????

[klauskunkel]

I refused to buy a flower from a flower vendor. She called me a "Cheap Charlie". I called her a "Dirty Diana". It went straight over her head.

[flyingdoc]

I agree with Jingthing !

Inexpensive does not necessarily equate with 'cheap' !

[DonaldBattles]

Recently I had a meal with some English friends, paid the total bill and I left a tip. I was scolded for doing so because when they returned again they would be expected to leave a tip. This is not part of the English and German culture.