Thais have very poor financial management skills

[mrblue]

they spent money on a research to realize what is in front of their eyes... how silly!

[draftvader]

So,just for the record,what are they good at ?

Being polite. Not questioning others ways of living. Smiling. Keeping their judgements to themselves.

huh? not questioning others' ways of leaving and keeping their opinions to themselves? You are either a Thai in denial or do not speak any Thai at all. Khun ting tong mai?

I have lived all over the world and have never seen such a judgemental, opinionated, and openly racist society.

I am neither. Maybe I have just got lucky so far? Maybe I have put in what I want to get out? Maybe I am discerning in my friendships?

[vilas01]

Most good-hearted folks have missed the point that the whole point of getting this article published was to bring it to public notice so they could attract/solicit "students" who would "pay" the founder etc enough wages to make their "budget".

No one needs advanced skills in financial management if all he has to manage is 9k Baht per month.

It would be more worthwhile effort to teach these youngsters to make more money !

[mowgus]

If their financial skills are so poor, how do they live here on 9,000 baht per month when most of us would starve to death on less than 5-10x that amount?

That's the point of the article... they DON'T live on the 9,000 baht per month they're making. Thus, they're in debt.

I could never figure out why students run out and buy cars fresh out of Uni having no job yet. And even if they get a job starting off at 10,000 a month, that's the car payment. Education is one thing, providing credit to people who clearly can't pay off their debts is another. I wonder what happens when the recession kicks in and the banks can no longer support this system?

One thing I don't understand is the figure... 86% debt (or whatever it is). What does that actually mean? That if someone is making 100,000 a year, they currently owe 86,000?

[Benmart]

So do most people in the West...

Most is a vague term when dealing with numbers. Please define "most".

[jaideeguy]

Thais have very poor financial management skills

THAT'S NEWS??

[Benmart]

Most good-hearted folks have missed the point that the whole point of getting this article published was to bring it to public notice so they could attract/solicit "students" who would "pay" the founder etc enough wages to make their "budget".

No one needs advanced skills in financial management if all he has to manage is 9k Baht per month.

It would be more worthwhile effort to teach these youngsters to make more money !

"Teaching" someone to make more money does not address that persons ability to manage the money they earn.

The article, as I understand it, emphasizes the precarious debt load facing Thailand today. The three groups, framers, students and low-income, seem to have succumbed to the "buy now, pay later-or not" philosophy.

[Donnie Brasco]

We've all witnessed an absolute orgy of credit granting in the last decade.

A population that counts on its fingers can't be expected to assess a purchase for its profitability.

Population slavery through IMF "loans" is simply another means of evslavement.

This enslavement has the blessing of the Global financial system.

When the State gets permission from the IMF and the World Bank to increase its fractional reserve ratio this is just another way to say that a country's central bank gets permission to print more money. . . . . the catch here is that they have to pay interest on the new money. This interest is paid into the Global Banking system.

A country which just goes and prints its own, without IMF permission gets "Mugabe'ed" in the global media.

This printed money (2.2 trillion baht, for example) pays for anything from "economic reform" to infrastructure projects to bank bailouts, to wars and the usual graft.

The interest on this "national debt" is paid by taxes.

Your taxes. Your children's taxes and the taxes and "government service" of future generations goes to this as well.

And this is how we become tax slaves.

If, in addition to submitting to tax slavery, you spend more than your net, you are doubly enslaved.

Prior to its imposition the first slavery system is "sold" to the hoi poloi through the media.

It is then imposed through the tax system.

A compliant, submissive population is easily hounded into supporting this.

The banks are allowed to grant credit or sell debt in much the same way.

Once again, media plays a crucial role in conditioning the populace to "reward themselves" spending beyond they're means.

Most Thais have been "submitted" for so long, they won't even notice.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit. . . . "

[jamstock]

So do most people in the West...

Most is a vague term when dealing with numbers. Please define "most".

Really?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Thaijack2014]

You don't need a deep research for this. If you look around and talk to people, you will notice that a lot have debts and are struggling to pay them off. It is a disaster, boworing money here and there to pay other loans back. Just because they need to show off with their car or take care of someone...

[jamstock]

So do most people in the West...

Yep, just max themselves on as many credit cards as possible.

jb1

The problem is there is no financial education in schools here or in the west

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[benny1616]

if this is so than i´m quite sure they learned to much from the terrorist and bankrupt state usa and the countrys in europe. experts in how to make a country bankrupt by giving the rich more and more money and take it away from the poor:-D

[JAG]

Best Beloved and Little Miss JAG seem to manage my finances quite well....

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[Jim walker]

Many large companies in the west including many in UK RBS Woollies Comet etc. with too much debt around their necks were very ill prepared for the big downturn that we had in 2008 I think most of the medium to small companies survived very well because we were more restrained with their spending and looked after the smaller amounts of money spending with better precaution than the big high rolling companies who just kept on spending same as usual and trying to take over other companies in a futile attempt to prop themselves up but to no avail. It’s not only Thais that can’t look after their finances.

[Johnsy]

If their financial skills are so poor, how do they live here on 9,000 baht per month when most of us would starve to death on less than 5-10x that amount?

They can live on 9,000 a month because they don't pay falang prices for everything 55555

[Ombra]

CaninBKK makes a good point about people not understanding interest rates. A few years ago, my wife, who's a well-educated woman, said that she would like to get a new phone because the interest on the loan was so low - only 2% - which, of course, she thought was 2% p.a.

[Pinot]

Yeah, all I know is all this makes me a very handsome man.

[thailand49]

Really you needed to do a survey to find that out? what a waste of money!

Start by teaching them how to add and subtract without using a calculator.

Teach them you do not apply for a credit card and then go to Big C shopping and not have enough funds to cover the items being purchased holding up the line while cashier process the card over and over again.

Tell them if you start to make enough money instead saving it they go out and buy a car or truck that just sits because they can't even purchase gas for it. Then not having any money each month for food or your kids because everything you make now goes monthly for the payments and only in the end find out it is impossible and next thing you know the vehicle is gone back to the bank? Should I go on...........

[ggt]

This is no big surprise...

[Fookhaht]

I took a 95% cut in salary to move to Thailand, and made about 10,000 baht a month here during my first year--exactly the wage of entry-level workers who just graduated from college or university. I had no trouble living within my means.

If you took a 95% cut in salary to move to Thailand, one of 2 things happened:

Either 1) You had a pretty nice nestegg to tide you over when you got here- in which case, you did not have to count on your salary alone.

Or 2) You didn't have a nice nest egg, in spite of earning 20x the typical Thai laborer's salary "back home", meaning you had squandered quite a bit.

Once again, it's easy for people who have comfortable incomes to point at those living on the fringes as irresponsible, and poor money managers. Right up until the time a loved one needs $500K worth of health care, or Jimmy Jr gets accepted into Harvard, or Daddy's company goes bankrupt (and the CFO absconded with the pension fund), then out come the credit cards.

Most of us make plenty to survive, have some fun, send the kids to school and still have enough to watch the nestegg grow. But I don't pass judgment on folks that make just enough that they can either pay the rent, buy food or pay for Jimmy Jr's dental work (pick one and only one this month- the rest will have to wait 'til next month). That includes Thais, Americans, Europeans, or Martians.

I haven't walked far enough in their shoes...

I knew it wouldn't take long for the naysaying armchair theorists to chime in. Sorry, wrong on all accounts. Your "western-colored lenses" don't allow for other options.

Some people just cannot fathom that financial management can be accomplished on a shoestring within a meager salary; especially in a Thai context, where there are the informal social safety nets. Too much "western-colored" lenses, posters are looking through. Probably most have never stepped out of their "western comfort zones" (food, housing, entertainment, vices, etc.) despite living in a foreign country.

I'm not saying that the "100% Thai way" of living is the only acceptable lifestyle of living here, I'm just saying that if you choose to do that, it has a huge bearing on your ability to manage finances within a Thai context.

On another thread, expats compared budgets. The extreme differences were nearly hilarious, but mostly based on one common denominator: what lifestyle you choose to live. If you cannot accept that one factor, then "financial management" becomes a moot point.

[wandasloan]

It"s also about how much you have in ready cash.I have just spent 40k today for my daughters schooling.No problem I knew I had the money.I am not an economist,but I have always lived within my means.

I will/would vote for you no matter how high the office you run for. In fact, you should make it the very highest, otherwise you'll just be surrounded with people who refuse to live within their means.

I know for a fact that Kenan has a bunch of smart people, and would not release a stupid report as detailed in the OP. What they said is probably interesting, at least more interesting than "poor people often can't live within their means".

.

[pattayasnowman]

Before you all do too much Thai bashing you need to look at "yourselfs"

Lets take UK 2013 fugures:

Household debt in the UK has reached a record level, according to figures from the Bank of England.

Individuals now owe a total of £1.43 trillion

On average, that means each adult in the UK owes £28,489,

The UKs Total Debt as a % GDP is 507% !!! in 2011 - #2 in the world!!

2nd only to Japan

The ratio of debt to household income in the UK is 140%

Approx 98% of GDP

Yes Thailands Houshold Debt -GDP has risen to 77% at an alarming Rate

But people in Glass Houses ..............

[justjoined]

I am a PMP ( certified project manager) and have a lot of success and experience in management. I can tell you I have never encountered such a frustrating place to work in these regards.

I often argue with ppl about the good points of Thais, but I have to agree, the place is really frustrating. When you say it's the worst you've encountered, how many countries are you comparing it to?

[DLP]

Does not matter if you earn 5000b per month or 100,000 per month you can only spend what you earn.

Food and rent first, then the bills, then what ever you have left can be spent on women and beer.

[geriatrickid]

"Thais have very poor financial management skills"

Live for today, forget about tomorrow.

This is the Thai motto.

Have to admit, very good in getting the money, but not often to repay.

They are in good company. Seems to me that the same negative description is offered for Greece,Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal etc.

[Fookhaht]

I again reiterate: it's not how much you make; it's how much you spend that reveals your ability to manage finance

Ps how the hell did you get a visa if you earn 10k baht a month!?

How the hell is a visa connected to salary?

[geriatrickid]

Does not matter if you earn 5000b per month or 100,000 per month you can only spend what you earn.

Food and rent first, then the bills, then what ever you have left can be spent on women and beer.

Sadly, yaba and gambling also factor in for a large segment of the population.

[VINCENT2012]

only in financial management skills ?????????????????????????

....well not all of them ...some in dubai knows a lot.

[Som wat]

my (ex) mates wife rang him from kalasin. apparently she had broken a filling or dental cap and needed it replacing, could he send £200? so he went out and sent her £200.

the very next day i was at his place when the phone rang, it was the wife from kalasin asking if she could have another £200?

"well what did you do with the last £200?" was my mates reply. me, i just wondered how many teeth does she have?

"i bought tv's", she answered.

"what do you mean, TV'S?", came his strained reply.

"oh, 1 for upstairs and 1 for downstairs. but my teeth still broken and have very big pain now".....

then theres the story of a new roof, the rainy season approaching and some handbags.........money management? errrrrrrr? nope.

Farang management.

He should tell the idiot that he's just sent 1000 pounds, but there's a 200 pound deposit fee to release it due to new international inhouse banking laws. As soon as she deposits the 200 pounds to your account the 1000 pounds will be released.

Consider it an easy way to break up with such a maggot.

[Som wat]

driving skills?

parenting skills?

basic life skills?

Mai kow jai, gin khao mai.