Why many thais don't value their money?

[TravelinginTh]

While in this country I am constantly surprised how much wasting is done here. Every day I see so much good food thrown away near the streets and drinks almost or half full. I haven't seen such thing in neighbour countries like Malaysia, Laos or Myanmar. I think it's reasonable that if I buy something and I dont want it now then I will carry it with me and have later. Are most thais so rich that they can waste so much or is it just another example of not thinking ahead?

[Crazy chef 1]

Not within my family food get kept for days and recently even in the fridge...

[MaeJoMTB]

Most Thais I encounter eat everything put in front of them.

The only Thais I have ever see 'order and leave' are Thai prostitutes ordering at some foreigners expense.

Where are these people you see, what sex, and what situation?

[Aussieroaming]

You must mix in very limited circles..the Thais I know value every baht just like any other nationality

[watcharacters]

I've been in the neighboring countries and didn't see what you report.

[LuckyLew]

Never met a Thai person who would not eat or drink every last drop or eat every last crumb

but as far as saving for the future and buying phones / cars within their budget ... not gonna happen

[Stradavarius37]

OP is full of crap - Thais are not wasters.

[Thongkorn]

You want tom see the waste in the UK , all the big shops, Tesco, ASDA, Morrison s, Sainsburys, and the rest would sooner through good food out than sell it cheap or give it to people,

[TheSpade]

Most Thais I encounter eat everything put in front of them.

The only Thais I have ever see 'order and leave' are Thai prostitutes ordering at some foreigners expense.

Where are these people you see, what sex, and what situation?

I rarely see a Thai finish their food whether it be a 40B plate of pad kra pow to a table filled with dozens of dishes.

There's always something left on the plate(s)

And I've never eaten dinner with a prostitute in my life.

All my Thai friends (middle class and reasonable incomes) order food and don't finish it whenever we go out for dinner, and they are paying for it themselves so it's not that they don't care because someone else is paying the bill.

It's a totally normal thing to do when you go out for dinner in Thailand, you order more food than you can possibly eat and then can't finish it.

And I see the same thing with plenty of other Thai's I don't know at my local eating spots and restaurants.

Edited March 2, 2015 by TheSpade

[nikmar]

In my Mother in laws house she throws nothing, absolutely nothing away. It goes in the fridge and gets used up somehow. even just a bit of left over rice gets kept.

I believe she had a poor childhood so was taught to never throw away.She took home the bones and head of a catfish I shared with my son once and made soup.

Edited March 2, 2015 by nikmar

[Berkshire]

Geez, another nonsensical Thai-bashing thread that's not even based on reality. Maybe I should start a thread: "Are farangs coming to Thailand today dumber than years past?"

[umbanda]

I agree by my experience in meeting Thai people spending more that they can in superfluous things, or even in luxurious things not fitted to their income. But.... what really amaze me.... is about Thai people business approach, without any research or guidance, waiting enormous amount of money in failed enterprises. Just take the time to look around and see how many shop opens and closed in few months. Too many....from street stands to coffee shops, to restaurants, hotels, and resorts....investing sometimes millions.

[phoenixdoglover]

Consider your "middle class" friends are really in the upper 10% of Thai incomes, and you have your answer. This is not unique to Thailand.

[hanno]

Why many thais

And you just know where that is heeding with the first three words alone. Someone on a rant asking for confirmation of stereotypes........

[Thian]

The big eaters go to buffetrestaurants, have a look at who's going to Sizzlers at wednesdaynight when there is a discount .

Thai foodportions are soo small i can easy eat 2 of them.

[A1Str8]

Because they are taught not to.

[sdanielmcev]

Leftovers? What are they?

[philw]

Geez, another nonsensical Thai-bashing thread that's not even based on reality. Maybe I should start a thread: "Are farangs coming to Thailand today dumber than years past?"

Yes, very much so.

[marko kok prong]

The father in law,usually cleans up the scraps,padding around like Klaus Kinski's take on Dracula,sucking on fishbones and the like in compete darkness,now i lock him out of the house at night,he ate pork with maggots the other day,i am very scared of him.

[seajae]

actually see this in places like KFC , macas etc but usually younger people, they order food and then sit at the table .talk, play with their phone and eat bugger all then get up and leave. At our place nothing is thrown out if its not eaten on day one it is on day 2 or the dogs get it on day 3, things in the fridge can sit there for quite a long time actually and when we go out every plate is usually clean when we leave like most of the other table around us. Rarely see families or older adults leave food on their plates, seems its only the younger ones, probably have reasonably wealthy parents they give them money so they dont care, wife came from a poor family so she was raised not to waste anything and even though she has a great job earning a big wage she still abides by what she grew up with, you dont waste food.

[nickmanchester2]

I picked a bit of mold off my bread today and then ate it - guess I am not integrating very well

[MrWorldwide]

Hot on the heels of umpteen 'Look how cheaply I'm living in Thailand, beeyatches !' threads, we now have a thread dedicated to the epic waste Thai people are allegedly engaging in. We've taken one of the cornerstones of the (rural) Thai way of life, extreme thrift, and made it our own - be proud my Farang brothers : total domination cant be more than 300 years away. We're taking these overfed suckers down, one Satang at a time - soon they will learn that Farang are no longer the rich men of Asia !

The only wastage I see in Thailand is in fast food joints - the cokes are ridiculously oversized and things like the fries inedible. Makes sense when you know who you're really dealing with.

[Roadman]

All the Thais in my family (middle class to western standards) value their money and do not waste it.

When eating out yes food is wasted. But it is the basic stuff like rice and noodles. The main part of dishes like fish, prawns etc. are always doggie bagged and taken home.

[apetley]

Bizarre. Everyone one of my Thai friends will finish their food or if they have ordered too much will take it home to eat later or feed to the dog.

[MrWorldwide]

Bizarre. Everyone one of my Thai friends will finish their food or if they have ordered too much will take it home to eat later or feed to the dog.

Just curious - does the phrase 'doggie bag' have a different meaning in Surin / Si Saket ?

[DaddyWarbucks]

Thais wasteful?

Not to anyone who was born in the USA where waste is systemic and part of the culture.

[ramrod45]

Sorry to say I often go to "Thai" restaurant/bars, and quite often I see meals half eaten, sometimes barely touched when the Thai's leave. It was even a question between another visiting Brit farang and myself, him asking why they order so much food and just leave it on the table. Like everywhere, some waste not, want not, and others do seem wasteful. No right, no wrong, just different people doing different things. But those of you who seem convinced every Thai person eats all their food, or takes the remainder home, I can guarantee that is not true.

[bkkheat]

I see far more farangs not valuing there money, throwing there money at Thai's with no regard, just like my mate who I posted about. I know a few like this.

[TheSpade]

Bizarre. Everyone one of my Thai friends will finish their food or if they have ordered too much will take it home to eat later or feed to the dog.

I've never seen any of my Thai friends ask to take their leftovers home or noticed it happening around me.

Not that there's anything wrong with people not wanting to waste food (it irks me when people order too much food then don't eat it, a pointless waste) but I'm sure it would be considered a "low class" sort of thing to do and I can't envisage many middle class Thai's doing it.

I'm confident they'd be too embarrassed or lose face as it's as if they are saying they can't afford to waste the food they've bought and have to take it home to eat later.

Even at my local 45B pad kra pow spot yesterday I saw several Thai's getting up and leaving leftovers just from small one plate meals. When I ate in Tesco food court a few days ago the tables were littered with half finished plates.

Definitely not every Thai eats every last morsel or certainly not in Bangkok anyway.

[MrWorldwide]

@theSpade, you really need to get out of Bangkok - of course you are seeing the consumer generation waste food in the richest city in Thailand. I saw none of that in Khao Yai - dont recall visiting a whole lot of food courts in Udon Thani or Chumphon, but I'll admit that there was rice leftover at the party I hosted for my friend's 22nd birthday tonight here in Pattaya. Everything else - from soup to watermelon - was decimated : if you're eating with Thai women who pick at their food, chances are they're bulimic. I've never seen (relatively) petite women eat and drink like women from Isaan - its a feeding frenzy but a very welcome change from the dietary charades of so many Western women. They know that a few weeks back in the village will strip the weight from them - startling to see the transformation when they return. Completely different to spoilt kids who will never have to squat in a rice field or do anything resembling manual labour.