My great-uncle in the US would rip up his Social Security checks and burn them when I was a kid.

Cool old guy that would take me into town for an ice cream cone sometimes when I was a very small boy.

He wanted ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the government.

He wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination either.

He lived in an old rickety wooden house in the middle of nowhere.

His way of thinking greatly influenced me to this day.

How bizarre, I had a Great Uncle Jack that did exactly the same as your Uncle. He was not rich either but he was self sufficient. He basically said that he had never taken welfare in his whole life and he would not start now, give it to someone who needs it.

Great guy, worked as a builder and lived through tough times.

Don't know many Thais who pay ANY tax but taxing the rich to help the poor is the way to go as the rich got rich by manipulating the poor anyway

From what I see a lot of the poor are poor because the men waste money on cigarettes, gambling and whisky. So the wife and kids go without. The socialists should be calling for a ban on cigarettes and whisky and getting the police more active in shutting down gambling operations.

A lot of the poor are poor because that's how they are kept by the elite,if you are educated poorly from the start what do you expect from these people,a few vices in life to dull the mundane nothing else.

I think it's a bit deeper than people smoking 5 baht parrot brand tobacco and drinking 110 baht bottles of see sip.

Millions of people in Thailand don`t file tax returns or pay taxes, they fall under the radar from the tax man.

A lot of money budgeted by the government to the local districts is ending up in the pockets of corrupt council officials and corrupt heads of local communities.

Much needs to be done and tidied up before Thailand could become a fully pledged welfare state

From what I see a lot of the poor are poor because the men waste money on cigarettes, gambling and whisky. So the wife and kids go without. The socialists should be calling for a ban on cigarettes and whisky and getting the police more active in shutting down gambling operations.

You missed out the mia nois for Thai men (even the poorest manage a mia noi -or karaoke girl from time to time. And don't forget the women. Much of their money goes on gambling and the incessant gifts and donations to the wats and monks

Many don't deserve welfare or anyones sympathy!

We have asked many able bodied (unemployed) people in our village if they want to work. They don't. Reasons being: it's too hot/dirty/heavy/high/ on and on. They'd rather lie in their hammock and do other "village people" activities.

Since I got a mobility problem that stopped me working in our modest (1/2 rai) garden, we really struggled to find people to work on it, even for lot more than the going rate for farm labourers. Up country mentality. Do just enough to earn your next bottle of whatever, then look for more work when the hangover's worn off.

in many countries, you have to add another 21% VAT on everything

so whatever number + 21%

shocking right ?

milking the middle class

the rich don't pay

the poor don't contribute

and millions of pseudo refugees on the way

From what I see a lot of the poor are poor because the men waste money on cigarettes, gambling and whisky. So the wife and kids go without. The socialists should be calling for a ban on cigarettes and whisky and getting the police more active in shutting down gambling operations.

You missed out the mia nois for Thai men (even the poorest manage a mia noi -or karaoke girl from time to time. And don't forget the women. Much of their money goes on gambling and the incessant gifts and donations to the wats and monks

Many don't deserve welfare or anyones sympathy!

We have asked many able bodied (unemployed) people in our village if they want to work. They don't. Reasons being: it's too hot/dirty/heavy/high/ on and on. They'd rather lie in their hammock and do other "village people" activities.

Since I got a mobility problem that stopped me working in our modest (1/2 rai) garden, we really struggled to find people to work on it, even for lot more than the going rate for farm labourers. Up country mentality. Do just enough to earn your next bottle of whatever, then look for more work when the hangover's worn off.

Thais don't particularly like working for farangs in village settings,it lowers their status.

From what I see a lot of the poor are poor because the men waste money on cigarettes, gambling and whisky. So the wife and kids go without. The socialists should be calling for a ban on cigarettes and whisky and getting the police more active in shutting down gambling operations.

You missed out the mia nois for Thai men (even the poorest manage a mia noi -or karaoke girl from time to time. And don't forget the women. Much of their money goes on gambling and the incessant gifts and donations to the wats and monks

Many don't deserve welfare or anyones sympathy!

We have asked many able bodied (unemployed) people in our village if they want to work. They don't. Reasons being: it's too hot/dirty/heavy/high/ on and on. They'd rather lie in their hammock and do other "village people" activities.

Since I got a mobility problem that stopped me working in our modest (1/2 rai) garden, we really struggled to find people to work on it, even for lot more than the going rate for farm labourers. Up country mentality. Do just enough to earn your next bottle of whatever, then look for more work when the hangover's worn off.

When Charly, my great Dane, died i started to dig him a grave in the garden. Three Thai men in the village came round and offered to help,ie, do it for me for which i was grateful, Charly weighed 75 kilo's, not only did they bury him for me they gathered flowers and put them on the grave and knelt down chanting prayers which embarrassed me somewhat. He was popular in the village although a little feared due to his size but he was a gentle soul. My wife offered them money which they at first refused but in the end they took 200 Baht between them. I have always found that it's a give and take relationship, the neighbours borrow my aluminium ladder and i borrow their grass cutter, i help putting up a fence and they help to repair my motor bike, i have no complaints of village life in Isaan.