Thais are unable to account for almost three-quarters of their expenses: VISA

[webfact]

NEWSFEED
VISA customers wary of 'mystery spending'
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Thais are unable to account for almost three-quarters of their expenses - or more than Bt60,000 a year - due to "mystery spending", according to Visa.

Mystery spending is not from misplaced or stolen cash, but cash spent that the consumer is unsure of where it went.

Its recent online survey showed that on average, Thais spend Bt1,588 weekly but lose track of Bt1,143, or 72 per cent. Most believe their mystery spending went on buying food and groceries, and snacks (both 49 per cent), and non-essential items (45 per cent).

More than a third thought their daily lunch mysteriously ate up a large chunk of their expenses, well above the regional average of only 21 per cent.

Those 18-24 years of age were more likely to mystery-spend on entertainment (45 per cent) than older groups, though the amount of Bt1,091 was on par with all age groups.

In Southeast Asia, Thais were the biggest mystery spenders (72 per cent of respondents) followed by Indonesia (57 per cent), Vietnam (48 per cent), Singapore (45 per cent), Malaysia (44 per cent) and the Philippines (42 per cent).

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/VISA-CUSTOMERS-WARY-OF-MYSTERY-SPENDING-30271209.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-20

[halloween]

Thinking about my unaccounted spending, I'm guessing 30% on beer and 40% on "loose" women. The rest was just wasted.

[zaphod reborn]

Public unaware that Visa is shamelessly promoting itself through news releases by claiming cash spenders don't know where there money is spent. TV falls victim to the scam.

[jkinbkk]

Bull!

Gambling and bank/loan shark interest repayments account for that 'missing element'

They all know full well where these funds have gone! Shame stops them confronting the situation and they let life plod along into ever increasing downward spiralling of debt.

Mismanagement of personal finances is epidemic here. It boggles the mind that many government workers and teachers are in excess of 3 million Baht in debt.

Edited October 20, 2015 by jkinbkk

[catterwell]

My wife does all the mystery spending on my Visa card...

[worgeordie]

No wonder so many are up to their eyes in debt,3/4 of their income

and they have no idea where it went,unbelievable,

regards Worgeordie

[jaltsc]

"Thais are unable to account for almost three-quarters of their expenses..."

Reminds me of a scene from a W.C. Fields movie. He walks into a bar and asks the bartender: "Was I in here last night". The bartender says "Yes". Fields then asks: "Did I spend my last twenty dollar bill on booze?" The bartender says "Yes" again. Fields then responds: "Whew, that's a relief. I thought I lost it."

Edited October 20, 2015 by jaltsc

[ezzra]

How can you when you're drunk? I have seen a hard day laborers forking out 80+ baht

for a large beers and not only one of them,

Beside, there is no app for it...

[jalansanitwong]

Many Thai men blow their money on gambling ,booze and cheap hookers basically the same as lower working class people in the west.

Thai women spend it all on expensive skin creams,handbags and cell phones.

The army is clamping down on street loan sharks. Indians who have been here for years are threatened with deportation if they contunue with the 20% daily interest scam.

A Thai friend of mine has gone walkabout. Apparently he dropped 300K on the street lotteries over the past 12 months.

He used to call everyday. Never calls anymore..

Edited October 20, 2015 by jalansanitwong

[WhizBang]

No surprise really. Thais just do not think ahead. They have money in the pocket, it is fair game to be spend then. No thoughts to having to pay the bills that come on a regular basis.

Years ago, with one of my early girlfriends, I tried to put her on a budget, as she just wasted money as if it grew on trees. She couldn't even comprehend what I was trying to do, or why. Needless to say, that relationship didn't last long.

[WhizBang]

Many Thai men blow their money on gambling ,booze and cheap hookers basically the same as lower working class people in the west.

Thai women spend it all on expensive skin creams,handbags and cell phones.

The army is clamping down on street loan sharks. Indians who have been here for years are threatened with deportation if they contunue with the 20% daily interest scam.

Indians? In my experience, it has all been Thais.

[Evilbaz]

My Thai BIL has 10 credit cards!

He is self-employed and has a good business but is borrowing from one to pay for another and his spare income is gobbled up by interest as he doesn't clear the monthly balance(s).

When you are paying interest on interest you are on the slippery slope.

I believe this stems from no knowlege taught on budgeting and a complete failure to recognize the difference between gross received and nett made.

[Kf6vci]

TBH, by going to a Tesco Express, I spend way more than it would cost to eat out at a humble restaurant.

It's easy to spend 50 or 100 Baht on a few snacks and a (small !) Coke. Some guys buy many of the 500 ml bottles instead of 2-3 large ones.

Instant gratification - and the money's gone.

[Bernard Flint]

Seems to be a massive generalisation on here, from drinking too much to loan shark borrowing to gambling. I have news for you, not all thais are like that, in fact many thais are not like that, no alcohol, no cigarettes, no gambling is the norm for the many buddhists here in Thaialnd.

[Bernard Flint]

My Thai BIL has 10 credit cards!

He is self-employed and has a good business but is borrowing from one to pay for another and his spare income is gobbled up by interest as he doesn't clear the monthly balance(s).

When you are paying interest on interest you are on the slippery slope.

I believe this stems from no knowlege taught on budgeting and a complete failure to recognize the difference between gross received and nett made.

[ Is this new to the economic world, i doubt it, Many many europeans live like that, and there are quite a few that run up a huge bill on credit cards then retire to Thailand, i know a few.However i would not say that every european does this, some are not mongers,who want to get to Thailand at all cost

[daiwill60]

An ex of mine once wanted to start selling Moo Ping because her brother used to make over 1000 bht a day when he did it, my question to her was how much does it cost to set up , how much does the stock cost to sell every day? etc etc . The Idea of hers soon disappeared when she could not, either understand the concepts of having to buy stock and that this then has to be paid for out of the 1000 bht a day, so she will not be making a 1000 a day, if that is how much her daily turnover is. Ay AY Ay

[doremifasol]

Mystery here, secret there..........

Nowadays even feeding yourself became a mystery...........

[cyberfarang]

On paper my income seems to cover my expenditures, and should have loads of money left over at the end of each month. But it never works out that way, the cash seems to just run away and I too wonder; what the hell have I done to have used all that amount of money? Then when i sit back and add every up, my money spent seems to have reached epic proportions on virtually nothing. Wouldn`t mind if I was living the high life with booze, women and clubbing it every night, but I`m not.

[Jeremy50]

Comics, whitening creams, window blocking cuddly toys for the car....................it soon adds up.

[MobileContent]

Many Thai men blow their money on gambling ,booze and cheap hookers basically the same as lower working class people in the west.

Thai women spend it all on expensive skin creams,handbags and cell phones.

The army is clamping down on street loan sharks. Indians who have been here for years are threatened with deportation if they contunue with the 20% daily interest scam.

Indians? In my experience, it has all been Thais.

In Bangkok from Sukhumvit and Silom its controlled by Indian Thai's but the collectors are Indians.

[TheCruncher]

My Thai BIL has 10 credit cards!

He is self-employed and has a good business but is borrowing from one to pay for another and his spare income is gobbled up by interest as he doesn't clear the monthly balance(s).

When you are paying interest on interest you are on the slippery slope.

I believe this stems from no knowlege taught on budgeting and a complete failure to recognize the difference between gross received and nett made.

[ Is this new to the economic world, i doubt it, Many many europeans live like that, and there are quite a few that run up a huge bill on credit cards then retire to Thailand, i know a few.However i would not say that every european does this, some are not mongers,who want to get to Thailand at all cost

Sure we all know that only the Europeans run huge deficits on their CC, not like the Americans who use theirs more considerably.

Some more European bashing?

[Benmart]

It's up to them.

Not my money and not my business.

I watch my spending and, thankfully, I am not indebted to anyone.

T'is easy to comment on someone else's spending when there is no relationship.

[AGareth2]

mia noi

[Kasset Tak]

An ex of mine once wanted to start selling Moo Ping because her brother used to make over 1000 bht a day when he did it, my question to her was how much does it cost to set up , how much does the stock cost to sell every day? etc etc . The Idea of hers soon disappeared when she could not, either understand the concepts of having to buy stock and that this then has to be paid for out of the 1000 bht a day, so she will not be making a 1000 a day, if that is how much her daily turnover is. Ay AY Ay

I had to teach my students the same thing last semester, the Thai teacher here teaching business and entrepreneurship did not even teach/understand that "concept"!

She forced the students to make a project for her class where they cooked some kind of food and sold in the college at lunch. According to the business teachers' calculation for the project it would give them about 5000 Baht profit. When the project was finished the student found that they had a big problem, they did not make enough money to pay back all the money that they had borrowed from their parents for the project.So to find out what went wrong I sat down and made a post project calculation and while comparing the Thai teachers initial calculation with my post calculation I found that she had NOT included "some" things in her calculation:

Water

Electricity

Gas

Tools and equipment

Condiments like sauce and cucumbers (for serving)

Plates and/or boxes for serving

And so on...

[phoenixdoglover]

^^^along similar lines...

In the neighborhood where we raised our kids, there were two types of lemonade stands:

1. the ones where Mom sold the ingredients to the kids, and

2. the ones where Mom gave the ingredients to the kids.

I insisted my wife follow option 1, despite the howls of protest.

My kids, since graduating from college, have never asked me for a dime.

Edited October 20, 2015 by phoenixdoglover

[gandalf12]

Why is VISA bothered as long as they get their money? I dont understand their involvement in this.

[daiwill60]

Why is VISA bothered as long as they get their money? I dont understand their involvement in this.

It's advertising of sorts " look what we have discovered, that you maybe cannot admit too. If you read this and realise that you are in the same situation, then you can come to us, we can help spread the bills", don't you get that ?

Edited October 20, 2015 by daiwill60

[gandalf12]

Why is VISA bothered as long as they get their money? I dont understand their involvement in this.

It's advertising of sorts " look what we have discovered, that you maybe cannot admit too. If you read this and realise that you are in the same situation, then you can come to us, we can help spread the bills", don't you get that ?

I hear what you say and I agree with the sentiment. Trouble is that VISA wont help spread any debts for you

[trogers]

Why is VISA bothered as long as they get their money? I dont understand their involvement in this.

I do understand. It's called diversion - diverting attention from % of income paid to them as interest charged on credit debts...

[gandalf12]

Why is VISA bothered as long as they get their money? I dont understand their involvement in this.

I do understand. It's called diversion - diverting attention from % of income paid to them as interest charged on credit debts...

I doubt if a Thai would really take much of an interest in this. They have massive debts compared to income so the percentage interest they probably wont even look at.