Wife's customer not paying his bill.

[BrainLife]

But clearly neither of you (wife or farang husband) have any idea on how to run a bar, so just stop and cut your losses. Sell what you can.

Edited February 2, 2016 by BrainLife

[zyphodb]

What I would suggest doing, is to tell the wife to allow the ones she trusts up to a nominal sum, say 50 Baht credit for a fixed period say 2 weeks & if they don't pay never give them credit again only don't tell them that til they have paid the 50 Bahts back hoping to get more credit. It's worth losing a few 50 Bahts to both learn the ones that you can trust & to stop being hassled by the ones that you can't...

[1FinickyOne]

There are many ways that a new business can fail and you are discovering just one - it is a problem and as others say, no credit or limiting credit to very small affordable amounts is the only way to avoid both financial losses and equally important, aggravation.

Most larger businesses expect a certain percent of losses and it is priced in - something you likely cannot do.

Being a collection agent is the least pleasant part of any business - something you maybe did not consider and the only way to get rid of this aspect is as others have stated and you now know, stop giving credit...

Alcoholics are rarely known to handle money responsibly. If you can afford it, forgive the debt and no more credit...

[mikiea]

What should you do???? Easy do not give credit.

I will pay tomorrow !! tomorrow never comes.

That is a given , they know that , you are re-posting what he just said . to much time on your hands ?

[Liquorice]

If you can't afford to take the loss, don't give the credit.

Clients who ask for credit are not your friends.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Turn the 2 door cooler of at night , that will save you 500 a month.

[meatboy]

All these replies I agree with and I know too and I tell my wife every day. It's not me who give them credit but my wife and she thinks they are her friends but they disabuse her kindness. I tell my wife every day to be hard when doing business and think about herself as they do too. We opened only 3 months ago and it's all new for her. And yes those guys are alcoholics and want to get drunk every day but can't pay for their booze.

Thanks.

you will learn the hard way,as a mate of mine did in the early 80's,your wife's family and freinds dont pay,you will.

[Nomyai]

He says his wife has a shop, and then says, We make only small profit on what we sell. We want our money.

If you do decide to chase up those customers, you`ll have to blow your cover.

Wife and a shop means bad news..................................This can be a lesson guys! Learn from it.

[overherebc]

Get a large book with lined pages on the counter.

Write each name and the money owed in large letters, in Thai ( your wife can do )

Leave it open on the shop counter for everyone to see who owes what, make each one sign it.

Write 'No more credit until paid' in red next to the worst offenders.

Believe it or not the loss of face might just be enough to get some, not all, to pay up.

Edited February 2, 2016 by overherebc

[AlQaholic]

in Thailand, if you give someone a loan or credit, it is up to the beneficiary's discretion to pay back or eventually pay for the credit given. Such are the unwritten social norms of Thailand.

[sead]

The reason to not give credit to drunks is that next time they have 100bht he has 2 choices. Either pay you back or to go to next shop and continue drinking. What do you think he would choose. You only loose customers by giving them credit.

[bazza40]

OP, you are not going to change your wife's behaviour. Australians call it pissing into the wind. Either run the bar/shop yourself, or close it and move on.

Credit is a way of life with many Thais, particularly in the poorer villages. The parasites keep borrowing until they have exhausted their credit with everyone, then go elsewhere.

Apart from that, there is no way in any country one can trust an alcoholic or any other form of addict to keep their promises.

[arminbkk]

I feel sorry for the OP, it's not fun if you get a F U in your face everyday (which is what these non paying boozers

do everyday they turn up knowing fully well that they have not paid and will not pay, and smile while doing so).

OP should either just accept it and write it off each time and consider it his contribution to making other people

happy every day, or,

OP should, or his wife actually, just present the full tab that these guys have run up,

and of course smile, Thai smile #38 (the confrontation-avoiding, "I don't like it either, but don't blame me,

lets keep harmony" smile) each time when they show up again and order drinks again,

after she has hid half the stock from sight, so that the tab does not run up much further.

[Guest]

Here is a thought.

Grow a pair !

[colinneil]

Credit is ok. Sorry i am dreaming again.

You extend credit everybody is your friend, you refuse they say they will go to another shop !!OK !! let them.

A customer who does not pay is not a customer, they are leeches.

[kiwikeith]

Do not give credit. You were nice to do so and will end up being the bad guy. No good deed goes unpunished.

This is correct, making a fuss and they will turn you into the bad guy, for their loss of face.

As for taking security over loans I would stay out of that one and leave that to the money lenders.

Even they are not immune one of my friends Thai wife was lending money, the guy paid back first time and second , third time did not , when she made a fuss about it he lost face, a couple of nights later shots were fired into the house, lucky none connected.

This man has never paid the loan back, I can't mention his proffession but you can guess.

The moral of the story is what other posters have said --- Dont give credit.

Best write off the bad debts and forget them as education expenses.

[Monkeyrobot]

Have a notice printed on the counter in very small print ,so when they ask for credit tell them to read it and as they bow their head down to read it ,smash their face into the counter,you wont get many repeat offenders.Failing that shut up shop as you & the missus sound too meek to be in business.

That is the most stupid reply I have read on TV this year , you are in the running for the Award this year.

[Daniel Boon]

Chinese sign I saw ...

I give you credit, you do not pay, I get mad

I not give you credit, you get mad

better ... you get mad

[stephenterry]

Take a month's holiday, preferably by yourself. By the time you get back, your wife would have sorted it out one way or another.

[tomwct]

No more credit! When they return to drink make them pay in cash for each drink. As they get drunk, charge them a little more

and give them a little less see sip or low Kao! In about 5 years you'll have your money back!

[meatboy]

Take a month's holiday, preferably by yourself. By the time you get back, your wife would have sorted it out one way or another.

take a months holiday,preferably by yourself, then dont come back,one way or another your wife must do the same.

[billphillips]

Write off the loss and learn from the experience. No credit, ever.

[samsensam]

sadly the experience of my thai business owning friends and thai friends generally who are generous (stupid) enough to lend money to family and friends means i would never lend money or extend credit to anyone here.

culturally thais seem to have no problem, conscience or experience any moral dilemma when taking money with no intention of replaying it. in fact quite the contrary, i get the feeling they think they are being smart when they get someone to lend them money.

as to solving your problem; it's your wife's business, this is thailand and she created the problem so let her sort it out - and learn her lesson.

i hope you were smart enough not to invest more money in the business than you can afford to lose.

Edited February 2, 2016 by samsensam

[ozyjon]

If this was me,,,

you will never get your money

so

smile a lot and give them free food

with a new flavour, lots of flavour

[bermondburi]

Loan means gift in Thai

[slipperylobster]

Make a sign for the front of your shop...

"In Buddha We Trust....All Other's Must Pay !"

[elgordo38]

All these replies I agree with and I know too and I tell my wife every day. It's not me who give them credit but my wife and she thinks they are her friends but they disabuse her kindness. I tell my wife every day to be hard when doing business and think about herself as they do too. We opened only 3 months ago and it's all new for her. And yes those guys are alcoholics and want to get drunk every day but can't pay for their booze.

Thanks.

Generosity, kindness, sympathy and being a "soft touch" are part of the culture here. I have heard this problem time and again. I am trying to educate my g/f that when I pass on and she has money to guard it carefully as once its gone its gone. When family members knock on the door asking for a "loan" its not a loan its a gift plain and simple and learn to say "no" get a job. I constantly stress this with her but sometimes I think I am failing to get my point across.

[Scouse123]

Many, by their posts here, know little about how it works up in the sticks.

Nearly all shops, bars, restaurants AND Gold shops I know up here extend.credit or they would get no sales as all villagers would bad mouth them leading to a blockade with even those who have cash and can afford to pay!! This is because they never live within their means and are always awaiting sons, daughters and various other relatives to pay them. Police in the restaurants and bars are some of the worst for obtaining credit and then " forgetting "

As I say, even the Gold shops here give credit and then give themselves the headache of sending collectors each week to get a sum of money at an extortionate rate, this is where the policemen you see sat on their backsides in the gold shops come in in the event of non payment as well as local thugs.

We have a woman who hails from Hua Hin around here married to a local Thai man who is from Isaarn. She screams, curses and shouts in the worst language on a regular basis at both customers and her husband. She goes and bangs on village doors for money screaming at them. Guess what? I have been up here the last eight years, and in Thailand twenty two years, this woman is still in business and her shop thrives. She does extend credit, but is astute as to who has money coming in monthly and who doesn't .

For posters to say " No credit " I say, " Good in theory " but I also would suggest any foreigner not to get involved in your gf flight of fancy to make money,most or nearly all are not business minded so not only will you not get paid and make enemies, your gf will end up being ostracised in the village as stingy and forgetting where she came from!! She will then get angry with you, when you try exert pressure to get your investment back.

Some posters are right, instead of an outright refusal, you suggest they go borrow from the bank or give you something of value less than the debt they wish to have as a guarantee. Invariably, they will disappear and try an easier " Mark " but you won't have the worry and stress of chasing a debt that they cannot pay and you don't fall out with them.

Thais do not like saying no to their peers who are usually relatives or extended family. They would sooner give, not get back, and spend their days eating som tam and gossiping about the offender!!!

Isaarn style.....!!

[Shiver]

I've seen some "mom & pop" shops put up a name and shame list outside their premises. I was very surprised to see it in this country, as it is a country that doesn't like to lose face. You'll get bad mouthed of course, but when they ask again you can point to the poster and gesture in a way that suggests "sorry, what can I do? it was your actions".

It tends to be a one way street where money is concerned - not always, but usually.

If you invite the police then they'll want their pound of flesh (bottle of whiskey), so I would say probably the losses are baked in, and maybe have a word with other shops to stop them taking similar losses until maybe, just maybe, they come back and make good on their commitment, and if they do that then make it cash on delivery from then onwards.

[bazza40]

All these replies I agree with and I know too and I tell my wife every day. It's not me who give them credit but my wife and she thinks they are her friends but they disabuse her kindness. I tell my wife every day to be hard when doing business and think about herself as they do too. We opened only 3 months ago and it's all new for her. And yes those guys are alcoholics and want to get drunk every day but can't pay for their booze.

Thanks.

Generosity, kindness, sympathy and being a "soft touch" are part of the culture here. I have heard this problem time and again. I am trying to educate my g/f that when I pass on and she has money to guard it carefully as once its gone its gone. When family members knock on the door asking for a "loan" its not a loan its a gift plain and simple and learn to say "no" get a job. I constantly stress this with her but sometimes I think I am failing to get my point across.

I must be one of the luckier ones. The family of my Thai GF have never approached me for money. I buy birthday presents for the two grandchildren, give the GF's father ( in his eighties ) 100 baht for gardening, and that's it.

It comes back to never bringing money into Thailand that you are not prepared to kiss goodbye.

Thais live in the present, it's rare to find one that plans for the future. Not a criticism, just the way it is.