Would you invest in your wife / girlfriend? If so, how?

[Rob8891]

I'm sure we're all familiar with the posts exalting us to never give money to the girlfriend (and in extreme cases to the wife), yet there are many people who do, and not always leading to the doom and disaster that had been predicted. I recently heard of someone setting a girlfriend up with a business and it got me thinking about it, so I asked my wife what she would like to do if we were to set up a business for her (not that we have any plans for that, as we enjoy our life as it is).

So the question to those of you with a Thai wife or girlfriend (or maybe both if you're a lottery winner or self-made millionaire) is, would you invest in her / them ...what sort of business...here in Thailand? Subsequent to that, in what way would you invest? ....That might be in cash, in gold or jewelry, in property, or perhaps by setting up a business for her? Maybe you already have done something along these lines - how did it work out? Tales of success (or even ones that weren't successful) might be useful for those who are pondering such a venture.

[marko kok prong]

Don't do the investing in rice farms where you lend them money and they pay you 20% back for 3 years,then you can supposedely claim your capitol back,! they never have the capitol they are Thai,they spend the lot,2 the papers are in your wife's name,so you loose the lot when you split up[like i did],sounds to good to be true ,usually is,though i had to laugh when i found out my ex had only clawed back about 10,000 baht from the lot this year,low price and no rain,she will have to cut down on condoms for her waste of space Thai boyfriend.

[marko kok prong]

Also i payed for her teenage daughter to do a hair and beauty course,and built a salon,but they seemed more interested in lying around in hammocks,and eating 10 times a day than ever actually chasing custom,same with the shop,as my ex has now opened a resturant,which has zero customers,she has closed her shop,which actually did have customers,turn over,profit and loss,forget it,she called the other night,"i am worried for the future'' i replied dont worry ,you dont have one.

[Don Mega]

Ive bought the missus a decent chunk of gold over the years. I keep it in a safe at my work.

[marko kok prong]

Ive bought the missus a decent chunk of gold over the years. I keep it in a safe at my work.

Good on ya,my ex sold the lot,some of it to by a motorsai for her useless new Thai boyfriend,who does nothing,but stay in the hammock unless he has to drive her car,somewhere,i have seen rats with more intelligence than the pair of em,am i bitter a little but now i have a partner in the Philippines i don,t really care,hopefully they end up eating each other.

[2fishin2]

My girl wanted to open a salon. Told her I would pay half of the startup. She saved her half, I kept my part of the bargain and she opened a shop and built it from bottom up. Over 2 years now and she has made all the money back. She wanted to repay me but, I declined. She has rebuilt her parent's house and now saving for land. She's done good for herself. I couldnt be more proud of her.

[Rob8891]

My girl wanted to open a salon. Told her I would pay half of the startup. She saved her half, I kept my part of the bargain and she opened a shop and built it from bottom up. Over 2 years now and she has made all the money back. She wanted to repay me but, I declined. She has rebuilt her parent's house and now saving for land. She's done good for herself. I couldnt be more proud of her.

That's a great outcome. Well done! It's good to hear a positive story.

[2fishin2]

My girl wanted to open a salon. Told her I would pay half of the startup. She saved her half, I kept my part of the bargain and she opened a shop and built it from bottom up. Over 2 years now and she has made all the money back. She wanted to repay me but, I declined. She has rebuilt her parent's house and now saving for land. She's done good for herself. I couldnt be more proud of her.

That's a great outcome. Well done! It's good to hear a positive story.

Thanks. Its not all gloom and doom and not all Thais are out to get us. She will never get rich but, she makes enough to live better than most other Thais. She's frugal and generous at same time. Salon workers usually work on commission and when low season comes it can hurt. She guarantees her employee's a steady salary each month even if it means she takes a cut during low season. Karma is really helping her.

[sipi]

I hand everything over to the Mrs and she hands some back if I ask kindly.

[shirtless]

Most thais do not save or budget they buy on impulse , lending money for a business is usually designed for them to cheat you, glad to see a positive outcome but this is a exception .

[2fishin2]

Most thais do not save or budget they buy on impulse , lending money for a business is usually designed for them to cheat you, glad to see a positive outcome but this is a exception .

All of my friend's wives in Phuket are exactly the same. Great people. Its not really an exception. Its just people and the news only reports bad things.

[RC8]

I helped my tgf set up a market stall. Then a small shop. She was so excited about the shop but seemed to have no clue about the need to make a customer feel comfortable. First time I visited a friend of hers was asleep on a makeshift bed in the middle of the shop. She said it was ok as her friend was sleeping off a hangover. Second time I visited the shop was full of her family. No room for customers.

The shop closed after a month. To be fair it was not a good location but this sort of thing doesn't help.

[dean008]

I would invest in whatever she wanted, in fact I should read we. I am currently away business and left an ATM card for an account with iced a million baht in just in case she needed money. What's your point? If you do not trust your wife you have problems

[uthaithanirules]

Most thais do not save or budget they buy on impulse , lending money for a business is usually designed for them to cheat you, glad to see a positive outcome but this is a exception .

And how is that any different to back home?

Depends in the girl/person

How many people back home live off their credit cards, do as little to get by, will never save

Dont even have welfare in Thailand

If anything its worse back home, just that its unlikely you mix with or see the horades of freeloaders

[uthaithanirules]

I keep seeing threads like this, and I'm shaking my head.

A thai wife would milk you for money? And one back home wouldnt???

Sheesh, just the extra difference in rent/mortgage Id pay back in my home country for the McMansion Id need for a wife here....would cover EVERYTHING for my wife, daughter and her parents in Thailand.

So after a kid or two, she dumps you, gets a good for nothing thai boyfriend.....tell me it all still doesnt add up to 1/3 of what the same thing would cost you back home

[RC8]

I paid for the shop.

New scooter

New phone and ipad.

Rent for the apartment.

School for her kid.

Lent money to her mum and aunt.

Got screwed over after 2 years.

She has a thai boyfriend and left me.

Best 2 years of my life ☺

Edited March 3, 2016 by RC8

[CharlieH]

I invested the most expensive and irreplaceable thing of all......time.

You cant get it back, or sell it, once given, thats it.

So , yes I have invested 10 years in her (wife), and its been the best investment I ever made. It gives fantastic returns and had its down turns at times, but overall, it was the best and wisest investment I ever made and continues to provide excellent dividends and has become "priceless"

[JLCrab]

Valentine's Day was last month.

[JMWPACIFIC]

My girl wanted to open a salon. Told her I would pay half of the startup. She saved her half, I kept my part of the bargain and she opened a shop and built it from bottom up. Over 2 years now and she has made all the money back. She wanted to repay me but, I declined. She has rebuilt her parent's house and now saving for land. She's done good for herself. I couldnt be more proud of her.

Your way is the only way. The wife/gf needs to be ambitious, have a plan, work hard, etc. Many poor farang souls finance lazy, no brain leeches and doesn't end well.

Congrats to both of you.

[wow64]

If you are going to invest get her to go study...

[samsensam]

i have thai friends with successful businesses.

i have thai friends who would like to have their own business, when i ask why they often say because their current job is too busy... i try to explain that having your own business will be harder, less secure work but they dont get it.

i ask about a business plan... they have no idea, they just want money.

if you are going to invest then a 50/50 investment would be the way to go so they have an incentive to work hard.

and the golden rule; don't invest more than you can afford to lose.

[Deli]

Would buy her a mop and a bucket to start a business

[williamgeorgeallen]

friends girl wanted to start a coffee shop. another friend said she should go work in a coffee shop to get experience and see if she likes doing it. great advice, but no she went straight ahead and opened the coffee shop which quickly failed once the sponsor stopped supporting it. i have never personally heard of a ferang setting his thai girl up in a business and it working out. they have ferang, why should they work? it might have happened though.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Before you invest in a business invest in her education. Let her do English classes to improve her communication skills, while you take Thai classes. Then you let her attend business management courses to improve her business skills. After this if still interested start a business.

[ggt]

Do not invest anything you can not afford to lose...

[AlexRRR]

Most thais do not save or budget they buy on impulse , lending money for a business is usually designed for them to cheat you, glad to see a positive outcome but this is a exception .

That's total crap and not my experience, it's the crowed you hang around with, but giving or loaning money to a tgf or wife to start a business, nope and it's because relationships start and fail all the time, I could hand over a couple of thousand dollars but only if I thought she was capable and trusted her to use it right and wouldn't expect it returned.

Unless your doing that sort of thing in your own country you have little recourse in Thailand of ever recouping your $ if the relationship goes Nellie up.

[Nomyai]

Ive bought the missus a decent chunk of gold over the years. I keep it in a safe at my work.

Good on ya,my ex sold the lot,some of it to by a motorsai for her useless new Thai boyfriend,who does nothing,but stay in the hammock unless he has to drive her car,somewhere,i have seen rats with more intelligence than the pair of em,am i bitter a little but now i have a partner in the Philippines i don,t really care,hopefully they end up eating each other.

sir-you need counseling. Asking you for business advice is like asking a fat man how to lose weight.....................lol.

[Nomyai]

My girl wanted to open a salon. Told her I would pay half of the startup. She saved her half, I kept my part of the bargain and she opened a shop and built it from bottom up. Over 2 years now and she has made all the money back. She wanted to repay me but, I declined. She has rebuilt her parent's house and now saving for land. She's done good for herself. I couldnt be more proud of her.

That's a great outcome. Well done! It's good to hear a positive story.

Thanks. Its not all gloom and doom and not all Thais are out to get us. She will never get rich but, she makes enough to live better than most other Thais. She's frugal and generous at same time. Salon workers usually work on commission and when low season comes it can hurt. She guarantees her employee's a steady salary each month even if it means she takes a cut during low season. Karma is really helping her.

Doesnt sound like a thriving business to me. just being real here.

Who are her customers- farang middle age men? one wouyld think thai girls hair need 'tending to all year round.....lol.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Nomyai

[1FinickyOne]

Just to go into business for the sake of going into business is usually a losing proposition - you need some knowledge to lift her above the other businesses and she needs the drive and devotion it takes... being in business is work - it takes hard work and commitment... if she makes great soup and always dreamed of opening a soup restaurant, it could work... you get the idea, I hope.

My wife and her family are farmers - they know farm land. I have given them money to buy farmland which has gone up way more than any investments I have made in the last ten years... and not only has the farm land increased in value, they get to profit from their work and I have watched their standard of living go up. So, it has been a doubly valued investment - best I ever made as I get the privilege of watching these nice people prosper. They have been very careful in purchasing just the right land at good prices.

No, I neither want nor expect anything back from this...

Edited March 4, 2016 by kenk24

[Rob8891]

Not supporting your wife suggests that it perhaps isn't a marriage made in heaven, but knowing and seeing how girls change their boyfriends makes for a very risky loan (for 'loan' read 'donation). I'm currently keeping tabs on one very dubious falang - thai "girlfriend" business. I'll write more later: it should make for an interesting story. The guy was a major critic of those who lend to a thai gf or who set one up in business. Astonishing tales are appearing already; I hope they have a happy ending.