Poorest But Happiest, Northeasterners Rank Highest In The Thailand's Gnh Index

[Thaddeus]

Thadeus, you're scaring me - your avatar, number of posts(666) and this on All Saints Day

Crikey..... I didn't notice that .... well, that's my Lottery numbers sorted

[Creeper]

Thadeus, you're scaring me - your avatar, number of posts(666) and this on All Saints Day

QUOTE(Neeranam @ 2006-10-31 11:53:59)

How many poor farmers are driving around in a brand new 'toyota I've got a little dick hilux' paid for by a middle aged taxi-driver from Essex?

They are happy.

Is the fact that nobody will buy you one the reason that you always appear to be unhappy ?

Why would I want one - I'm big enough already thanks, I have a car and I'm not a farmer.

Why do you have a racoon on your head?

There you go again, mentioning size, you seem to have a complex about size for some reason.

Now let me get this straight, if a guy has a 4WD truck, its cos he has a small dix, and if he has a small runabout car, he must be hung like a grand national winner ?

I reckon you are a Farang with a small old car, you go out and see Thai people in brand new 4WD motors and it does your head in.

As for my hair, it is called style.

[sriracha john]

QUOTE

People in Thailand's impoverished northeast are the poorest in the country, but according to a new measure of social well-being, they are also the happiest.

What a pile of rubbish.

In many areas of the North East rice harvest has not been possible for the past three years. I guess these farmers must be very happy about that. They must be also extremely happy about the fact that these North Eastern farmer's daughters are now the biggest pool of prostitutes in Thailand. The must be very happy about the fact that there is hardly no work available there, and have to migrate to the industrial belt of Bangkok, Chonburi and the eastern seaboard.

How many poor farmers are driving around in a brand new 'toyota I've got a little dick hilux' paid for by a middle aged taxi-driver from Essex?

They are happy.

Papa-in-law bought a brand new Vigo about eight months ago (his money) it was his lifelong dream to own a new pick-up and they had a good season with the trees and had finally settled the loan with the bank from 30 years ago, they asked me if I would drive it back from the dealership.... why? .... non of the family could drive.

Papa took great joy for a few months telling everyone that he had his chauffeur imported from England.... I have since taught brother-in-law how to drive (properly) ..... the lad is doing Ok

It sounds like your father-in-law is following the sufficiency economy model versus the Thaksinomics model by waiting to make such a major purchase AFTER paying off a long-term loan and having a good season instead of just adding a new truck to a mountain of debt. Congratulations to him.

I suspect that what Neeranam is addressing is the multitudes who are stuck in Thaksinomics model mode and buy, buy, buy whether the purchase is appropriate or whether or not they have the resources to make the purchase without having it taken back for non-payment.

[Thaddeus]

It sounds like your father-in-law is following the sufficiency economy model versus the Thaksinomics model by waiting to make such a major purchase AFTER paying off a long-term loan and having a good season instead of just adding a new truck to a mountain of debt. Congratulations to him.

Indeed John. I have a great deal of admiration for him.

As I said, he borrowed a large sum of money from the bank and bought about 70 Rai of land and some cattle. Some of the land was turned over to rice production to feed the family, but most of it was assigned to rubber trees. (the chanote stayed with the bank of course)

They had a pretty much hand to mouth existence for quite a while, but once the trees were old enough to cut (and he waited the correct number of years) they have been doing Ok.

Eldest sister is a teacher in Buriram, married to a teacher, they do Ok. Next eldest sister has a very profitable chicken business in Ban Kruat and younger brother is studying for a degree in Computer Science (I help him a bit with that, as that's what I've got, but mine is a little dated now) and, obviously, the youngest sister has me.

I did assist a little bit with the loan, the amount outstanding was 60k Baht, so that is what I paid for the 2 Rai that our house stands on, I didn't consider that too much or too little and it was worth every Satang to see the look on his face when he gazed at the Chanote that he hadn't seen for 30 years.

[sriracha john]

It's a shame that that "look" isn't repeated more often in the Northeast. With all the easy credit Thaksinomics made available for frivolous purchases, I suspect it's a rather rare "look" for thousands of others. They will be stuck in huge debts without hope of viewing the chanote in their lifetime.

Again, good for him for being frugal and prudent with his hard-earned baht.

[ColPyat]

Indeed John. I have a great deal of admiration for him.

As I said, he borrowed a large sum of money from the bank and bought about 70 Rai of land and some cattle. Some of the land was turned over to rice production to feed the family, but most of it was assigned to rubber trees. (the chanote stayed with the bank of course)

They had a pretty much hand to mouth existence for quite a while, but once the trees were old enough to cut (and he waited the correct number of years) they have been doing Ok.

Eldest sister is a teacher in Buriram, married to a teacher, they do Ok. Next eldest sister has a very profitable chicken business in Ban Kruat and younger brother is studying for a degree in Computer Science (I help him a bit with that, as that's what I've got, but mine is a little dated now) and, obviously, the youngest sister has me.

I did assist a little bit with the loan, the amount outstanding was 60k Baht, so that is what I paid for the 2 Rai that our house stands on, I didn't consider that too much or too little and it was worth every Satang to see the look on his face when he gazed at the Chanote that he hadn't seen for 30 years.

I hope you do understand that this is not the typical situation in the northern and north-easern provinces, but a comparably priviledged situation.

Having been able in the first place to make a loan enough to buy 70 Rai land is something most people are not in a position to do. Having family members that have been able to study and set up successful businesses are not what the average family in those areas are able to do.

There are far too many people in the provinces who scrape by with 10 Rai or less land, who are extremely undereducated, undermotivated, and have not the money to send their children to universities.

Instead, their children work in factories, construction sites or the service industry far from home, and are rarely able to safe any money at all. In exchange for that small cash, the families are getting extremely disrupted.

Often nowadays the biggest problem is not even the obvious lack of material goods and money, but an increasing nihilism and complete lack of money management skills, that makes it extremely difficult to improve their situation, and almost impossible for themselves to do something about their situation (that is where Thaksin made his huge mistake in the easy loan schemes by not assessing the situation correctly and just giving out money without clear directives how that money has to be invested).

Happy because people smile?

People smile because they smile, but it is a mistake to interprete anything into those smiles - behind the smile is hidden a world of human experience that is very often not something one would wish for.

[Thaddeus]

I hope you do understand that this is not the typical situation in the northern and north-easern provinces, but a comparably priviledged situation.

I am perfectly aware of that.