Giving candy to a homeless person

[Hal65]

I do this sometimes on my local walk route. I buy a candy with a drink from a convenience store, and give the candy to a homeless lady.

 

Not sure where I picked this up, I guess I feel a bit safer giving actual food (though a bit unhealthy) rather than money. I hear the money is taken by handlers.

 

Am I just wasting time doing this vs giving money?

 

PS: I hope this thread doesn't become over run by nongivers telling me not to give at all.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Hal65

[changside]

That is a very charitable thing to do but why not buy proper food and  give it to her?

[Hal65]

I have thought about giving a banana instead (one of the few produce items at the 7/11s and Family marts). Maybe that is the better way to go.

 

 

[bendejo]

I don't like giving money, they may just buy cigarettes with it.  If you see someone you want to give to go to a nearby vendor and buy rice+something for 25b and give it to them.  Candy may be a treat but there is no nourishment.

 

In the tourist area like Suk in Bangkok begging is a going concern, just keep walking.

 

 

[georgemandm]

Think you did the right think for sure .

get some  dryed  bananas next time good for there  Health .

homeless people all over the world just not understand governments not help people like that out .

[Blablaboy]

Thank you for making the world a better place, filling up kindness in every corner. No matter candy, fruit or a proper meal nothing beat a heart of giving to overcome greediness. Anything will do! 

[wildewillie89]

Generally the response you get from the people would tell you if it was a waste of time wouldn't it? Rather than asking a group of people (us) who have no idea. If they are legit 'homeless', then I am sure they would be grateful to get any sort of luxury. If they are forced into the labour (as many are), then they probably wont be so grateful as a chocolate bar doesn't help them make the daily earnings they need (to avoid the beatings). I once tried to give a homeless person a can of drink i received off another person rather than bin it (hadn't been opened/still cold), the person took it, but you could clearly see they weren't happy about the fact it wasn't money. 

 

It sucks because naturally you feel the need to help, but I think it is best just to leave it. Any sort of giving just aids the trafficking/forced labour industry (which is quite big here). Close to home with me as a little girl was just kidnapped from a local school to be a begger. Luckily the police had been monitoring the couple who took her for a while as they were taking many kids and she was able to be rescued. They just travel to a city 2 hours away, walk into a school and tell the teachers they are an uncle/aunt and take the kid.

[mogandave]

i give them ice cream, they can't save or sell it

[dotpoom]

What I'm trying to figure is.....how could "giving" with a good heart be conscrued as a waste of time....seems a perculiar question to ask?

[wildewillie89]

Just now, dotpoom said:

What I'm trying to figure is.....how could "giving" with a good heart be conscrued as a waste of time....seems a perculiar question to ask?

 

I think they felt a bit down that day so felt the need to share their good deeds with the rest of the world...surely 'giving' with a good heart is exactly what it is. Giving without feeling the need to go and tell the world about it.

[1FinickyOne]

It really depends on the situation. Are you sure she is homeless. Not that it matters,but if you don't think she is a drunk or drug abuser then giving cash is fine. 

[williet98248]

I usually bypass beggars because it is a racket.  I occasionally feel sorry for the walking vendors selling brooms or whatever.  I buy them a bottle of water or if near a food vendor I will buy them a food box to go.  At least these people are trying and if I can help I will.  I always gave something to the guy on Sukumvit who crawled on the ground with one arm and one leg.  Maybe he got to keep a bit of it.  

[DSJPC]

if it makes u feel good to do this, why not do it???...u don't need to ask others' advice...just do what's right for u!!!

[NoshowJones]

49 minutes ago, williet98248 said:

I usually bypass beggars because it is a racket.  I occasionally feel sorry for the walking vendors selling brooms or whatever.  I buy them a bottle of water or if near a food vendor I will buy them a food box to go.  At least these people are trying and if I can help I will.  I always gave something to the guy on Sukumvit who crawled on the ground with one arm and one leg.  Maybe he got to keep a bit of it.  

If it's the same guy I'm thinking about, there have been reports about him riding a motorbike to and from his "work".

[free123]

to do good with the right intention of want to help is NEVER a waste of time ...in reverse it is a human duty...

[F4UCorsair]

I prefer to give food, particularly fruit, and try to avoid giving cash, although I regularly unload small change to people with an obvious disability.  The guy on Suk hasn't been around for a while, and I thought he'd been moved on as part of the 'cleanup'.

 

I give generously to the blind soprano saxophone player I encounter in different places around Bangkok though, a fellow sax player.  He plays that sax beautifully.

 

I had my good intentions tested some years ago in India when I gave some fruit to a beggar and the #$^&@ threw it at me.

[Mangostin]

You are lucky that you haven't been arrested for it yet, as you are taking away something that a thai person could do, and if they don't it's because they cannot compete, i am sure there is a law about this somewhere

[Jedsada3]

To see the thankful eyes of some beggar you just gave food or fruits is priceless.

 

I always give something to the ones I think they are real... and my day is beautiful.

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, wildewillie89 said:

 

I think they felt a bit down that day so felt the need to share their good deeds with the rest of the world...surely 'giving' with a good heart is exactly what it is. Giving without feeling the need to go and tell the world about it.

"...without feeling the need to go and tell the world about it."

 

And not feeling the need to manage what the person needs or one thinks is best for them. And without telling the world why one doesn't want to give. Give or don't give, but spare everyone sanctimonious excuses or some screed about engineering their nutritional needs.

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by Suradit69

[Grubster]

You have a good heart, do what you want from there.  Good on ya.

[jacko45k]

It is Christmas, why not go shopping and buy a range of food items to give. Include candy if you wish but other items could be cooking oil, rice, tinned fish,

[williet98248]

16 hours ago, possum1931 said:

If it's the same guy I'm thinking about, there have been reports about him riding a motorbike to and from his "work".

I t seems to me it would be a bit difficult to ride a motorcycle with only one arm and one leg.  Just getting in the saddle would be difficult.  But if he can do it "Good for him!"  I haven't been to BK for about eight years but the guy I am thinking of had a left arm and a right leg missiing.  He would pull with the left arm and push with the right leg.   Even if he belonged to a 'beggar' gang' I couldn't pass him up without giiving him a few coins or a note.  I hope he keeps all his 'donation's' and I hope he gets a lot of them.  No matter what, it's gotta be a tough job crawling on the pavement with your nose a few inches from the  dirt.  He definitely earns whatever he gets.  

 

On the other hand a US TV station did a profile on a pro beggar (not disabled) who panhandled every day at Union Station in New York.  He parked his BMW around the corner and boasted of putting his three kids through college!  I remember one time I had offered to buy a panhandler a meal.  He refused and got indignant that I wouldn't give him cash.  Other times I approached people who were proffering signs 'Will work for Food' and offered a job as a day laborer in my construction company.  "Oh no, bad back, whatever."  I look at all beggars and panhandlers with a jaundiced eye.

[williet98248]

Just now, williet98248 said:

I t seems to me it would be a bit difficult to ride a motorcycle with only one arm and one leg.  Just getting in the saddle would be difficult.  But if he can do it "Good for him!"  I haven't been to BK for about eight years but the guy I am thinking of had a left arm and a right leg missiing.  He would pull with the left arm and push with the right leg.   Even if he belonged to a 'beggar' gang' I couldn't pass him up without giiving him a few coins or a note.  I hope he keeps all his 'donation's' and I hope he gets a lot of them.  No matter what, it's gotta be a tough job crawling on the pavement with your nose a few inches from the  dirt.  He definitely earns whatever he gets.  

 

On the other hand a US TV station did a profile on a pro beggar (not disabled) who panhandled every day at Union Station in New York.  He parked his BMW around the corner and boasted of putting his three kids through college!  I remember one time I had offered to buy a panhandler a meal.  He refused and got indignant that I wouldn't give him cash.  Other times I approached people who were proffering signs 'Will work for Food' and offered a job as a day laborer in my construction company.  "Oh no, bad back, whatever."  I look at all beggars and panhandlers with a jaundiced eye.

Oh sorry.  I see the missing arm and leg don' t match the remaining am and leg.  Should be pull with the right arm and push with the left leg.

[little mary sunshine]

Good heart,. But fresh piece of fruit would be much

Better.   Keep up the good deeds. 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

I also had a mate with one leg,called Tom.His other leg was called harry.

[thaipod]

I stopped giving to the homeless after a police friend and NGO's  told me most of them are not Thai and they all have someone overlooking them and take their money off them. Never forgotten the story of a Thai journalist asking a beggar women and a couple of children near world trade centre the amount they take every day it was over 1000 baht. There are camps of these people that come in to the Sukhumvit area by taxi and I've seen them dressed well and then change into old clothing and make themselves look poor and then wait at crossovers.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, williet98248 said:

I t seems to me it would be a bit difficult to ride a motorcycle with only one arm and one leg.  Just getting in the saddle would be difficult.  But if he can do it "Good for him!"  I haven't been to BK for about eight years but the guy I am thinking of had a left arm and a right leg missiing.  He would pull with the left arm and push with the right leg.   Even if he belonged to a 'beggar' gang' I couldn't pass him up without giiving him a few coins or a note.  I hope he keeps all his 'donation's' and I hope he gets a lot of them.  No matter what, it's gotta be a tough job crawling on the pavement with your nose a few inches from the  dirt.  He definitely earns whatever he gets.  

 

On the other hand a US TV station did a profile on a pro beggar (not disabled) who panhandled every day at Union Station in New York.  He parked his BMW around the corner and boasted of putting his three kids through college!  I remember one time I had offered to buy a panhandler a meal.  He refused and got indignant that I wouldn't give him cash.  Other times I approached people who were proffering signs 'Will work for Food' and offered a job as a day laborer in my construction company.  "Oh no, bad back, whatever."  I look at all beggars and panhandlers with a jaundiced eye.

I'm sure this is a different guy from the one I mean, this guy had legs and crawled along the pavement, he was known as the slug.

[cheapskatesam]

It's been a while since i've spotted the sukhumvit slug.. i wonder if he's retired

[gemguy]

I give sometimes while most of the time I figure others will give.....while what is given by whomever it is enough that you see the same beggars coming back to the same spot ....so they must be making some money.

If you observe them from a distance you will see that begging is a money making enterprise.

Maybe not so much for many of them ..but it does pay off.

Question is: Are they independent beggars, so to speak, or are they caught up in the criminal underworld of organized begging and in effect slaves to some unseen masters....and who are those masters???

 

I once sat there watching a beggar that put on a good show by way of making like he was all gimpy with  twisted limbs and using contorted facial expressions to make like he was born that way along with the added sound effects of a mentally retarded person.

He choose a point on the sidewalk that was in effect a "pinch point" and people had to nearly step over him to get by him short of having to walk off the sidewalk and on the road.

The location he chose was such that most people nearly stepped on him and suddenly confronted by this poor beggar looking so sad while many people reactively and immediately pulled out a 10 baht coin while  many pulled out a 20 baht note and gave to the beggar and quickly moved on.

Most were foreigners in a foreigner frequented area but approximately 30 percent were Thai people also

In a 1 hour period I watched the beggar collect at least 150 baht ...more or less.

Then he stood up, perfectly normal, and moved on down the road.

I had seen that guy around before...but that particular time I happened to be sitting almost directly across the street where he came along and decided to set up shop because of the advantageous pinch point location and perform his beggar routine...clever beggar that he is.

I am not criticizing  rather pointing out how the situation for many of the beggars you see is not nearly as dire as many may believe.....but certainly it is sad seeing people reduced to having to beg on the dirty streets of Bangkok while the Government authorities or various entities that should be responsible to help their own citizens have never really done much of anything over the decades to address the issue....other than the police will run them out of an area that is more affluent and force the beggars to go beg in a more "beggar friendly neighborhood", such as Sukhumvite road.

 

Cheers

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by gemguy

[bendejo]

On 12/15/2016 at 4:18 AM, Jedsada3 said:

To see the thankful eyes of some beggar you just gave food or fruits is priceless.

 

I always give something to the ones I think they are real... and my day is beautiful.

 

Don't expect that if you go to Brazil -- they'll take what you give and get away ASAP, no indication of gratitude.  Don't eat at outside cafes, people will come up to your table and ask you for some of what you're eating, and I don't necessarily mean professional beggars.