Homeless … Really?

[Inspire]

Homeless … Really?

Orlando Barton

 

 

When I took this picture, I had it in my mind to write a story about this poor destitute person, sleeping in the open, begging for a living.  His only creature comforts were a pillow and an ice bucket some generous soul had probably given him.  In a country as developed as Thailand, where Buddhist compassion is the rule of the day, how is it that this is possible? Oh yes, I was crying this dude a river.

 

About a 50 meters past this man’s concrete campsite, I wandered into my favorite Italian deli for a glass of wine and to scribble down some notes on my immediate feelings about what I’d seen.

 

When Yuro, the manager of the place, brought my wine he asked what I was writing about.  I regaled him with my tear-jerking story about this homeless guy.  “You mean this guy” he said and pointed out the window.  The man I’d seen had woken up walked down the footpath and was now squatting down behind a bus stop shelter.  He removed what looked like a small manhole cover and began fishing water out of the hole with a big ladle and putting it in his ice bucket.

 

“He’s not homeless” Yuro said.  “He lives on that abandon construction site.  His whole family is there”.  Apparently the hole in the sidewalk is access to fresh clean water left behind when a fire hydrant was removed.  A family of 11 lives hidden behind a wall of rusting corrugated metal barriers guarding a long-forgotten condo project.  Yuro explained that they take turns sitting or sleeping on the sidewalk so they can beg for money.  “We have tried to give them food and water” Yuro said.  “They just laugh at me and stick their hands out for money”.

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/pattaya/homeless-really/

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2017-07-09

[ezflip]

The moment this writer finally took his rose tinted glasses off and saw the world as is. Welcome to Thailand.

[Kerryd]

My dad told me a story about seeing an old "homeless" man in downtown Vancouver back in the later '50s. He gave the guy a couple bucks and his friends started ribbing him about it. One guy told him, come back around 5 o'clock and watch around that corner. So dad did that. Across the street where he could see the corner and where the old guy liked to hang out. Sure enough, just around 5 o'clock the old gent comes up the street, turns the corner, goes partway down the block and into a parking garage. 

A couple minutes later he pulls out of the garage in a shiny new car, wearing a nice suit jacket and drives right past dad. It seems he was fairly well off, but bored and had nothing to do so he'd "dress down" and hang out on the streets downtown for something to do and managed to make a fair bit of coin doing it to ! (Dad says he spoke to him on another day and asked him about it.)

 

In the late '90s in Vancouver there was a lot of stuff in the news about all the "street kids" and "beggars" and "buskers" on the streets, many of whom were becoming quite aggressive and arrogant, standing beside people at ATMs expecting handouts, blocking entrances to 7-11s and other shops and doing things like stepping in front of people on the sidewalks to force them to stop or move around them, hoping that people would cough up some cash to avoid a confrontation.

The city had to pass an ordinance to stop people from doing some of the **** they were getting away with. They also put up coin "meters" where people could donate loose change which would go towards helping the homeless and "street kids" instead of handing it to them personally.

One of the big newspapers decided to do an "in depth" article and went around the city to places where this activity was a problem. It turns out, from their calculations, that the average street "busker/beggar/etc" was making around $120 per day ! Holey crapskies ! I was in the Army at the time as was making about $100 per day !! If I'd known someone with a dog I might have switched careers !

The paper also learned that a lot (meaning "most") of those "street kids" were not "street kids" at all, but kids from fairly wealthy families that would borrow the neighbour's dog and go sit on the street to beg for money (for the dog of course) until they got bored (or made enough to go party) they'd go back to their fancy homes, drop off the dog, change into their "good" clothes and go party. Apparently some of those "street kids" were there because they were trying to "hook up" with whatever run-away girls they met on the streets.

 

I'd say it's more likely to see real "homeless" people in places like Thailand. I used to see some really down and out people living in shanties, hovels and the remains of bombed out buildings around our camp in Kabul. I've also seen a lot of people doing really dirty, nasty jobs in order to try and make enough to eat. When I see some old guy (or woman) that looks to be well over 60, pushing a hand cart around and rummaging through the garbage looking for recyclables to scavenge and sell, I shake my head. 

Here they are, still trying to earn a living, while other people sit on their @@@es and expect people to give them money for doing nothing.

 

Like "elephant leg" guy. Or that foreign couple a friend photographed on the street in Bangkok a couple months ago (at least they were also trying to sell postcards they'd "acquired"). There've been more than a few cases of foreign beggars in Thailand over the years.

 

Me ? I'm trying to figure out how much it'd cost to join  the "push cart recycling mafia" for when I get a little older !

[trogers]

Take note that the first few things these 'poor' souls do would be to spend their bahts on feeding their addiction to liquor, drugs and gambling.

[humqdpf]

6 hours ago, Kerryd said:

My dad told me a story about seeing an old "homeless" man in downtown Vancouver back in the later '50s. He gave the guy a couple bucks and his friends started ribbing him about it. One guy told him, come back around 5 o'clock and watch around that corner. So dad did that. Across the street where he could see the corner and where the old guy liked to hang out. Sure enough, just around 5 o'clock the old gent comes up the street, turns the corner, goes partway down the block and into a parking garage. 

A couple minutes later he pulls out of the garage in a shiny new car, wearing a nice suit jacket and drives right past dad. It seems he was fairly well off, but bored and had nothing to do so he'd "dress down" and hang out on the streets downtown for something to do and managed to make a fair bit of coin doing it to ! (Dad says he spoke to him on another day and asked him about it.)

 

In the late '90s in Vancouver there was a lot of stuff in the news about all the "street kids" and "beggars" and "buskers" on the streets, many of whom were becoming quite aggressive and arrogant, standing beside people at ATMs expecting handouts, blocking entrances to 7-11s and other shops and doing things like stepping in front of people on the sidewalks to force them to stop or move around them, hoping that people would cough up some cash to avoid a confrontation.

The city had to pass an ordinance to stop people from doing some of the **** they were getting away with. They also put up coin "meters" where people could donate loose change which would go towards helping the homeless and "street kids" instead of handing it to them personally.

One of the big newspapers decided to do an "in depth" article and went around the city to places where this activity was a problem. It turns out, from their calculations, that the average street "busker/beggar/etc" was making around $120 per day ! Holey crapskies ! I was in the Army at the time as was making about $100 per day !! If I'd known someone with a dog I might have switched careers !

The paper also learned that a lot (meaning "most") of those "street kids" were not "street kids" at all, but kids from fairly wealthy families that would borrow the neighbour's dog and go sit on the street to beg for money (for the dog of course) until they got bored (or made enough to go party) they'd go back to their fancy homes, drop off the dog, change into their "good" clothes and go party. Apparently some of those "street kids" were there because they were trying to "hook up" with whatever run-away girls they met on the streets.

 

I'd say it's more likely to see real "homeless" people in places like Thailand. I used to see some really down and out people living in shanties, hovels and the remains of bombed out buildings around our camp in Kabul. I've also seen a lot of people doing really dirty, nasty jobs in order to try and make enough to eat. When I see some old guy (or woman) that looks to be well over 60, pushing a hand cart around and rummaging through the garbage looking for recyclables to scavenge and sell, I shake my head. 

Here they are, still trying to earn a living, while other people sit on their @@@es and expect people to give them money for doing nothing.

 

Like "elephant leg" guy. Or that foreign couple a friend photographed on the street in Bangkok a couple months ago (at least they were also trying to sell postcards they'd "acquired"). There've been more than a few cases of foreign beggars in Thailand over the years.

 

Me ? I'm trying to figure out how much it'd cost to join  the "push cart recycling mafia" for when I get a little older !

Now that you have reeled off the very few exceptions of people who are intentionally homeless or who refuse help, what are you going to say about the folks who are desperate not to be homeless and who form the vast majority of homeless people?

 

Let us know how your "experiment" works out, living without a shower, lacking money, being pushed around by everyone, getting taxed by thugs and threatened by cops who have apparently nothing better to do. You won't last an hour.

[maingmoom]

44 minutes ago, trogers said:

Take note that the first few things these 'poor' souls do would be to spend their bahts on feeding their addiction to liquor, drugs and gambling.

But you cant be sure of that. There are many people that are genuinely homeless and some unable to work. I'm not rich but I like to help with a few baht now and again. If I'm being conned by a few, so be it.

[jenifer d]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

My dad told me a story about seeing an old "homeless" man in downtown Vancouver back in the later '50s. He gave the guy a couple bucks and his friends started ribbing him about it. One guy told him, come back around 5 o'clock and watch around that corner. So dad did that. Across the street where he could see the corner and where the old guy liked to hang out. Sure enough, just around 5 o'clock the old gent comes up the street, turns the corner, goes partway down the block and into a parking garage. 

A couple minutes later he pulls out of the garage in a shiny new car, wearing a nice suit jacket and drives right past dad. It seems he was fairly well off, but bored and had nothing to do so he'd "dress down" and hang out on the streets downtown for something to do and managed to make a fair bit of coin doing it to ! (Dad says he spoke to him on another day and asked him about it.)

 

In the late '90s in Vancouver there was a lot of stuff in the news about all the "street kids" and "beggars" and "buskers" on the streets, many of whom were becoming quite aggressive and arrogant, standing beside people at ATMs expecting handouts, blocking entrances to 7-11s and other shops and doing things like stepping in front of people on the sidewalks to force them to stop or move around them, hoping that people would cough up some cash to avoid a confrontation.

The city had to pass an ordinance to stop people from doing some of the **** they were getting away with. They also put up coin "meters" where people could donate loose change which would go towards helping the homeless and "street kids" instead of handing it to them personally.

One of the big newspapers decided to do an "in depth" article and went around the city to places where this activity was a problem. It turns out, from their calculations, that the average street "busker/beggar/etc" was making around $120 per day ! Holey crapskies ! I was in the Army at the time as was making about $100 per day !! If I'd known someone with a dog I might have switched careers !

The paper also learned that a lot (meaning "most") of those "street kids" were not "street kids" at all, but kids from fairly wealthy families that would borrow the neighbour's dog and go sit on the street to beg for money (for the dog of course) until they got bored (or made enough to go party) they'd go back to their fancy homes, drop off the dog, change into their "good" clothes and go party. Apparently some of those "street kids" were there because they were trying to "hook up" with whatever run-away girls they met on the streets.

 

I'd say it's more likely to see real "homeless" people in places like Thailand. I used to see some really down and out people living in shanties, hovels and the remains of bombed out buildings around our camp in Kabul. I've also seen a lot of people doing really dirty, nasty jobs in order to try and make enough to eat. When I see some old guy (or woman) that looks to be well over 60, pushing a hand cart around and rummaging through the garbage looking for recyclables to scavenge and sell, I shake my head. 

Here they are, still trying to earn a living, while other people sit on their @@@es and expect people to give them money for doing nothing.

 

Like "elephant leg" guy. Or that foreign couple a friend photographed on the street in Bangkok a couple months ago (at least they were also trying to sell postcards they'd "acquired"). There've been more than a few cases of foreign beggars in Thailand over the years.

 

Me ? I'm trying to figure out how much it'd cost to join  the "push cart recycling mafia" for when I get a little older !

it is quite unfair- and disingenuous and fallacious- to lump "busking" in with begging;

i have busked (played music on the streets) in LA, SF, NYC, Santa Fe N.M., Antwerp Belgium, Breda NL, and Bournemouth, Boscombe, Christchurch & WInchester UK

it is an honorable trade and i frequently have made far more than the clubs were willing to pay, especially in America where the clubs in LA & NYC had a never-ending stream of "wanna-be stars" who would play for free or even pay to play...

 

in the United States of America, the supposed richest country on earth, there are millions of homeless, and millions more just one paycheck lost or catastrophe away from being homeless themselves-

yes, there ARE many homeless/begging scammers, and many are on drugs or alcohol- but not all; in the USA, many mentally ill have been left on the streets untreated,

a situation that has exacerbated greatly in the last 30+ years

Edited July 9, 2017 by jenifer d
misspelling

[jenifer d]

2 hours ago, trogers said:

Take note that the first few things these 'poor' souls do would be to spend their bahts on feeding their addiction to liquor, drugs and gambling.

that is NOT always true, not whatsoever- many homeless are mentally ill,

and others are often physically disabled as well

[Jingthing]

Come on now.

Some homeless people are scammers and some are not.

Just like non-homeless people.

I've known a number of homeless people in my life.

MOST are not scammers.

But I've met a few that are. 

Just because you expose one scammer doesn't mean that ALL are. Get it?

 

Next ... 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Jingthing

[marko kok prong]

I would hardly say living in a shack on an abandoned construction site,and drawing water from an old fire hydrant,is the lap of luxury.

[JTHEA1960]

I walk past here twice a day during my daily walks.There used to be a very old man who lived along there who would keep to himself.He was there 24 hours a day.He never asked me for money but would smile and say sawadee every time.During that time i bought him a mat, blanket and small pillow.Every week i bought him noodles,water or rice from down the street.I went away for a week and when i returned he was gone.On asking the nearby motorbike taxi guys they told me the police had come and taken him away.What ever happened to him i will never know.It wasn't too much longer after and more people had moved in along there.Now i just walk past and wonder about the old fellow.

[Xobtsiwt]

Holy Weepers, this Inspire magazine does have some real cracking articles. This one's by someone called 'Barton'.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Xobtsiwt

[Jedsada3]

When you give some coins or some food to a beggar you don't give only to make him happy but also to make you feel doing something good.

Don't think too much about he is real beggar or a cheater.

Give him what you can give and do it with your heart and feel happy.

Giving makes you happier than receiving.

 

 

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

Take note that the first few things these 'poor' souls do would be to spend their bahts on feeding their addiction to liquor, drugs and gambling.

We can't judge a book by it's cover, every person "homeless person" has a different story, suffice to say when I am holidaying in Phuket or Pattaya, I do not give, because I have heard 1st hand stories that these are professional beggars, unlike the ones in village towns, so I give when I see someone down and out, but always try to get a feel if I am being duped or not, but then again 100 baht is hardly being duped, besides, it makes me feel good inside that my little donation might be that persons 3 meals for the day. 

[XBroker]

6 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

I would hardly say living in a shack on an abandoned construction site,and drawing water from an old fire hydrant,is the lap of luxury.

Yeah, I didn't get how this changed the story very much if at all.

[The Deerhunter]

"It might have been a hole in the road to you, but it were a palace to us...". &  " Of course we had it tough!!  We were evicted from our hole in the road"   etc, etc." :::  Monty Python.  -  Four Yorkshiremen.    "And you try telling the young people of today that......  and they won't believe you!"

Edited July 9, 2017 by The Deerhunter

[Enoon]

10 hours ago, Kerryd said:

My dad told me a story about seeing an old "homeless" man in downtown Vancouver back in the later '50s. He gave the guy a couple bucks and his friends started ribbing him about it. One guy told him, come back around 5 o'clock and watch around that corner. So dad did that. Across the street where he could see the corner and where the old guy liked to hang out. Sure enough, just around 5 o'clock the old gent comes up the street, turns the corner, goes partway down the block and into a parking garage. 

A couple minutes later he pulls out of the garage in a shiny new car, wearing a nice suit jacket and drives right past dad. It seems he was fairly well off, but bored and had nothing to do so he'd "dress down" and hang out on the streets downtown for something to do and managed to make a fair bit of coin doing it to ! (Dad says he spoke to him on another day and asked him about it.)

 

In the late '90s in Vancouver there was a lot of stuff in the news about all the "street kids" and "beggars" and "buskers" on the streets, many of whom were becoming quite aggressive and arrogant, standing beside people at ATMs expecting handouts, blocking entrances to 7-11s and other shops and doing things like stepping in front of people on the sidewalks to force them to stop or move around them, hoping that people would cough up some cash to avoid a confrontation.

The city had to pass an ordinance to stop people from doing some of the **** they were getting away with. They also put up coin "meters" where people could donate loose change which would go towards helping the homeless and "street kids" instead of handing it to them personally.

One of the big newspapers decided to do an "in depth" article and went around the city to places where this activity was a problem. It turns out, from their calculations, that the average street "busker/beggar/etc" was making around $120 per day ! Holey crapskies ! I was in the Army at the time as was making about $100 per day !! If I'd known someone with a dog I might have switched careers !

The paper also learned that a lot (meaning "most") of those "street kids" were not "street kids" at all, but kids from fairly wealthy families that would borrow the neighbour's dog and go sit on the street to beg for money (for the dog of course) until they got bored (or made enough to go party) they'd go back to their fancy homes, drop off the dog, change into their "good" clothes and go party. Apparently some of those "street kids" were there because they were trying to "hook up" with whatever run-away girls they met on the streets.

 

I'd say it's more likely to see real "homeless" people in places like Thailand. I used to see some really down and out people living in shanties, hovels and the remains of bombed out buildings around our camp in Kabul. I've also seen a lot of people doing really dirty, nasty jobs in order to try and make enough to eat. When I see some old guy (or woman) that looks to be well over 60, pushing a hand cart around and rummaging through the garbage looking for recyclables to scavenge and sell, I shake my head. 

Here they are, still trying to earn a living, while other people sit on their @@@es and expect people to give them money for doing nothing.

 

Like "elephant leg" guy. Or that foreign couple a friend photographed on the street in Bangkok a couple months ago (at least they were also trying to sell postcards they'd "acquired"). There've been more than a few cases of foreign beggars in Thailand over the years.

 

Me ? I'm trying to figure out how much it'd cost to join  the "push cart recycling mafia" for when I get a little older !

 

"Dads" tell you all sorts of stuff don't they?

 

Always the truth of course.

 

The "Secretly Rich Beggar" is an old story.

 

Probably pre-dating Conan Doyles take on it:

 

The Man with the Twisted Lip - Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Enoon

[Kerryd]

8 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

"Dads" tell you all sorts of stuff don't they?

 

Always the truth of course.

 

 

I've considered that however my dad was not the kind to make up stories so if he said he talked to that guy at some point, I believe him.

Just like I believe the newspaper article and my own, personal experiences with assorted "beggars/buskers/street kids". 

 

Yes, some truly are "down and out" and need assistance, just as it is true that there are a lot that are not. Too many people have blinders on and think that because they've heard one sad story that must mean every story is 100% legit.

No wonder there are so many wealthy Nigerian princes and Iraqi generals and Zimbabwe bankers just dying to give people millions of dollars for free !

[starky]

13 hours ago, XBroker said:

Yeah, I didn't get how this changed the story very much if at all.

Well apparently as he had a vacant lot to sleep in and a hole in the road from which to draw water "he were lucky" and not really "homeless" at all.

Edited July 10, 2017 by starky

[ThaiWai]

23 hours ago, jenifer d said:

it is quite unfair- and disingenuous and fallacious- to lump "busking" in with begging;

i have busked (played music on the streets) in LA, SF, NYC, Santa Fe N.M., Antwerp Belgium, Breda NL, and Bournemouth, Boscombe, Christchurch & WInchester UK

it is an honorable trade and i frequently have made far more than the clubs were willing to pay, especially in America where the clubs in LA & NYC had a never-ending stream of "wanna-be stars" who would play for free or even pay to play...

 

in the United States of America, the supposed richest country on earth, there are millions of homeless, and millions more just one paycheck lost or catastrophe away from being homeless themselves-

yes, there ARE many homeless/begging scammers, and many are on drugs or alcohol- but not all; in the USA, many mentally ill have been left on the streets untreated,

a situation that has exacerbated greatly in the last 30+ years

I hate the crumpled up smelly dreadlocked white rasta banging a bongo for weed money but back when I was in DC there were buskers that worked the Metro Station exits and they were often very talented.  They must have had an organized system also because I would never see the same musician two days in a row at the same station.  They must have gotten up and ready to perform before I did at 6 AM so it was work as far as I was concerned and I often tipped.  The glass guy at 6:40 is something to see in person I must say as I saw him in Old Town Alexandria once and it is impossible to not stop and watch him.

 

Edited July 10, 2017 by ThaiWai

[jenifer d]

38 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

I hate the crumpled up smelly dreadlocked white rasta banging a bongo for weed money but back when I was in DC there were buskers that worked the Metro Station exits and they were often very talented.  They must have had an organized system also because I would never see the same musician two days in a row at the same station.  They must have gotten up and ready to perform before I did at 6 AM so it was work as far as I was concerned and I often tipped.  The glass guy at 6:40 is something to see in person I must say as I saw him in Old Town Alexandria once and it is impossible to not stop and watch him.

 

yeah, agreed some of the smelly faux rasta bong-burning  bongo boys be borderline busker/beggars  (gawd i love alliteration, so sue me)

---at the best spots buskers will often organize times among themselves, we did that at the tunnel near the Delacourt Clock in Central Park, NYC, which had perfect acoustics (saving our oft street singing-ravaged voices)

and was right between the main zoo and the children's zoo, ensuring an endless procession of captive listeners-

we would take 3 hour "shifts" (i myself always was transfixed every 30 minutes when the enchanting Delacourt Clock played its wonderful, ever-changing song, and would stop playing in order to behold it each time) this was 1980-81 ;

some municipalities, such as Santa Monica, CA when i busked there in 2002-2003, require permits, purchased yearly;

one requirement there was to change locations 

every 2 hours, which was actually a bit counter-productive for us, since often somebody would hear us, but maybe only had large bills (usually the best of us very seldom were given small change, usual tips were 1-20 per person, be it dollars, euros, pound sterling, etc) and they would keep us in mind as they were paying for their meal, movie, etc, then return past the spot where we were playing so they could tip us- of course, if whatever

they had done was more than 2 hours, maybe we cannot be found since one is not always assured of getting the next closest spot when forced to move (and the performers would come 

before the time to claim the best spots)

Edited July 10, 2017 by jenifer d
sentence formatting

[anono222]

During the late 80's and early 90's, I always made seeking out someone in need during the holiday season(s).  I was single, working steady and had few to share with.  Being of good size and strong stature, I seldom had problems with aggressive "scary dudes" trying to force me into something shady, so when I found the right person, I would take them to the fast food joint of their choice, and feed them till they were well sated.  Yes, I ran into those who were only interested in coin or paper, to which I paid little attention.  Yes, sentimental old fool I am, but a fool with a warm heart.  I agree, even being scammed for a little food on occasion can feel pretty good! 

[petesc55]