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Papadave

Fifth of rural people 'are poor'

One in five families in the English countryside is living below the poverty line, a new report has found.

full report:
BBC NEWS | UK | Fifth of rural people 'are poor'

Only 20% poor in rural England? That's sad, but contrast Thailand where the opposite applies.
Governments everywhere have so much to answer for.

Fabian

So where is the line in the UK?

baldrick

are the welsh eating coal yet ?

blackgang

I don't know where it is in the UK, But at my house it is just above my gross.

davearn

Governments?? What about economy, fiscal influx, the strength of the currency ??

Basic economics unfortunately, but I agree to a certain extent that poor management can fuck it all up in a heartbeat.

I guess what you are trying to say is that Thailand has been mismanaged, well no shit, Sherlock !!

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Travelmate

What you can be living in and still afford a computer, broadband internet, and a cell phone, if you're in America.

jandajoy

Inevitably the poverty line will be defined as being just over the average income of the spongers, dossers and dole stealing scum that live entirely off the state and do nothing to get out of their drab existances.

Social do gooders and media tarts will simply make more and more of a story to justify the apathy and lazyness of the so called "down trodden".

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Thormaturge

Just above the average teaching salary. That's why they are all here.

plorf

Tend to agree with you there jandajoy... the poverty line in industrial countries is a joke.. unlike in Thailand, where they seem to see the poverty line below 2'000Bht... which really means poverty.
In Switzerland the poverty line is defined as 2'000 CHF/m, roughly the equivalent of 2'000 USD... a real joke considering they also get subsidized appartments, subsidized drug programs (for the junkies), extra services from private charity organisations (who don't have access to the financial situation of their "clients"....) etc etc... Even the socialists finally accept that a person living on well-fare actually has more in his pocket at the end of the month than a person working full-time on the minimum salary !!
(and there's a lot of cheating going on as well.. because the socialists dominate the social institutions)
Very similar thing in France.. people work for 32 hours per week and complain about not getting massive pay-rises, a fcking joke, my gf has a university degree, works 9 hours per day, 6 days a week and gets 19'000 Baht in Bangkok...
And the funny thing is, the poverty line is defined by a certain percentage below the average salary... so, if the people who work hard earn more money, you can read in the newspapers how the "income gap" widened and more people dropped below the poverty line

Fabian

Though I agree with almost everything else you said, you cannot compare salaries in Thailand with those in Switzerland without considering the purchasing power.

plorf

Well sure, but a person living off well-fare in Switzerland gets a nice 2room (bedroom, living room, seperate kitchen & bathroom) appartment, with TV, Internet etc etc... and still has roughly 1000 usd at his free disposal, because he doesn't have to pay taxes, health care or anything else! There are plenty of charity organisations offering free or almost free meals, so the remains may be spent on alcohol, drugs or even a fancy car (see recent scandals of ppl living off well-fare driving latest Mercedes models..)
A similar appartment would cost well over 20'000Baht in Bangkok, so even if we do consider purchasing power it's still quite outrageous how luxurious our "poor" live compared to the rest of the (hard working) world !
(An average student in Switzerland has a budget well below the poverty line, roughly 1'500USD, and can handle just well, student parties included)