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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Poverty a Burden for the Poor

    Walls close in on Thailand's poorest as virus shrivels economy

    Romeo GACAD, Pitcha DANGPRASITH
    AFP May 31, 2020, 11:24 AM GMT+7










    The economic devastation unleashed by the coronavirus has put intense pressure on Thailand's poor, like motorcycle rickshaw driver Thanapat Noidee (R) (AFP Photo/Romeo GACAD)

    Shuffling around their tiny slum home which is too small to stand up in, Thanapat Noidee and his wife Papassorn share donated noodles with their sons and worry about bills, as the coronavirus pushes Thailand's poor deeper into penury.

    The wood and breeze-block hut which is their home stands in the heart of a Bangkok commercial district festooned with five-star hotels and upmarket restaurants.

    They share the small space in the shadow of the nearby high-rise developments with their children Woraphat and Kittipat, aged six and seven respectively.

    Under the 1.2-metre-high (four feet) ceiling, the adults have to kneel to move around the single room which is the bedroom, living room and dining area.

    Downstairs, a tap provides a shower and a flat concrete surface serves as a kitchen area, a space shared with rats which clamber over their washed dishes.

    Papassorn lost her job as a messenger as Thailand locked down to control the coronavirus in late March.
    "I have to borrow money for the electricity from my father and grandfather," she says.
    "The school term opens again soon (July 1) and I have to find money for those expenses as well."

    Thailand's parliament is due Sunday to vote on whether to approve a near-$60 billion stimulus to revive an economy battered by the pandemic.

    If agreed, it will be the biggest state cash injection in Thai history.
    Thailand has long paraded low unemployment as a symbol of its economic success. But millions like the Noidee family rely on informal work or day wages for survival, jobs imperilled by a feared 6-7 percent contraction in the economy.

    Two months after the lockdown and with the outbreak under control, Bangkok is gradually creeping back to life.
    But Papassorn's work has not returned while her husband has seen the roughly 1,000 baht ($31) he earns each day as a motorcycle taxi driver more than halved because of a fall in customers.

    The family have depended on the nearby Holy Redeemer Church for daily food handouts -- a charity service which is being closed down as the city reopens.

    "Without food donations, I'll have to fight harder for my family to survive," said Thanapat as he moved on his knees inside his lodgings, occasionally knocking his head on the ceiling.
    Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    Poverty a Burden for the Poor
    Really?

  3. #3
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    ^Struck me the same way........thought, "Well, that explains why they're so grumpy".

  4. #4
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    ^Wouldn't they be better off in a Homeless City?

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat

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    The poor are always stricken with poverty. Before the virus came, this woman could pay for electricity to run her poverty palace. Now she has to borrow from family.

    When she returns to work, her poverty will be much better, and her rats can eat her scraps instead of clean dishes.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat
    Troy's Avatar
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    FOS.....

  7. #7
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton View Post
    ^Struck me the same way........thought, "Well, that explains why they're so grumpy".
    Struck me as to why anyone here would give a fuck regarding the poor souls or even attempt to be genuine in posting such an OP.
    Why bother if one's intentions are to smugly look down on those "lesser than" savages.

    Silwilai.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat

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    There are plenty, hiding behind the glass and chrome Bangkok frontages. That will never change.
    Smoke and mirrors.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    Really?
    ...I was aiming for an Onion-type headline...

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Blimey our glorious leaders are getting ambitious, no more penny ante shit like a few hundred million baht here and there, 20% of $60bn is a fcuking ton of loot!

    Maybe they've figured their time is close, so let's top up with this big score and rehearse the 'what, me?' face.

  11. #11
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    Thailand's parliament is due Sunday to vote on whether to approve a near-$60 billion stimulus to revive an economy battered by the pandemic.
    Of which 90% will stimulate 10% who are far from starving with 10% going to folks in the slums.

    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Wouldn't they be better off in a Homeless City?
    No. They would be much better off back on the farm where most came from.

  12. #12
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Of which 90% will stimulate 10% who are far from starving with 10% going to folks in the slums.
    Just like back home, eh?

  13. #13
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SKkin View Post
    Just like back home, eh?
    Pretty much.

  14. #14
    The Fool on the Hill bowie's Avatar
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    Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.

    Yup, it's going to take a tad bit more than just money to fix the problem...

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by bowie View Post
    Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.

    Yup, it's going to take a tad bit more than just money to fix the problem...
    I don’t want to sound heartless but birth contol and education may just be a start

  16. #16
    The Fool on the Hill bowie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iceman123 View Post
    I don’t want to sound heartless but birth contol and education may just be a start
    Not heartless. In their defense. Education is a cost prohibitive luxury and children are their only pension plan.

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iceman123 View Post
    I don’t want to sound heartless but birth contol and education may just be a start
    Theoretically, but it's a different society to ours and bowie makes a good point:

    Quote Originally Posted by bowie View Post
    Not heartless. In their defense. Education is a cost prohibitive luxury and children are their only pension plan.
    Europeans used to be in the same situation having many children so the parents would be looked after by at least a few of them. Now the government has take the place of this security through their social programs and fewer children are needed = ergo sum better education, better quality of life, better chances in life and the cycle runs its course with single-child families

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