You really could go crazy here, in fact I think I already have!
The wifes family, are always saying how hard up they are, I feel sorry for the old man and old lady, they are not lazy people by any stretch of the imagination, but they are inherently STUPID.
They are their own worst enemies when it comes to money, and how to waste it.
A few examples, the mother is a hoarder, she hoards everything, papers, bills, any old rubbish.
This innevitably leads to them being unable to find or remember to pay bills, so all the penny pinching and saving is usually blown when they cabn't find the phone bill and it gets cut off...there goes another 100 Baht to get it reconnected, and this is not a one off, it is as regular as clockwork.
Then we have a couple of instances of major stupidity today.
My wifes mother has about 10 rai of rice paddy, every year, she would pay for rice seedlings, and fertilizer, a few thousand Baht.
She then gave the land to some local raggers, who would do the work of rice planting and the rest, in exchange for half of the crop.
She was getting ripped off, they were taking about 75%, and overcharging and underworking! So, my wife decides it's time to do it alone.
The first crop was better than expected, so now she realises how much they were being ripped off, and the people who were ripping her off now realise how much cash they have lost from their little scam.
Anyway, she hired one of these bastards with a tractor to turn the soil for this batch of rice, they promised "faithfully" (not a Thai word) The seedlings were supposed to be planted today, lo and behold, the tractor hasn't turned up...again!
They want to use the land for free!
Anyway, it seems like the guy has ploughed about a half rai and done a bunk.
So instead of sorting it out...CONFRONTATION! she goes and gets another tractor to do the job. So you can picture what is going to happen now...the first bastard is going to come looking for his money once he sees the new tractor, there will be the usual disputes, arguments over how much work he did etc...
I advised her to simply tell him, if he doesn't finish the job then go get fucked, and not one Baht...but no...there must be no CONFRONTATION.
So I can see them ending up paying twice for this.
The second case of stupidity - The old woman left two of those old woven baskets here for the past 3 months, then, suddenely, just as it's getting dark, she telephones wanting the baskets, like a matter of life and death.
Waste of money No.1 The phone call!
Waste of money number 2 - The wife gets the baskets and takes them on the motorbike to the mothers...a 5 minute ride.
Waste of money No.3 The Nephew arrives on his motorbike, looking for the baskets that have already gone..how they never passed each other on the road amazes me.
I tell the nephew, the baskets have already gone, so he pisses off.
Not one minute later, he must have parked on the road outside my place, and then he telephones not once, but twice, to confirm with my "SON" (who is 8) that the baskets have gone....
Is it me?
The average wage here is about 180-200 baht a day....drip drip drip!