Foreigners Being Financially Ruined by Thai Wives

Source: http://meebal.com/foreigners-being-financially-ruined-by-thai-wives

FOREIGNERS BEING FINANCIALLY RUINED BY THAI WIVES – It appears that the Human Rights of a foreign national living in Thailand merely extend only as far as the size of one’s bank account; that is if a foreigner runs out of money, for whatever reason, they can be and should be deported.
Last week we published an article that was sent to us; it floated the idea that maybe Thailand should change its laws regarding Marriage Visas so that a foreigner could not be deported or required to leave simply if he or she couldn’t provide proof of sufficient income.


Read:

Time for Thailand to Change Marriage Visa

The comments from the readers were wide and varied and some openly disturbing; it appeared that many, who obviously live in Thailand, were completely unsympathetic to anyone who didn’t have the financial means to reside in Thailand; some felt that foreigner’s who don’t have any money, regardless to the fact that they are married with children, should be deported.
The fact is that we all need money to survive but this attitude is disturbing in that money appears to take precedence over the morals of keeping a family unit together.
I decided to do a little digging.  Now I’m not that familiar with Thailand although I’ve managed to pick up some internal sources of information and I’ve done my fair share of reading.
Before I wrote this article I asked one of my sources their views on the content.  I was told to expect a fair amount of hostility and I’m likely to be told that I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about.  Here’s what I was told;

“Most westerners here don’t like being told the truth.  Some openly bitch and moan about Thailand and its policies whilst other will defend them to the death.  Mostly, when it comes to knowledge and understanding of the ‘Thai Way’ you’ll be faced with a barrage of insults because of your lack of time in the country – you get a lot of petty one-up-manship in that it’s not about what you actually know but how long you’ve been here.  Good luck with the article but expect a fair amount of abuse.”

I’ve got the hide of a Rhino; you have to have when you write and I certainly appreciate that we all have differing views; however, time to get on with the article…

According to some Government officials there is a growing number of foreign national’s now living rough on the streets.  Many, they think, are tourists who ran out of money and are unable to return to their home countries; some are retirees who have fallen on hard times or worst duped or robbed of their possessions by unscrupulous Thai wives.

“In some cases, these foreigners – mostly male Westerners – arrived as tourists or retirees and fell into poverty or neglect after settling down in Thailand, often having being duped or robbed by Thai former wives or partners.” Natee Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation

Natee Saravari believes that some system should be set up in order to aid these people as it is often the case that people just pass them by; even other foreign national’s appear to avoid giving them money when they are begging.
While Natee Saravari comments are commendable, in that he wants to set up a system to provide assistance there is a very unnerving development here.
The last part of his statement centered on foreign national’s being duped or robbed of their possession and so I did a bit more digging.
According to our sources it is nothing uncommon for a western male to marry a Thai citizen and then later lose everything to them.
The issue appears mainly to do with land and houses due to a foreigner being unable to legally own them in their own name.  The result is that foreigners have a tendency to put property in the spouses name and therefore if the marriage fails then the foreigner appears to lose everything.
According to Thai law; as I can ascertain, it is illegal to purchase land in a Thais name for the sole purpose of the foreigner being able to acquire it.  Therefore the title deed must be accompanied by a letter that states that the land is being made over as a gift; therefore removing the foreigners right to any compensation or money in the event of a sale.
It appears to me as nothing more than legislation that sanctions open theft of property. I decided to do a bit more digging and made a few phone calls.  After getting through to one person I got this brief account;

“I was one of those trusting foreigners who put the land and house in my Thai wife’s name.  Little did I know that she was gambling and she used the house and land as collateral for her mounting debts. In the end I lost 15 million Thai Baht, nearly US$500,000.
She said she was too ashamed to tell me of her habit which is why she kept silent. I came back from my work offshore to find that the house had been taken by a certain police officer for just a 2 million bath debt.
I tried to discuss this with the now new owner; but he wasn’t interested, after all why would he be, he now had a 15 million baht home for 2 million.
Foreigners need to be careful and my advice would be to rent, it’s just easier and will give you peace of mind.”

Considering this is the case I’m not surprised Thailand has a mounting problem with homeless people but surely a simple change in the law could prevent foreign nationals from being duped and robbed and in the process give Thailand’s image a bit of a shine?
So what does a foreigner do if they fall foul and lose everything?  Certainly most foreign embassies are not interested in getting involved in what is nothing more than a civil matter and unlikely to provide any financial assistance.
This situation worries me for it appears that any foreigner falling foul of the system simply attracts a multitude of abuse from other expats; I’ve seen this on a number of Thai based news websites targeted at foreigners.
I read a couple of cases and found it deplorable that some people would leave such vile comments. I went back to my source and asked for an insight.

“There are many expats that troll the likes of ThaiVisa looking to voice their worthless opinions.  They appear to relish the idea of any foreign national falling foul; it’s like they have the upper hand of being intellectually superior because they have been here for so long and understand how the system works.
It’s deplorable in many instances how anyone could be that cold but when you live in Thailand for many years and spend most of your days sitting in a bar it’s understandable how these people have become bitter and disenfranchised and so take to mocking other people’s misfortunes.”

I have to ask the question… Is this how Thailand’s expat community behaves in the mainstream towards their fellow man and their unfortunate circumstance?
I don’t want to cast any dispersion on any one group of people or individuals but it will be interesting to see the response I get, if any, to this article.
It is a shocking realization that a foreigner is so vulnerable to abuse which can leave them penniless. If you have been a victim of this type of loss meebal.com would be most interested in publishing your story; just get in touch with the editor.
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Ingeniøren:

In 2004 i met a norwegian that have been a sailor for halft of his life. The day he retired he left Norway to live in Thailand.

His wife was from North East of Thailand and told me ha was very happy and loved his wife.

Then the nightmare started.
His wife got sick and he had to pay for his wife hospital bills.

She got cancer.

And i think all men are same a this man. If you have found a woman that you really love then you do all for your wife.
I am like that and when my Thai wife is tired, the i do all things for her.
It is like your own happines drops when your wife is hurting.

And this man was in same boat as me on this. He loved his wife and therefor he did all he could do to save his wife.
So he used all of his money to save her.

Their house was a familiy house as many North East people and Thai people they all lived together.

His wife dies leaving him in a house that had people that not spoke english and they really did not care about a man living in their house as he now had become broke from paying for their daughter illness.

He could not pay for their needs anymore an slowly the family started to treat him as the stranger that he really was.
When you not speak thai and the family around you and speak english then it is like you are tottally alone.
And now the family did not want him in the house anymore. So they threw him out on the street an did not want him to come back

When i met him he was living by finding food in trash and was trying to get home to Norway. The Norwegian embassy has not willing to help. Because he had done many mistakes when he started to live in Thailand.

(The papar and so on) but it is not easy to live and start a new life in a different country. 

And as he did not speak thai he could not get work in thailand.This i have seen many pople from india or USA,UK also have problem with.

So this man that paid for this familiy when he was working and send money to his thai family was now in the street with no roof over his head.

When istarted to talk with him he had early in the morning collected number in Norwegian Embassy. And when other norwegian come the number was high.

So i talk to the men that com if their wanted lower number. And that is how i got this story.

I gave this man 100 baht. And in return he gave me a queue number that was lower then what i got .

 He told me this story by himself. And i felt so bad .But he said he going to find a way home by himself.

When i got home to Norway i was thinking about this man a lot.

And i think it was in a month after this i picked up a magazine and there he was on the cover of the magazine.

His story had come to  a news reporter and he made a story about this man. And now the paper helped him home to Norway.

The thing is if you have been out from Norway for a while and did not pay for wellfare tax in Norway then you become an alien for your own country to. Nobody wants you.

And this man had no family left in Norway that could help him. And this was his mistake. He did not know about this.

And that was why he become a street person.

The ending in the story was that he got home to Norway and had gotten help. (Sosial wellfare)

So what was his mistake? Loving and caring for his Thai wife?

Or that he did not send the right paper?

In my view the mistake was that he married a Isaan family and was thinking they loved him as their own family. They did not, they loved his money .

Beeing in Thailand i always keep this story with me. And i always make sure that i not overspend. And have money to a ticket home if necessary. And i always take the praise and flatter the thais do with a big pinch of salt.

And my wallet in my pocket even their come with all kinds of problem. Because if their depend on you to always help them they will never find a way by them self.

And how did they make it before my wallet come to thailand?

I not say that i not help, but when big things are wanted i keep my mouth closed and look at the sky.

And after some days their not come and talk about that anymore.

My pension is for my well being and for my wife. I did not marry 5-6 other people. i JUST married my wife and i take care of her.

It might be bad in Thai eyes, but the story i told is fresh in my mind all the time. Nowadays i have met more farange that overspend like the article told. One man lived near Victory monument with his farage kid.

Their lived in the street and had no wellfare. His kid was around 6 years old. Their were dirty and slept on the street.

You should think that his thai family had

 compassion for his kid. But no.

So that is why my wallet is closed. (By the way i was also married to same kind of people before, and i know how their behavior is) All is about money and their wellbeing even you go broke trying to support them.

Read also:
http://asiancorrespondent.com/112380/the-plight-of-thailands-homeless-foreigners/