buffalo_bill Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Whenever I ask lovely Nok to make a drawing how much money is needed / month the problem is that she starts writing big numbers from the end and seems to loose control over the number of zero's on the way to the left . It may take some time til she decides to add the final figure which could then be 12000 or 120000 or 1200000 . I think she has no clue how much that really is as long as it is enough for 31 days . I tend to think funding an Isaan tribe makes no difference whether it is 50.000 a week or 12000 a month , they don't care . I sometimes think they don't care about anything at all as long as the current day can somehow be organised . a year ago Nok's teenage daugher became pregnant which has been regardad as a major desaster but now little Somchai is fully integrated into the community . There are advantages coming with this system . At least I am not aware of any burnout clinics in the area . Further , nobody seems to need evening courses for finding the inner self or Vuitton flagship stores . Just Callifou or Big Faiii . It might ( theoretically ) be possible that I buy her a Toyota pickup for birthday or raid a Yaowarat goldshop but never would I send regular money on a monthly basis . Maybe irregular lol . Truth being told , my first ultralongtime girlfriend has been a Thai/Falang classic starting in a Petchaburi massage parlour ( I love you ) and leading into a fortune spent : but not wasted :content: Point is : I don't care . Main thing is having a great time and so far velly goos . You only live once I think . A BuBi lifetime statement , kindly supported by Siam Cement and Korat Main Road Furniture Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Bo BuBi you have the magic answer ? BK Hint - The Ice Man Cometh Hehe he good heart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexi Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Rather than asking how much Bt. the familly needs ( which will result in an inflated estimate because all Farangs are of course multi-millionaires so no point in starting the negotiations too low... )why not say I have X amount of $ to spare each month......take it or leave it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hi, BB, for what it is worth 20K is way more than they'd need, especially if they live in the countryside rather than a city. My wife sends 3,500 Baht home to her parents; never heard complaints that it is not enough. They have no rent to pay, grow their own rice (and many vegetables); electricity bill tends to be only a couple 100 Baht; maybe 100+ Baht/month for gas for the motorbike and a bit for the mobile. Rest of the money is spend on buying food items they don't grow themselves. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 KS, Yep, 3500 sounds about right to me too. They have no mortgage payments/rent, no car payments, no credit card payments, no place to spend a night out eating and drinking in a fancy pub or restaurant, etc. Food is cheap, clothes are cheap (how many pairs of flip-flops can a village family need?), they've a roof over their heads, water is inexpensive, electric is fairly cheap (not like they have an AC and fans in every room to waste electric on do they?), comic books are not that dear, there's no place within kilometers to buy a newspaper even in most places, bugs and frogs, and rice, and greens and veggies and fruit, are abundant in most villages. Papaya grows like a weed and bears fruit within months of planting a sprout. 5,000 baht would pay for any foods needed, the rest of the 20G would be used for whoring by the men, drinking by all, and gambling stupidly on cards and buying lotto tix. Personally I would 'give' nothing. Make them earn it in some way that benefits the family, the village, the local kids and elderly, etc. It's all a waste of money, but hey, it is your money to waste. Never (rarely) see a playground in the villages for the kids with slide, swingset, monkey bars, whirl-around, etc for the kids to play on. Badmiton court for the kids/teens to play on, (usually these are on school grounds if they have one) would be nice and likely used. Just my thoughts on this. p.s. 1,000 baht a week is an average salary/income for a villager (150 baht a day). 4,000 a month is like having a breadwinner for the family, for doing nothing for it. That really is plenty unless they want to buy a pickup, a widescreen TV, new motocyke, gold, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCorinthian Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 When my buddy first married Zeuw, he sent home $500 a month. Now he just gives her the money (they live in the US) and she can send home what she likes. Last month is was $50! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hi, "Never (rarely) see a playground in the villages for the kids with slide, swingset, monkey bars, whirl-around, etc for the kids to play on. Badmiton court for the kids/teens to play on, (usually these are on school grounds if they have one) would be nice and likely used." There is actually some of this very close to my in-laws house. A little swing and a takraw field. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeartThais Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I think you need to really define what you mean by getting by. I take it most people here are assuming you mean survival in a very primitive way. Just to be clear, I don't think the OP was asking how much to give. It seemed he was just trying to calculate a budget, regardless of how it gets funded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Agree...you would hope so .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 It seemed he was just trying to calculate a budget, regardless of how it gets funded. That's it . Though it should include some extras to make it sort of basically comfortable . I start to realise 20.000 is too mut . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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