Homeless Foreigners On The Rise

[waerth]

http://bangkokpost.com/news/local/365343/homeless-foreigners-on-the-rise-in-thailand-charity-warns

 

The number of homeless Westerners is on the rise in Thailand and the government is poorly prepared to deal with the emerging social problem, a charity warned Monday.

 

"We are starting to see more and more homeless foreigners, many of whom have separated from their Thai wives and now have no money," said Natee Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation.

While foreigners can own condos, houses and other property are usually registered in their wives' or girl friends' names, meaning they have no rights and can be ejected.

The Thai charity has been helping homeless Thai people in Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Phuket provinces for the past 10 years, but has recently branched out into assisting homeless foreigners as well.

"In Pattaya we see them sorting through the trash in front of McDonald's for something to eat, and hanging out in front of restaurants asking customers for money," Mr Natee said.

He estimated that there were more than 200 homeless foreigners nationwide, compared with about 30,000 homeless Thais.

"As many as 40% of the Thai homeless suffer from mental illness, but most of the foreign homeless are alcoholics," he said.

The foundation has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the growing problem by setting up a system with embassies to cope with their penniless nationals, most of whom are living in Thailand without passports or on expired passports.

 

Thailand attracted more than 22 million tourists last year and has a growing population of Western retirees living in the kingdom on a permanent basis.

"Thailand's laws covering foreigners are very outdated and should be revised to deal with the changed circumstances," said Buaphan Promphakping, an associate professor of social studies at Khon Kaen University.

"Under the current laws, foreigners' rights are not very well protected," said Buapan, who has done research on the growing number of foreigners married to Thai women in northeast Thailand and on the kingdom's expanding population of Western retirees.

[scoobydoo]

I suppose better than being home in farangland in winter unless you're from Darwin or miami

[radioman]

"We are starting to see more and more homeless foreigners, many of whom have separated from their Thai wives and now have no money," said Natee Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation.

 

So they were previously dependant on their wives?

 

 

"As many as 40% of the Thai homeless suffer from mental illness, but most of the foreign homeless are alcoholics," he said.

 

Much of the foreign population might be considered alcoholic, doesn't make them homeless. I think they might more likely have mental issues!

 

The foundation has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the growing problem by setting up a system with embassies to cope with their penniless nationals, most of whom are living in Thailand without passports or on expired passports.

 

This might be controversial but I see little issue with a regulation requiring a foreign embassy to repatriate its nationals at the request of the host nation. How an embassy might recover such costs to be left up to the individual countries. Why is that such a bad idea?

 

Thailand attracted more than 22 million tourists last year and has a growing population of Western retirees living in the kingdom on a permanent basis.

"Thailand's laws covering foreigners are very outdated and should be revised to deal with the changed circumstances," said Buaphan Promphakping, an associate professor of social studies at Khon Kaen University.

"Under the current laws, foreigners' rights are not very well protected," said Buapan, who has done research on the growing number of foreigners married to Thai women in northeast Thailand and on the kingdom's expanding population of Western retirees.

 

My suspicion would be that any changes in the law would be to 'protect' Thaiand from foreigners by reducing any rights. I can see no situation where existing restrictive practices might be relaxed in any way.

[Mekong]

I think a lot of it comes down to visa issues, if under 50 you loose your Non-Imm O based on marriage and are literally farked

Also there is the "12 Month Abandonment" ruling, she can hide from you for 12 months and then claim everything, property, vehicles joint bank accounts the whole lot.

 

Unfortunately i know the difficulties faced in getting a fare divorce settlement in Thailand due to my own personal experiences, I had to register a company for my own non-imm B visa and it took me close of two years without working to reach a settlement. I am not rich, far from it but I don't need to worry about where the next rent payment was coming from or be concerned about putting food on the table so I was able to fight it out for 2 years but I am sure that there are many more guys less fortunate than me who have had to concede defeat and walk way loosing everything.

 

Alcoholism and mental issues go hand in hand in my opinion, the mental stress of a divorce case can drive a guy to take solace in a bottle, once one is on that path then recovery is nearly impossible. I was very fortunate to have a good woman on my side who stood by me, she did not force me to go into detox but from constructive discussions made me realise that I had no other choice.

 

My ex did paint a bad picture of me as an aggressive alcoholic, I was never aggressive but I did have a drink problem. I could spend 8 hours a day in court without having the Shakes and was polite to the bench, my ex and her lawyer, at the end of the day her lawyer turned around and told her she was a lying little bitch who tried a character asssasination against me. He told her in an arbitration hearing to pay up now or risk loosing a lot more, now when an ex wifes lawyer starts taking your side you ono you are getting there.

 

When I finally got the cheque I scanned it and had it framed before cashing it, the look on her face that day was priceless.

 

I can fully empathise with the article about how many farangs could become destitute, the system is loaded against the foreigner, I lost count of the number of times I wanted to give up, the number of alcoholic drinks I bought in bars then paid the check bin and left without touching a drop, walking home from Family Mart with a bottle of smirnoff only to flush the contents down the toilet and bin the bottle, I really did come close to cracking on many occasions.

 

I just hope that no other BM has to go through what I did, not a pleasent experience, I think the fact that I am a hard nosed thick skinned obnoxious asshole saw me through it.

[Flashermac]

I've mentioned before how it happened to a colleague, who had "bought" a condo with his wife, so he thought. He didn't have the paperwork translated it, just took their word or it and signed, handing over million of baht baht (forgotten just how much). Then the wife left and he started getting rent demands taped to his door. He ignored them until one day he found himself locked out! On checking it turned out he'd signed a rental agreement only, and the Mrs had pocketed the money. He ended up going to the ME in his 50s to try to make some money, since he was skint. And his Mrs was not a BG either.

 

There are lots of trusting people out there.

[Mekong]

And his Mrs was not a BG either.

 

 

Call me a cynic but it's the none BG Thai Women that you need to look out for, they think they are cleverer than your average farang.

 

My first Thai Ex was taken from a bar, our difference of opinion was I wanted to be married to a Thai to stay in Thailand and she wanted to be married to a farang to go overseas.

 

OK i had paid for most things but a 50-50 split seemed fair to me, we sold the apartment and car, and she withdrew 50% of money from the joint account, 2 hours and 50 Baht later we were divorced at On nut city hall and I even took her out for dinner that evening, Even now 13 years later we still stay in touch, she thanks me for taking her out of the bar and being fair in the divorce settlement. She ended up in California gained a Masters degree and now her son is going through Uni, good luck to her she did not try to take the piss and she earned my respect for her honesty.

 

Now my second ex, the Thammasat Graduate who went on to the states for a Masters tried every trick in the book to take everything, she thought she was being clever, now I would have settled for a 50-50 split again and just moved on, but her attitude made me stand my ground. I ended up getting 85% back and she was lucky to keep 15%. She being Thai a allowed her to take care of all bills etc, as the saying goes you don't have a dog and bark yourself. She underestimated me and though i was incapable of getting things done in Thailand,. to her cost she realised just how wrong she was.

[radioman]

He ended up going to the ME in his 50s to try to make some money, since he was skint. And his Mrs was not a BG either.

 

 

Hey, lots of us go to the ME in our 50's to make money, no trying about it!

 

BG or NBG does not a good woman determine.

[Flashermac]

Yeah, but this guy - a Brit BTW - figured he could relax and spend his days teaching in Thailand and then retiring here. He hadn't planned on going off to teach in the big sandbox just to recoup what he'd had when he came here. .

[cavanami]

As LOS continues to be more expensive, the tide of homeless will move to Cambodia and Laos, IMO.

 

There will always be some homeless but the numbers will decline...

[Flashermac]

It sure as hell is more expensive. You can watch prices going up almost week by week in the groceries and even the local markets. Not so nice when your income remains the same.