How dire is the situation on the ground in Pattaya among Thai boys/men?

[Marc K]

Hi All, Well I guess this is another of those "am I getting ripped off?" threads. Can those of you kind expats who are in Pattaya now please shed some light on the current situation there for out-of-work Thai boys/men? Being away from Thailand during this crisis makes it hard to evaluate reality there.

So here goes, I am receiving increasing desperate sounding messages from two of my "regulars" there. Both are kind people who I have known for years, who have never deceived me (to the best of my knowledge) and are not the type to make financial demands.

The last message I received (yesterday) was "I am nearly dead" which I presume is a rather dramatic overstatement. Nonetheless it is concerning and troubling. He is from Udon Thani and says he would like to return home to his family but that there is no transport(yet)that is possible. Is that true? There are no Isaan buses running yet?

I know the food lines are long there (YouTube videos are revealing). Are people getting sufficiently fed? If a guy there is out of work are they usually finding friends there who will provide shelter?

I certainly would never turn down a valid request from anyone in desperate need of help, much less a Thai friend, but neither do I want to feel like he is unable to fend for himself during this crisis in a reasonable way.

Your thoughts?
Thanks! Mahalo! Kawp koon krub!

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[Manforallseasons]

Firstly, boys on the game come from poverty and currently the country’s economy is suffering so the poor like always do most of the suffering. If a boy asks for money to eat no matter true or false I will give it, I won’t pay rent as in my opinion they should be back with their families at this time. No matter what you decide to give once you do be prepared for requests for money to continue. If a boy wants money to leave Pattaya to return home the provinces are now open for travel bus fares seldom exceed 500 baht.....If a boy is with his family and asks for money to return to Pattaya as someone living in Pattaya I can say there is nothing to return to.

[gerefan2]

Good question Marc K.

I too have a few guys asking for money. I know for sure that one is taking the piss and ignore his frequent requests although I do send him a small amount once a month.

Another one pleaded for some money to eat so I sent him 2500 baht. He then asked for 3000 baht to return to Laos. He was supposed to go in two days time and I sent him the 3000. A few days later I talked to him on line and he admitted he was still in Pattaya. Some excuse about not being able to travel...he should have known that. No more for him.

A third one is so polite and honest I would almost believe anything he tells me (risky I know!). He has never, ever, asked for money in the seven years I’ve known him. So he gets money every month...

I think you have to take each case on it’s merits but maybe one way to stop constant requests is to send the deserving cases money once a month and make that clear that’s all they get.

[francois]

I would suggest that if you can send money and not inflict financial harm on yourself, then do so. And as suggested make it a fixed amount as mentioned above. Travel within Thailand is open and available. Whether one can travel to other countries such as Laos, I don't know for sure.

[Oliver2]

If you can afford to send money you should do so.

There are undoubtedly occasions when someone takes advantage of us but some falangs could be accused of taking advantage of Thais by paying minimal amounts for services that would cost much more at home.

I've been treated well by the guys I've met in Thailand; and I hope they think that I've treated them equally well.

[arsenal]

"Firstly, boys on the game come from poverty" MFAS

"some falangs could be accused of taking advantage of Thais by paying minimal amounts for services" Oliver

The two are related. I always find any farang boasting about how little he managed to pay a boy utterly repulsive.

[michaelx1992]

From the group of guys I'm still in contact with, I would say that they (the Thai guys) do reasonably well. They seem to have enough financial reserves and most of them found a small sidejob (paint job, back to the farm, tattoo work, starting a food stall, ..). Their main problem is being bored, closely followed by relationship problems with their partner. I don't want to generalize, it is certainly possible that your Thai friend is in trouble and could use all the financial support he can get.

The money requests I receive are from guys from Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, no matter if they are still in Pattaya or in their home country. Those 'migrant workers' seem to be hit far worse than the Thai.

[Manforallseasons]

michaelx, not quite sure what the purpose of your post ....Simply if you want to send money send it or don’t!

[Nirish guy]

I've too have had several requests, I send nothing, none of them seem to have died just yet - and before I hear "ohhh you're going to risk that?" after many years I dont think I've EVER heard of any Thai guy I know dying from actual starvation - maybe not having enough for whisky with his friends later or running out of cigaretttes etc perhaps or not being able to afford the new phone that he 'needs" so badly - but actual dropping from hunger, no not so much. At the rate our economy is going here I'm actually thinking of copying a pasting a of their messages back to them and asking THEM for some support more like.

Mind you it's funny how this last few weeks when messages from VERY old Thai contacts resurfaced asking for some money once I explained that I'd a live in Asian BF who "takes up all my money" ( not quite true lol) funnily their messages seem to stop and they ( I assume) move on to their next mark.

One Thai “friend “ I’ve known for years still copies me into his ( every forth day) begging message, he KNOWS I don’t / won’t send him money now as I know his MO and I’ve told him to stop sending me “those” messages several times now, whereon he apologises and admits they all go out in bulk as he’s got all of his various farang “friends” on a group “help me” list as it’s just easier to send in bulk and he can never be bothered deleting my name from that Particular list, needless to say he gets zero from me - but still keeps sending, I guess I’m case he catches me in a weak moment. I should add too that he lives in back of beyond near Kalasin so I’m guessing his needs in comparison to his requests are actually minimal and he’s probably doing quite well from his various farang benefactors each week, who I know for a fact aren’t aware of the others.

[christianpfc]

I know a few boys who I had repeatedly good time with without problems or drama. They wouldn't ask me for money, so I asked them how the situation is and asked for their bank account to send them money. That was mid-April. I think I will have a second round soon.