Thailand's Biggest Debt Crisis, Explained

Thailand's economy is plagued with massive household debt.
Narrated by Slipstreamer
Edited by Iyanbriandi
Facebook: / behindasian
Instagram: / behindasia
Timestamp(s):
0:00 The Household Debt
1:25 Thailand's Massive Problem
2:49 Quantifying the Debt
4:23 The Financial System
5:48 The Debt Issue
7:38 The Solutions
Inquiries: [e-mail]
Brought to you by the Behind Asian Team.

[@BehindAsia]

Thailand's household debt is massively high, one of the world's highest. How do you think the government should fix it? Let us know down below!

[@moummong]

เราเชื่อว่ามันจะดีขึ้น ขอบคุณที่สนใจเรื่องราวประเทศของเรา โดยส่วนตัวแล้วเราคิดว่าปัญหาหนี้ ไม่สำคัญเท่าเรื่องปากท้องของคนในชาติ ธนาคารที่ปล่อยกู้พวกเขาไม่ได้โง่ คุณพูดเหมือนการกู้ยืมเงินเป็นเรื่องง่าย แต่เปล่าเลยมันไม่ง่ายขนาดนั้น คุณต้องมีรายได้ที่มั่นคง พวกเขาถึงจะปล่อยกู้ จริงอยู่ที่ประเทศไทยต้องเจอกับ เงินกู้นอกระบบ เพราะเหตุนี้เมื่อหลายปีก่อน ทางรัฐบาลจึงได้เริ่มโครงการ นำเงินเข้าระบบ ชำระเงินคืนหนี้นอกระบบ แล้วดึงคนเป็นหนี้เข้าระบบ ปัจจุบัน และเนื่องจากโรคระบาด Covid-19 ทำไห้การชำระหนี้ยากยิ่งขึ้น ตอนนี้เริ่มคลี่คลายแล้ว ประเทศไทยจะกลับมาแข็งแกร่งยิ่งๆขึ้นไป

[@user-dy2lk5qq9k]

Obvious. Only 1 answer. Make Bitcoin legal currency and give the unbanked a chance

[@nattan1239]

as thai people,i pretty sure......they WON'T

[@mangobaum8157]

@@user-dy2lk5qq9k No! Everyone who want, can open a bank account. Just older people don't know, how to handle with a Smartphone. And we have to determine, that asian people like to gamble. Btc would be the Ruin of addicted people.

[@user-dy2lk5qq9k]

@@mangobaum8157 you do not make excuses for gamblers at the expense of others. Ridiculous. Central banks are hideous institutions that wreck peoples life’s and control governments

[@MarmiteTheDog]

The MAIN REASON was completely overlooked by this video. Thai government workers (the public sector is huge in Thailand) are effectively given unsecured loans whenever they want, along with better rates and other incentives to rack up the debt. Non government 'employed' people find it more difficult to get bank loans and the due diligence is done much more thoroughly with loans being secured against assets. And then there are the black market workers who pay no income tax who have no choice but to take loans from loan sharks if they have very little in the way of assets or if their assets are already held by the bank.

[@Kalasnikovcosis]

spot on.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

local debt isnt as bad as foreign. just look at japan

[@chandrasegar9466]

​@@aSSGoblin1488 and singapore..thou it has high saving..

[@PatamaGomutbutra]

You give the great point. The government sector in Thailand is TOO LARGE and really burden budget

[@ginse4891]

Thailand's shadow economy rank amount the highest in the world which is around 50% of its GDP according to IMF and most of them are SMEs you see in daily life: e-commerce, street vendors, restaurants, small shops, salons, etc. That explains why the country's real situation is different from how we "expect" them to be.

[@johntaylor3940]

going to get worse also , as Europeans have stopped coming to Thailand , much cheaper places now Cambodia , Vietnam etc, Thailand is going down the road of China and now want Russians to come to Thailand , The Communits taking over for the Thai pm

[@johntaylor3940]

Police are the top of the corupt

[@nics129]

I am from Thailand When I first see the headline, I’m like ‘what? Am I missing something?’. So I check up articles on the past month and found nothing significant so I check out the video A few second into the video, you started to talk about household debt. That’s when I ‘ohhh, ok. That’s what it is’ Yeah, it’s a problem. I talked about this with other people for a decade and it only got worse. Though I am not as concerned about it as I used to but it still is a problem Honestly, that’s one think I like about the country. It hard to fail in Thailand. As long as you are slight knowledgeable on anything as well as slightly financially literate there will always a path for you

[@nics129]

*Honestly, that’s one thing I like about the country

[@therock8224]

@@nics129 You're assuming Thais are financially literate. Most can't even do simple math in their head. I think you're over selling things here.

[@Keenok]

I have lived in Thailand with my family as an ex-pat for 17 years now. My only debt is a small loan on my house. All the non-rich Thais I know are struggling with debt. One thing you might be underestimating is the role of the loanshark here. I have seen a pickup truck come down my street to the home of one borrower with a coffin in the back. They told the parent that her son would be in that box next week if she didn't pay back at least some of the 10m baht he had borrowed for gambling. She lost her house and car over this one. This is not an isolated case, frequently my wife has to block acquaintances who only call to try and get money from her to pay their illegal loans. So just like how Thailand under-reports traffic fatalities, they may be under-reporting the effect of loansharks and their impact on household debt.

[@krollpeter]

Unfortunately, crime as well.

[@mrmartin2079]

He had borrowed 10m for gambling 😂nice story bro

[@krollpeter]

@Escapee In my friend's company, he had to pay for one staff's depth, otherwise they'd continue harassing the company with increasing worse actions. The police did not care.

[@totega]

10 million baht for gambling. sound like a fiction.

[@poom323]

@@totega don't underestimate Thai's gambling addiction.

[@travelingman1125]

Thailand has a shadow market. Around 50% of the country gdp in fact (estimated by IMF). It is the money you can’t tax or trace. For example, the aunty who sell street food on the street. No tax. No record. So it is not as bad as it look.

[@user-xe7fv8xc2k]

That is a good point.

[@LiTkiSHi]

on the debt side, there is non-bank debt (ex loan sharks). So, i think it’s squared

[@travelingman1125]

@Seeyou Seemee dont skip Laos and Myanmar. Part of a golden triangle family 😂

[@user-xe7fv8xc2k]

@Seeyou Seemee I am not sure about that. Since they are produced in a neighboring country. Shadow market does not include just that kind of industry.

[@ohmohm]

Aunty who sells street food may be asked to "pay" for right to access street.

[@DeptalJexus]

There's shadow economy that goes unoticed beyond Thai government to tax. Some is ethical like selling street food, religious charms and e-commerce. Some is unethical like prostitution, drug-trade, con-artist, and unlicensed pub and casino.

[@jack2525mic]

That s we call it grey market ... Mafia or big fish or you called corruption those tax it not goes to government or it s not tax .

[@Asinsful]

Digital unethical (and illegal in Thailand) stuffs likes pornography and adult comics/art commission as well.

[@remon9099]

The big issue in Thailand is that access to loans and finances is too easy. As a result you'll see the majority of people driving in brand new cars (often luxury models) and buying brand new iphones. These are products they should never be able to afford on their salaries.

[@e21big]

The general household income has been fallen relative to cost and inflation for years at this point. Household loan and the robust financial system is kinda a way for people to make their ends meet - without taxing the riches (which also hurt investor and the economy) or significantly increase the economic output (which, wouldn't call this into questions in the first place) It can only take you so far though, and sooner or later these will need to be addressed in someway

[@wallenbergphoto]

@beam gigachad so you mean the corruption the rich live on now, is better?

[@songsabai3794]

Yes, borrowing from your 'future' is a good idea...because in Thailand the future never comes ...😁

[@e21big]

@beam gigachad So is doing nothing - but as always, it's the matter of 'when', 'who', and 'how much' that seperate a failed from a success economic policy - not just the 'what'

[@jeffreybright8119]

Very True ! @@songsabai3794

[@nuchdc1194]

Believe all you wish, but in fact Thailand's financial is in a far better position than US's financial. Most of the debt are within the country. Unlike USA which trying to sell bonds very hard but no one wants it.. There are massive investment coming to Thailand this year and next year. The future is really promising.

[@user-ed9rb8df1n]

Yes, since most country wants to go back to gold standard. US will be fcked really hard

[@keithgutridge7259]

Massive investment coming to thailand. ...you must be using the same crystal ball the TAT are using . It's all going to surrounding country's

[@keithgutridge7259]

Oh sorry forgot to ask were the massive investment is coming from..please tell...

[@MorteSeoinage]

@@keithgutridge7259 China,Japan and Saudi Arabia to name a few.

[@keithgutridge7259]

@@MorteSeoinage ye right their all going skint to

[@colinfox6961]

My experience from family in Thailand, most Thai believe gold price over time always goes up, and they are right. So a huge amount of wealth held in metal for sickness old age etc.This can be liquidated easily and for little margin costs. second thing, most Thai own land and never sell. I think a majority of landless Europeans are in a worse predicament. Worse happens to a Thai they still have wealth, not the bank ha ha.

[@Ozjockey111]

Totally correct and the younger generations have embraced BTC so when the financial Tsunami comes next year most will still have cashable wealth stored as grandma did except in technology!!

[@NorrawedSetthiwong]

that's exactly true. however, because of tradition in Thailand. Old people in family has lots of voice in family money management, some of them are good such as buy gold or land but many of them are bad such as young people must pay family after they start working and get their own salary or buy house and car as soon as possible to show-off that they did not raise an incompetent offspring. which leads to lots of unnecessary debt.

[@panzerschliffehohenzollern4863]

Can confirm. My family owns a farm in Thailand as well as an old plot of land in the mountain and 2 house. Our family pretty much never sell land unless to the nearby families (Those nearby families are an old friend to grandpa for about 70+ years).

[@76luislara]

That is absolutely true. My family-in-law is Thai, and they got a big part of their assets in Gold. When I asked my wife why she told me that many Thais used Gold as a retirement nest, so they accumulate Gold with the hope that in the future it will be much higher so they can sell it when they retire. But they got a lot of debt too. My Father and Mother in Law are in their late 60's and they still have a debt that is bigger than 50% of the value of their assets, that is the reason why they both have decided to continue working.

[@cupofgreentea]

thank you for covering this topic. Even though part of my family is from Thailand, I am mostly uneducated about the household crisis since I do not live in that country. Videos like this make it easy to relate to my extended family. Thanks for putting in the time and effort to research this topic and make it accessible for everyone!

[@Cracker_Smacker]

You're so lucky you didn't live in this god forsaken country

[@cupofgreentea]

@@Cracker_Smacker please elaborate on your comment- I assume you're a thai person living in thailand right now? What else is bothering you in your country?

[@pauleagle6281]

A story about household debt in Thailand... A man borrowed money from a bank. He paid back. The loan officer of the bank saw him as a good customer and wanted him to borrow money from the bank again. The loan officer used all kinds of tactics to make him borrow again, eg tell him that he now has a good rating from the bank, if he doesn't borrow again now his rating will be down so that it will make difficult for him to get a loan if he need it in the future. He ended up borrow from the bank again even he doesn't want to.

[@BiteAdust4857]

Fact ! Even me, sometime, got a phone from a random financial firm to offer me some personal loan. And this happened so many time and kinda annoying...

[@johntaylor3940]

ITS CALL KEEPING YOU IN DEBT, ANOTHER SCAM IS THAI INSURANE

[@packageism]

I guarantee you that car loans make up huge percentage of households debt.

[@forretresss]

Thailand aka Detroit of Asean LOL

[@MrJenklns]

@@forretresss Quick where's Les Gold 😂

[@AllAboutLifeInThailand]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@kamolhengkiatisak1527]

The latest measure implemented by the Bank of Thailand is to abolish flat interest rates adopted by auto/motorcycle and consumer loans. For flat interest loan, even if you pay down principal, the interest rate is still calculated from the original principal unlike mortgage loan whose interest rate is calculated from the remaining/declining principal. Now all types of loans are calculated like mortgage loan. No more flat interest loans.

[@noone4474]

so they can tighten the grip the closer you get to escaping.

[@WadmanP]

"Like a mortgage"... In other words the faster you pay off a loan, the more you reduce the principle AND the interest.

[@Pasci100th]

Is this active already? I heard it will only be implemented on 15 Jan 2023.

[@andrewcham2977]

wise central bank meanwhile in the country below thailand...

[@beelouwill303]

@@Pasci100th yes

[@tanhakkoon]

Internal debt can be self solve by slowly printing more money, as long as is not external debt like Sri Lanka or Lao or African countries will not be that bad. Also Thailand is a strong agriculture country, food will not be a problem, the only impact is import stuff which is more of want than need.

[@NorrawedSetthiwong]

even the inflation can help debt issue too. that's some neat trick that can be use anytime

[@heww3960]

I think however that is very wrong, then the people that are not in debt will pay for those that are in debt. It should be the ones that are in debt that should pay for it, noone else.

[@NorrawedSetthiwong]

@@heww3960 internal debt in this case is the government debt. not personal debt Thailand is quite good in managing government debt. 90% of debt of thai government is in Thai Baht which is not really that big issue. The real issue that make country bankrupcy is foriegner debt

[@TremInvest]

I totally agree with you that house hold debt is high because of real estate about 74%, so it is not sound to be concerned if the real estate market is not collapse by interest rising.

[@desrender4893]

As a regular visitor to Thailand, I find a lot of Thais live for today, they are very much into consumer goodies and don't worry about tomorrow or saving

[@76luislara]

This young generation is totally different. I was surprised too, the first time that I visit Thailand in 2008 and all the High Schools Students carried Blackberries around ( I still had an Old Nokia by them ). Young people want to have the latest gadgets it doesn't matter if that keeps them poor. But that is not just a Thailand problem, is pretty much the same everywhere. So is quite important to educate our Kids about not following those trends of burning money to look successful.

[@sakana8]

@@76luislara Unless they come from a rich family, they have sugar daddies supporting them.

[@dr.donkey9254]

Just on a side note, Thailand do have a massive loan shark problem, there’s an entire industry around loan sharks, as a matter of a fact, many young men (20s) from my town are working for loan sharks throughout the country, polices and government officials are also working with loan sharks most of the time, so when the video mentions that Thailand has fixed loan sharks problem, it’s only stopping new loan sharks from growing their business, but the bigger loan sharks are stilll growing and thriving more than every

[@brainletfag]

Speaking as someone who knows people in the industry, you'd be surprised to know how much the bigger loan sharks are struggling as well. Big ones work with banks, banks pressure them due to bad economy, they pressure people to try to survive, people can't pay loans and the bank is under pressure. Its a vicious cycle.

[@johntaylor3940]

BANKS DONT LEND TO POOR PEOPLE AS YOU KNOW ,PEOPLE DONT REALISE LOAN SHARKS COST 20% MORE

[@donbrashsux]

So the place is full of sharks .. sad

[@dr.donkey9254]

@@donbrashsux it’s ran by sharks, especially in rural and less developed areas, all the rich people, government official, mayors, 9/10 let people borrow money on the side, that’s why when ever loan sharks subordinates gets caught, they usually get immediately released.

[@johntaylor3940]

@@donbrashsux DRUGS AND LOAN SHARKS WILL KEEP THAILAND POOR

[@ccmangb]

As others have mentioned, a lot of household debt is from loan sharks or high interest financing. This usually targets the poor since they do not understand that ultimately they're paying several times what they should be paying just for the convenience of paying in installments. It's ingrained into society to the point that they are legitimate businesses. Things like car loans are fixed so that even if you are willing to pay early, you still need to pay the full value of the installments as if you paid normally. Motorcycles are often advertised as being able to be bought with 1 baht, because you pay a heavy interest rate for several years, and end up paying 3x-5x the retail price for a $1000 motorcycle. Many times they will default and end up getting repossessed. There are dozens of "easy money" businesses and pawn shops are nearly as common as convenience stores.

[@Archturian8880]

Thailand's macro economy is still strongest in the world.

[@mikelloyd520]

Oh really ? I didn’t know this. Please point me to the data. I am interested. Thanks.

[@user-dj9nl2vs9x]

😂😂😂😂 fool

[@Cracker_Smacker]

Source?

[@donnietahir7271]

Are you drunk ???

[@misterx3770]

you take too much drugs

[@joeawk]

It is not as bad to be poor than to be in debt.

[@otakoob]

Thai people faced both. Because the infrastructure is really bad, people have to loan money to get a decent life quality

[@joeawk]

@@otakoob that's too bad. The government and the wealthy must create job and business opportunities for the people. Curb or control inflation as well.

[@user-xe7fv8xc2k]

I am from Thailand, and I agree with you about Thai financial literacy.

[@johnbrookhaven7134]

The end of thailand

[@johnbrookhaven7134]

Thailand have dog nawat too..too bad

[@franciscouderq1100]

I do too, they think money grows on trees and have absolutely no long term views and planning on economy and financial matters. In short they also don’t know how to count.

[@user-xe7fv8xc2k]

@@johnbrookhaven7134 Nah, not to that point yet.

[@user-xe7fv8xc2k]

@@franciscouderq1100 That seems remotely accurate to me.

[@ninachen5625]

This VDO is oversaturated. In fact, the debt in households is mostly in the middle class and lower middle class. This happened during the Covid19 lockdown- because a majority of the people are not able make a living during that time. But however, now everything is open, and a lot of tourists come to Thailand. (Thailand is a tourist country). Now all the hotels and businesses in Thailand are packed with people in all restaurants and department stores. My cousin owns the shop in the mall and outside the mall. Her sale increased by 5 times. Every day, there is candidly not enough time to count the money earned, and my cousin has to bring the money to the bank to let the person at the bank counter or machines count it for my cousin. In which, the neighbor in the plaza nearby is all happy now that business has come back again. The staff who work in the shop, are also happy they make a lot of money from the commission sales and bonuses. Moreover, the government debt in Thailand will be able to pay back with the prepared country's budget. Also, this year Thailand is the host country for the APEC 2022. Standing for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. President Xi and President Putin +21 economic members will meet each other at the meeting. Particularly, this meeting will talk about trade in the big money.😁😁😁 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGGlqnaaeN-Lq6s

[@AlphademonAlphademon]

Good point on how Thailand started legalizing micro loan to battle the unregulated loan in the past many years. So the household debts came to surface and regulated. But those micro loan are not to be worried too much as these companies are not banks, if these companies are to fail the affect would be low as these companies use cash to loans, not debt.

[@kellypeace7915]

The number we see on the paper sometimes cannot indicate the real situations. Some money income hasn't been registered to the tax system here, but it still help circulate Thailand's economic system very well. There might be some really poor people in the country, but still, most of Thai people are able to make ends meet.

[@DanacyclingThailand]

I am a recently retired American business executive n Thailand for 26 yrs. 32 in Asia. During the last near meltdown n early 2,000’s as the government was building up the private banking industry. In an effort to wipe out the loan shark economy (Good Luck with that) the banks, backed by the government offered credit cards & lines of credit to just about anyone who could breathe. FREE MONEY said our drivers, office cleaners, lower level admin staff & other workers with very low salaries. Quickly many max’d out multiple credit cards & got into trouble. The loan sharks came knocking. Many of these people came to management for salary advanced or company loans. Why do we have to pay back FREE MONEY was the question?!?!?! YES you hit the mail on the head: FINANCIAL LITERACY.

[@kawinfamily1465]

Could be a bit misleading if people didn't finish the video, especially the part where majority of the debt is officially registered compared to neighboring countries

[@Rachata_S6421]

I live in Thailand and I can say it's so chill here and iphone 14,14 pro really has good sale here.

[@Keenok]

i bought an iphone 14 for my daughter last weekend and it was difficult to determine the actual price, they had so many payment options the cash price was hard to find. I got myself a 4000THB (~110 USD) gaming headset and even it showed payment options on it.

[@mrmartin2079]

@@Keenok you must be a bit thick so 😂- I myself bought an iPad here recently and I knew the cash price on it before I even walked in the door

[@Keenok]

@@mrmartin2079 Possibly true, but I was just looking at the price tag on the floor model. It listed 6 different payment plans and in small print near the bottom was the cash price.

[@kovidprizner7657]

debt is never good period, live within your means.

[@adifferentperspective2457]

Everything is sold on credit including a smartphone, a camera a laptop, why would I buy a smartphone in installments? They don't even indicate the actual cost of goods when advertising online, they only give the monthly installments which makes me think everyone is buying on credit, I want to pay cash but I can't even tell how much a laptop costs 🙆‍♂

[@serfingsushi3607]

A street vendor can buy it. They earn much more than you can think of. Don’t worry.

[@tonytoob4123]

The main problem is the overuse and irresponsible use of credit cards and loans.

[@ppnplus]

I’m a local, and I agree. 👍

[@robertburnett6348]

Thank you. Very honest explanation.

[@GGcxvw558]

I am Thais. Your informations are great. Yep, our news talk about this a lot. Bank of thailand try to prevent but mostly fail. 😅 I want to know what should I do if this crisis happen.

[@davianoinglesias5030]

It is difficult to estimate the GDP of developing countries because much of the economy is in the informal sector

[@Nopnop2498]

It​ is​ the​ time​ to​ pay debt in​ USD., and​ have​ any​ money reserve.

[@howardroark7726]

Pretty interesting. I was in Thailand recently and noticed the malls were packed. It's not my business what other people spend their money on but it doesn't surprise me that household debt is so high. For a country that saw its tourism sector decimated in 2020-2021, it looks like a significant proportion of the long awaited return of tourist dollars is being spent on consumer goods. It's understandable but would suggest that household debt is probably not falling anytime soon. Thailand would have been in a much better position if they had stayed open as Mexico did. While defaulting on debt owed to loan sharks doesn't cause bank runs, it can end up with the children of debtors sold into slavery. The question is which is the lesser of 2 evils. The risk of bank runs can be minimised with governments guaranteeing deposits so the former is likely the lesser evil. The difficulty is with bailouts and ensuring bailouts don't go to companies that have failed.

[@76rjackson]

People in Thailand will often go to malls to eat and stroll around in the free AC. A lot of Thai malls are half full of restaurants. Crowds don't necessarily equate to mass consumption. Online shopping is also beginning to compete with in person shopping so people will check items out at the mall and order them online at a cheaper price.

[@poggmahon1052]

Whilst there is huge credit debt in Thailand I don't think it's anywhere close as the USA

[@warntheidiotmasses7114]

Real Estate is only worth what banks are willing to loan. If banks decided to reduce the % of loan to value, real estate would drop like a rock.

[@noelleyang8147]

i don't know. I feel like generally, the Thais especially the lower middle or the poor one likes to spend more than they earn. They wanna be "there" when they actually can't. overspending is one thing also. If you go to the neighbouring country like Myanmar. Myanmar is poor but they don't have debt crisis like Thailand because the Burmese uses only cash. they do not rely on banks. If they have enough they will buy if they don't they won't. example cars, in thailand you can get a brand new car without paying all in cash at once. You go through process and you can buy with interest or 0 interest at all but sometimes not all are "really" eligible. In myanmar you don't have that either you buy with full cash or no car for you.

[@sanfran5607]

Sure Myanmese must use cash only buy everything because they're no credit 😁 Lol

[@zachhessler8722]

Cars in Myanmar were always far more expensive than anywhere else so yes there is a mindset that these things are just not affordable. I lived there 3 years.

[@zachhessler8722]

And the other problem is that once they have such nicer cars and houses, they absolutely will not scale down. They must stay at that level whether they can afford it or not.

[@golfsierra42]

Thailand has recently introduced concessional loan programs to enable slum dwellers to buy their own homes. However, I do not know what proportion of the loan debt results from these programs.

[@AlphademonAlphademon]

I’m Thai and I can tell you that first the Thai government legalized micro loans to solve loan shark problem. Once that phase was done with many micro loans companies in the market the the government then start limiting the max interest rate on micro loan. Then they started to lower the max interest rate that these companies can charge their customer. And then they use the Thai state owned bank to come in and compete with these micro loan companies to lower the interest rate again. At least that is what I have been seeing for the past many years. Do not underestimate the cleverness of the Bank of Thailand, as a Thai, I think they have done their work extremely well. Debt is still high of course, but more managable than before.

[@rzadigi]

Thailand’s household debt ratio is 11th highest in the world. Just ahead of the UK and the US. It seems much less worrisome than countries like Japan, whose public debt is 266% of the GDP.

[@darwinstubbie860]

The second hand Real Estate market is dead because even moderate home loans are constantly rejected by the banks.

[@mickfitz76]

Banks are begging people to stay in their homes. Even reducing their repayments just to stay and not drop the house on the bank. Very weird times when banks don't want steal from you.

[@mgilgar]

So, you are saying the debt they have per capita is slightly more than the annual salary. That sounds excellent. I don't have the figures but in my country, it would not be strange to find a debt of 200 000 euros with household incomes of 40 or 50 thousands years annually, which means a debt of 3 or 4 times your salary and if you are just buying a new house right now in big capital it can be easily 400 000 euros in debt for household income of 60 or 70K.

[@stephena.8193]

Mortgage debt is considered good debt though because the value of the underlying asset (house) doesn't fall significantly, it tends to rise over time. This isn't true when you buy a scooter, car or iPhone on credit.... I've heard of a lot of people buying a new scooter on a loan to then work as a grab driver, trying to repay the loan. One crash and your income is gone but payments are still due.

[@som3107]

@@stephena.8193 Nicely put.

[@man_in_darkroom]

หนี้ครัวเรือนของไทยส่วนใหญ่เกิดซื้อบ้านและรถส่วนใหญ่เป็นสินทรัพย์ที่มีมูลค่าในอนาคตเพราะคนไทยไม่นิยมเช่าบ้านเหมือนอเมริกา ยุโรป ญี่ปุ่น หรือเกาหลีใต้ ดังนั้น ไม่น่ากลัวอย่างที่คิด

[@musicgreatboy]

ใช่ที่ไหน หนี้ครัวเรือนไทยมาจากการใช้จ่ายสุรุ่ยสุร่ายต่างหาก 38 % เท่านั้นที่มาจากการซื้อบ้านและที่ดิน

[@mickfitz76]

Land prices don't rise fast in Thailand outside Bangkok metropolis. Most houses in moo baan will never rise in value. Only decrease due to oversupply. Thais don't like secondhand house. That's a fact.

[@drfat]

An auto loan is an ambiguous one. Unlike Singapore, both public transport and city planning in Thailand are pretty bad, and people really need a car to have a decent life. And since a car can cost the same as a small house in Thailand, this is significant. I know that by the book an auto loan is considered bad debt, but for Thailand, it can be a bit different.

[@bicelisGeopolitics]

we need an 'Economy'-formula for realEstate prices vs central bank rates.

[@bicelisGeopolitics]

low wages lead to high debt. the prices should adjust to family income!

[@iandann8788]

originally from London I've lived here for the past 20 years and I could answer all the questions below in the comments . Trouble is the dis[arity of wealth and of course the loss of its greatest economic asset , the tourist . not sure if it will ever fully recover

[@mrmicky1172]

I returned to London last December 31st after 27 years in Thailand like 100s of expats we got out as soon as we could after covid.without a penny in help from the Thai government for it's people or business I can never see it recovering the Chinese will move in and take over like they have in Bangkok all the large wholesale markets are run by Chinese

[@user-dj9nl2vs9x]

Agreed, 17 years here. Everything seems to have gotten worse.

[@VanTran-ne4yf]

The party well and truely over, there are better place to visit in Asia than a red light district country. You want to know what will happen next to Thailand just look at the British Empire since Hongkong return back to China.

[@user-dj9nl2vs9x]

@@VanTran-ne4yf HK didnt deserve it, these lying cheating xenophobic scumbags do. Hope the entire ecomomy collapses, as an Expat here.

[@donnybrook5671]

@@VanTran-ne4yf Quite a narrow and biased view on both Thailand and the UK you have there

[@Dudekjay]

500,100 baht, The average household in the country has more debt than its annual salary. You cannot compare like that. That debt has to take more than 30 years to pay off. It might be just about 2,000-3,000 baht a month. The average annual income in Thailand is about 25,000 baht. What really is the issue? I believe they are able to pay because tourists are getting back to Thailand.

[@tuangchokjalikula9974]

I don't think it's fair to consider Autoloan in Thailand as a bad debt, since it's an essential thing because of the lacking of public transportation infrastructure in Thailand, especially outside of Bangkok. But financial literacy is also one of the main problem here in Thailand.

[@money4144]

Consumer confidence is down , certainly not bustling like it was pre covid. Shops seem empty of shoppers . Just what I have noticed.

[@dontoews6754]

I think the way Thailand has rolled out cannabis llegalization giving 100's of growers and shop owners a better chance at making a decent living, unlike Canada where I'm from did it's best to centralize cannabis production and sales, unlike alcohol and chemical drugs mostly come from abroad and create few jobs. Cannabis production is labor intensive and many tourists love it

[@danieljury3633]

Would love to see a similar video on Cambodia

[@lekkerboutenonderdedeken409]

you like buffalo ?

[@radleysmith7528]

@@lekkerboutenonderdedeken409 I do....not a sick one though😂

[@kkkbuta5]

27000baht is definitely not the average income, because many people in thailand dont report earnings (for example street food)

[@GGrindelwald-iv2qn]

Car price in thailand are 2,5 more expensive then the rest of the world, even with car factory in thailand the car still cost to much! And when a car get reposese by the bank some car lose half of the initial value, but when the bank sue you for the car they will count the full price!

[@aliandy.jf.nababan]

High productivity delivered by strong work ethics, standard of excellent. That's why top performance employee gets better salary, which make human capital consired as intangible asset. That's is the alignment.

[@azaleapower3190]

Yes, deffinitely

[@Pls_dont_eat_macat]

As a Thai citizen, I feel quintet upset whenever you said Thai gov. Try to do everything this shity head junta storms the parliament with tanks and guns but doesn't have any idea to manage the country properly everything is going downhill since then. Anyway, this video is great and very accurate

[@krazedmino2890]

I live in Thailand, I see 5 million baht BMWs parked in front of 1 million baht houses all the time.

[@Clarksville000]

Thailand should diversify their economy policy

[@mcmacshalfilya]

You must be the smartest! And for sure the PRETTIEST...💝

[@jennypai1776]

Thailand was also the cause of the 1997 Asian crisis when they had a real estate bubble and it rippled through the region

[@klarWorks]

Why the debt is so high. Thai minimum wage people must work 2 hrs. for 1 toothbrush. work 6 hrs. for 1 kg. meat. work 5-8 yrs. for 1 car. work 30-60 yrs. for 1 house. The life is so hard for Thai but heaven for foreigner.

[@parmza1479]

Thai people can’t really borrow unless their income is high enough and most commoners do not meet that standard especially in the country side

[@danielk6295]

why the focus on thailand, when places like Australia have household debt to gdp in excess of 120%?

[@ronhansen1316]

Too many young Thai men with new pickups they cannot afford.

[@user-dy2lk5qq9k]

Thailand has the most beautiful country. I see many many westerners moving there in the future

[@darren5971]

There are many there already .

[@lesliestenta3084]

So lucky I live here, retired early and moved to Thailand 4 years ago to join my family. My home in Hawaii is unaffordable in every way , especially healthcare . I’ve spent around $300 for excellent and efficient healthcare in 4 years. I’d be dirt poor and working 3 jobs in HawAii just to live

[@MrTheboytube]

And most of them are poor in their own countries.

[@user-dy2lk5qq9k]

@@lesliestenta3084 excellent. Your right. It’s the best place to be.

[@Jazzmaster71]

Not if the Minister says "Dirty farang" is not welcome.

[@giorgospapadopoulos7709]

I don't see a stagnated economy, at least of the way it is in Europe. Yes for sure, a few crises are on the way, but economically the expectations are better than the global average mid or even long-term. On the other hand, stuck on the middle income trap big time, not enough quality to compete with the global A league pound for pound. 2 cents from someone living in Bangkok at the moment.

[@franciscouderq1100]

For years Thais spend spend spend without thinking how they can repay their loans for car, latest bikes, mobile phone, tablets and all sort of trendy goodies. Including big pick ups. Surely loan sharks will return in a big way.

[@zachhessler8722]

Right, they get good loan rates from a bank but still overextend themselves and then have to take a dark loan to pay off the good loan on time. It's a financial death spiral.

[@KGopidas]

Is it possible to conclude that tourism based societies like turkey, Sri Lanka, maldives, uae are on the threshold of collapse, Switzerland, austria, Italy, will follow soon?

[@chatchaweewong1071]

Thank you 'I HERE TOO'

[@fl1barrypiper793]

@2:13 what's an economic fallacy?

[@wiggluededgessnatched]

Philippines: 13.5 trillion pesos dept, dependent to importation, 😭😭😭 I wish my country doesn't need to import a lot of food products from neighbors! We need self sufficiency!

[@elenorerivera9983]

The wisest thing that should be on Everyone's mind currently should be to invest in different streams of income that doesn't depend on govt. Especially with the current economic crisis around the world. This is still a good time to invest in Gold, Silver and digital currencie (BTC,ETH)

[@josephdavid7114]

Ich bin noch neu im Trading, ich suche nach einer einfachen reproduzierbaren passiven Einkommensstrategie, die mein Einkommen und eventuell mein Lohneinkommen aufbessert

[@johnsonvicks3415]

I agree with you, I had a senior colleague at work who lived well but never had an investment, unfortunately his job ended so he went from living well to surviving with his family.

[@johnsonvicks3415]

Investing is a primary decision to be made for the future.if you see this and you don't have an investment,plan to have one,so you don't end up like my main colleague at work.

[@elenorerivera9983]

@@josephdavid7114 Get a coach , that's the most ideal way to jump into the market this day's.

[@johneckerd1750]

I hope so

[@wallenbergphoto]

You are missing out on that unofficial loans from loansharks are still huuuuge! In this country. I live here, not only me but friends across the country still get VIP cards sent like flying papers across the streets with tremendous interests every month. It is becisee the salary is totally Impossible to live on. The Household income, you guys are talking about must be some strange Statistics from upper middle class Bangkok. A 7/11 employee today working 6 days a week 10-12 hour shifts are doing approx. 9000 bath / month. (Importamt measurement because Thailand has the worlds second largest 7/11 franchise after Japan. Lian sharks, huge prostitution becusee people can't afford on a normal job. And credits for buying everything! That people think is "free money" becuaee no one in school or sociaty told them otherwise. So yes Thailand is prob. and I been waiting about since last over 25 years for a huge debt Crisis here...

[@laurv8370]

Comparing the average household debt with the average income per household is at least misleading, if not ill intended. Most of Thai population lives in villages and rural area, they have a reasonable life, but no income. They drag down the figures when you put all of them together. These people don't take house loans, they don't have mortgages. The real reason why household debt increases so much is not the fact that poor people don't pay their debts, but it is because *rich* people don't pay their debts. Government workers and local "lords" are given credits without coverage or security, just because who they are, and when they delay payments or default completely, the bank won't move against them. If a poor guy gets a loan, this is usually with high collateral, and immediately when he skips a payment, the bank is all over his head to take back the collateral, so they don't contribute to the debt numbers - once the bank takes your house or land and sells it (because you borrowed few thousand bahts some time ago, which you didn't pay back in full), you don't count as debt anymore...

[@kongpopkumnerdpet8926]

Country Last Previous Reference Unit Switzerland 128 130 Mar/22 % Australia 118 119 Mar/22 % Canada 106 106 Jun/22 % South Korea 105 106 Mar/22 % Netherlands 100 101 Mar/22 % Denmark 98.7 105 Mar/22 % New Zealand 98.1 98.5 Mar/22 % Hong Kong 93.9 93.1 Mar/22 % Norway 92.9 99.5 Mar/22 % Sweden 92.2 92.7 Mar/22 % Thailand 90.1 91 Mar/22 %

[@aramshh6797]

No it wont

[@glennjones7905]

I'd bet that if you asked 1000 'average' thais if they knew of someone who was indebt to a loan shark they would ALL say of course, several. This debt living is ingrained into the culuture (of face) as is gambling. I see no reason that the average thai will change, at least until the easy money is turned off by the banks and the fear of loan sharks become deadly real.

[@ginse4891]

the "average" thais around you told you so?

[@glennjones7905]

@@ginse4891 my X wife used to be a loan shark and was also in debt to other sharks. her sister was involved also. my gf now had been substantially in debt to a shark. some co-workers at her job have asked her if she would want to offer money to lend if they lent to her. my landlord is in hock big time to the mafia sharks. a few guys at the gym have told me of their gf/wife and their 'off their book debts' to sharks. it's part of the culture.

[@xinxintan5784]

Surprisingly that i have no friends or people that i know who once associating or having anything to do with loanshark or gamble. But i do understand the video for the household debt which i think the main point came from the problem of economic in Thailand. Cost of living is too high compared with the salaries of most people (lower to middle class which is the highest proportion of the population in Thailand. As a working class in Thailand, it’s not that we have no financial literate or kind of that. But to access the basic needs in this country (food / medical treatment / accommodation), the cost is too high to afford when your income is in the opposite way) and the government is incompetent to cope with that .

[@therock8224]

@@xinxintan5784 I have none either, but that's because I only associate with wealthy and upper middle class Thais. I don't want to have anything to do with poorer locals, for many reasons.

[@bangkok8510]

The loan sharks with all that dark money creates the most chaos in my country.

[@sompongsuvilai96]

Household debt of Thai people, Thai people know that if they can handle it they will take it and if they can not handle it they will leave it with some little smile and back to eat their good cheap street food,and riding the bus or sky train instead of driving their own car, live with their simple life and forget all about bla bla bla headace, It is simple and logically isn't it ? Thanks for your report but don't worry guy.

[@keithgutridge7259]

I have noticed the huge amount of second hand car lots popping up every were, all repossessed vehicles. .years age it was hard to find a second hand car ,now there's thousands and thousands.

[@user-dj9nl2vs9x]

Yes thats correct Keith, noticed it too 100,000s of used cars sitting for months and months at mostly greatly over inflated prices. Dealers don't drop 25-30,000 on a 5-600,000Baht car.

[@boopitywoop7981]

timely implementation of that LTR 10 year visa which asks $250-500k investments good for 1 million individuals

[@mickfitz76]

Yes. Many cars one year old with 10-15k kilometres on the clock.

[@user-dj9nl2vs9x]

@@mickfitz76 Be careful many many "clocked" I ve seen it with my own eyes. Discrepancies in maintenance records/service book and Odometer, As much as 50-70,000km. Hahaha. I always buy from another Farang.

[@fisherguitar9071]

You just look at the Thai pro football league, every club wants to spend like they are Real Madrid or Man U.... Local stars or foreign players command huge paychecks. Do u think this is sustainable? What is an average salary of a Thai worker and how much is a ticket to a match?

[@seojimjames]

I am considering a condo purchase in pattaya, but very concerned about just how fragile the thai economy might be in Q1 23. If a global recession is in fact forming, then real estate will be impacted even more. real estate in most countries is already feeling a significant negative impact. so house hold debt could in fact be one of many confluences triggering a crash. now its a wait and see. Hopefully the coming Tourist Season will play out well, but if fewer people travel because of recession and inflationary pricing combined, it will be a disaster.

[@CarlosAlberto-ii1li]

I do not know.

[@suplolok8873]

i dont think Thailand will collapse. Dont forget Thailand one of the highest tourists visitor for their country. Thailand has so many foreigners investors to support them and invest in their country. All the import & export taxes.

[@donjan6950]

Thank God I settled all my Acc Receivables@40% ie; creditors, staffs, investors, suppliers etc & 60% write-off forgiven

[@redeunuch2989]

Thailand could easily draw any investment to thailand, they only need to open double sided international port with industrial zone between it, all global company will rioting to get it. Or Make a canal from SCS to Indian sea, money come even sleeping.

[@JS-fw1ip]

Indonesian here, we are at the bottom of the list. SEA are very diverse.

[@bouffon1]

Average income is ฿27 000? In Bangkok maybe.

[@warheadvun5485]

Spend within your means

[@Platinumshadow_153]

There are more thing about Thailand debts 1. We have a lot of credit card debt because government support epayment in last 5 years. Around 10 years ago, my usage of credit card would be around 15% of expense, but currently it would be around 95 percent of epayment (credit card, debit card and money transfer) when small hawker are ready for epayment right now it is no wonder that the number of credit card usage are quite bigger even sometime it is just normal living stuff. 2. It is good to hear that you talk about good debt and bad debt. According to most people in Thailand, they have the mindset that they should buy house, car, mobile phone etc since early with loan to make them more comfortable and they are young enough to pay debt later on which they even think all of this things are good debt. Even we try to educte them much, they always argue that they were right and we could see that they can't sell house/condo at high cost or same amount that they bought right now. For the car, bank always would have good marketing on this loan and as you know Thailand is based (fully and partially) factory of EV Car and fuel car so this things also increase the economic of Thailand which is quite contrast. For me, Transportation in thailand is quite good in some level that they don't need car in many big or tourist cities. 3. They are quite believe in potential growth more than stability and risk management. I could say many of people try to loan to invest in something or make their own business. They dare to do many thing, but it is not stable since they have not much money to protect it. You can see that Covid-19 and war situation affect them much. 4. If people are much in debt politician could gain popularity againt government. Currently many politicians would said that government should pay for people debt or give them less interest. Even support people to blindly invest in cryptocurrency or many stuff without enough knowledge even government or investers warn them. They would blame that government is too old for new stuff. At the end they lost money and always blame government. For me what government should do, is nothing to help them. They need to get the consequences from their actions and people will learn severely from their mistakes.

[@Opwod]

ค่านิยมไทย ไม่เป็นหนี้เมื่อไหร่จะ ไม่เป็นหนี้ไม่ใด้สร้างอะไร เป็นหนี้ตั้งแค่อายุยังน้อย เพราะยังมีแรงผ่อน 🤦

[@slashd]

Exactly 10 minutes video, this is going to have a lot of fluff padding the runtime to qualify for that extra advertisement 😂

[@jon6309]

It wasn’t the first time Thailand caused a financial crisis globally. Weren’t they the start of the Asian financial crisis of the late 90’s when they didn’t have enough $ on hand to peg their currency and was forced to free float the baht?

[@mkb9122]

i think thailands economy is collapsing in the SEA. they rely to much on tourism too. Vietnam, Philippines or Malaysia will surpass thailands economy

[@donhuang9855]

Japan, USA and many advance economies have a higher debt ratio to its GDP than Thailand. The key to resolving this issue is Thailand's growing economy / financial strength which continues to be growing at an even pace going forward. In fact, Thailand as a key member of ASEAN, RCEP and APEC, is well position to take full advantages of the increasingly growing opportunities in terms of massive economic / financial strength of these regional economic organization that constituted nearly 60% of the global economy.

[@Quid100]

You are wrong, by a lot. "United States household debt accounted for 66.1 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2022" "Japan household debt accounted for 68.6 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2022" "Thailand household debt accounted for 88.2 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2022" - 66/68% is much lower than Thailand's 88%. Source: ceicdata

[@donhuang9855]

@@Quid100 The substance of Thailand' GDP has real intrinsic depth while the USA / Europe GDP are largely over-inflated values, pumped-up with trillions of QE monies, to prop the zombie financial institutions and "Too BIG to FAIL" industries" that does not reflect the reality of the real economy. Moreover, most of America's industries and multi-billion corporations are heavily funded with US government monies, cleverly disguised as financial instruments, as well as protected by US legislation that mostly target foreign competitors that most US corporations are unable to compete on an even playing field. Last but by no means least, the US economy can only progress at great expenses of other regional economies through US-manufactured foreign wars to create regional instablities and insecurity that is aimed at sucking out valuable resources to the US mainland.

[@Quid100]

@@donhuang9855 Math is math. The U.S. and Japan have much lower household debt compared to their countries GDP. Thailand has very high household debt compared to their GDP. It's simply math and you were wrong claiming Japan and U.S. have more household debt to GDP than Thailand. They don't.

[@donhuang9855]

@@Quid100 There you go again, trying to square the circle again. At USD 32.8 trillion debts and counting the US's national debts is fast ballooning into an existential crisis that cannot be wished away for much longer; something has to give soon. Whichever ways you may wished to look at this ginormous US national debts; as a proportion to US GDP (USD 23 trillion), or foreign / local debt ratio, or relative to other weaker economies, the bottom line is the USA is fast running out of creative tools, short of wars, to attract foreign Capitals into the USA, and thus has to resort to coercive means by export insecurity in other economic zones causing chaos and social panic in order to force foreign resources to seek “safe-haven” in the USA. Moreover, with the US’s increasingly weaponizing the USD and abusing the international payment system (SWIiFT), as well as it’s perchance to impose economic / financial sanctions against nations not to its approval, the time has come for the international trading community to cushion the adverse effects of the USD as a major global currency reserves by trading more in other recognized international currencies reserves, in conjunction with intra-nations’ currencies, and/or payments in kinds in order to circumvent the intrusive long arms of the rogue US government.

[@pauleagle6281]

​@@donhuang9855 It's seem you mess things up between government debt (public debt) and household debt. US, Japan, Singapore have higher government debt than Thailand. But we talk about household debt.

[@beelouwill303]

Changing bad debts will be hard for many Thais. It is not a habit but a belief, kind of like a new religion under the name of extravagant life necessity. If the nation can diminish this culture value and turn bad debts to good debts, then it is another way to resolute down the crisis. Come on Thailand you don’t need extra three or four motorbikes on top of a car per household. Rooting for you😅❤

[@kwokleongawyong2895]

This ignore the facts are most Thai own freehold land, even Singaporean don't even own leasehold private assets that can be refinance.