One one of my trips to one of the post offices in Udon Thani I saw something that gave me a bit of a nudge with regards to what topic I should write about next - and that is the topic of Beggars in Udon Thani.
Due to the nature of Thai society, with no financial aid from the government for the unemployed, low-waged etc and with few people having anything remotely like a pension in Thailand, some people struggle to find money to live. In most cases, other family members rally around, scraping a few baht to help buy food and pay bills and so on, but yet there are still a few beggars that you will see on a daily basis on certain roads in Udon Thani.
If you walk between bus terminal 1 on Sai Uthit and ferang alley on Soi Sampanthamit, you will find three to five regulars, sitting in exactly the same spot they were the day before. There are normally two near the 7/11 store and hotel on the corner of Sai Uthit. One elderly man or woman, and another woman a little further away. On the other side of the road, between Central Plaza and ferang alley, there are normally three elderly women, all within about a 50m stretch of the pavement. Note that I have mentioned only elderly people, and all of those I have seen are on the wrong side of 60.
Most of the ladies are sitting on the floor with a bowl in front of them, offering a wai as people pass by, to ask for them to make a contribution. However, just the other day I saw the laziest beggar ever - he was asleep on 'the job'! See reason number 4 below as to why he was out cold.
I refer to these people as professional beggars and absolutely refuse to toss a coin in to their tin or bowl. You might be thinking what a mean spirited git I am by not helping them out, so to defend myself and to warn others, here are the reasons as to why I will never give them anything.
1. If I fall on hard times while in Thailand, who is going to throw money at me? Will any Thai do it? No, I would be royally screwed and would have to either find another way or place to exist.
2. Every day, the local Thai's give them more than enough money to keep them going. Indeed after watching one of these old ladies for several hours (for research purposes), she easily had more than 500 baht given to her - nearly twice what someone earns working in a shop, hotel, for restaurant for 10 - 12 hours a day! These people do not need any help from us expats or visitors.
3. In direct connection to number 2 - these people are making enough money to not need to go begging on Saturday or Sunday! Most people in the Udon area have to work seven days a week to earn enough money to live on.
Due to the nature of Thai society, with no financial aid from the government for the unemployed, low-waged etc and with few people having anything remotely like a pension in Thailand, some people struggle to find money to live. In most cases, other family members rally around, scraping a few baht to help buy food and pay bills and so on, but yet there are still a few beggars that you will see on a daily basis on certain roads in Udon Thani.
If you walk between bus terminal 1 on Sai Uthit and ferang alley on Soi Sampanthamit, you will find three to five regulars, sitting in exactly the same spot they were the day before. There are normally two near the 7/11 store and hotel on the corner of Sai Uthit. One elderly man or woman, and another woman a little further away. On the other side of the road, between Central Plaza and ferang alley, there are normally three elderly women, all within about a 50m stretch of the pavement. Note that I have mentioned only elderly people, and all of those I have seen are on the wrong side of 60.
Most of the ladies are sitting on the floor with a bowl in front of them, offering a wai as people pass by, to ask for them to make a contribution. However, just the other day I saw the laziest beggar ever - he was asleep on 'the job'! See reason number 4 below as to why he was out cold.
I refer to these people as professional beggars and absolutely refuse to toss a coin in to their tin or bowl. You might be thinking what a mean spirited git I am by not helping them out, so to defend myself and to warn others, here are the reasons as to why I will never give them anything.
1. If I fall on hard times while in Thailand, who is going to throw money at me? Will any Thai do it? No, I would be royally screwed and would have to either find another way or place to exist.
2. Every day, the local Thai's give them more than enough money to keep them going. Indeed after watching one of these old ladies for several hours (for research purposes), she easily had more than 500 baht given to her - nearly twice what someone earns working in a shop, hotel, for restaurant for 10 - 12 hours a day! These people do not need any help from us expats or visitors.
3. In direct connection to number 2 - these people are making enough money to not need to go begging on Saturday or Sunday! Most people in the Udon area have to work seven days a week to earn enough money to live on.
4. It is not unknown, in the cases of some male beggars, to collect just enough money to go and buy a bottle of Lao Khow, a clear Thai Whiskey which gets you pissed as a newt quite quickly (or at least is does in my case). They then beg for more to go and get another bottle. I am never going to encourage these guys by making any kind of donation.
I would urge any reader of this to refrain from making any contributions to these people, and you can choose one, two or all three of the reasons to justify your lack of compassion (as some would see it). They do not need our help, and in truth, at least two of them do not need any help at all!
One of the ladies has a working husband, so she is only doing it to make more by not actually doing anything.
The other lady I have seen before, as she is a real professional who does this as a job well in to the evening. I saw here visiting a restaurant one evening, and I just happened to be enjoying a meal there at the time. She was bent over and hobbling through the tables begging for money and I thought nothing of it at the time (as this was the first time I had seen her). Just a few minutes later I went to the front of the restaurant to have a smoke, and saw this little old frail lady leave the building, straightening up her back and jumping on to the back of a motorbike and riding off - Not only is she a beggar, she is a fraudster! So if you are not happy with the three reasons above, let this be a warning to you.
One of the ladies has a working husband, so she is only doing it to make more by not actually doing anything.
The other lady I have seen before, as she is a real professional who does this as a job well in to the evening. I saw here visiting a restaurant one evening, and I just happened to be enjoying a meal there at the time. She was bent over and hobbling through the tables begging for money and I thought nothing of it at the time (as this was the first time I had seen her). Just a few minutes later I went to the front of the restaurant to have a smoke, and saw this little old frail lady leave the building, straightening up her back and jumping on to the back of a motorbike and riding off - Not only is she a beggar, she is a fraudster! So if you are not happy with the three reasons above, let this be a warning to you.
The 'gentleman' in the image to the right, despite being the scruffiest person you are likely to encounter in Udon Thani, is not actually a beggar, or certainly does not go round begging that I have seen to date. If you hang around Central Plaza on any day of the week, there is a very good chance that you will see this man, wearing exactly the same clothes as shown in the picture. The trouser legs are shredded vertically, he has string around his waist to serve as a belt and he rummages around the bins to find food, drink and cigarette butts. He is totally harmless to you or me, and I sometimes can't help but feel a little more than just sorry for him, but he somehow manages to get through each day, finds somewhere to sleep and is up and about the next day to complete his rounds.