Thai thinking skills, especially when applied to problem solving are quite poor. Problem solving and the development of thinking skills are not really fostered in a rote learning environment where the wrong answer may result in some sort of whack. I am sure, given time, the internet will take care of this :-)
The reason I mention this is related to my decision to buy a truck in Thailand. I am sure many of you that have received a good education have seen the following problem:
Your task is to figure out how to join all the dots by drawing 4 straight lines without lifting the pen or pencil, and not going back over a line. Of course, to solve this problem, you have to think outside the box, something which Thais are not good at.
How does this affect my decision to buy a truck? My first Thai girlfriend bought a truck with a salary of 15,000 baht a month. Her truck payments were 10,000 baht a month, which left her 5,000 baht a month, which is barely enough to get by on if you are a Thai and share a room with 4 other Thai girls. However, she had no trouble financing the vehicle because she is Thai, has a Thai identity card, and a job. Now in Canada, her salary would have prevented her obtaining financing, but in Thailand, most Thais earn between 10,000 and 20,000 baht a month, so the auto companies sell to them. No big deal, if they default, they know where to find them by their ID number, and workplace, so repossession is probably a booming business in Thailand.
The difficulty I am having is 2 fold. First, they want me to have a work permit. If I have a work permit they think they can find me to repossess if I default. It does not matter that I could quit and disappear because That does not fit their criteria. Farangs must have a work permit. I could also be teaching ESL and making 30,000 baht a month like many of the punters living in Thailand and qualify for a loan. It has been interesting trying to explain to the business manager that I am retired and don't need to work, (or have a daughter sell her body nightly in a bar to send money home to me) as I have a pension of 150,000 baht a month. The business manger was astonished as he only makes 25,000 baht a month. It did not matter I went to the Canadian Embassy and obtained a signed and notarized affidavit stating what my income was. All of that is outside the box. Farang need work permit!
Next, I tried stating that we should have the vehicle placed in my GF's name. Good, where does she work and how much does she earn a month? I explained, that she is the primary caregiver for our son and I pay her 30,000 a month (big lie). She not have Thai job? She not work for company? I stated no, does not need to. At this point in my mind's eye, she is making more than the business manager sitting in front of me, whom I am rapidly deciding does not understand much of what I say despite continually nodding and stating chai, chai ... (yes). He bites a little and says, okay, she needs a Thai consignor and I say we have one, Thavorn's ex boss who works for a life insurance company, owns 3 bars, 2 restaurants, a garage, and owns many acres of farmland back in the village. He says, that is good and I think, good, it's fucking fantastic, probably the best application you have had in the past 10 years!!
I can see there is still doubt in his eyes, so I mention that I own a software company in Canada that generates another 50,000 baht a month for me which takes me up to 200,000 baht a month which is outer space for Thai incomes. I mention it is also after tax dollars and provide him with a copy of my 2014 Tax return. His eyes cloud over. Very few Thais ever file a tax return as they do not have to unless their earned income is over 350,000 baht a year. He says he will check with the banks and various leasing companies, and at that, I figured I was fucked. He is stuck in the box!
The issue that I have which the aforementioned manager did not ask me is my age. I am 65 and I checked on the net and Thai banks and financing companies often refuse to lend to anyone 65 or over. Why, because the box contains actuary data on Thai males who have typically died by the time they reach 65, usually do some form of cancer (spraying ddt everywhere without a mask) or riding off the road on their 125 cc motorcycle while high on yabba or Thai whisky. It does not matter that my life expectancy is 80 ish and that I carry 250,000 of life insurance that would easily pay off any financing loan.
It also does not seem to matter that I am willing to put 33% down on the truck, so if they have to repossess after a year or so, they can make a killing reselling it, or buying it off the books and using it themselves. And, let's not forget the consignor can buy it 5 times over and would take it over and use it in one of her businesses as it would be a steal!
So what is a farang in Thailand to do? Give up, make the rounds of the banks myself, looking for one of the few that really understands English, guaranteed indexed pensions, and dividend income, and life insured loans.
This is just an update. On Sunday I received a phone call from a Thai lady who did not speak English stating she was a representative of the leasing company contacted by the manager of the dealership. I gave up trying to communicate and passed her over to Thavorn who did not understand what she wanted. I then got passed over to the lady's husband who apparently speaks English, but whom I very quickly realized, spoke and understood it some what. Pension, dividend, after taxes, were not in his vocabulary. I was also concerned about talking about my finances to someone I did not know, over the phone, on a Sunday, but, what the hell, it is Thailand and I am willing to step outside the box.
After 20 minutes on the phone, supplying all the information we had previously given the manager, with paper copies (asked why she was not in possession of them), she said she would have to talk to her supervisor on Monday. Here, in Thailand, the working day is over so I figure our truck purchase is on hold for a while.
Maybe a motorcycle would be easier :-) Some may be wondering why I just don't pay cash. I am still recovering from 5 year divorce and have one more lawyer bill coming. the only winners in a divorce are the lawyers. The longer they draw it out the more money they make. The more questions you ask, the more it costs you.
Thais not go moon!
TTYL
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