[JoesBro]

I see beggars around Siam alot around the sky crossings. It has been cleaned up a lot since when I first started coming to Thailand as I believe they are quite unwelcome there. But there are a lot of people crossing there. If they averaged 5 baht per person, they would need one person every 3.6 minutes to give them 5 baht to earn 1000 baht in a 12 hour day. At 10 baht average that would be one person every 7.2 minutes. So maybe 1000 baht is about right but I've seen foreigners deposit much larger amounts in the cups only to come out of MBK later and see the cup with only a few baht in it. Guess it depends a lot on the location.

When my friends are working at jobs that pay 8-10k per month, they are earning 1/3rd of what these beggars are. Granted their job is a lot more dignified but something is wrong when they have college educations and street beggars 1/3rd their age are earning 3 times what they are.

Begging, like every other money making activity, legal or not, has "tricks of the trade". A skilled beggar will actually put some coins in their cup etc when they start to beg -this is called "bait" -people see the few coins and feel more compelled to give than if the cup is empty -the psychology being they feel guilty if others have given and they have not. Large amounts left in a cup etc would have the opposite affect -the beggar has enough already, so I do not need to give. Buskers use the same trick.

[enasseneiff]

Begging, like every other money making activity, legal or not, has "tricks of the trade". A skilled beggar will actually put some coins in their cup etc when they start to beg -this is called "bait" -people see the few coins and feel more compelled to give than if the cup is empty -the psychology being they feel guilty if others have given and they have not. Large amounts left in a cup etc would have the opposite affect -the beggar has enough already, so I do not need to give. Buskers use the same trick.

my neighbor actually suggested that she and her daughter, who is also blind, and me go out on a day trip begging for money.
she said that bc a few month before, she called the news and told them that her daughter had some braille books stollen from her. so the next days, calls started pouring in and ppl donated money and more braille books and stuff.
i actually thought that begging idea was appealing at first, then i said no to myself. what would that do to my reputation. how would ppl look at me?

[Snweyuag]

We can help them by stop to pay for child beggars.

See video clip about this business at here.
http://yourmicrosoft.msnth.com/microsoftcares/


http://www.stop-childbegging.org

[MAKEMONEY]

The Mirror Foundation got their figures pretty accurate, ß1000 p/day is about the upper limit. "Income" varies from place to place and from beggar to beggar. For that matter, an average fake Buddhist monk (mostly from a particular province in China which I shall refrain from naming) in Yaowarrat also earns ß25,000-30,000 p/month, enough to pay for their fine, their air ticket back home and eat comfortably when they are arrested by the police and sent to IDC in Suan Phlu awaiting deportation.

Back to the million dollar question..to give or not is always a personal decision. Even the most stingy, hard-hearted of men I have known have given to beggars on a given occasion. The begging simply doesn't stop ...because it's lucrative, much the same as prostitution. Once the numbers don't add up..it will stop! Same with all other "businesses"..

[Caursedus]

It's about time people were strong enough to resist these beggars, a sad face don't make me melt.

[AnypecekceS]

I see beggars around Siam alot around the sky crossings. It has been cleaned up a lot since when I first started coming to Thailand as I believe they are quite unwelcome there. But there are a lot of people crossing there. If they averaged 5 baht per person, they would need one person every 3.6 minutes to give them 5 baht to earn 1000 baht in a 12 hour day. At 10 baht average that would be one person every 7.2 minutes. So maybe 1000 baht is about right but I've seen foreigners deposit much larger amounts in the cups only to come out of MBK later and see the cup with only a few baht in it. Guess it depends a lot on the location.

When my friends are working at jobs that pay 8-10k per month, they are earning 1/3rd of what these beggars are. Granted their job is a lot more dignified but something is wrong when they have college educations and street beggars 1/3rd their age are earning 3 times what they are.

[DownloadMan]

You are sure a nice man..............................

[Caursedus]

Well no beggar has got money out of me, including disabled beggars.

[actioliGalm]

I used to find the child beggars in the tourists area of Soi Nana and Patpong quite funny.

After getting money from tourists they would pop into 7-11 and either buy a big ice-cream or a huge Slurpie! I once asked one of the child beggars "What are you gonna do with all that money". To which she replied "Go to the cinema!"

It is now illegal in Thailand to let your child beg or sell garlands or chewing gum etc...... When are the police actually going to take this new law seriously and do some clamping down!?

[enasseneiff]

oh and also me and my fiance dont give money to ppl out on the streets bc most of them juz want boos. we found that out bc we had a neighbor. and a guy off the street ask her for some money to buy food. so she gets him food with her food stamps card and gives it to him. and do u know what he does with the food? he throws it away.

[enasseneiff]

that sounds like a very good law

[enasseneiff]

u know what i think is really stupid? speaking of beggers, i donno if this has any rellavence to it though. a woman on an email group that i signed up with said that blind people should start being like old time blind folk used to do. sit around and weave baskets. and i responded.
u r blind urself and u r willing to put urself to that level?
and also the stereotypical blind ppl that u c in the movies, u know, wearing ragged clothes, holding a tin cup for change, out on the streets?
i think that is horrible bc it changes the way that the general public look at us as a blind population as a whole.

[ropinirole]

Most of the child beggars in Bangkok are illegally smuggled in from Cambodia
ThaisNews, Thailand, 25th July 2006

The Mirror Art Foundation discloses that child beggars in Bangkok can make up to 1,000 baht a day if they are disabled.

The foundation, campaigning against child exploitation, said most of the child beggars have been trafficked in from Cambodia and forced by traffickers to make money for them.

These child aliens, as well as Thai children, can be found bagging in areas such as Pratunam, Hua Lampoang, the Mall Ngam-wongwan Department Store, Rangsit, BTS On-nuj and Nana stations and Central Pinklao Department Store, it said.

The foundation said the child beggars can be as young as four months old. Normal children usually earn 300 baht a day but those who are disabled can make up to 1,000 baht daily.

The foundation said authorities should tighten checks at the border to prevent traffickers bringing in children from neigbouring countries.

[ephennaCypota]

So are these children that we see in the streets sitting with people who are not their mothers?
Sometimes it's so hard to walk by without giving anything (I suppose that is the point).
are any of the child beggers we see not "professional"? Is there any way to tell the difference?
I mentioned this in an earlier thread but I'll mention it again here. Are those kids at the lights selling garlands also part of organised scams or are they just regular kids sent out by their parents. It's hard to know who it is "ok" to give to/buy from sometimes.

[ropinirole]

So are these children that we see in the streets sitting with people who are not their mothers? Are any of the child beggers we see not "professional"? Is there any way to tell the difference? Are those kids at the lights selling garlands also part of organised scams or are they just regular kids sent out by their parents.

Although not always the case, the baby sitting on the mother's lap is quite often not related. These instant families are put together by kidnapping babies and infants. If the child is begging every day and is making money then that child is a professional. The kids at traffic lights are sometimes controlled by a family member who watches from a distance. They are playing on your sympathy. The kids with the dirty face, who is not wearing any shoes, makes more sales than the decently dressed kid. In some cases these kids are part of a gang. They have quotas to fill and are beaten if they don't sell enough garlands. They cannot escape. They are waiting to be rescued by the authorities.

It will continue in this manner for as long as people give money to them.

It's hard to know who it is "ok" to give to/buy from sometimes Basically don't buy from any child that is selling something. You are not helping them in the long run. They will keep doing this until they become an adult and then they can no longer call on the charms of youth. What is next for them? They have no education. They are unskilled.

If you have money to spare and you want to help, then donate money to charities that help send street children to school.

[Caursedus]

If you have money to spare and you want to help, then donate money to charities that help send street children to school.

Good advice, although lets hope children are not going around collecting for a false charity and pocketing the money for them selves.

[enasseneiff]

and in reguards to, excuse the term, waterhead babies. if the mother does not know to take the baby to the hospital to get the baby surgery to put a shunt in its head that leads to the stomach to drain the excess fluid off the brain, then mothers like that should be taken for child abuse bc they let the kid suffer.
i know about this cos when i went to florida school for the deaf and blind in my secondairy school years, i knew quite a few ppl with that condition. there was this one black girl that had 2 shunts in her head in order to drain the fluid of her brain, however she still retained some in her head anyway. her head was slightly bigger than a normal head.

[Caursedus]

Why I don't give money to beggars, well I think most of them should have a Job, and the disabled ones make more than most workers in Thailand.

[DownloadMan]

That was 50 years ago, and there pobly was no money for that from the govt. at that time as they were poorer than they are now, if anyone even knew about what it was or how to cure it.
And most governments are not much into taking kids away except the USA.
Even here the government does not think you are to stupid to care for yourself and put everything under lock and key, in most countrys you do not need a prescription for everything stronger than an asprin and you go to a doctor if ya need an op and a druggist if ya sick.

[DownloadMan]

Steve, You are so funny----55555
...... When are the police actually going to take this new law seriously and do some clamping down!? If you are talking about Thailand,,,Well pobly just as soon as hell freezes over or just as soon as Toxin stops the graft..Which ever comes first.. My vote is the hell freezing part...

Used to be this woman begging on the waterfront in Chittagong with a "Water head" baby, the poor little kid was little like a doll and had a head the size of a 5 gallon bucket and she ask for money and shove that kid right in your face and we coming ashore to look for what most young men come ashore looking for.





Bet you thought we was going to church,,HuH??