Do you give to beggars?

[Randy Cornhole]

she'll give them is a mouthful of abuse in Thai.

Harsh but fair...

[Poe]

I don't give.
Not because I'm a cheap, stonehearted MOFO, but because if I gave to all the folks asking for money, then I would be broke, homeless, and on the street begging.
Worked too hard thru alot of BS to get what little I have.....no way I'm just handing it over to beggars.
If I wanted to part ways with my funds, I would just get married and divorced.

[kendo]

I have given money to a one armed lady selling flowers in HH i dont buy on demand but felt a little sorry for her, so a polite no and here's 50 baht, it happend on various occasions, if i want to buy flowers for my now wife i will go and find a vendor in the market.

A few more visits to HH and i realised that the above lady had a couple of kids working for her one of them started to pester me when i was sat in the U-Turn bar she would not take no for an answer, "i dont want a rose" i said to my wife tell her in Thai please, so she did and the little girl got very angry and even stared me out and pressed her head against mine, i will be honest i was quite shocked at this so after that my now wife gives a very firm go away.
It makes me wonder how much presure these kids get put under.

Another time a rainy afternoon chilled out drinking down the Binta, the wife had wondered off to find some somtam, and a passing vendor sold me a plastic map of Thailand, i was sat there very happy with my purchase and looking at my new found world.
Five minuites later a monk came and sat next to me and started to show me a very upseting photo album of dead bodys from the sunami and then asked me to give some money.....at that point my wife came back and told me he was not even Thai and his robe was a dark brown colour she then said in english " show us on the map where the sunami happend" and guess what he had no idea, i looked at him and said sorry no thank you and off he went.
Now i am a little more Thailand wise it would be a very serious offence for monks to tout for money around bars and tourist area's and the police have even taken them to the temple's to be derobed across the gulf in Pattaya.

The last two years have been tough for me and coming out on the 27th has taken a lot of hard graft to pay for i will be very careful and not so gullible.

Kendo.

[PeteC]

As some have said, there are beggars, then there are real beggars in need. I've given to some but usually in rural areas, very old, ragged clothes and some with a swarm of flys around them. I don't think those people are acting. Pete

[kendo]

Yeah i would agree with that, around the back of Indra square there is a sort of market soi, and we encountered a leper there, we see a lot of thai people giving him some money so we did the same.

Now for a funny one, when i first went to my wife's village i thought the mother in laws gums had been bleeding so i said to my wife "here's some money go and take your mum to the doctor or a dentist and sort her bleeding gums out" there was no problem she had been chewing beetle nut all day.

Kendo.

[Lung Per]

I try not to give beggars money. Sometimes, here in Thailand, I will offer a soup or a sandwhich but for some odd reason (!) this is always turned down. So, how hungry are they really?
Reminds me of the situation when Romania and Bulgaria were recently admitted into the EU and the gate to heaven opened up. Loads of beggars, pick-pockets and other and scum were bussed into EU capitals only a few days after. And there is no way we can get rid of them thanks to the Open Boarder EU policy.
Anyways, if you feel compelled to help beggars, my advice is to offer them something to eat or a bottle of water, not cash money. [/quote]

[migrant]

Do my kids count??

[T.I.G.R.]

I used to give money to the old lady at the corner by the Police Station in HH......until one day she pulled her filthy skirt up, leaned over and took a giant pee right in front of God and everybody......

A nasty story but true.

Honestly I think this event cured me of dropping five or ten baht into just about every beggar's dish......it's a rare day now for me to give anything.

[malcolminthemiddle]

BANGKOK: In Thailand, draft legislation may require street beggars to register with local authorities and apply for a permit to beg.

An estimated 80 per cent of Thais give money to street beggars in Bangkok. But the government may begin to crack down on the criminal rings that exploit beggars by requiring them to register with local authorities.

Rest of the article here

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 61/1/.html

I often give Baht 100 if I see what I believe to be a genuine case my wife to.

Have you've ever been in Cowboy and seen the boy with the badly deformed spine lying in the road as if he can't move? I've come across him in BKK in multiple locations over the past 15 years, watched him grow up. At the end of his shift he get's up and walks away.

It's a job for him I suppose, what else could he do. His deformity is genuine for sure.

[Khundon1975]

I have done in the past but having got wise to the beggars scams I never give to them.
My wife feels the same as she says "there is no merit in giving to thieves and scammers"

[Takiap]

Very rarely give but I do give sometimes to those I believe are in real need. Having said that, I don't donate to churches or temples either simply because I can't see how they could possibly be short of cash. As my signature says.......

[PeteC]

Yes, now that Thai Lent is over there seems to be no shortage of the Wat envelopes being passed out for a donation for some Wat up-country in someone's home town. We've had three put in front of us the past three days at our little noodle Thai restaurant here.

It's not easy to tell a Thai not to put at least 100 baht into one of these.

I don't think it's a scam as always handed out by a local we know, but my eyes at the sheer quantity being passed around. Pete

[charlesh]

Does Institutionalized begging (with threats) count ?
If so unfortunately the answer is Yes as the tax department are very persuasive in their demands.

As for begging you want to have a look at Paris which has an abundance of Gypo and Nth African layabouts who would earn even more that the later day Thai Lazarus mentioned above. They even do the carriages on the Metro which in itself is a test of ones generosity to his/her fellow creatures.

The offering of food is a good test here!

[hhfarang]

Yes, if they're disabled - i.e. missing or deformed limbs, not a leg tucked up under them to look like they're disabled.

There's no real safety net for the disabled here, and yes I know they may be put on the streets by 'the boss' in his pick-up, but they still have to pay for their food and bed.

Anyway, it's a good way of getting rid of those annoying satang coins...

VS

VS, my practice exactly... if they are obviously disabled, I give them a few coins. I keep my coins in a little jar and fill one pocket when I'm walking in Bangkok at night for the disabled beggars. I don't really see many here but I don't get out much at night around Hua Hin.

[Aussie Mark]

When Im back in the land of Smiles I do try to give to all 100 baht is peanuts ,But i have changed my ways a bit. I now take the young girls selling roses and buy them an icecream instead.
The shameful thing is the young boy that I used to buy drinks and food for has now been changed by the boss lady into a little girl he used be a cheeky little bugger but is now so withdrawn.
But lets all remember to give to the Mercy House orphanage Please