Friday, August 8, 2008

A Question of Ownership

It's becoming all too apparent that one of the biggest problems everday Thais face is lack of ownership. Everywhere I go and with everyone I speak with it seems that either villagers work for the profit of another or are working for the profit of the bank.

Most villagers are under heavy debts. People owe money to the bank for motorcycles, educational exspenses, property, etc. while others may owe smaller "gentleman's agreement" style loans for seed, farming equiptment, or even a new car stereo. The heavy debts people face make it virtually impossible to build wealth. Combine this with an ignorance of basic financial management and you have a wicked brew called generational poverty.

Interestingly, villagers do have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. It seems like every other day someone is opening a new noodle stand, restaurant, or shop. Unfortnately, lack of planning and other basic business skills leads to a higher than usual business failure rate. If villagers could learn to manage their debts and implement good business practice I believe many villagers could turn their financial fortunes around.

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