Annoying flower sellers

[Miuccia]

my wife and I were sitting having a quiet drink in front of Dynasty Grand on Soi 4
there was a lady with a small baby. my wife went over to her and had about a 10 minute conversation and sussed it out( at least she believed it) that her story was true. lady said that her daughter came home, had the baby and then fcuked off back down here leaving her with no way to support the baby so she came to bangkok looking for her. so we went to 7-11 and loaded up on things that would be good for the baby and came back and gave it to her. then we walked over to another bar. about 10 minutes later she came by and thanked us again and told my wofe she was heading right home so we could only believe her. my wife doesnt fall for all of them but seems to know who's legit or not

as for beggars in Vancouver, there is a new dirtbag every 2 feet and i just stare right through them like they are the lowest form of earth and that gives them the picture

 

[Happy As Can B]

'should' ?

 

[. .]

Yeah,i know the one.Her older (by about 2 years) brother is a crack pool player too.

Both good kids and get my spare change every time.

 

[let it snow!]

Let me guess .. Midori and Lemonade is on your list as well. 5555555

 

[Dr. Octagonapus]

Nice one TC.... I think your posts are quite good.:idea:

 

[ricardo d]

Stopping shy of calling it a workable solution, there are things that can be done and it will not come from within.
To correct a wrong it takes someone who can see the wrong and someone who are at least a bit motivated to something about it.

I am working closely with a center in Pattaya that has a number of missions including taking care of "at risk" children, orphans, the hungry in the slum and last but not least, helping these very families getting their kids to school.
I have drilled in to this a fair bit and gotten a lot of education/information from the people at the center that run the scholarship programs.
In summary there are 3 issues that prevents the kids from going to school.

1. Signing up
   Schools in Thailand are free to attend, however, it takes someone to understand the benefit and to get the paperwork and fill it out. It is the centers experience that just about none of the poor families have that knowledge or capability. After all, they are most often illiterate.
   The center will on behalf of the children and their family do all the paperwork and follow up with school contacts as necessary as well as report the school grade to the sponsor.
2. Buying uniforms and supplies
   Even though attending school is free, there are expenses. The annual (typical) expenses for uniforms and supplies are 3,000-3,500 baht or roughly US$100 per year. Most of the money are due at the beginning of the year and it is impossible for the poor families to raise that.
3. Lack of income
   Typically at the age of 10-12 there is another conflict which is that the family now are starting to count on / need the child to earn their keep, which means taking them out of school so that they can collect and salvage trash, sell flowers, or do whatever to make a baht. The amount of money the kids can make range from 500 - 2000 baht per month.
   Perhaps a select few around Walking Street or Bangla Road can make more, though I am under the impression that not all the money is for the family to keep.

The center is always looking for sponsors that will commit to a 3,500 baht per year scholarship to get one more child off the street and in school.
By age 12 the need to sponsor more may be come applicable if the family needs the money that the child could earn by working.
At this point a sponsor may say enough is enough and at least the child received 5-6 years of school, which is a step better than no school.
Alternatively, the sponsor may choose to subsidise the family with, say, 1000 baht per month to allow the kid to stay in school.

I think we can all agree that various entities within the Thai system should be in charge of fixing or improving the system, however, it is not likely to happen.
I would strongly encourage each farang who live in or frequent Thailand to consider taking up a sponsorship.
The total cost is far less than what most of us spend on a single night out. I know that on sponsorship only helps one child out of so many and it may seem insignificant, but to the child it is not.
As the saying goes "How do you eat an elephant? ... One bite at a time."

There is no shoreforum.xxxe of opportunities to engage in a sponsorship of this kind in Thailand and the reward is not only for the child, but also for the family and for yourself.
If you do choose to get involved with a sponsorship, you should also understand that you need to see it through. There is little point in signing up and after a couple of years allowing the money to dry up and effectively sending the child back to collecting trash or whatever they'll do.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I also know the little girl that Masterwoodsman was talking about and same, i usually give her a 20b she gives me a little wai and goes on her merry way...

There is another regular that comes into the same complex and i always buy from her. she is about 14 i think and i asked her if i buy who does the money go to? She said half goes to her and half goes to her mum... so most times i just give her a 100b and tell her to keep the flowers....

On the topic of those flowers... Dont know how true this is but i was sitting at my bar having a drink with my girl and her mates.. A young girl came so i bought a few and gave them out..

My girl put them on the bench in front of her, they look great and fresh but when i went to smell them they had no smell and my gf quickly took them away from my nose.. I asked why she did this and what i could get out of what they were trying to explain to me was apparently they spray the flowers with the same thing they spray dead bodies with so it doesnt rott and it last longer and doesnt go off i guess for the viewing or something like that....not sure...

I dont know if this is true but if anyone has heard anything like this id be intersted to know if this is true... But if you do buy flowers smell them and most times they dont smell like anything.....

 

[Nuala]

Actually that doesn't sound to bad Denver. Look forward to having one in June at MTB. :cheers:

 

[Soggy Waffles]

It's just as well you are where you are young fella me lad!

Laundry bills............recession and all that! :idea:

Creme de Menthe & Redbull............Delish!

 

[Z X]

i would never be rude to them but sometimes it does get to be a little too much
you sitting there having a 10 minute conversation with someone and you have to stop and say no maybe 10 times

 

[Falling Star]

Sometimes TC you even out do yourself, so you thought this was about children selling flowers in the roads?? never entered your head the customers happened to be in the actual bar?? which area in the bar is actually the road???, just wanted to know so next time I'm in U2 bar I make sure I don't sit in the fast lane!!!

 

[Richard Ooi]

apparently Thaicam doesn't do bars Dodge....they are beneath him....he likes to drink 7/11 beers on the beach with that hi so crowd late at night and at the top of Bangla earlier so he can be near his MIB buddies....he's just not comfortable unless he is being pestered by katoey or MIB....555

 

[Pompal 09.]

Once sitting at "Big Dogs" in the front of Nana Plaza I bought some roses from a young girl. I smelled them and the BG I was with threw a fit. She claimed that the flower seller takes them from graves and re-sells them. Maybe I didn't get something in the translation, but the BG was crazed and refused to touch them.

 

[Due October 1st!]

what a crock of sh1t....(ozzie accent)555555

the kids and the hawkers get the time of day,although it can get a bit much,but tailors,come on...there all just persistant,annoying cnuts(bar 5%)....u tell me how u cant have a bit of attitude towards someone that will grab u and follow u down the road,if i wanted a suit i know where to go,yes u can have a bit of fun with them same as the hawkers,but im not to keen on being manhandled,IMHO there selling tactics suck...and i will add on a number of occasions ive come very close to sticking one on the fcukers.

one time a tailor followed me and grabbed me,saying he just wanted to shake my hand,so i shook his hand and kept hold of him whilst walking down the road ,must of took him near on 50 metres...he wasnt a happy bunny,but he never bothered me again...job done.

 

[DrZoidberg]

hey Thai Cam ruins another thread with his endless dribble

what a suprise

 

[vballnut153]

Tia Maria and OJ :idea:

 

[zaza]

The smell of Death! Very bad juju!

 

[maballer1]

The good thing is that it used to be a lot worse in Patong, with young beggars, flower sellers and you name it. Now is almost nothing compared to the past. Also remember gangs kidnapping children from poor families to be used at street beggars, but police cracked them down and some childs could rejoin their families.

So I feel happy the problem is small now compared to 10 years ago. (In Patong)

There is still a very young boy on Bangla who sells flowers and often kick people who dont give him.

 

[Slobo]

I’m never rude to children, course not, but I never buy from them. As long as tourists buy they will be out there all night. Don’t think I’ve seen any flower children in Patong, but in Karon there’s probably 15-20 children hanging around in the bars all night. Eleven year old girls who already talk like they were hardcore bar girls aren’t something I like to see.

I threat them friendly, but I won’t support this child abuse with a single baht, and if I do want to buy flowers or gum I buy from the old ladies.

And yes, in Karon I do find them annoying. They’re just too many, and I probably have to say no to them 2 times a minute. That’s definitely annoying when you’re having a beer or ten, and all the sellers in Karon (not just children, thought), are the main reason I won’t return there. They’re way too many and aggressive, and you never get peace from them.

 

[azagames]

Yea, right. Methinks people here need to look in a mirror, and see who is ruining threads. I guess even if I did feel that way about you, I also know that you're one of the few (very few) people here who is also doing something constructive to help out at least one of these kids. I don't know what you finally decided about the schooling (or what the girl and her family decided) but you had your heart in the right place.

Dodger - I don't know what to say. In the USA, if the meaning was the way you took it, it would have read "in bars". As I said, to me "in bar areas" meant those parts of Patong where the bars are. Since I don't go to the bars, I had no idea the kids were even allowed in there. Until now, I would have assumed they weren't.


Heck, why not ask the bar owners why they allow little kids into their bars in the middle of the night? Get them to stop it, and everyone would be much happier, you guys included, right? I bet you could find a Thai law that says kids aren't supposed to be there, so it should be an easy fix.