Civil servant debt out of control in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest
We
learned last week that medical expenses for Thailand's civil
servants
are dangerously out of
control.Civil servant medical expenses are almost equal to the amount spent on the nationwide "30 baht" universal healthcare scheme that Thaksin initiated:
...uncontrolled
expenses plus the unethical
exploitation of the medical welfare scheme by some civil
servants has caused the state's medical bills to jump from 30 billion
baht to 80 billion baht in just four years. This almost equals the
state's annual budget for the universal
health scheme covering more than 40 million people
nationwide (See article).
This week we learn that civil servant debt is also out of control with their "salaries not keeping pace with their expenses."
On Twitter last week veteran Bangkok Post journalist Sanitsuda Ekachai speculated that this might be one factor causing corruption by government workers (Read Tweet).
Today's article follows the vocabulary:
civil servants - people who work for the
government for their whole career or life
out-of-control - cannot control (cannot make it do what you want it to do)
unethical - acting without following rules on what is morally right and wrong
exploitation - using something for your own personal gain
universal health scheme - a system that provides healthcare and medical treatment for everyone
pace - speed
keeping pace with - moving at the same speed as
salaries not keeping pace with expenses - they are spending more than they earn
speculated - make guesses about
out-of-control - cannot control (cannot make it do what you want it to do)
unethical - acting without following rules on what is morally right and wrong
exploitation - using something for your own personal gain
universal health scheme - a system that provides healthcare and medical treatment for everyone
pace - speed
keeping pace with - moving at the same speed as
salaries not keeping pace with expenses - they are spending more than they earn
speculated - make guesses about
Civil servants heavily in debt
The National Statistical Office's latest survey of debts incurred by civil servants was quite shocking in that it found about 84% of public servant households were shouldering heavy debts to the tune of about 220 billion baht - or on average 750,000 baht per household, noted a Thai Rath writer.What was worrying was that the debt had risen significantly every year over the past four years from 490,000 baht to 749,000 baht on average - or more than 10% extra each year.
The writer queried why government officials had incurred so much debt. The simple answer was that their salaries could not keep pace with their expenses.
heavily in debt
- borrowed lots of money and haven't paid back yet
National Statistical Office - (See website)
incur debt - borrow money that must be paid back
incurred so much debt - borrowed a lot of money
survey of debts incurred by civil servants - considering all of something (but not in detail)
shouldering heavy debts - having lots of debt (which makes life difficult, like carrying something heavy on the shoulder)
to the tune of about 220 billion baht - around 220 billion baht
National Statistical Office - (See website)
incur debt - borrow money that must be paid back
incurred so much debt - borrowed a lot of money
survey of debts incurred by civil servants - considering all of something (but not in detail)
shouldering heavy debts - having lots of debt (which makes life difficult, like carrying something heavy on the shoulder)
to the tune of about 220 billion baht - around 220 billion baht
The Thai Rath writer noted the survey could be indicative of the state of the general population.
When taking into account the fact that government officials have very good fringe benefits, such as free medical care for their spouses, children and parents, it was amazing that 84% were so heavily in debt. Most ordinary working Thais don't have the same generous fringe benefits enjoyed by government officials. So it was quite within reason to speculate that most Thai households were also heavily in debt.
This would pose a great problem for the country in the long run.
X indicative of Y - X
suggests that Y is true, X is partial proof that Y is
true
indicative of the state of the general population - suggests that all the people in the country might be the same
taking into account Y - considering the information or facts Y
fringe benefits - things that an employer gives employees in addition to wages
generous fringe benefits - the employer gives employees many extra things in addition to wages
spouses - husbands and wives
quite within reason to Y - had a good reason to say or do Y
pose a great problem - create a big problem
indicative of the state of the general population - suggests that all the people in the country might be the same
taking into account Y - considering the information or facts Y
fringe benefits - things that an employer gives employees in addition to wages
generous fringe benefits - the employer gives employees many extra things in addition to wages
spouses - husbands and wives
quite within reason to Y - had a good reason to say or do Y
pose a great problem - create a big problem
To alleviate the hardship of some Thais in the future, the Thai Rath writer welcomed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's proposal for permanent workers who are not officials but work within the bureaucracy to be eligible to receive a monthly pension if they have been employed for more than 25 years. At present, the permanent workers can only receive a lump sum payment upon retirement.
Since permanent workers generally receive a lower monthly wage than officials, their average pension would be less, or about 9,800 baht a month upon retirement - or a total of 2.35 million baht if he or she lives until 80.
This proposal was better than a one-time lump sum payment which usually did not last long for retirees.
Since there were about 200,000 permanent workers in the bureaucracy, the government needed to find an extra billion baht a year to cover the scheme.
The Thai Rath writer agreed with the Abhisit administration's proposal to raise the salaries of military conscripts to 500 baht each, which meant the government had to find an additional billion baht.
There was only one catch. The Thai Rath writer was not sure the government could find enough money to cover the additional expenses as it was already heavily in the red with its stimulus spending.
alleviate - solve a
problem or make a problem less severe
alleviate the hardship - make a difficult situation less difficult
a proposal - a plan or idea suggested for people to think about
bureaucracy - a government official (known for following rules strictly)
eligible - meet the requirements needed to receive something
a pension - an amount of money paid every month to a retired employee
retired - stop working because you have reached the age limit for your job (or for some other reason such as sickness or early retirement)
a lump sum - an amount of money given at one time (rather than spread out in small payments)
receive a lump sum payment upon retirement.
military conscripts - people who are officially required to join the military or army
heavily in the red - losing money
stimulus spending - temporarily increased government spending to get the economy moving and growing again
alleviate the hardship - make a difficult situation less difficult
a proposal - a plan or idea suggested for people to think about
bureaucracy - a government official (known for following rules strictly)
eligible - meet the requirements needed to receive something
a pension - an amount of money paid every month to a retired employee
retired - stop working because you have reached the age limit for your job (or for some other reason such as sickness or early retirement)
a lump sum - an amount of money given at one time (rather than spread out in small payments)
receive a lump sum payment upon retirement.
military conscripts - people who are officially required to join the military or army
heavily in the red - losing money
stimulus spending - temporarily increased government spending to get the economy moving and growing again
(Source: Bangkok Post, In Print, Abhisit urged to spend budget prudently and honestly, KAMOL HENGKIETISAK 07-09-09, link)
