Thailand feels scammed by Sweden and Finland (wow that’s a first). According to the Bangkok Post the berry pickers that visit Sweden every summer get over charged and scammed almost every time they go there (pay back is a bitch).
The poor farmers in North Thailand mostly take loans from loan sharks (why doesn’t anybody blame them) and then they are off to Sweden to double the money at least.
If it’s a bad season or if too many pickers visit the same area the crop will not be big enough to even cover the trip and stay. They have to ask the Thai government to be able to come back to Thailand.
Bangkok Post also says that Swedish and Finish berry merchants scam the picker by have a scale that show the wrong amount (good that never happen in Thailand).
My impression is that the berry pickers get scammed by the Thai people that promise them that they will make good money going to Sweden. Why they spend 150 000 THB on tickets when you can fly Air Asia for much less than that. The truth is I think the Thai government should stop people from going half around the world to make some extra money. The Swedish and Finish government should not give visa to berry pickers, if they cannot pick the berries themselves let them rot.
Greed for more money will just lead to misery sooner and later and we have heard this song every summer about Thai berry pickers getting stuck in Scandinavia.
THAI Berry Picking
The berry pickers should get all rights they should be paid fairly and they should be treated well