Why I Sympathize with the Rich
Even When I’m Not One
The rich don’t pay tax, and many people get angry about it. Blame and hate are thrown toward them. I’m not rich myself, but I sympathize with the rich. Why?
Because I made more than most of my family members — which has been a blessing for me — but it comes with a cost and obligations. This is the principle of society: you work hard and make more, so now you have to contribute to others who don’t.
For years and years, as Thai people, we’ve lived under this social condition. A person who does well in life is not allowed to enjoy it for themselves before helping others who don’t.
I personally didn’t get much pressure from my family, but I feel and connect deeply to this pressure from society. I felt guilty for having good things, guilty for going on holidays that others couldn’t afford. And believe it or not, sometimes when I shared those moments on social media, I got comments like, “What about your dad?”
Even my own sister said something when she saw me travel abroad:
“If you have that much, why don’t you take Dad with you?”
This is the unspoken rule — hidden in society’s criticism.
The same goes for the rich. People hate being poor, and they turn their blame toward the rich.
Governments that can’t manage their resources well enough to take care of people also turn to the rich to collect higher taxes. It’s the same old loop: the ones who work hard get tired of being used and look for a way out. Many wealthy people escape the system by moving to tax havens.
And why not? Why live in a country that wants to consume you and gives you nothing in return? Isn’t that insane?
My husband and I once lived in France — a country where we paid taxes on everything, yet didn’t feel safe. That kind of high-tax environment turned out to be unsafe, which doesn’t make sense. Aren’t we supposed to pay more for a better life? But in reality, it was the opposite.
When we moved to Andorra — a so-called tax haven — we actually earned nothing. No income in our household, which is the opposite of what most people expect when someone moves to Andorra.
For us, it was more about healing — healing from being conditioned to believe that if you earn more, you must give more. What kind of curse is that?
Living in Andorra opened my eyes in many ways. It offers a high standard of life, little to no crime, and low taxes. I paid taxes to Thailand for over a decade and got nothing in return, yet never questioned it. But when you move far away from the system, you start to see how unfairly you were treated — and how normalized that treatment became. It’s as if the rules are made by the poor, and everyone else must follow them.
Now that people can move more freely, we’re seeing a wave of wealthy people leaving countries that treat them unfairly — people who are refusing to be held responsible for problems they didn’t create. Countries like France, Spain, Germany and England are seeing wealth leak out. There are even rumors that these countries may try to force taxation no matter where you live, like a bloodsucker refusing to let the “good piece of meat” escape.
Personally, I ask: why don’t they think about fairness — so the rich never feel they have to escape in the first place?
Maybe the real question isn’t why the rich don’t pay more taxes, but why success so often comes with guilt and blame. Why are people who work hard and earn more expected to carry everyone else, even when the system gives them nothing back?
You can only demand loyalty for so long before people start walking away. No one wants to feel like they’re being used — no matter how much they earn. The wealthy aren’t escaping responsibility; many are simply escaping unfairness.
I still believe in giving back — but not through guilt, shame, or pressure. What we need is a new kind of social contract: one that respects success, encourages true generosity, and treats people — rich or not — with basic fairness. If we get that right, maybe fewer people will feel the need to run.