JustinTyme

Don't let realty interfere with your "expert insights" In 2025, Thailand remains the top global exporter of fresh durian, with exports to China generating approximately $3.9 billion in the first 11 months. Despite facing challenges from erratic weather affecting quality, over 4,500 containers were processed at the border in May 2025 alone, driven by high demand for the "Khao Banthat Mon Thong" variety.

Here is where i get off the thread and wish you a good day. Why? Because you are operating from the "things I do, things that affect ME, MY solutions ... etc." What is a bit funny is your "experienced" advice actually acknowledges that bag theft is a real thing, and you have to guard against it. What I am pushing back against is rules to make THEFT EASIER. Sorry you don't want to be on that side of the story. I am discussing the macro issue of low paid, no training people given unchecked access to private property, that is ridiculously simple to steal from since it can hours / days for the victims to find the theft, and are (obviously) quite far from the scene of the crime. And no, this has never happened to me. In fact, the only time I got ripped off traveling ... it was by Europeans, NOT the locals. Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Fiji, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada, and 30 American states (including Hawaii) is where this "inexperienced" traveler has been. Sorry we are not all "Professional Travel Gurus" like you! 555! Anyway, karma is a bit^h, enjoy your "don't worry about governments making theft more EASY!" life view! 555!

Hey NanLaew - It must be nice to be so naïve that you don't have a clue how crime works. Here, try this scenario: A foreigner and his wife check in and the agent takes note of his $50,000 watch and her $100,000 diamond ring, and that their flight goes to NYC. The bag goes on the belt and vanishes to "Concerned security agent bag inspection holding area" where it can be opened and "inspected" without any hassle. The wealthy couple flies half way around the world, and two days later he discovers his solid gold, diamond cufflinks are missing. (By the way, while I do agree using cufflinks shows my age and wealth ... the point is NOT "does the thief know what cufflinks are?" ... what they need to know is what GOLD and DIAMONDS are. 555!) HOW does this guy know his bag was opened, can prove his items were stolen, and what chance do you give him of getting $1 in compensation? Go ahead, say "But they have to put a sticker on your bag" ... I need a good laugh today.

Groping passengers and "inspecting their privates" ... that should go smoothly without blowing up immediately. 555

So let me see if I understand this, they can search your bag without permission, so when you get to your final destination, and the next day your gold cufflinks are missing, you would know that there is a chance they were stolen during "inspection?" HOW would you know that????

OK! Tourists are booking tickets for the great weather on the horizon! Time to send dozens of mixed messages and a box a red tape for them to navigate ... or ... redirect them to "Wonderful Vietnam" websites and just eliminate the hassle???

555 ... you are referring to an area (Isaan - northeastern Thailand) that covers an area of approximately 160,000 to 168,854 square kilometers. It accounts for nearly one-third of Thailand's total land area. - Provinces: The region consists of 20 provinces. Size Comparison: It is roughly the size of England and Wales combined.

Meet with your "friend" and tell him you did not sign up to be a bank / collection department. It is 2026 and child's play to open a banking app, and schedule a series of payments. Keep it Simple: State the problem. "You owe me money, you are not meeting our contract payments, I don't want this headache." Offer the solution: "Sign onto your online banking account and use the feature that allows repeat payments, and even the balloon payment in 13 months" Once that is done, if he misses a payment .. it means he had to open the app, and CANCEL the payment ... which means he knowingly stiffed you. (I am from Boston, and the day he decides to to OFF the payment tool, there is going to be a PROBLEM.)

I am confident we could start a group "So sorry I moved to Isaan Dog Hell" ... and it wold have 1,000 members in a week. There is no point in me ranting, just want you to know you are not alone. We had a wonderful life on floor 30 riverside condo in Bangkok, and took all our money to build an house in Isaan. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if you took a one kilometer radius and drew a circle around our house, there are probably 1,000 dogs in total ... and not ONE of them is trained to come when called, sit, stay, and STFU! 555. The best advice to give anyone thinking "move to the quite farmlands and enjoy nature" ... NOTHING could be further from reality, I mean, you can't even go for a walk, and riding a bicycle is basically an invitation to the emergency ward at the local hospital. And a good night's sleep = IMPOSSIBLE.

You have pointed to another "pet peeve" ... store clerks who just pick an aisle to get rid of you, or the ones who start wandering around looking for the item, and now make it my job to tag along like a child. I tell them "I have eyes and actually know what i am looking for, I don't need you to search for me ... I am looking for someone who KNOWS WHERE IT IS and can walk directly to it! 555!

I am fond of saying, "Culture always wins." An example of that is the Thai tendency to smile and pretend they speak English. When I first moved to Bangkok 14 years ago, I quickly learned, they are pretending to understand. So, one day I went to "The information" counter at Siam Paragon and asked for directions to a store. She smiled and motioned with her hand, pointing right at the center of the large divider that separated the two sides of the mall. So I motioned and asked "Go to the right?" A smile and a "Yes" "Or perhaps, (motioning) I should go left?" "Yes." I then said, "There are two popular hypothesis that light either travels as a particle or a wave. Do you think it most likely travels as a particle? "YES." But then again, it could also travel as a wave, could that be true? "YES." That was the day "I got it" and realized trying to communicate in English in Thailand, is a fool's errand. They are trained to create a "happy vibe moment" and have zero respect for other people's time. That is why for my whole lifetime, when I asked a person, all over the globe, for directions, and they said "I don't know, I would stop and really thank them! "Thank you for giving me one of the two best answers. (1) Exact directions because you KNOW them (2) "I don't know" ... Thank you for respecting my time, and not sending me on a wild goose chase. So here is a "Pro Tip" ... when you ask directions (especially in Thailand) ... and they say "Go this way" ... smile, point in the opposite direction and kindly say "Could it be this way?" If they say "Yes" ... THEY DON"T KNOW WHERE IT IS.

Thailand, like almost every country on this planet, has been "colonized" by the USA and their rigged system where they get to thrive by living far beyond their means, by creating a "Dollar Reserve Currency / Petro-Dollar Mafia" that forces the rest of the world to buy / hold their currency, notes, and bonds to do global business. China is moving toward a digital Yuan that will allow sovereign nations and mega-corporations to borrow capital at HALF the cost of the USA. The beauty of the Yuan system is ... we are all buying out inputs from China anyway, so "cut out the meddle man" (USA) and just go direct with China. Oh, and wait for it, unlike the USA who backs it currency with hollow promises, the digital Yuan will be backed by GOLD. What is really great about what Thailand is doing is ... they are aligning with BRICS, China, and other sovereign nations to break the chains of yes, "being colonized" by the US Dollar System! If Thailand manages this new rule set properly, it will have stronger positive relationships with trading partners it can TRUST to not capriciously slap a tariff on them, because of the whims of a geriatric dementia patient does not understand how the real world operates.

I wish there was a more "kind and gentle way" to say this ... but your posting is evidence you know little ... or nothing ... about how the Thai Baht is valued. It was not very long ago that I would stop and explain things like this, but honestly, Google / AI does such a great job on this subject, I leave it to you to "make the effort" and spend 20 seconds typing in a Google search on the subject.

Wouldn't it be easier to post "I sort of care about this topic, but not enough to Google it and do some research. Could someone please do that, and respond with an easy to understand summary?"

Well, for folks like you who are trading gold in excess of $200,000 USD per day, and will now have to document the money path, you have our sympathies. 555! I think the rest of us can rest easy, since NOTHING has (or will) change for just about everyone who holds Thai Baht Gold ... physical, or whose Thai partners hold online Gold with reputable dealers like Hua Seng Heng.

I don't get to say this very often, but what the BOT / Government is doing is a very smart policy that will relieve what is essentially a book-keeping pressure on the Thai Baht to keep it artificially strong. Currencies should be strong because the economy is doing well and the balance of trade is favorable ... not because millions of USD are pumped into, flushed out of, pumped into, flushed out of the Thai system on a daily basis. By the way, to people who own gold, when the Thai Baht gets weaker, you have more money! Funds transferred into Thailand get a better exchange rate (more money). Thai export businesses do better via competitive pricing. Tourism benefits from a weaker Baht / better exchange rate. Let's chalk this up as a win for Thailand, for a refreshing change!

14 years in Thailand with three different bank accounts .. NEVER ... have had to "verify your legal stay periodic" to a bank to have my online banking account work. That being said, I agree things are changing with phone based banking, and incredibly, banks are ENDING online banking and ONLY using apps, so your point is well made that in the near future, this is going to blow up for people without a valid visa and accurate sim card registration. I think this person should just transfer their money OUT of Thailand to keep it safe until a solution is found.

I lived in BKK for a decade ... not one issue with dogs. Then ... Built a house in Isaan, and entered "Dog Hell" ... but nothing as bad as you describe. Well, that's not entirely true, the first year, there was a truly vicious dog capable of jumping over my wall and not shy about trying to bite me. I talked to the owner. They ignored me. But then, not sure why, the dog suddenly got sick, and died. One of the "rules" i have learned traveling the globe is "Culture Always Wins" Don't even try and talk to Thai People about the dog issue, you may as well literally talk to a tree stump. Buy some high quality noise cancellation headphones, muddle through the next months, and take the lessons you have learned forward in life.

If you have an online account, you can live in Thailand forever never stepping foot in a bank and simply doing 100% of your transactions with the banking app, the way 99% of Thailand does it, every day. Just be sure to keep your sim card fully paid, and do not lose your phone!

The Thai Baht "gets strong" as the USD weakens. (Double Whammy) As the USD weakens, the price of gold goes up. The Thai baht and gold have a strong and unusual positive correlation, meaning the baht tends to appreciate when global gold prices rise. This is primarily due to Thailand's unique cultural connection to gold as a primary investment asset and the resulting high volume of domestic gold trading and exports. When global gold prices (quoted in US dollars) increase: Thai households and investors, who widely hold physical gold as savings, often sell their holdings to realize profits. Local gold shops and traders buy this gold and then export it internationally. Foreign currency (mostly US dollars) from these exports is converted into Thai baht in the local market. Increased demand for the baht in the foreign exchange market causes the currency to strengthen (appreciate) against the dollar and other currencies. This phenomenon is unique among emerging Asian currencies, where the correlation is typically much lower. The massive scale of gold trading in Thailand—sometimes exceeding the daily trading volume of the Stock Exchange of Thailand—can significantly impact the national currency's daily volatility and value.

I am going to guess masks on BTS???? ... because it is so RARE to see people with masks. Just so you know, long before COVID. Thai people, and women in particular, wore masks on BTS. It is considered polite to not breath on the person standing next to you. Second point, NONE of the personal choices other people make, are ANY of your business.

Well said, and very true. I went from being a legend riding the twisting mountain roads of the (Colorado) Rocky Mountains, riding in serious traffic in San Francisco, lane splitting at 160 KPH + , etc ... to now, putting around on a Honda 125, automatic transmission, at 40 KPH and just happy to give Thai drivers plenty of room to perform their endless stupidity while driving. That bike gets so little use, I worry about the battery dying between rides. I have a Thai wife, so it is effortless to have her order food from Lotus, items on line from all over the world, and have it all delivered pretty much for free. Since it is impossible for me to purchase health insurance at my age, I just use my brain and common sense to minimize risk, and maximize living a very sweet (mostly) pain free life, and know it would cost between 300,000 and several million to put this old Humpty Dumpty back together again. So, to your point, in the words of Dirty Harry, "A man's gotta know his limitations" 555!

I started racing Motocross 50 years ago, and have ridden street bikes over 1000 CC most of my life, until moving to Thailand. I lived in BKK for a decade and would NEVER ride a bike there. We built a house in Isaan and have a vey nice Honda "Lead" 125. 4 years, only 8,000 km, and now that all the shops deliver to our door, for free, I would be surprised if we put on 250 KM per year. Thailand has the most selfish and poor drivers I have ever seen. The rule for riding has two parts (1) Ride like you are invisible (2) When you see a situation involving a Thai driver unfolding in front of you, ask yourself, what is the most selfish, stupid, and dangerous thing this Thai driver could do. THAT is EXACTLY what they WILL DO. My advice, after 50 years without an accident on a street bike? Don't start now, at your age, and try to survive in Thailand. Add up what you think you spend getting around now, and now guess how much a hospital stay with a broken neck costs? Which is more? By the way, ALL the shops deliver now, and most are for free! Google answering the question: "do most accidents on mopeds happen in first year" Yes, accident data indicates that the first year of riding, particularly the first few months, is the most dangerous period for moped and motorcycle riders. The primary cause is rider inexperience, which decreases over time. Moped and motorcycle statistics Studies from several countries and different time periods consistently show a sharp decline in crash rates as riders gain experience. Significantly higher risk: According to the Highway Loss Data Institute, new riders are about four times more likely to be involved in an accident or suffer an injury in their first year than in their second. Riskiest first month: The first month of ownership is particularly dangerous. One study found that 22% of all motorcycle insurance claims happened within the first 30 days of the policy. The claim rate then dropped by about one-third in the second month and by nearly two-thirds after six months. Steep learning curve: Data on newly licensed drivers shows that crash rates are highest during the first 250 miles of driving and decline sharply after that initial period. This pattern holds for mopeds and motorcycles as well.