zackxx

Correct up to the point before a debt to them is incurred. After a debt is incurred they must accept "Legal Tender". Typically they they get around this by employing a system where you paying BEFORE you incur the debt, like at a pre-pay coffee shop. But if you pay after you get your coffee then they legally must accept cash.

I note the the Thai cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub has a policy that you can only deposit a minimum of THB 50,000/time. With the transfer fee this comes to THB 50,000.30. I can't make the deposit because it's over my daily maximum transfer allowance.

On 9 August 2025 I got hit by a motorcycle while I was on a pedestrian crossing walking across a road in Bangkok. Cars were waiting for the lights to change so had stopped on the crossing forcing me to walk in between them. That's when a motorcycle "superbike" zipping through these parked cars hit me. Luckily he stopped suddenly to avoid running me over so I survived unscathed but it could have ended very differently. This episode reminds me of the student doctor that got killed on a pedestrian crossing 3 years ago on Phayathai Rd here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/s9cSP8k4ujpBgkzAA?g_st=al She was run over by an off-duty policeman riding a "superbike". Her nickname was กระต่าย ("Rabbit"). A more recent incident at the same pedestrian crossing after they installed traffic lights in the wake of Krathai's death. https://www.nationthailand.com/nsews/general/40045605

So I went to buy a coffee at a cafe in Bangkok but they didn't accept cash or payment by credit card. Only by some "app" you can download to your mobile phone that would scan their payment QR code. I left decaffeinated! I attach an image of what is printed on every Thai bank note "ธนบัตรเป็นเงินที่ชำระหนี้ตามกฏหมาย" (Banknotes are legal tender). So my understanding is that legally, cash must be accepted for payment for any good or service. By going cashless are businesses breaking the law? I suppose they could argue that they hadn't yet served my coffee so I was not yet in debt to them. They just refused to serve me, period. Having cash on you means you are in control. If digital, the banks are ultimately in control of "your" money, or more correctly, your means of exchange i.e. currency. Then there are those apps on your phone that they "force" you to use that gather/sell all your private information. As I'm very bad sighted I cannot clearly see the small screen on my phone preferring my home PC that has a very large monitor so see clearly all things that involve money. Being a PC there is no phone number connected to an app to prove your identity nor can you download the Android or iPhone app to your PC.

A recent story in The Nation newspaper about that crossing I mentioned: https://www.nationthailand.com/nsews/general/40045605

Sure it's good to know who your mother is but she would have moved on with her life and probably has more kids with another man, Jeffery's 1/2 brothers or sisters. She might also ask Jeffery for financial support which would burden Jeffery even more. "The emotional search intensified when Jeffrey's father was diagnosed with cancer. During his father's final days, Jeffrey and his brother visited him daily. Jeffrey asked, "Do you want to see your mother one last time?" But his father remained silent and passed away without closure." I believe they meant "my mother" instead of the father's mother.

Good luck "educating" those Thais! You will only have another 71,801,279 more to go! And that's it really it isn't it -you have the ability to change your behaviour but trying to change the behaviour of others is an endless, and exhausting, story. That's why a public relations campaign is required to "mass educate".

The pedestrian crossing that Dr Waraluck "Kratai" Supawatjariyakul died on while hit by a policeman (out of uniform) who was riding a "superbike" is right in front of my Condo. Kratai used to live in the same building. That crossing now has traffic lights to stop traffic while you cross. Pedestrian crossings in Thailand do not have the same "road rules" as in western countries. Stand at a pedestrian crossing without traffic lights in Thailand waiting to cross and it's up to motorists to decide whether they want to stop or not. Overseas it is commonly compulsory, by law, to stop. And in Thailand, even if a car, or cars have stopped there's always the chance a motorcyclist comes whizzing though those stationary cars. My attitude in Thailand while crossing a road in Thailand is always give way to motorists whether your at a pedestrian crossing or not. If you don't do this you may be the party to lose out, maybe with your life.

Probably. The extent "digital nomads" will go to making fake claims/videos, lies, to get those view counts and therefore $$$

It's never worked for me and I speak fluent Thai, have a pink government Thai ID card and Thai drivers license. I have also worked in Thailand for 25 years paying Thai government tax (that gets used for maintaining national parks...) in all that time. Nope! I need to show them a Thai National ID card (บัตรประจำตัวประชาชน) otherwise I pay the "farang" rate.

Shocking behaviour. My guess is that the driver of the green-plate taxi thought the ambulance turned on their siren just to get though the traffic and this was not an emergency case. Many ambulance drivers tend to be fairly liberal when they use their sirens and it is not unknown for emergency vehicles to use "their privilege" to wantonly to get through heavy traffic in non-emergency cases. A case of familiarity that has bred contempt. Living near 6 Bangkok hospitals within a 3km radius, nary a day goes by without me hearing a loud wailing ambulance siren that does not get turned off even when it is stuck in traffic due to a red traffic light. In other countries there are signs to prohibit use of sirens or make loud noises when near a hospital.

That only one building in Bangkok collapsed may be partly due to the fact that it was still being constructed and that high rise construction in Bangkok is largely sound and buildings there are designed to withstand moderately sized earthquakes. Newly poured concrete never stops curing. It continues to get stronger as time goes on. It takes at least 2 months for concrete to reach a strength where you can start building on top of it, longer in very hot weather. I've heard also that the collapsed building was designed and built by the Chinese "The Only Building to Collapse in Bangkok’s Earthquake Was Built by China"

Oh I read it alright but knowing how things "get reported" is typically is not what really happened and/or is propaganda. I guess you're the type of person who believes EVERYTHING you read in a newspaper. yaaaawnnnnnn "

Yeah, well, the Zionist Israelis for sure! After 32 years living in Thailand I've certainly noted more negative issues cropping up with Israelis than Thai transgenders. Back in 1989 the Thai guest house I stayed at on Khao Sarn Rd was always "full" when an Israeli asked if there were any rooms available. They didn't want to deal with the hassle that they were pretty sure would come. Thailand being one of the few SE Asian countries to let Israelis in means a lot of the riff-raff come here. As for this skirmish at Phuket I'm surmising that an Israeli said and/or did something disrespectful to a transgender who maybe already on edge given some farang attitudes towards this type of person (just read some of the comments on this thread!). Sure I get catcalls from ladyboys sometimes but pass it off in good humor -never give back a nasty retort or get physically violent.

Well I've seen plenty of Indians defecate in public in India but there is a lack of toilets there but at an airport no excuse by anyone at all! By-the-way he surely can multitask -urinate and play on his mobile phone at the same time.