Thailand welcomes people much as before, but the more tourists and foreigners there are, the more negative stories will appear. Social media and algorithms make this worse. Once people watch and interact with a few negative videos, they are shown more of the same, and that feeds more negativity towards foreigners. The more tourists there are, the more demands there are to make every tourist and expat happy for the same amount of money they used to spend. Thailand is no longer at the point where simply seeing tourists makes people happy and business good. There is more stress, more greedy and cheap tourists arriving, and negative feedback has become a daily concern. Thailand was once an exotic new destination where people were more polite and forgiving when things were not up to Western standards. I have also been guilty of some of this, but hopefully I am much better now and more sabai sabai than ever after being broken down and broken in. I wrote this for another thread but chose not to post it there because the discussion had taken another direction. The issue is no longer only about the fair chances Thailand has given tourists and expats, or how some have taken advantage of the trust and benefits given over time. Those who become most worried or angry are often the ones already living close to the limit, trying to maintain a decent life here without constantly worrying about the next rule change or restriction. What has made life harder for many foreigners in Thailand is the stronger baht and weaker Western currencies. Over the past 20 years, many have lost roughly 30 to 50 percent of their purchasing power, depending on their home currency. In my own worst transfer, the value had fallen by more than 56 percent compared with 20 years earlier. At the same time, prices in Thailand have also gone up. Still, Thailand is quite manageable, and staying here legally is not really that different. For me, the main change next year is that the Norwegian Embassy will no longer issue income confirmation letters. Those who do not depend on this method will notice little difference. I am now considering changing to a marriage extension. It involves more paperwork and waiting, but it could still be a sensible move if Thailand eventually gives foreign husbands of Thai women the same advantages that foreign wives of Thai men currently have. Retirement requirements may also change in the future. Thailand has used grandfathering before when the financial requirements were increased, but only for people who had held continuous retirement extensions since before the specified cutoff date. Whether anything similar will happen again remains to be seen.
