For a long time I have thought about the ways Thailand has changed since the rise of smartphones, back when people were not constantly nose diving into their screens.

When I first arrived, smartphones did not even exist. My first phone was a big clunky Nokia with a black and white screen and a bendy retractable antenna. Then came the race to make phones smaller, with those tiny little Motorola flip phones everywhere. Nokia and Ericsson were still popular, although not quite as compact. Then the iPhone arrived, and everything changed. It took a few more years, maybe five or six, but eventually everyone had some form of smartphone. Fast forward to 2026 and it is almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing people face planted into their screens, doom scrolling every spare minute. So I started wondering how this change has actually affected everyday life in Thailand.

There have definitely been some gains and some losses. These days in Thailand, when you walk down the street in the city, people are staring straight into their phones and walk directly towards you as if they are blind. If you do not move, they will walk straight into you without ever looking up. In the past, there was always the classic Thai soi strut of ambling side to side on the pavement and never choosing a lane, making it hard to get past them, but now it is different. They walk in a perfectly straight line, they just have no idea where they are going. On the plus side, far fewer Thai guys sitting around with nothing to do who feel the need to strike up long, curious and monotonous conversations about nothingness with a passing foreigner. That alone might be considered progress.

You also notice it in places where people used to naturally engage with what was around them. Couples now sit together at cafes and restaurants in total silence, each absorbed in their own screen like they are in separate relationships. On the backs of motorbikes, passengers no longer look around at the world flying past them. They scroll through TikTok while weaving through traffic as if the laws of physics will never punish them for not paying attention while their driver squeezes through narrow gaps. At traffic lights, half the people crossing the street at zebra crossings look like sleepwalkers, drifting forward while staring down, trusting that cars will not flatten them out of pure carelessness.

Even in lifts, that old awkward silence has disappeared. Not because people have become more social, but because nobody looks at anyone at all anymore. Ten people can stand shoulder to shoulder, each fully absorbed in their own device, as if the others do not exist. And in places that used to be about actually being in the moment, like parks, temples, or markets, the experience now seems to be about filming it badly in vertical format so that it can be uploaded to the Gram and forgotten about five minutes later.

So, there are upsides and downsides. On one hand, fewer random conversations and less idle chatter. On the other, a noticeable drop in basic awareness of the physical world. People might bother you less, but they are far more likely to walk straight into you while doing it. 😄

People are doing what they want. And what they want is to look at a picture of a sandwich that one of their friends ate for lunch. I must have a dozen such interactions on the phone in the average day.

That’s a good thing.

It’s like Internet dating, another thing that people pretend to hate. It’s easier than the hit and miss of trying to meet people spontaneously. The benefits of that far outweigh the minor problems.

I’m with a very good person who I would have never met in the stream of life. So now I am off Tinder, and waiting for a picture of her sandwich.

That’s a good thing.

2 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

I’m with a very good person who I would have never met in the stream of life. So now I am off Tinder, and waiting for a picture of her sandwich.

That’s a good thing.

Sounds good, congrats. I just hope 3 to 5 years from now (or sooner) you are still waiting for her sandwich pictures and not posting a dramatic return to Tinder story.

Actually, she hates bread. Says it feels funny in her mouth.

I recall about a decade ago some controversy over using a cell phone in a restaurant. Owners of decent restaurants, were asking people not to use them so as not to disturb other diners.

That reticence died hard and fast. Anything convenient quickly supplants Whatever antique courtesy was in place before it.

Time in the elevator is no longer dead space. It’s sandwich viewing opportunity time. What’s not to like?

2 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

Actually, she hates bread. Says it feels funny in her mouth.

I recall about a decade ago some controversy over using a cell phone in a restaurant. Owners of decent restaurants, were asking people not to use them so as not to disturb other diners.

That reticence died hard and fast. Anything convenient quickly supplants Whatever antique courtesy was in place before it.

Time in the elevator is no longer dead space. It’s sandwich viewing opportunity time. What’s not to like?

Ah, but this being Thailand, some elevators (or lifts, as I prefer to call them) are equipped with advertising TV screens that offer not just visual but aural torture.

I was in one in an office building yesterday that was blaring inane ads at the captive audience ... despite there being a sign in the lift asking users to be 'considerate' by not talking on their phones!

2 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

Actually, she hates bread. Says it feels funny in her mouth.

I recall about a decade ago some controversy over using a cell phone in a restaurant. Owners of decent restaurants, were asking people not to use them so as not to disturb other diners.

That reticence died hard and fast. Anything convenient quickly supplants Whatever antique courtesy was in place before it.

Time in the elevator is no longer dead space. It’s sandwich viewing opportunity time. What’s not to like?

I think it's still rude and unpleasant to use a phone in a restaurant. And gym and on public transport. Maybe a quick call with hushed voice. But many talk loudly and are obnoxious - or they talk normally but it isn't cool beyond a minute or two. Couldn't imagine using my phone to look at stuff in public for extended periods except for waiting somewhere like an airport.

On holiday - breakfast buffets or restaurants at nice resorts in Thailand are fun but became less fun with my recent ex who would have to take photos of food and views and send them to people who didn't want to see them day after day. I'd let her do her thing but after a couple of days it was a bore but up to her. Not a big deal and it's fun for her but a bore is all.

Courtesy and awareness of how things affect others still has an important place in this world.

I don’t understand the difference between a conversation happening at a table and someone talking on the phone. Noise is noise.

When I get a picture of somebody’s sandwich, I am happy they are thinking about me and enjoying a good sandwich.

I am guilty myself. I just sent a picture of some duck pancakes to my morning breakfast group.

And then people affixed heart Emojis to the picture of the duck pancakes. And everybody felt pretty good, all around.

The world changed, and while it’s not exactly intellectually stimulating, A dozen tiny interactions like this a day make my life richer, not poor.

Whenever you get carried away thinking smartphones are pure magic, just remember one thing:

People are afraid of being alone with their thoughts.
It's much more comfortable NOT to think, just aimlessly scroll through screen after screen of anything OTHER than being present and aware of what's going on around them. I watched a guy in front of me in the elevator stare at his lock screen from the 14th floor down to the lobby. Just held it up in front of his face the entire ride...

We are not far away from Orwell's '1984.'

38 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

I don’t understand the difference between a conversation happening at a table and someone talking on the phone. Noise is noise.

When I get a picture of somebody’s sandwich, I am happy they are thinking about me and enjoying a good sandwich.

I am guilty myself. I just sent a picture of some duck pancakes to my morning breakfast group.

And then people affixed heart Emojis to the picture of the duck pancakes. And everybody felt pretty good, all around.

The world changed, and while it’s not exactly intellectually stimulating, A dozen tiny interactions like this a day make my life richer, not poor.

Pancakes and sandwiches? In 2026? By now, hasn't everyone seen enough of those types of snaps to last a lifetime?

FFS go on and DM every gal you know a pic of your morning woodward and then just kick back and wait for all the hottest birds to line up outside your front door wanting a close encounter. What could possibly go wrong? 🤣

... not sure if this is related. My own fault, but I found myself with a 12 hours wait at the bus station in Bangkok At the time (15 years ago), a UK or Swiss waiting room would have been full of people reading newspapers or magazines or books. Nope, out of those maybe 400 people waiting, very few were reading at all. So is it the case that Thais are better informed these days, or are they just watching tik-tok videos?

11 minutes ago, cooked said:

... not sure if this is related. My own fault, but I found myself with a 12 hours wait at the bus station in Bangkok At the time (15 years ago), a UK or Swiss waiting room would have been full of people reading newspapers or magazines or books. Nope, out of those maybe 400 people waiting, very few were reading at all. So is it the case that Thais are better informed these days, or are they just watching tik-tok videos?

Yeah, Thailand has always been like that. It is almost like they are terrified of words printed on paper. Want to break up a large public protest at the Ratchaprasong intersection? Just rent a helicopter and do a book drop. Sorted. ✅

1 hour ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I think it's still rude and unpleasant to use a phone in a restaurant. And gym and on public transport. Maybe a quick call with hushed voice. But many talk loudly and are obnoxious - or they talk normally but it isn't cool beyond a minute or two. Couldn't imagine using my phone to look at stuff in public for extended periods except for waiting somewhere like an airport.

Valid point - though that’s really more about the noise intrusion than the screen itself. For most people, it’s the video content that draws them in.

It takes a certain level of ignorance - and a truly special kind of selfishness to the degrees of galactic a$$holery to sit in a public space playing videos out loud for everyone else to hear. Whether it’s on a train, the BTS, or in a waiting room, it’s just basic courtesy - but some people can't be that 'ignorant' - they must actively know what they are doing and just not care...

Some places are worse for this behavior than others. In my experience, Qatar stands out - where a few people seem to take “not caring about anyone else” to an entirely new level.

I think on the BTS and places here - such behavior stands out because its in such contrast to the general well behaved and non-confrontational nature of Thai's - which in general is a police and conformist society.

As others have also pointed out - go to a restaurant, and we'll see whole families on their screens - its quite sad to see. I like to go out to dinner with family and talk - we've always had a soft rule - no phones at the table - that means, in my Wife's handbag - dinner, especially when out has always been a fun time to enjoy and chat

.

99% of the people at my gym in CNX bring their phone. I am the oddball that does not need to look at my phone while running on the treadmill, stretching and lifting weights. Hence the phone stays in the locker. So far no one has brought a phone into the sauna or steam room. At least not yet. Most of these people spend an hour at the gym but spend at least 30 minutes of that time looking at their phone. Some actually bring the phone to listen to music with their ear buds that is a small percentage. Back in Southern California every gym I belonged to had one golden rule: No phones on the gym floor. The gyms I have belonged to in LOS have few rules.

Okay...rural setting, but road outside us is straight and speeds vary between 0.9c and that of an asthmatic ant.......but one in fiveish are on their phones.....cars, lorries and even motorbikes.

35 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

99% of the people at my gym in CNX bring their phone. I am the oddball that does not need to look at my phone while running on the treadmill, stretching and lifting weights. Hence the phone stays in the locker. So far no one has brought a phone into the sauna or steam room. At least not yet. Most of these people spend an hour at the gym but spend at least 30 minutes of that time looking at their phone. Some actually bring the phone to listen to music with their ear buds that is a small percentage. Back in Southern California every gym I belonged to had one golden rule: No phones on the gym floor. The gyms I have belonged to in LOS have few rules.

Exactly.

People walk on treadmills for more than 30 minutes and either play videos up loud or talk loudly to someone.

People who walk around the gym and loudly talk to someone on the phone as though they own the joint.

People who sit at a machine - do a set - think for a minute - watch a video or play on their phone for a few minutes - ponder the universe for a while again - and do a second set .. sometimes repeated for many sets. Mainly young people and mainly when I only have that machine to go for my workout.

Not such a a big deal but not all that keen with people videoing too which seems to happen more in Thailand .. often it's a cutie so no so bad ..

6 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Exactly.

People walk on treadmills for more than 30 minutes and either play videos up loud or talk loudly to someone.

People who walk around the gym and loudly talk to someone on the phone as though they own the joint.

People who sit at a machine - do a set - think for a minute - watch a video or play on their phone for a few minutes - ponder the universe for a while again - and do a second set .. sometimes repeated for many sets. Mainly young people and mainly when I only have that machine to go for my workout.

Not such a a big deal but not all that keen with people videoing too which seems to happen more in Thailand .. often it's a cutie so no so bad ..

Agree 100% - This scenario at the gym I've noticed in another 1 or 2 countries too! And the best scenes were selfies and video calls while in the swimming pool - a nuisance to people who want to swim seriously!

Then... In the BTS, Metro blocking the entrance while face in the screen.... this too is International!

Falling off cliffs, getting knocked down by trains... all due to this phone!

I guess, this is something we have to get used to!

I remember years and years ago when cell phones first became available. There was a debate where I worked as to whether any of us would be getting one. One of my close co-workers and I both said absolutely not. We both did NOT want to be available anywhere and anytime to be contacted by phone. We both liked the freedom to be unavailable, unreachable. Another co-worker said she would get one, to be able to contact her teenage daughter at any time. Eventually, of course, we both ended up getting them, although my first one was a very limited usage one, used mostly for emergencies like car trouble.

On 3/19/2026 at 11:03 PM, 123Stodg said:

For a long time I have thought about the ways Thailand has changed since the rise of smartphones, back when people were not constantly nose diving into their screens.

When I first arrived, smartphones did not even exist. My first phone was a big clunky Nokia with a black and white screen and a bendy retractable antenna. Then came the race to make phones smaller, with those tiny little Motorola flip phones everywhere. Nokia and Ericsson were still popular, although not quite as compact. Then the iPhone arrived, and everything changed. It took a few more years, maybe five or six, but eventually everyone had some form of smartphone. Fast forward to 2026 and it is almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing people face planted into their screens, doom scrolling every spare minute. So I started wondering how this change has actually affected everyday life in Thailand.

There have definitely been some gains and some losses. These days in Thailand, when you walk down the street in the city, people are staring straight into their phones and walk directly towards you as if they are blind. If you do not move, they will walk straight into you without ever looking up. In the past, there was always the classic Thai soi strut of ambling side to side on the pavement and never choosing a lane, making it hard to get past them, but now it is different. They walk in a perfectly straight line, they just have no idea where they are going. On the plus side, far fewer Thai guys sitting around with nothing to do who feel the need to strike up long, curious and monotonous conversations about nothingness with a passing foreigner. That alone might be considered progress.

You also notice it in places where people used to naturally engage with what was around them. Couples now sit together at cafes and restaurants in total silence, each absorbed in their own screen like they are in separate relationships. On the backs of motorbikes, passengers no longer look around at the world flying past them. They scroll through TikTok while weaving through traffic as if the laws of physics will never punish them for not paying attention while their driver squeezes through narrow gaps. At traffic lights, half the people crossing the street at zebra crossings look like sleepwalkers, drifting forward while staring down, trusting that cars will not flatten them out of pure carelessness.

Even in lifts, that old awkward silence has disappeared. Not because people have become more social, but because nobody looks at anyone at all anymore. Ten people can stand shoulder to shoulder, each fully absorbed in their own device, as if the others do not exist. And in places that used to be about actually being in the moment, like parks, temples, or markets, the experience now seems to be about filming it badly in vertical format so that it can be uploaded to the Gram and forgotten about five minutes later.

So, there are upsides and downsides. On one hand, fewer random conversations and less idle chatter. On the other, a noticeable drop in basic awareness of the physical world. People might bother you less, but they are far more likely to walk straight into you while doing it. 😄

The most nefarious effect has been on the kids. In the villages, the lively, joyful outdoor playing has been replaced by passive, sedentary consumption of mindless content and thousands of pointless narcissistic selfies. The worst being those games they play, such as ROV, which seem to be designed to destroy brain cells.

2 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

The most nefarious effect has been on the kids. In the villages, the lively, joyful outdoor playing has been replaced by passive, sedentary consumption of mindless content and thousands of pointless narcissistic selfies. The worst being those games they play, such as ROV, which seem to be designed to destroy brain cells.

It's up to parents to guide kids to play outdoors.

Also, there are good video games, usually indie lesser known games.

Again, as a parent you can try to find those games and get your kids to play less violent video games ...

7 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

It's up to parents to guide kids to play outdoors.

Also, there are good video games, usually indie lesser known games.

Again, as a parent you can try to find those games and get your kids to play less violent video games ...

Agree, but the passive nature of Thais (and that includes parenting) is what it is, and it only worked when the environment was not nefarious. They will always choose the path of least resistance: before, that consisted in letting them run around the fields, now it's letting them play with their phones. Some of them even posit (and not always wrongly) that it's best they played their games indoors instead of going out driving recklessly, being exposed to yaba, etc.

5 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

that it's best they played their games indoors instead of going out driving recklessly, being exposed to yaba, etc.

yeah well there's some truth to that.

kids can mix with the wrong crowd.

On 3/20/2026 at 12:10 PM, sqwakvfr said:

99% of the people at my gym in CNX bring their phone. I am the oddball that does not need to look at my phone while running on the treadmill, stretching and lifting weights. Hence the phone stays in the locker. So far no one has brought a phone into the sauna or steam room. At least not yet. Most of these people spend an hour at the gym but spend at least 30 minutes of that time looking at their phone. Some actually bring the phone to listen to music with their ear buds that is a small percentage. Back in Southern California every gym I belonged to had one golden rule: No phones on the gym floor. The gyms I have belonged to in LOS have few rules.

At the gym, I go to here in Thailand the cell phone use is like that, almost everyone (except me and a few other older flang) are glued to their devices. They sit on equipment for 10 minutes or more between sets looking at who knows what making it difficult to use a machine. In addition, a large percentage of women and half the men dominate the mirrors taking various "selfies" of themselves nonstop often in various stages of undressed. At first, I was ofended by inadvertently ending up in their videos or pictures, but I gave up on that. The trainers are even worse - they have a client do a set and then both the client and trainer spend five minutes or more each looking at thier own device before trying another set.

The cell phone and the internet has given people the ability to look up any fact or research at a moments notice. It is an amazing tool to have - Google maps allows us to travel all over Thailand or elsewhere without knowledge of the region, it enables people who speak different languages communicate in real time, it allows me to communicate with family back in the states easily and cheaply, and read news from all over the world just to name a few of the advantages. But,...... social media is leading to higher rates of depression, increase of body dismorphia and dissatisfied of ones self, lack of communication between people, the inability or desire for people to read or pay attention to anything longer than a 60 second or 26 character message. I am not sure what the future will bring or what effect this will have on people of the future, but .... it is definitely changing society.

2 hours ago, Issan girl said:

At the gym, I go to here in Thailand the cell phone use is like that, almost everyone (except me and a few other older flang) are glued to their devices. They sit on equipment for 10 minutes or more between sets looking at who knows what making it difficult to use a machine. In addition, a large percentage of women and half the men dominate the mirrors taking various "selfies" of themselves nonstop often in various stages of undressed. At first, I was ofended by inadvertently ending up in their videos or pictures, but I gave up on that. The trainers are even worse - they have a client do a set and then both the client and trainer spend five minutes or more each looking at thier own device before trying another set.

The cell phone and the internet has given people the ability to look up any fact or research at a moments notice. It is an amazing tool to have - Google maps allows us to travel all over Thailand or elsewhere without knowledge of the region, it enables people who speak different languages communicate in real time, it allows me to communicate with family back in the states easily and cheaply, and read news from all over the world just to name a few of the advantages. But,...... social media is leading to higher rates of depression, increase of body dismorphia and dissatisfied of ones self, lack of communication between people, the inability or desire for people to read or pay attention to anything longer than a 60 second or 26 character message. I am not sure what the future will bring or what effect this will have on people of the future, but .... it is definitely changing society.

If people on phones at the gym were to disappoer tomorow I could get a full workout in less time. Yesterday one of local girls put her towel down on one weight station and then started recording herself stretching in front of the mirror on the other side of the gym. I removed her towel to use the weight and she pointed at me and I shrugged my shoulders and starting using the weight station. I may have ruined the timing of her session. Smart phones are great tool and necessay tool in modern life but not at the gym and certainly not while driving. Oh well we are in the minority.

23 hours ago, Issan girl said:

At the gym, I go to here in Thailand the cell phone use is like that, almost everyone (except me and a few other older flang) are glued to their devices. They sit on equipment for 10 minutes or more between sets looking at who knows what making it difficult to use a machine.

A couple months back, my current gym put up signs banning phones in the weight stations & machines. No one cares what you do with phones on stationary bikes and walk/run machines. It is people that finish a set on weights, then sit there playing with a phone. Other people want to use the equipment. Not that much of a problem in early morning, but good to know others were PO’d enough to complain and the gym responded.

The body beautiful, yoga pants video selfie crowd, don't get in until after 8, so I miss that team of narcissists, but yeah they are there too.

1 hour ago, Dcheech said:

It is people that finish a set on weights, then sit there playing with a phone. Other people want to use the equipment.

I find it interesting that a person can probably only get away with behavior like that while using a phone. If they finished a set, and then sat there reading a newspaper or knitting a sweater, nobody would put up with that.

Likewise with photos and video. People with a phone seem much more emboldened to get in your face and take video as they berate you; whereas if they just had a normal, old-fashioned camera, I think most wouldn't feel so brave.

On 3/20/2026 at 5:03 AM, 123Stodg said:

For a long time I have thought about the ways Thailand has changed since the rise of smartphones, back when people were not constantly nose diving into their screens.

When I first arrived, smartphones did not even exist. My first phone was a big clunky Nokia with a black and white screen and a bendy retractable antenna. Then came the race to make phones smaller, with those tiny little Motorola flip phones everywhere. Nokia and Ericsson were still popular, although not quite as compact. Then the iPhone arrived, and everything changed. It took a few more years, maybe five or six, but eventually everyone had some form of smartphone. Fast forward to 2026 and it is almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing people face planted into their screens, doom scrolling every spare minute. So I started wondering how this change has actually affected everyday life in Thailand.

There have definitely been some gains and some losses. These days in Thailand, when you walk down the street in the city, people are staring straight into their phones and walk directly towards you as if they are blind. If you do not move, they will walk straight into you without ever looking up. In the past, there was always the classic Thai soi strut of ambling side to side on the pavement and never choosing a lane, making it hard to get past them, but now it is different. They walk in a perfectly straight line, they just have no idea where they are going. On the plus side, far fewer Thai guys sitting around with nothing to do who feel the need to strike up long, curious and monotonous conversations about nothingness with a passing foreigner. That alone might be considered progress.

You also notice it in places where people used to naturally engage with what was around them. Couples now sit together at cafes and restaurants in total silence, each absorbed in their own screen like they are in separate relationships. On the backs of motorbikes, passengers no longer look around at the world flying past them. They scroll through TikTok while weaving through traffic as if the laws of physics will never punish them for not paying attention while their driver squeezes through narrow gaps. At traffic lights, half the people crossing the street at zebra crossings look like sleepwalkers, drifting forward while staring down, trusting that cars will not flatten them out of pure carelessness.

Even in lifts, that old awkward silence has disappeared. Not because people have become more social, but because nobody looks at anyone at all anymore. Ten people can stand shoulder to shoulder, each fully absorbed in their own device, as if the others do not exist. And in places that used to be about actually being in the moment, like parks, temples, or markets, the experience now seems to be about filming it badly in vertical format so that it can be uploaded to the Gram and forgotten about five minutes later.

So, there are upsides and downsides. On one hand, fewer random conversations and less idle chatter. On the other, a noticeable drop in basic awareness of the physical world. People might bother you less, but they are far more likely to walk straight into you while doing it. 😄

In the early 90s nearly every shop I walked into, the assistant was playing a hand held Tetris game.

People are uncomfortable being with their exposed soul. It's the fault of ego and persona, as Carl Jung said