DualSportBiker

Arrived just 22, now just shy of 60. Only two others I know who arrived at ± the same time, same age, and are still here. Still debating if I am an old hand. Perhaps it is up to Thais to decide...

Had to owl stew, not beef 'cause he don't give a hoot!

Reading and writing are optional. The ability to engage in a serious conversation in Thai takes time and creates insight. Being an old-hand means very unlikely to be taken for a ride by a local. If you don't understand the language, you can't gain insight.

The answer is on the screen:

It can and does happen. I have significant exposure to the changes. When I started riding motorcycles upcountry here, there was no way in hell any car would move out of the way of a faster bike. That behaviour persisted until the mid 2010s when there was a clear and distinct change in driver habit. I won't bore you with how change was effected, but now when I ride a slight majority move out of the right-hand lane when I approach. A good half of those signal before they more left. On top of that, behaviour around ambulances has improved significantly here in Bangkok. Again, this was not the case for many years, but now there is every chance that almost all drivers will move out of the way. Could they do better? Sure - they seem to not notice until the ambulance is upon them, but they do move. Your negativity and unfounded belief that Thais will not change is one of the assumptive behaviours Thais ascribe to us all. I have to make an effort to differentiate myself from you and your ilk.

Not all visitors here do come from countries with 'much stricter road safety...' Many come from places with perhaps not equally lax, but sufficiently lax to warrant better controls. BUT, the current Thai tests are not better controls. The written test has mistakes in it in the English version and the practical test is a parking test!

So we don't agree as I use GrabTaxi

Grab Car or Just Grab might be, but Grab Taxi is the metered price with a surcharge. The drivers make more when hired under the taxi booking than they do Grab Car. In fact the amount taken from private drivers of Grab Car is pretty offensive. The price shown when you book a taxi via Grab is an estimate and in my estimation, always significantly higher than the final price. Thai taxi costs are cheap - they meter fare has only recently changed after years stagnant at the initial fee. Drive times have not improved, fuel has increased dramatically. When meters were first introduced, fuel was around 8-11 Baht if I remember correctly... There are plenty of dishonest and unscrupulous taxi drivers, but there are also large numbers of honest and hardworking ones. The fares are too low and that is part of, not all, the incentive to lie and cheat for those who are inclined to do so. Were the fares more in line with the cost of living, the incentive to cheat would be reduced. There will always be those that prey on the newbies in tourist zones, but that needs a different mode of control.

The owner of YSS is highly litigious as well...

And? Pretty sure your original question was not restricted to any time-period. Less ancient would be the Food By Phone guy. Does that pass muster with you?

In the mid-90s, a group of Poles were busted at Don Muang for bringing in kilos of weed! Takes all sorts!

Seems like I am the only one who has seen an improvement in how ambulances get through traffic. More cars readily move out of the way than before. It all changed after the story about the driver of a car was blocking the way for an ambulance with his grandmother in. Perhaps the effect has worn off, in part or in whole. But, just yesterday I saw an ambulance slice through heavy traffic on Chaeng Wattana because most cars got out the way in time. The view that Thais will never change is bogus. I've been riding so-called big bikes here for 30 years. Behaviours have changed, but only in the past ten years. Used to be no car would move out of the right lane for bikes, even a huge convoy of obnoxiously bright GS riders would have to undertake. That is no longer the case. I ride alone, and more than 50% of the time cars will move aside. Of those that do, nearly 50% use a signal! Go figure! For all who think 'Thais will never change' I posit it is you who will not change. You have an opinion and can't entertain the idea of changing it. You might want to look up the implications of low mental plasticity... It's not complimentary :)

I think they should run an experiment. Put up content explaining the short-fall in funding for National Parks, tell non-Thais it is free to enter, but donations welcome. See how that goes. Some will donate nothing or nothing serious, but I am confident that many will make serious donations. Run this at a few popular locations with tourists and see if visits and collections change in a good way.

US trade deals require 6-10 months just to gather internal requirements from industry and the various departments. Deals will not be struck, these tariffs will either continue into a significant recenssion 'cause he won't back down, or he will back down and all his lackeys will try and spin it as a win.

When the Panda ate Food By Phone they had around 20x FBP's marketing budget and they could not compete. Held out for a while, but had to concede defeat. Then at events the public face of the Panda described themselves as the company that opened the food delivery market here! That was nearly 20 years after FBP opened! I remember being stuck by the outrageous arrogance of the muppet who thought buying the company that kicked off the food delivery market here meant they got to wear the hat that said "first"! They were ten years late and spent way too much on market entry. The owner of FBP did rather well out of their late arrival!