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Photo: Golden Mountain temple in Bangkok What's On This Page? |
Thailand - Random Thoughts Page 1This page contains various thoughts and observations about daily life in Thailand after several vacations and then living there since the end of 2003. Some things seem quite normal to me now but I remember there was a time when I didn't think so. Other things still seem weird. There is no category for this page, it's just an assortment of stuff that didn't fit on any of the other pages.
For a brief moment in Thailand you stop being a farang and become an alien. I was aware that some foreigners had to report to immigration every 90 days but for my first two years in Thailand I never did. Despite extensive contact with immigration regarding visas, no one ever told me about this. When I got my first one year non-B visa I still had to leave the country ever three months and I assumed that because of this, reporting to immigration as an additional task was unnecessary. I was wrong. When I applied to get a driving license one of the pre-reqs was a letter from immigration stating that I resided in Thailand. It was at this point I was notified of the 'Alien Registration' process. Now that I am a 'Registered Alien' I must report every 90 days. When I report I am given the date when I must report next. Failing to report results in a fine. "Any ALIEN who fails to comply with will be punished with a fine not exceeding 5,000 Baht and with an additional fine not exceeding 200 Baht for each day which passess (sic) until the law is complied with ACCORDING TO IMMIGRATION ACT B.E.2522 SECTION 76. If you can avoid this, do so, as I did for two years. Once you're in the system there is nothing to gain but there is the ongoing risk of a fine if you forget to report. The alien in the photo forgot to register and is now a clothes display at Chatuchak market.
As much as some farangs living in Thailand may wish to think they are well-known, they aren't. There is only one farang living in the Kingdom who seems to be universally known among the Thais and that is Andrew Biggs. The story goes that while travelling between his native Australia and England, he stopped over in Bangkok for a couple of days and fell in love with Thailand. It's a familiar story. What is quite remarkable about Andrew Biggs is how he has integrated into Thai society. He speaks Thai so well that to me he sounds like a native. This is a rare skill indeed; most foreigners living in Thailand (myself included) may have some vocabulary and a few phrases but are a long way from speaking fluently. My Thai friends say they can still tell he is a foreigner, in much the same way probably as I can always identify foreign speakers of English even if they speak flawlessly. He reads and writes Thai effortlessly, so it seems anyway (from when I have seen him reviewing the day's Thai language newspapers on TV), and he has written Thai language books. As far as I am concerned, he is a role model for expatriates in Thailand. He works as a journalist doing radio and television work, as well as writing, and from what I can make out, most of his work is in the Thai language. I have seen the occasional comment from farangs on Internet bulletin boards about not liking him. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Is it because they don't like Australians, or that they have something against bald men? It's doubtful the reason is anything he has said because I've only ever heard him speaking Thai and most farangs probably can't understand what he says. I can only think of one possible reason why farangs may not like him. Jealousy.
Last updated: 26th June 2008 The impression banks in Thailand give me is of a 1970's UK building society and, in banking evolution terms, I would guess that the Thai banking system is probably at least 10 years behind the UK. All customers have pass books which are updated with each transaction. Everything is very labour intensive with each branch full of officious-looking staff. Contrast this to my UK telephone bank where I have never actually met anyone who works there. Try to avoid going to a bank on a Monday morning. They are packed with Thais paying in their takings from the weekend. The end of the month is also a bad time. If you do visit a bank be prepared to wait for a long time. The staff work at the same leisurely pace regardless of how long the queue is. It was never my intention to open a Thai bank account but I was forced into doing so. My employer told me they cannot pay my salary in cash and that I have to have a bank account so the money can be transferred electronically. With much trepidation I went to a local branch and, knowing the nature of Thai bureaucracy, was prepared to face a lot of hurdles. I had read on the Internet that only foreigners with certain visa types and/or work permits could open bank accounts. I went armed with my passport and work permit but only my passport was required and it was a remarkably straightforward process. The only inconvenience was having to sign my name about 15 times but that was no big deal. A minimum amount of Bt500 was required to actually open the account and the bank charges Bt300 a year for an ATM card. Having money in a Thai bank should be fairly safe even though loan risk assessment isn't the best in the world and Thai banks do make a lot of bad loans. I wasn't keen to open an account but there may be some advantages. By withdrawing money from ATMs directly from my account in the UK there is no hard evidence of me transferring money into Thailand from abroad. However, if I transfer money from my UK to Thai account and then withdraw cash from the Thai account there is a record of money coming in from abroad. It is possible that for future visa applications I may have to show evidence of having transferred money from abroad and now I can do that quite easily. Here's an article from The Nation with information for foreigners wanting to open a bank account in Thailand.
Last updated: 9th November 2007 Firstly, I need to make the point that whatever I write on this site about Thais is a generalisation and can never apply to every single person. However, after living in the country for a few years I have noticed that several types of behaviour seem to be common. It is only when I notice that many people exhibit the same behaviour that I write but naturally I am aware that there will always be exceptions. Educated Thais - especially those who have studied abroad - often act differently to the common masses, but not always, as one example below will illustrate. I will start by saying that Thais don't seem to have much business acumen. The shortcomings I have noticed fall into two categories. The first is an inability to look at the big picture and the second is greed. Here are some examples. Not seeing the big picture Example 1. This first example is second-hand and came from a book my brother was reading about Southeast Asian expat tales. I therefore don't know the exact details but it's a perfect illustration for the point I'm trying to make. One guy and his Thai wife were short of money so she suggests setting up a small business selling Thai desserts. He goes out to buy all the equipment and ingredients she will need and they turn their house upside-down transforming the kitchen into a production line. After much effort, she makes some things to sell. He asks how much she will be able to sell them for and she tells him just a few Baht. He asks if that is for each one and she says no, for everything. It then becomes obvious to him that what they will earn isn't worth the effort and they probably won't even recoup their investment. Example 2. This example is along similar lines but from personal experience. A friend of mine opened a small restaurant with a friend of hers. They spent ages decorating it and made sure the food and drinks were good but sold everything way too cheap. They seemed to be happy with the small amount of money that was trickling in but had somehow forgotten about all the outgoings. After a while they realised they were working all the time and struggling to break even so sold their venture. Example 3. A Canadian guy I met married to a Thai girl owned three rai of land on which they had rubber trees. He was telling me there is no money to be made from rubber unless you have a huge plantation. As a farang, he always looked at the big picture - the investment in land, fertiliser, and the fact that rubber tappers in Thailand are not paid a fixed salary but given half the money from selling the rubber. He also told me that there are many occasions when you can't tap. His conclusion was that as a viable business it wasn't really worth the effort but the Thais love it. When they sell the rubber and get a few Baht they are very happy but forget about the labour involved and all the other investment. Example 4. I am very supportive of Iss and would help her with any business adventure she wanted to undertake but on two occasions I have had to talk her out of part-ownership in a beauty shop. Just as in the previous examples, she got all excited about owning part of a business and thought about being able to earn a few Baht each day but forgot about everything else. The businesses she wanted to get involved with required a one-time payment up front for part-ownership. There were also ongoing costs for shop rent, utility bills, consumables, staff wages, etc etc. I know that the beauty salon market is completely saturated where we live and that the numbers of Malaysian weekend tourists the shops rely on have declined dramatically since the southern insurgency problems flared up again at the start of 2004. For a shop to get customers it has to be located in the CBD and rent in that area is very high. When she used to work as a regular employee in a salon, there were days when she might have had just one customer. It wasn't unusual for her to spend an hour washing and blow-drying a girl's long hair and get Bt80 for her effort. Many Thai customers don't give tips. In short, it's a crap business and there are very few people who make a decent living from it. I knew that had I let her go ahead, she would have worked 12 hours a day or more for seven days a week and would still probably have not made any money. I wasn't prepared to let her do this so made a strong case for her not to do it. She was disappointed at the time but I think she realised later that I was right. These examples all have a common theme. Give a Thai an opportunity to earn a few Baht and they will be happy but they don't seem to be able to look at the big picture to see what else is involved in order to be able to earn those few Baht. Greed Other Thais think differently. Their line of thinking is to completely avoid poor Thai customers and concentrate on foreigners who - without exception - are all incredibly rich. Why work all hours providing services for people who have no money when there are so many rich farangs in Thailand? Their strategy is to offer products and services that are more in line with Western standards and, accordingly, to charge Western prices for them. The initial investment is higher but any running costs are the same as other Thai businesses because they use local goods and labour. This strategy works well in areas that are infested with Westerners - such as Phuket and other tourist ghettos - because many foreigners not familiar with Thai prices do just cough up. The downside for business owners is that land and property isn't cheap in Phuket. I had huge problems with a previous landlord who tried this business strategy in provincial Thailand. He thought he could still get away with it despite being in a part of the country where generally farangs don't want to be. He tried to screw me for a few extra Baht once too often and ended up losing everything because he got too greedy. It was the last straw and I took my business elsewhere. What some Thais don't seem to have realised is that foreigners (regardless of now much money they have) don't appreciate being ripped off, and most foreigners who have been in the country for a while know when someone is trying to rip them off. Being able to afford something is irrelevant. I don't mind paying out money for something I think is worth it but hate being taken advantage of. However, this is a lesson some Thais still need to learn when dealing with Westerners.
It is difficult to find anything more than P&S or basic SLR cameras in the provinces. The only items I have bought outside of Bangkok have been CF cards. If you are looking for anything beyond a P&S or basic SLR it is necessary to go to Bangkok. Camera shops in Bangkok will send items out to the provinces by mail but I would rather go to collect what I want in person. Alternatively - and a bit safer - is to ask a local camera shop to order something if it is only available in Bangkok and you can't make the journey. In Bangkok I have used two shops, both located in MBK. Prices have been reasonable; choice of stocked equipment has been good; service and shop assistant knowledge has been good. Regarding prices and whether or not something is cheaper in Singapore, Hong Kong or KL, it depends a lot on exchange rates. It's therefore not possible to state definitively whether camera equipment in Bangkok is cheaper or more expensive than elsewhere.
Foto File Foto File is good for new and used camera bodies and lenses. They also stock a lot of accessories - bags, memory cards, filters, batteries, etc. If you send an e-mail it is unlikely you will get a reply but this is common in Thailand. It's better to phone or visit the shop. I have mentioned elsewhere that second-hand items in Thailand are expensive and this applies just as much to camera equipment as it does to anything else. This can work in your favour though if you have something to sell or want to do a part-exchange. If you sell a used lens in perfect condition in Singapore (where everyone wants the latest gadgets, not second-hand goods) you might get 30% of what you paid for it but in Bangkok you could get double that. The other shop I have used in MBK is called Foto Thailand on the third floor and it may actually be owned by the same people who own Foto File - I'm not sure. They have all the same new equipment but less used equipment. However, they have a lot more studio lighting gear and tripods (legs and heads). Between both shops, you should be able to get what you want. Displayed prices may be slightly different in the two shops but once you actually get down to the real selling price there won't be any difference. Buying in either of these two shops is not like buying at Lucky Plaza in Singapore. The assistants speak the truth and don't try to make you buy things that you don't want to buy. The price they give you is the actual price and not a stupidly inflated one so there is no need to enter into a lengthy haggling session. If you do try to haggle they will just walk away because they have already told you the price. If you are spending a fair amount they may throw in a filter or a bag or something but don't push your luck. It's a lot more comfortable this way than dealing with a Chinese shark in Singapore who is just trying to rip you off.
Last updated: 4th November 2006
Foreigners cannot own land outright in Thailand. They can buy buildings but not the land the buildings stand on. I understand that the land can be leased for 30 years and leases are renewable. The exception may be foreigners who have bought a Thailand Elite Card (for US$25,000) which grants owners of the cards special privileges, including being able to purchase a limited amount of land. I'm not sure of the details though and, as of September 2006, I'm not even sure if this programme is still running. It was a Thaksin brainchild and he has now gone. Many foreigners complain about not being able to purchase land in Thailand but I think it is a good thing. Thailand is a relatively poor country and, at the same time, a very popular country with visitors from wealthy countries. Millions visit each year for vacations. The land is relatively cheap compared to developed countries and if it was easy for foreigners to buy land most of Thailand would be in the hands of foreigners by now. The locals would suffer as a result, prices would go up and Thailand would definitely change for the worse. Many Thais can't compete financially with foreigners so the law is there to help protect them from losing their land. Foreigners can buy condominiums but not houses. The reason behind this is that when buying a house you also purchase the land it is built on (which foreigners can't do in Thailand) but when buying a condo you just buy the living space. This is similar to leasehold and freehold in the UK and is why flats and apartments are normally sold on a leasehold. Foreigners may be able to buy a condo in Thailand but that doesn't give them the right to live permanently in the country. At one stage there was something known as an Investment Visa. If a foreigner invested more than Bt3 million in the country - and buying a condo for Bt3 million or more satisfied this requirement - they could apply for an investment visa which would enable them to live in Thailand. The only requirement was proof that the money for the investment had come from abroad. However, in September 2006, many new immigration regulations came into force and the Investment Visa was done away with. If you buy a condo, make sure that you can get some other kind of visa to allow you to actually stay in the country and live in the property that you own. Also in 2006, the Thai authorities clamped down on another method that foreigners had been using to buy property in Thailand. This was done by setting up a Thai company and buying the property in the name of the company. The process involved setting up a company with at least two million Baht of capital and having a certain annual turnover. Accounts needed to be submitted each year to prove this. The foreign owner owned a minority share of 49% with six Thai sleeping partners who, on paper, owned the remaining 51%. As the majority shareholder, the foreigner controlled the company. As I said though, this was basically a loophole in the law and in September 2006 a lot of loopholes were closed such as being able to live permanently in Thailand just by doing a border run every 30 days. Most foreign men in Thailand will have a Thai girlfriend and the easy option is just to buy a property in her name. This method is not without its risks though. If the relationship turns sour or if her Thai boyfriend turns up to live in the house that you purchased, what are you going to do? In Thai law, Thais always have an advantage over foreigners and if the house is in her name, you won't have much of a chance. A Norwegian guy I spoke to told me that if you do this you should also get a legal document drawn up to the effect that you have made the girl a loan for the same amount as the property cost. If all goes well you don't ever need to use this document but if the relationship goes bad you can demand that she pay you back, which means she would have to sell the property to repay you. Just remember though that properties do not sell easily in Thailand. It could take a very long time to sell and the sale price could be less than the purchase price. One of my e-mail correspondents from Hua Hin has used a different approach. For a period of six months he transferred quite large sums of money into his wife's bank account so that she built up a credit rating. Once this had been achieved a mortgage was then taken out in her name. He pays the mortgage but because it is in her name she is responsible for making the monthly repayments. He hasn't invested a huge lump sum by buying the property outright so his wife is not tempted to try to rip him off and claim the house. She relies on him each month to provide money for her to make the mortgage repayment so it is in her interest not to do anything stupid to jeopardise the relationship otherwise she will find herself in an awkward financial situation. I know that to many Westerners this general lack of trust in the Thais, and Thai women especially, sounds bad but in Thailand it is a necessity. We all want to have complete trust in other people and feel awkward about pre-nuptial agreements, etc. The truth in Thailand though is that it is difficult to trust anyone, especially when large sums of money are involved. Talk to foreigners who know Thailand, look around the Internet for accounts of foreigners who have been ripped off, and you will see that I am not making this up. The housing market in Thailand is very different from somewhere like the UK. For a start, the concept of Estate Agents doesn't seem to exist. I don't know of any where I live and the only ones I have seen have been set up by farangs in areas popular with expat farangs. New houses appear to sell OK but the used market seems to be pretty flat. I don't believe you can look at property in Thailand as an investment vehicle as you can, for example, in the UK. It may be different in somewhere like Phuket which is popular with foreign investors but the claims of the property developers as to how much property will increase in value year-on-year seem a bit optimistic. You need to understand Thai law and be aware that some Thais are less than honest. It is not unknown for someone to try to sell property that doesn't belong to them. The property title deed is known as a chanot in Thai and you must make sure that the person selling the property is the legal owner. The name on his ID card and the chanot must match. Red chanots mean that land cannot be sold for 10 years. If someone is trying to sell you land with a red chanot and the 10 years isn't up yet, it is illegal. Land is marked out with cement marker posts so make sure you check these to know what you are buying. Don't believe stories about roads in the area 'coming soon' without getting the facts verified. One problem is being told that something is going to be built when it isn't, such as a road. Another is not being told about something that is going to be built. If the lovely, quiet house you look at has a huge music pub built next door a year later, it will suddenly lose a lot of its appeal. Buying property in Thailand is fraught with potential problems so go into it cautiously, get the best advice you can and use the services of a good lawyer and estate agent based in Thailand who specialise in the area of foreigners buying property. One piece of advice I read on a forum was never to invest more money in Thailand than you are prepared to lose. This is an excellent piece of advice.
A few farangs living in Thailand feel the same way apparently. One guy I sometimes see drives round and round the local neighbourhood in a black Honda CR-V not going anywhere. The first time I was made aware of him I didn't even see him. My girlfriend and I were sitting in a tuk-tuk and as he came round the corner she noticed him just gawping at me. I think the sad tosser was just desperate for me to glance back at him so I knew that he had a car and I was in a tuk-tuk. Very impressive. So what's your next trick? Are you going to string five words of Thai together to make a sentence? Oh no, much too difficult. I saw him several times after that, just driving around going nowhere but looking out the windows all the time in all directions to make sure people were looking at him. One reason therefore for driving a car in Thailand is if you have a small penis and/or a self-esteem problem. However, having said all that, I have been thinking about car ownership again recently. Public transport is abundant and cheap but not perfect. Tuk-tuks and sawng-thaews get very uncomfortable in the hot season. Minivans mess me around all the time and treat passengers like cattle. The thought of getting into a car parked in the cool, underground car park of my apartment building and switching on the air-conditioning is sometimes quite appealing. More importantly, a car would allow me to explore remote parts of the country freely where public transport doesn't go. There are various reasons why I am holding back. One is the Thai style of driving but that is normally only a problem in towns. If I had a car I would only use it in the country where driving isn't too crazy and I would stick to using public transport around town. Another factor is not wanting to make a big investment in Thailand. As I have said elsewhere, used-car prices are stupid so a cheap second-hand runaround isn't really an option. I wouldn't pay the crazy money being asked for used cars so would probably buy a new one. But do I want to own an expensive car and register it in a country that lets me stay only on short-term visas with no residency rights at all? What if on one visa run the immigration guy has got out of bed the wrong side and decides I can't come back into Thailand? What happens to my car then? I like the fact that in Thailand I have so few responsibilities and so few things to worry about. I've enjoyed owning cars in the past - especially Porsches - but owning a car can be a constant worry (especially Porsches). Not having a car is one less thing to worry about. I don't have to worry about maintenance, accidents, vandalism, theft, etc. Car ownership isn't cheap either and the money saved by not having a car goes a very long way in Thailand. For the time being I am still happy not to have a car and if I want the freedom of a car I can always rent one. That's no problem and it's hassle free with no responsibility. According to the Thai Visa web site, "A foreigner who wants to buy a car and register it in his name, must hold a non-immigrant visa and either a work permit or a proof-of-address document from the Immigration Office." Some new cars in Thailand seem reasonably priced and some seem very expensive. One day at Carrefour, the local Mercedes dealership had an A170 on display for Bt10,000 under two million Baht. At current exchange rates that works out at £28,521. According to Carpages.co.uk the baby Merc price range goes from £13,655 - £20,190 in the UK which is a big difference to the price in Thailand. Of course, you don't have to pay up front. The little Mercedes can be yours for a down payment of Bt497,500 and monthly payments of Bt35,510 for the next four years. It just seems a little crazy that you could buy a new Jazz or Yaris outright for almost the same as the down payment on the Merc. They probably drive just as well and in reliability surveys, Honda and Toyota are always near the top whereas Mercedes is normally close to the bottom. There's no way I would spend almost £30,000 on a car here - even if it did have a Mercedes badge on the front and even if it was guaranteed to impress the locals. The A Class is the cheapest model. If you really wanted to impress the som-tum lady you can always buy an SL 55 AMG Roadster (New Generation) for the paltry sum of Bt17,900,000 (£255,788 at current exchange rates). I don't know about you, but if I was spending over a quarter of a million pounds on a car, I'd want to be driving it in a country that had just a tad more road discipline than Thailand. The most popular passenger cars are Honda and Toyota. A premium is paid for these models, especially in the used-car market. With pickup trucks a premium is paid for Toyota and Isuzu. (I wonder why Honda doesn't make a pickup truck because it would sell very well in Thailand?) Buying makes other than these can be cheaper and as a general rule, pickup trucks are cheaper than cars. For instance, I saw a brand new Mitsubishi pickup truck being sold cheaper than a used 10 year-old Honda CR-V at showrooms almost next door to each other. You can buy cheaper and retain Japanese quality by buying Mitsubishi or Nissan. Ford and Chevrolet offer more options in the pickup market but no one wants them and they have a low resale value. Isuzu pickup trucks (the vehicle of choice for every Thai rice farmer) are priced from Bt460,000 to Bt800,000. If you want to buy one on finance you can get a model valued at Bt603,000 by making a down payment of Bt90,450 and paying Bt10,401 for five years. A model valued at Bt760,000 will need a down payment of Bt114,000 and monthly payments of Bt15,666 over four years. Isuzu MU-7's (people carriers with pickup truck chassis's) range from Bt1,045,000 to Bt1,080,000. They have seven seats but you can get a lot more people into the back of a pickup truck. The cheapest way to get a car on the road, of course, is through a finance deal. A down payment is required and the monthly payments depend on interest rates and loan duration. There is also a registration fee to pay with new cars and insurance. A friend of mine bought a new Toyota Yaris on finance which he told me was worth Bt700,000. The down payment was Bt70,000 and he pays Bt13,000 a month but I don't know over how many years. Another friend pays about Bt8,000 a month in finance payments for her pickup truck but again, I don't know the full details. I got the finance figures for a five year-old Toyota saloon with 190,000 km on the clock which was priced at Bt290,000. The down payment was Bt63,000 with monthly payments of Bt5,306 over five years or Bt6,261 over four years. How you pay for a car and what you decide to buy is a personal decision based on individual circumstances. Autumn 2006 prices (in Thai Baht) for new Toyota models in Thailand:
Autumn 2006 prices (in Thai Baht) for new Honda models in Thailand:
Autumn 2006 prices (in Thai Baht) for new Nissan models in Thailand:
If I ever decide to make Thailand my permanent home, my choice of location will probably be quite remote thereby making a car a necessity. If that time ever comes I will most likely just buy a new car outright and something like a Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris with a good resale value would probably make the most sense. Car insurance is another consideration and is something that I have struggled to get good information about. The lack of information is partly because most Thais drive around without any (apart from the lucky charms hanging from the rear-view mirror and the paint marks on the dashboard that were put there by a monk when the car was blessed). A lady I spoke to at a used car dealership told me there are two levels - 1 and 2. Level 1 sounds like what in the UK would be described as fully comprehensive (where your vehicle and the other vehicle is covered in the event of an accident) and level 2 sounds like third-party where just repairs to the other vehicle are covered.
Thai censorship is another subject that highlights the huge differences between Eastern and Western culture. Their censorship rules obviously make sense to them but seem crazy to me. Not a problem - it is their country and I'm here as a guest. I never forget that. On TV they pixelate cigarettes and alcoholic drinks if anyone is shown drinking or smoking. That's fine, alcohol and nicotine cause serious health problems and young Thais watching their favourite soap operas shouldn't be encouraged to pick up bad habits. However, when the soap opera finishes and the news comes on there are regular scenes of blood-stained dead bodies littering the streets. Whether it is a government war on drugs or insurgency problems in the south the scenes are similar and quite graphic. I'm not sure how these scenes affect the mental state of young kids watching TV but obviously it's not as damaging to them as watching someone smoke a cigarette or drink a gin and tonic. Newspapers are also very graphic with the photos they publish. I was in a restaurant with my girlfriend and we had just ordered our meals. While waiting for the food to arrive she picked up a couple of Thai language newspapers that were lying around. On the front page of one was a quite horrific image. At first glance it reminded me of something from the Egyptian section of the British Museum. It was a small brown body burned to a crisp which looked like a 3,000 year old mummy recently recovered from a sandy grave. I asked my girlfriend to explain the story as I don't read Thai. A deranged mother had slaughtered her own child with a machete before dousing the body with petrol and setting light to it. The photo showed the charred remains of the child and alongside the body was the machete. In the Thai press apparently this is a perfectly acceptable image to send to print. It ruined my dinner. The Thaksin government is slowly muzzling the media in Thailand which is a real shame because for a long time Thailand has had the reputation of having a very open media. Shin Corp's acquisition of the only independent TV station means that TV broadcasting is very controlled. Many of the newspapers are already government controlled and there is pressure on the few who continue to speak out against government policy. The irony is that with a single party government in power for the first time and no coalition parties to provide checks and balances the free press have an even more important role to play in Thailand these days. If Thailand wants to avoid being completely run by a one man dictatorship it will do well to protect the freedom of the media. Regarding Internet censorship, I found the following information on Yahoo! According to the Royal Thai Police Web site, some 32,467 Web sites have been reported as illicit since censorship of the Internet was launched in April 2002. More than half are categorized as pornographic, and 3,571, or 11 percent as a "Threat to National Security."
That may be the case in the West where most kids are spoilt rotten all year - especially at Christmas and birthday time - but that isn't the case for many Thai children. The second Saturday in January is Children's Day in Thailand and it's a pleasant event. Many schools, museums, government departments and private businesses open their doors and arrange fun activities for Thai children. To help run everything, thousands of people volunteer their time and services to help out. All the activities are free and so is the food and ice cream.
The young lass on the right here is my friends' daughter. Her name is DiDi and she is a real little cutie who I have known for a couple of years. There are also a number of more educational and constructive activities organised such as painting and handicrafts. The kids can even get their hair cut for nothing, supposedly a good thing but not judging by the look on the little lad's face in the picture. I'd hate to see him at the dentist.
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