Living In Thailand Blog
Saturday 13th October 2018
What a mess. And life doesn't get any easier. I couldn't contact my Dad in the UK on Wednesday or Thursday, which is unusual. I found out on Thursday evening that he is in hospital after suffering a heart attack. After feeling pain between his shoulders he realised there was a serious problem and had the sense to call an ambulance.
He's on his own now and hasn't coped well since my Mum died. I have enough on my plate in Thailand as it is, but he is a worry as well many thousands of miles away.
I have received some very supportive messages, including the following e-mail, and this particular message made me aware that I haven't explained things very well. In this post I will try to explain things a little better.
"Hi Phil Over the years, i’ve received an incredible amount of info, can you send me a link so I can contribute ex something like paypal just a heads up i’m not to computer savvy so i may have missed the link, anyway if you can show me it would be appreciated. My guess is until you write an article like this there are many people like myself that assume everything is a ok, and we sort of take you for granted. thanks again"
First, money. Basically, I don't like money. I live in a country where most people are obsessed with money and when you analyse the cause behind most crime and political wrongdoing it is usually greed and lust for money. The love of money does bad things to people
Unfortunately, it is a necessity in life and I regard it as a necessary evil. I need money to live and occasionally I want things, but I can live very cheaply. I have owned fast cars in the past, I have travelled a lot, and I have satisfied most of my desires.
Nowadays, I'm perfectly content with my ancient car, I have no great desire to travel, I feel comfortable dressed like a tramp, I don't smoke or drink, and I can get by on very little. When I was a single man in Thailand I lived easily on Bt20,000 to Bt30,000 a month.
That all changed when a wife and children arrived on the scene. Instead of renting a cheap room, a more permanent (and much larger) abode was required, as were cars, washing machines, and lots of other things. There are now four mouths to feed instead of one, four lots of medical insurance instead of one, house insurance, car insurance, school fees, etc etc. The list never stops.
At the same time the UK pound has been taking a prolonged battering. It started with the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and got a lot worse after the Brexit referendum in 2016.
Up until a few years ago, money never concerned me. I have never wanted a lot in life, but when I did want something there were always sufficient funds. That has changed in the last few years.
In addition to their needs, my wife and kids have wants. My wife, from a typical rural Thai family, has never had very much and never travelled anywhere before she met me. She always wants to see new places. My children now are forever asking for toys, which is just how I was at their age. It's natural.
Now, on to this website. I first registered the site (shortly after the Millennium) because I had developed an interest in HTML and creating websites in the late 90's. It was just something to play with.
After I moved to Thailand in 2003 I started to add things about Thailand and the site grew. There was no form of monetisation and money wasn't of interest to me. Eventually, I added some Google ads and made a little money, but not much.
At the stage when money did start to become more important I added some hotel affiliate links to the site.
A reader had suggested making my blog subscription-based, but I was quite opposed to this idea. Firstly, I imagined that I would lose quite a few readers by doing this. Secondly, my blog articles aren't always useful to people. Sometimes I just use the blog to rant, so why should people pay to read my rants?
Thirdly, by accepting subscriptions it would give me an obligation to write regular articles. There are times when I have nothing to write, or don't feel like writing, and I didn't want to be forced to write something at these times.
The hotel affiliate links seemed like a win-win solution. People with an interest in Thailand would probably visit Thailand and they would book hotels. By using my links they would pay exactly the same price, but I would receive a little of the commission instead of the booking agent getting it all.
Interestingly, the hotel affiliate links worked well for about four months after I added them. Very well, in fact, my expectations were exceeded by quite a long way. But then everything dried up (I don't know why exactly), and that's how it has been for several years.
The site only makes pennies now but, as I described above, money was never a big motivator. I enjoy the writing process, I enjoy photography, and creating on-line content gives me an opportunity to combine these things. I have also got in contact with some great people over the years and that is also something I enjoy.
Up until last week I was simply planning to carry on as usual, but then came the big announcement from the British Embassy.
As I described previously, most of what I own financially is tied up in property - in the UK and Thailand. To be more accurate, my property in Thailand now belongs to me wife because of Thai law. I invested Bt6 million in Thailand on the house alone and I have spent a lot more money than that in Thailand, but this means nothing to immigration. They still want to see a lump sum of money in the bank. I have an income, but because of a very low exchange rate and the ever growing needs of my family, my income is accounted for each month.
This income is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Thai immigration but with the British Embassy's decision to stop issuing 'Proof of Income' letters, it would appear that my only visa renewal option now is to find Bt400,000 before my visa is due to be renewed next year. In fact, the money needs to be there three months ahead of time.
I'm not sure if people are aware how time-consuming it is to produce on-line content, especially if there are photos and graphics in addition to text. Over the years I have spent thousands of hours on this site. Some things need a lot of research.
Recently, for my Hat Yai Guide, I added a new section about the Central Festival shopping mall, which is the biggest shopping mall in southern Thailand.
I took several trips to the mall, spoke with staff in every shop to get information and took hundreds of photos. When I returned home I had to process all the photos and write the pages. It took many hours, and also cost me petrol.
I do this work basically for nothing, but - I reiterate - money was never a big issue ... until last week.
I'm now in a situation where I need to find quite a lot of money in a short space of time and I spend a lot of my time doing something that doesn't earn any money. That doesn't make any sense, does it? I could (and should) be spending that time doing something that does earn money.
So, that's where we are now and a lot of the blame lies with me for never making this clear earlier. However, up until the British Embassy announcement on Monday there was never any need to make it clear.
It's immensely kind of readers to offer to donate something, but this isn't necessary. As I said previously, getting hold of this money isn't an option. It's something that I have to do for my family. How can I take care of them if I'm not allowed to stay in the country?
I hope the situation is a bit clearer now and, again, I apologise. Perhaps by making this clearer earlier on and being more direct as to how people could support me it wouldn't have come to this.
The truth is that money embarrasses me, I didn't want to be pushy, and prior to the British Embassy dropping a bombshell on the British expat community in Thailand I had a way to get my visa renewed without having to find Bt400,000 in nine months.
I have so much to thank the British government for right now. This decision, along with the catastrophic way the government has carried out the Brexit negotiations and the resulting huge fall in the British pound, has caused me (as well as many other British expats) to have all sorts of problems.
That's life. Everything goes round in cycles and after many good years I am now experiencing my fifth consecutive bad year. It will get better again eventually.
Strange as it may seem, I am actually quite happy at the moment. For many years of my life I had ample money, but nothing else and there was a very empty void in my life.
My wife and children have completed filled that void and now it's just a problem with money, but money isn't the most important thing in life and, anyway, the problem I am faced with now should only be temporary.
As to how I plan to use my time to make some money, I'm still not completely sure. Whether it is a case of trying to create something to sell (such as e-books) rather than creating website content that I give away for free, or doing something else, I don't know.
Another thing about Thailand is that the labour laws are very strict. There are very few farangs where I live and I have no end of people asking if I could teach their children English. I could. I am qualified to teach, I have several years experience, and it would bring in useful money.
However, any form of work requires a work permit and if you get caught working illegally in Thailand the consequences can be very serious. Therefore, this isn't an option. Once the children return to school after next week I will have some peace and quiet to think it through.
Thursday 11th October 2018
There is some big news today and this could be my last post. Does anyone have a bugle?
For those people wishing to move to Thailand and looking for answers, many questions are impossible to answer.
Where's the best place to live? I don't know, what's important to you personally? How much does it cost to live in Thailand? (This is the most common question that is impossible to answer.) I don't know, how expensive is your lifestyle?
Another question regards immigration requirements. At any time you can find a list of requirements for various visas, but there is very little consistency and certain requirements are open to interpretation. Two different immigration offices may differ in what they require and two different immigration officers in the same office may ask for different things.
In addition, requirements change frequently and every year when I apply for a visa extension there is something new. Sometimes the changes are minor, but occasionally something big happens. And something very big has just happened.
The British Embassy in Bangkok made a bombshell announcement on Monday that will affect many British expats in Thailand, including me.
For marriage and retirement visas there is a financial requirement. For a retirement visa you need to show Bt800,000 in a Thai bank account and the money must have been there for at least three months. Verification needs to come in the form of a letter from your Thai bank.
Alternately, you can show that you have an income of Bt65,000 per month. Verification for this method needs to come in the form of an official letter from your country's Embassy in Thailand.
It's the same process for a marriage visa, except that the figures are different. You only need to show Bt400,000 in a Thai bank account or have an income of Bt40,000 per month.
Many people ask why the amounts are lower for a marriage visa when you also have to support a wife and probably children. I don't know, but that's how it is.
Before I was married I had quite a lot of cash available and putting some into a Thai bank account wouldn't have been a problem. However, after getting married and having two children who I wanted to have comfortable lives, I spent a lot of money. I bought quite an expensive house in Thailand, along with everything the house needed to make it liveable because new houses in Thailand come with very little.
I needed a car to ferry the kids around and after we moved house my wife needed a car too. I bought the house and both cars with cash. I pay for my kids to go to a private school because the education system leaves a lot to be desired and I pay for medical insurance so that we can all receive good quality healthcare. I have to pay for lots of things.
Everything continues to get more expensive in Thailand and while all of this has been going on the UK pound has continued to fall lower and lower against the Baht, mainly because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Although I have property assets of around half a million UK pounds I no longer have any substantial reserves of cash, therefore, when it comes to visa renewal time my choice is for the monthly income route, rather than to show money in a Thai bank account.
This has never been a problem before, but on Monday the British Embassy announced that it will no longer be issuing letters as proof of income. This is a big problem for me, and it is a big problem for lots of other British expats.
At the moment no alternative has been given to prove monthly income. Thai immigration has always insisted that the only proof they will accept is an Embassy letter and if your Embassy no longer issues these letters, what are you supposed to do?
So far, only the British Embassy has taken this step, but there are rumours that other Embassies will follow. In addition, there are reports that if Americans give a proof of letter from the US Embassy to immigration in Chiang Mai, then immigration will want to see some supporting evidence. These letters no longer seem to have much credibility with Thai immigration for reasons I will explain later.
I was issued a British Embassy letter last month, just before my visa renewal was due, but had lots of problems with immigration who seemed to be very suspicious of the letter.
After five visits to immigration last month I thought the problem was resolved, but they called again yesterday with another issue. They checked this year's letter against last year's letter and found the reference number to be the same. They asked me why, but I don't know. Only the British Embassy will be able to tell them why.
I suspect that the Embassy simply used the same Microsoft Word file that they used last year and forgot to change the reference number after changing the date and other details.
As you can imagine, the Thaivisa forums have been going crazy this week. There are thousands of posts, some reasonable and some plain stupid.
There are the usual comments about Thailand initiating this in order to expel all foreigners from Thailand, and various other conspiracy theories and wild speculation. There are also comments from some people who aren't affected that it is a good thing because it will rid Thailand of 'dead wood' and undesirable farangs. The stupidity and spitefulness within the Thaivisa forums is why I stopped reading Thaivisa.com 15 years ago.
Thailand has some big problems with a small minority of foreigners within the expat community. Most expats are fine and make a positive contribution to Thailand, however, that isn't always the case.
Some foreigners work illegally and some engage in criminal activities. Obviously, they can't divulge their illegal income to immigration so use dishonest ways to show their income. Some other foreigners living in Thailand simply can't meet the financial requirements laid down by Thai immigration.
On Thailand related websites it isn't unusual to see ads from 'Visa Agents' who openly advertise services to obtain retirement visas for people who don't have enough money.
They will transfer money into a client's account temporarily and they probably have contacts on the inside who they pay for assistance. For a fee, these agents will obtain a visa when the person applying does not have the required funds as stated by Thai immigration. There are also reports of expats in Thailand who transfer money back and forth to each other's bank accounts purely for the purpose of obtaining a visa.
This is why immigration ask for a letter from the Embassy because Embassies should be reliable sources that can be believed.
The only problem with the process, at least with the British Embassy, is that Brits can tell their Embassy virtually anything because the Embassy doesn't do any checks. The letter contains a disclaimer to this effect. It simply says that "Mr X has stated that he receives Y amount from Z source." It doesn't say that the Embassy has confirmed this to be the case. I believe this to be the case with most Embassies.
Big changes with Thai immigration procedures don't usually happen without a reason. I suspect that a few people in the past probably got Embassy letters using fraudulent proof and Thai immigration found out. Thai immigration are now not happy with the procedure.
The big thing with Thai immigration last year was proof of address. For many years you simply gave them an address and there were no questions asked, however, last year they got very serious about foreigners proving that the address they had provided was really their address. I suspect that some bad foreigners had probably given false addresses and when immigration went looking for them, they couldn't be found.
It's always the same. A minority of expats exploit loopholes and abuse the system in various other ways and once they are found out changes are made that affect everyone.
Who do you blame? With situations such as this there is no point blaming anyone for what has happened because it won't help. It's done now and you just need to think forward.
Thai immigration set out certain requirements for issuing visas, some of which were financial. People found ways to get around the financial requirements and now one loophole has been closed. The 'Visa Agent' scam is something else I suspect they will be going after soon. I suspect that Thai immigration put some pressure on the British Embassy to verify Proof of Income information. I certainly don't blame Thai immigration for wanting other parties to ensure that their regulations are followed.
Admittedly, the British Embassy hasn't handled the situation very well. Apparently, they have known about this issue for several months, but have only just announced it and they have only given two months' notice. They don't seem to have given much thought as to how this decision will affect the many honest people who request POI letters.
The current charge is £52, which is quite a lot for issuing a standard letter. The evidence I send regarding my UK income contains contact, as well as financial, information. The Embassy could verify that the information is true quite easily. This would require more resources, but the fee could be increased to cover the extra cost. Increasing the fee in order to verify information would have been a better option than simply withdrawing the service altogether.
If blame is to be apportioned, most of all I blame the dishonest people who have abused the system in the past because they always end up spoiling things for everyone else.
Getting back to my personal issues, and the most pressing one at the moment is extending my current visa to a year because after applying last month they only gave me a one month extension. The issue is back in the hands of immigration who tell me they will contact the British Embassy about the duplicate reference number.
It is too early to say what will happen next year. When I told immigration today that the British Embassy won't be issuing any more letters after December 2018 they weren't aware of the announcement.
If immigration start to accept Thai bank book statements as evidence of income, that will be fine. I already transfer money almost every month and the amount exceeds the requirement by a long way. In the past they have never done this, wanting instead a letter from the Embassy, but if the British Embassy no longer issues letters Thai immigration may introduce an alternative.
Whether I can come up with Bt400,000 before next June purely for the purpose of obtaining a visa extension depends what happens in the next year. I am thankful, at least, that I only have to raise Bt400,000 and not the Bt800,000 required for a retirement visa.
Last year, 2017, was my Annus Horribilis. The termite infestation in my house meant replacing all the parquet flooring with tiles, which was a very expensive exercise.
My Mum died and an unscheduled trip back to the UK was expensive. My car had lots of problems that were expensive to fix. In addition, the doctor who treats my daughter decided that she needed another operation. That meant hospital fees and several trips to Bangkok, paying for flights and hotels. I spent a fortune last year and needed help from my family.
If I can't save the money there are other ways I can raise some money, even if some are undesirable. There are certain things I can sell, even though I am reluctant to sell them at the moment.
Another issue is this website. It was never conceived as a money making venture and for several years after it started there was never any means of monetisation. Later, I added some ads and affiliate links, but the site has never brought in much money.
There have been a few times in the past when the money it brought in was useful, but never enough to live on - by a long way. That was actually quite a long time in the past and for the past several years the income has been a joke. The money the site brings in now each day won't even cover the cost of buying my kids some chocolate when we go to 7-Eleven.
There are several reasons for this, but not least because there are so many websites now and, with so many expats and 'digital nomads' in Thailand, the Internet is saturated with Thailand websites.
Website owners are also completely dependent on Google as to how many people see their sites and how profitable are their ads because Google has such a monopoly on Internet search.
I've never regarded my website as a business, but if you are looking at making money from a website it is a very strange business model. You spend lots of time (and quite a bit of money) creating content, which you then give away for free and 'hope' that readers will support you.
The reality is that very few do. Content on the Internet has always been regarded as free and that is still the case, even though many media websites are now behind paywalls.
The Internet these days is simply a reflection of society at large. There is the same amount of money in circulation, but the wealth gap keeps growing wider. The enormous sites continue to get even richer, making billionaires of their owners, while many small sites get a smaller and smaller slice of the pie. Google, Facebook, Amazon and a few others really do rule the world and the situation is only going to get worse. When the massive sites have complete domination (which they almost have) and then decide to start charging, there won't be any choice but to pay.
For a couple of years now I have been very close to closing the site, but I wondered whether it was my own fault for not making more of an effort. On a few occasions during that time I have put a lot of effort into certain things, but nothing ever changes. Also, because of the financial situation I am experiencing now, I am under pressure from my wife to do something that will actually earn money. That is understandable.
At the moment I have no plans to shut down the site. The pages that are there already will stay, so people who want to learn to read Thai can still use my tutorials, which involved lots of work, and download hundreds of worksheets for free without giving me any support or even saying thank you.
Whether I do shut it down completely at some stage, or even decide to continue, is completely up in the air at the moment with so much uncertainty. I find this all very sad. Last week there were reports that a Brexit deal might be closed and the UK pound started to go up.
After four quite difficult years (since the birth of our second child) I had recently started hoping that the coming year might see some improvement. And then, all of a sudden, this news descends meaning that I will need to undergo another year of austerity simply to ensure I can renew my visa next year. If I can't, which isn't really an option, what are my wife and kids supposed to do?
Many thanks to the people who have supported me in the past - the generosity of a few individuals has been unbelievable - and for those who send me the occasional e-mail, please continue to do so. I'll still be here.
โชคดีครับ
Monday 8th October 2018
While working at the local university some years ago some Thai members of staff were earning around Bt10,000 per month, yet making car repayments of Bt8,000 per month.
I realised very early on that car ownership is extremely high in the Thai value system. One factor is the binary weather, which alternates between too hot or too wet. Cars are a lot more comfortable than motorbikes and also a lot safer, with Thailand having the highest motorbike accident rate in the world.
Thais are also very status conscious and a car is the biggest status symbol of all.
When Yingluck announced big discounts on new eco-cars for first-time car owners it was obviously a very popular policy and many Thais took advantage. An eco-car is a fuel efficient car with an engine capacity of less than 1,200cc.
In Thailand, popular eco-cars are models such as the Honda Brio, Nissan March, Mitsubishi Mirage, Suzuki Swift, etc.
I bought my wife's car during this period and she wanted a Suzuki Swift, but there was a one-year waiting list for the eco-car (1.2l) version of the Swift. That gives you some idea of how many cars were being sold during that period.
When I worked at a school most of the teachers rode motorbikes and parking was never a problem. However, once this new policy got into full swing the motorbikes disappeared and all the teachers started arriving in cars.
Many Thais had got the thing they most coveted in life, but little thought had been given to the consequences of all these extra cars on the road. One consequence was that it put a huge strain on an already poor road infrastructure and traffic congestion became noticeably worse.
Road improvement projects began and I am pleased to say that personally I have seen a few big improvements in recent years.
Earlier this year I wrote about a trip I took to the Andaman Gateway in Trang. This is a very scenic area through some very elevated terrain, but for a long time there was just a poor, single lane road.
Many Thais are impatient and reckless drivers and it was quite usual to meet vehicles coming in the opposite direction on the same side of the road after blindly overtaking slow moving trucks.
The road now is magnificent, a real drivers' road and because of the extra lanes it is now also a lot safer.
The much improved road through the Trang Andaman Gateway
Yesterday I took the family to Songkhla and although I have been many times this was the best trip ever with regard to driving.
There used to be a big intersection just before Songkhla where Highway 407 intersects with Highway 408. Previously there were traffic lights and you always had to wait a long time.
A few years ago work began on building overpasses to improve the flow of traffic at this intersection. It was a big project and after it started the traffic jams got so bad that I started to avoid the area.
Recently, some of the overpasses have been opened and yesterday I was able to drive straight through to Songkhla without stopping while traffic going the other way sailed overhead. The work hasn't been fully completed yet, but there is now a massive improvement.
Unfortunately, I encountered another old problem yesterday that I haven't encountered for quite a long time now. It is something that really infuriates me.
We met a family with whom my wife has become quite friendly. Their kids (similar ages to ours) attend the same school as our kids and our first stop was Songkhla Aquarium.
As you walk in there are ticket counters and one is designated as being the ticket counter for 'Foreigner'. The price, using Arabic numerals, is Bt300 for adults and Bt200 for children.
The information on the other ticket counter is all in Thai, using Thai numerals for the prices. The assumption is that foreigners can't read any of this, except that a few can. It takes years of dedicated schooling for Thais to learn how to read Thai, so how can foreigners possibly learn to read? The truth is that learning to read Thai to a basic level is actually very easy. The Thai price is Bt120 for adults and Bt80 for children.
Special ticket counter for foreigners
Furthermore, there is another notice (again, all in Thai) that says if you 'Like' or 'Share' something about the aquarium on social media you get more discount - Bt100 for adults and Bt60 for children.
Further discount for liking or sharing
I don't think there is a Thai in the country that doesn't have Facebook and therefore it is easy for Thais to take advantage of this extra discount. The end result is that foreigners have to pay three times the amount that Thais pay.
I guess that the vast majority of foreigners who show up can only see that adults pay Bt300 and children pay Bt200. They don't have a clue what is happening at the other ticket counter. I can see what is happening and it annoys me intensely.
After the aquarium we went to Songkhla National Museum. The building itself was the home of a previous Songkhla governor and is quite impressive. There aren't a lot of exhibits, but I found some of the information interesting. I like history and like to know about past events.
The rest of my group entered the museum and started wandering around. I held back for a few minutes to take a few photos before going in. As I did so, I heard a woman shouting excitedly, "Hello, hello, hello." It was clearly directed at me so I went over to see what she wanted. She wanted Bt150. It is free for Thais, but non-Thais pay Bt150. I refused to pay.
National Museum Songkhla
This is behaviour that discriminates based on race and in all civilised countries there are laws to prevent it happening. Not only are there no laws in Thailand, it is standard practice absolutely everywhere.
I am financially responsible for three Thai citizens and all of my income, which is a lot more than the income of most Thais, goes into the Thai economy. There is no reason why I should be penalised in this way, apart from the fact I am not Thai.
This is an old debate and there are still quite a few naive foreign tourists who believe it is acceptable because all Thais are poor. That certainly isn't the case these days and there are lots of wealthy Thais who make many foreigners look poor.
There is another argument that at least Thais should make their dual-pricing policy transparent instead of hiding what happens from foreigners by writing everything in Thai. If foreigners could compare the entrance prices they would then be able to choose. Most foreigners can't see what goes on and therefore can't choose.
Because so many tourists visit Thailand and because information is so available now on-line, a lot of foreign tourists are aware of what goes on even if they can't read Thai.
Some German friends came to visit a few years ago and refused to take a ride on our local cable car because of dual-pricing. By being greedy, Thais can actually lose out. My stance is the same. If I can't pay what Thais pay, I won't pay at all and will go elsewhere.
Yesterday was really uncomfortable at times. I refuse to pay the foreigner price on principle and make a stand against it every time. This often embarrasses the Thais I am with and sometimes they offer to pay my entrance fee. This makes things worse.
I don't refuse to pay because I can't afford it. I refuse to pay because it simply isn't right and because Thais aren't subjected to the same thing when they go abroad to Western countries. They may, however, be subjected to it when visiting Malaysia because Malaysia is another country that likes to discriminate - in fact, it's even worse than Thailand.
Not only do Malaysians discriminate against non-Malaysians, but Bumiputera (son of the soil) Malaysians discriminate against non-Bumiputera Malaysians.
Despite this, there are a couple of good things about the racial discrimination policy in Malaysia. Firstly, Malaysians are quite open about being racist and don't try to hide it with an obscure language that only they can read.
Secondly, Malaysia makes it easier than Thailand for expats to get long term visas in the form of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program and foreign holders of this visa are charged the Malaysian price. Thailand doesn't encourage permanent residency and likes to keep long term expats on renewable one-year visas.
The other abbreviation in the following photo (taken in Penang) is MyKad, which is the compulsory identity card that is only issued to Malaysian citizens.
Dual pricing in Malaysia - the price differences are huge
One farang I know maintains that Thailand is 50 years behind the West. I don't quite agree (in some respects it is about the same, but in other respects it is hundreds of years), but he has a point. In Western countries, even during my own lifetime, there were times when people openly discriminated against people of other races.
After intensive social and political pressure that is no longer the case and perhaps, eventually, it will change in Thailand.
I say 'perhaps, because the way of thinking is very different. Many Westerners like to signal their virtuousness by fiercely standing up for the rights of other people. Western society is now full of social justice warriors who virtue signal about absolutely everything. Thais/Asians aren't the same. At all.
When talking about dual pricing with my wife's friends yesterday, the woman made it quite clear that she thinks this form of discrimination is a good thing. Thailand is for the Thais and many Thais believe that in Thailand they should have an advantage over non-Thais. It is their birthright.
Maybe Thais are right and maybe this is the way the rest of the world has now started to go following President Trump's pledge to 'Make America Great Again' by putting America first. There is certainly a lot more nationalism in the world today and many countries are starting to put themselves first.
If Thais were made to pay more than Brits in the UK I would have no objection to paying a foreigner price in Thailand, but they aren't. It's all one way. This isn't fair and I object strongly to unfair policies, especially when they affect me.
I have to admit that although I have occasional problems, it's not that often. Yesterday, my wife bought the aquarium tickets so I didn't show my face at the ticket counter.
When I encounter dual pricing I speak Thai and explain that I live in Thailand. Sometimes showing a Thai driving licence helps. On most occasions this is enough to get the Thai price. The worst places are those in tourist areas where there are lots of foreign tourists.
Our day was rounded off with a visit to Songkhla old town. Unlike Hat Yai, where most of the old buildings have been pulled down, quite a lot of heritage remains in Songkhla.
A lot of the old buildings have been renovated, while keeping their original character, and made into little shops. It reminded me a little of Hoi An, but on a much smaller scale. Like Hoi An, there are people in Songkhla who like to acquire UNESCO status for the town in the future.
The Red Rice Mill in Songkhla Old Town
Hat Yai and Songkhla are very closely linked, but have completely different characters. Songkhla is great for day trips, but it doesn't have all the shopping, schools, entertainment, restaurants and medical facilities that Hat Yai has. Some foreigners I know stayed in Songkhla for a year, but ended up moving to Hat Yai because they got bored.
On the other hand, a writer friend rents a house right in the middle of Songkhla old town and really loves it. As with everything in life, where you choose to live is a very personal thing and we are all different.
Thursday 4th October 2018
Thailand is synonymous with many things, one of which is temples. I know that at least one of my readers has an interest in temples and I've just been documenting some of the history of a local temple.
It's a temple that I used to live next door to and one that I still pass frequently. I first saw it in 2002 when it was just a large concrete shell with no decoration.
It's a Chinese temple and it has been built using donated money. People visit the temple and donate money in order to make merit. When enough money has been collected, materials are bought and more construction takes place.
This is the reason it is taking so long to complete. I'm not sure of the exact start date, but it was started before 2002 when I first saw it. In 2018 the work is still not finished and will most likely take several more years.
It isn't the most spectacular temple in Thailand, but it's big and watching its progress over many years has been quite fascinating. It is adorned with hand-made, intricately hand-painted tiles fired in local kilns and I suspect that many local people have donated their own labour in the building of the temple.
It is located quite near to the downtown area of Hat Yai and if you visit Hat Yai it is worth a visit. It is close to the famous Gim Yong market that many visitors to Hat Yai know about.
Pictorial History Of The Construction Of Cheo Chaang Temple, Hat Yai From 2004 To The Present
This page is still a work in progress and I will add more later.