I’ve said many times that I love my adopted country, Thailand, because it is socially, politicaly, and religiously conservative. Things don’t change much. Thailand translates literally to “land of the free.” You’re welcome to check me on that.

SO another way to read this piece (link below) is that Thailand is fine just the way it is. Not getting better, not getting worse. “Stagnated,” as they say.

“The report shows a country with a clear split personality. On the positive side, Thailand performs strongly in public order and security. Crime and internal conflict are relatively well controlled, and this area scores higher than the world average. Everyday life, for most people, feels safe and predictable.”

Who wants to complain? Young teenage girls here feel perfectly safe to be out and about until all hours, by themselves or with friends (my GF was recently out until 2 am bar hopping with friends for a birthday party…drove her motorcycle back alone). The chief violence anyone faces is from family members and close acquaintances (like jealous boyfriends and jilted wives). That’s a worldwide issue. Talk to some of them who have been to other countries. My first GF here had a previous BF who took her to Brazil 3 times. She was terrified to leave the house.

“But this strength is dragged down by two long-standing weaknesses; corruption and inconsistent enforcement of the law. Thailand scores poorly when it comes to freedom from corruption and the reliability of law enforcement. Rules often exist on paper but are applied unevenly in practice. This uncertainty damages public trust and sends a negative signal to investors who want fairness, clarity, and predictability.”

Corruption on the ground? You mean like when you get stopped for a traffic infraction (no helmet is the typical) and have to pop for 500 baht ($15 hip pocket national bank)? No paperwork or reporting? In the US, fines start at about 300 bucks, and it’s going on your permanent record, and your insurance rates will go up. Give me the “corruption.”

Reliability and uneven enforcement? You mean, like, often enough, they simply let you slide because they don’t wish to cause you problems because they’d do the same too? They do not have a ‘we can get ’em’ mentality in Thai Buddhist society, especially when they know you’re generally good. Cops dislike ruining your day. They know who the bad actors are, and so, selective enforcement is used to deal with that handily.

“Nearly one in five people now report having to pay a bribe to obtain permits or deal with public authorities. This is not corruption at the top it is corruption in daily life, where citizens meet the state face to face.”

Ah, a little bit. More generally, how it works in practice is that, just like everywhere else, you can deal directly with government offices. Unless you’re lucky, you’ll take a number, and by the time you get business done, half the day or more is shot, mostly sitting on your ass waiting for your number to be called.

But there are agents for just about everything. Private agencies, and they are government trusted. So, you just go to an agent office, pay perhaps 30-60 bucks (their fee), and in under 30 minutes, your business is done. They contact you to come pick up the finished paperwork a few days later. Plus, the government trusts them to vet applications. So if the agency accepts your deal, it’s 99% it’s going to be approved and done.

Far superior to Western dealings, in my experienced opinion. Here’s the link to the post I’m referencing:

Thailand’s rule of law stands still as the world moves on

I think what the title implies is that Thailand is “unfortunately” not corrupted with the commie, progressive, woke mind virus. In other words, a beautiful thing.

Just a short missive today.