So you all heard about great exciting potential of Southeast Asia’s market, in case you don’t, here is my 30 second pitch:
“Southeast Asia has 600 million populations which constitutes only a half of 1.2 billion populations in India but it has higher spending power with US$ 1.4 Trillion.”
Okay, now you want to get access to this challenging market and wonder in which country you should set up your business entity. If this question keeps buffering you, I would like to recommend Thailand as an answer. Let’s see if these facts, together with my honest and professional opinions, sound convincing enough for you.
I have been working in HR Tech sector and my occupation drives me to immerse myself in the HR industry. On one occasion last year, I met a group of European founders who have set up their Startup in Thailand. One founder from Sweden told me the reason why they chose to try their luck in Thailand instead of Europe, a place where they have some vital advantages since they were born and raised and were even granted funding there. It shocked me as he said “You knew what, hiring the guy with the same level of skills you just introduced me could probably cost me three times, if not higher, than what it costs me here, leaving alone the buzzing income taxes.”
Additionally, the overall cost of living in Thailand is significantly lower; the rent, the food, working space, etc. So it makes every sense to base the Startup here in Thailand where we can keep the burn rate low and have a longer runway which probably means more chances to success.
Thai Government wants to promote tech industry therefore they allow foreigners to establish a wholly owned Startup entity through “Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)” channel (or own a majority shares in the company).
In summary, as a foreigner, you can establish the entity following these steps: Go to BOI website, fill out the form online and schedule the meeting with BOI officers which I find to be super nice and very helpful. Since most of Tech Startups fall into Software business category (section 5.7) under BOI definition, the whole process usually takes less than 60 days. Once granted the BOI certificate, you can incorporate the wholly foreign owned entity with Department of Business Development (DBD). Request a “Foreign Business License” which you can easily obtain since you have already been granted BOI certificate. Open the business bank account.
As a BOI supported company, you are permitted a fast-lane to request a Work Visa and Work permit through BOI e-Expert system which is way more easier and faster than normal process.
Updated: Recently in January 2018, Thailand launches Smart Visa to attract highly skilled foreign talents in 10 targeted industries.
Unsurprisingly, Thai food has the best taste in the world. A decent favor street food can be found in almost every main street in Thailand. Attractive tourist destinations and a lot of beautiful beaches are located within 2–3-hours drive of central Bangkok, so you can just work in Bangkok during the weekday and enjoy yourself on the beach as often as you desire. During the political situation in past few years where many protesters took to the street but the affected area is limited to some specific parts of central Bangkok with no impact on the rest of the city, the shopping mall was still open, sub-way / sky train was operated as normal and people went to work as usual.
Most importantly, Thai people are nice and extremely friendly to foreigners. That’s why most foreigners usually feel comfortable to live and work in Thailand.
Don’t get me wrong, Thailand has a problem of talent shortage as serious as the other countries around the world.
But due to the advantages in #3, I would say it is quite an easy task to bring in foreign talents as it is evident that most of them seem eager to work in a comparatively carefree environment in Thailand. Fortunately, in our tech recruiting business, more than 80% of our clients are open for foreign candidates and are willing to sponsor Work Visa and Work Permit for those qualified foreign candidates.
Having over 25 million Facebook active users, Bangkok could be named the capital city of Facebook (the highest ranking in the world). Moreover, half of the population in Thailand (over 30 million) is Line active users. Mobile penetration rate is roughly at 133%. Thailand is among the world’s top 10 countries who spend the most time watching YouTube video. And most importantly, 3G/4G high-speed mobile internet has already covered nationwide area. So Thai digital consumer is more than ready to adopt new technology.
With market size of 65-millions-people, it can serve as early market during initial stage of startup before scaling up and expanding to 600 millions consumers in regional market.
Thailand’s Corporate Income Tax rate is set at 20 percent which is second only to Singapore in terms of tax rate in this region. If the Startup entity is supported by Thailand BOI, it will be tax-exempted for 5 years. See the whole package of Corporate Income Tax Rates here.
Venture Capital (VC) firms are tax-exempted for 10 years in order to incentivize VC firms to establish their local investment entities in Thailand and will be able to get access to further incentives from the government.
Minister Pitch “From Startup Thailand to Scale up Asia: Partnership for Growth”
Please see the Minister Pitch by Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand explaining the incentive packages for Startup registered in Thailand during the region’s largest tech event of the year “Startup Thailand-Scale up Asia”.
This event was greeted by over 36,000 attendees and found itself a spot on the list of world’s top ten tech events with respect to attendees.
Recently, one of Thailand’s largest mobile operators, True Corporation has just unveiled a massive 200,000-square-meter of digital hub project worth over half a Billion Dollars. To no one’s surprise, most of the major corporates in Thailand have already set up the Startup investment funds or Accelerators programs ranging from:
The moment is coming and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. With all the reasons I mentioned above I would say there is still plenty of room for innovative Tech Startup to grow and prosper.
Let’s come and explore the opportunity in Thailand together!
Thailand is exponentially transforming the startup community from a hidden gem into one of South East Asia’s most promising ecosystems. Thailand enjoys a strong reputation for innovation. The country has been effective in transforming its innovation investments into innovation outputs to provide a boost to its economy. This statistic alone should give the VCs and investors of Thailand confidence.
The Thailand Government aims to make Thailand a global startup hub. After Indonesia, Thailand has the largest economy in ASEAN. Its plentiful natural resources, and a strong tourism industry bringing in money and influence and they certainly have an opportunity. These factors, as well as the living and working costs in Thailand, have led to a booming startup market, with plenty of local innovation and foreign investments. We have also compiled a list of active angel investors who are spreading Thailand’s tech renaissance.
Plug- TeamWave – Simple CRM, Project Management & HR Software for Small Business
Lightnet uses blockchain technology to provide cross-border payment capabilities for its partners. It is a fin-tech company dedicated to improving the lives of the unbanked and underbanked by building an inclusive international remittance ecosystem that increases the efficiency of existing money transfer operators, financial institutions and other cross-border payment providers. Lightnet’s initial focus will be on Southeast Asia remittances, which it estimates to be in excess of USD 150 billion a year.
Industry: Cryptocurrency, Fin-Tech.
Founders: Chatchaval Jiaravanon.
Total Funding: $32.2M
Founded Date: 2018
EasySunday is a multi-line Insur-Tech firm with fully-integrated sales and services platforms designed to reinvent the entire insurance value chain where the nature of risks is rapidly shifting as we progress towards a digital economy.
EasySunday received the award for Thailand Best Fin-tech Startup 2019 at the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards.
Industry: Insur-Tech, Fin-Tech.
Founders: Cindy Kua.
Total Funding: $30M
Founded Date: 2017
Deliveree is a full service logistics marketplace powered by sophisticated mobile and web app technology that allows your business to book and manage ground transportation of goods, cargo, merchandise, and almost anything else. Deliveree operates in Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. Its marketplace connects businesses with qualified drivers of commercial vehicles to provide affordable and trustworthy service according to its high quality standards.
Industry: Logistics.
Founders: Quan Nguyen, Tom Kim.
Total Funding: $38.8M
Founded Date: 2015
Flash Express is a logistics and transportation company that operates a door-to-door pickup and delivery service.
The company uses its fully in-house developed technology and Big Data to digitize and standardize the delivery process which allows it to increase operational efficiency and offer competitive prices.
Industry: Logistics, E-Commerce, Transportation.
Founders: Di Weijie, Komsan Lee.
Total Funding: $350M
Founded Date: 2017
Based in Bangkok, Plizz is a startup providing technology-powered accounting services to SMEs, helping them lessen time spent in all their accounting & tax obligations so they can focus on developing their business. Also, it gives the customers access to its accountants who give advisory solutions.
Industry: Accounting, Financial Services.
Founders: Benoit Meneau.
Total Funding: $300K
Founded Date: 2015
Finnomena is a digital wealth management platform for investors and financial advisers.
It is Thailand’s leading all-in-one digital wealth management platform for investors and financial advisors with over 100k investment accounts opened. Finnomena has achieved significant growth to date and is poised to scale rapidly.
Industry: Financial Services
Founders: Chayanon Rakkanjanan, Jessada Sookdhis. Kasin Suthammanas.
Total Funding: $13.4M
Founded Date: 2016
Money Table is a platform that simplifies the process of company’s employees looking to explore personal finance options. MoneyTable was formed in late 2016 to become the leading online financial platform to fix the problems with the current. And as a platform for further development, welfare organizations, focusing on facilitating online financial and personnel work.
Industry: Finance, Fin-Tech
Founders: Piya Jootar
Total Funding: $1.
5M
Founded Date: 2016
Rabbit Internet was founded in 2015 by Johannes von Rohr. Rabbit internet develops sustainable online and media services business. Rabbit internet accesses a unique platform combining talent, media, data and capital. Rabbit Internet’s key focus is on sustainable consumer internet business model for South East Asia.
Industry: Internet
Founders: Johannes von Rohr
Total Funding: $9.1M
Founded Date: 2015
Sabai Customer is an enterprise customer communications platform with AI-driven response optimization engine. Sabai Customer was established in 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand to solve a problem that has plagued companies since the very onset of industrial and technological civilization: that of providing seamless, intelligent, and efficient customer communications.
Industry: Enterprise Software, Artificial Intelligence.
Founders: Carlo Pietrobattista, Srinivasan Ravi.
Total Funding: $500K
Founded Date: 2017
QueQ is a start-up company, producing a revolutionary application for queuing that allows users to virtually stand in line. QueQ helps users manage time wisely at crowded places. This innovative application was founded by Rungsun Promprasith in 2015.
Industry: SaaS, Internet.
Founders: Rungsun Promprasith
Total Funding: $2.9M
Founded Date: 2015
Masii is an online platform that enables users to compare financial products such as car insurance, credit cards, personal loan and more. Masii is a leading comparison site for financial and insurance product. It is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Industry: Insurance, Fin-Tech.
Founders: Matthias Juergens, Max Meyer
Total Funding: $2.
4M
Founded Date: 2016
A Crypto-powered payment and banking platform for entrepreneurs, startup founders and affiliate marketers. Everex holds 6 years track record in Blockchain R&D and was the first company to introduce the application of Stablecoins in low-cost instant payment settlements in 2016.
Industry: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Fin-Tech.
Founders: Alexander Kakunov, Alexi Lane.
Total Funding: $500K
Founded Date: 2016
Roojai.com was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Sriracha, Chon Buri, Thailand. Roojai.com is a new car insurance service especially created for drivers in Thailand. Roojai is a licensed broker regulated by OIC and they have partnered with Krungthai Panich Insurance (KPI) of the Krungthai Bank (KTB) Group to provide the best possible online car insurance product for consumers.
Industry: Insurance
Founders: Nicolas Faquet
Total Funding: $7M
Founded Date: 2015
SiamCarDeal is an online car listing platform in Thailand.
It is a website that provides information, knowledge, news about cars, all types of vehicles and information of service providers or distributors Information provided or available on the website is for the benefit of customers.
Industry: Automobile
Founders: Damien Kerneis, Siriporn Chaowonglert
Total Funding: $300K
Founded Date: 2016
Founded in February 2018, Bitkub is a new generation digital asset and cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers advanced exchange services to individuals who intend to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is a game-changing technology for the financial industry. Its ability to remove middlemen in the financial system has revolutionized the world by giving faster, cheaper, and safer borderless payments.
Industry: Crytocurrency
Founders: Topp Jirayut Srupsrisopa
Total Funding: $4M
Founded Date: 2018
Founded in 2015, Z Home is a property listing platform based out of Thailand.
The portal claims to have no brokers and the interaction is with owners and buyers/ tenants. It provides basic tools for sellers and buyers to access the sales cycle and help in lead generation.
Industry: Real Estate
Founders: Natthapon Asswisessiwakul
Total Funding: $1M
Founded Date: 2015
Sasom was founded by Gunpod Lertkomolsuk, Harit Achanapornkul and Kasit Nganthavee in 2019. Sasom is an e-commerce platform. It is a next generation marketplace for authentic luxurious Transactions. Sasom is Headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand.
Industry: E-Commerce
Founders: Gunpod Lertkomolsuk, Harit Achanapornkul, Kasit Nganthavee.
Total Funding: $1.3M
Founded Date: 2019
Founded in 2017 by Paniangwet and Tuangploi Chiwalaksanangkoon, Freshket is an e-commerce marketplace that brings together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce to B2B and B2C customers in Thailand.
FreshKet is an integrated workflow marketplace for fresh food suppliers and restaurants.
Industry: Agriculture, Food and Baverages.
Founders: Paniangwet, Tuangploi Chiwalaksanangkoon.
Total Funding: $3M
Founded Date: 2016
Giztix is an e-marketplace for worldwide logistics services which covers pick-ups, trucks, freight and customs clearance. It is an integrated logistics platform, solving problems on speed & fragmented processes of truck sourcing and also managing their own fleets that cause un-scalable deliveries.
Industry: Logistics, Transportation.
Founders: Sittisak Wongsomnuk.
Total Funding: $3.4M
Founded Date: 2015
SCOOTA is founded on the idea to make urban mobility smart, resourceful and fun. By providing next generation emission-free first and last mile transportation, SCOOTA aims to leave Southeast Asian cities in a healthier state.
SCOOTA provides individuals, hotels, universities, and urban communities with scooter rental & sharing services.
Industry: Transportation, Mobility.
Founders: Manuel Bender
Total Funding: $6M
Founded Date: 2018
Founded in 2015 by a group of engineers and entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley and New York, FastWork is one of the largest professional freelancing platforms in Southeast Asia by number of users and projects completed. FastWork also helps freelancers collect payments, promote their services, manage their orders, exchange files and communicate with their clients anywhere, anytime.
Industry: Enterprise Software
Founders: Apon Palanuwech, Ben Vibhagool, Jerd Pichitkul.
Total Funding: $5.5M
Founded Date: 2015
Drivemate is a car rental platform.
It is a leading peer to peer car sharing service in Thailand. If you own a vehicle, you can put it for rent on Drivemate so it can pay for itself. Drivemate provides trust to both parties with full insurance coverage and customer service.
Industry: Car Sharing
Founders: Sikharin Cholpratin, Silratth Sukwatthanasiri
Total Funding: $2.2M
Founded Date: 2016
Founded in February 2017, Meticuly is a 3D printing medical technology company focusing on personalised implant solutions for bone-related surgery applications. Instead of off-the-shelf standard-sized implants to treat patients with bone deformity, Meticuly provides state-of-the-art pre-operative planning, surgical guides, and implants that are tailored to fit individual patients.
Industry: 3D Printing, Healthcare.
Founders: Boonrat Lohwongwatana, Peeranoot Lohwongwatana
Total Funding: $4.
1M
Founded Date: 2017
RISE is a Leading Corporate Innovation Powerhouse, based in Southeast Asia. With the mission to lift up 1% of GDP for this region, RISE works with corporates and governments in the region to become more innovative in the faster future through our unique corporate accelerator, intrapreneur university, venture building services, and its experiential conference. It helps corporations and governments innovate faster through its corporate innovation platform.
Industry: Education, Management Consulting
Founders: Rathiya Jinn Issarachaikul, Sumana Fon Parchiayanon.
Total Funding: $8M
Founded Date: 2016
Fashion E-Commerce Asia is a fashion brand established in Bangkok. This e-commerce platform was founded in 2017 by Jun Horata and Rinyaphat Phattaratheeda. Fashion E-Commerce Asia aims to present fashion trends at affordable prices, without compromising quality.
Industry: E-Commerce
Founders: Jun Horata, Rinyaphat Phattaratheeda
Total Funding: $3.7M
Founded Date: 2017
Order for the production of goods in Thailand under own brand - this is a good solution for business optimization and product range expansion. portfolio. This service is of interest to companies that want to set up production under their own brand, but do not have technological equipment.
Our company offers to launch the production of goods with a logo your company in one of the factories in Thailand. Low cost of organization this process and the excellent quality of products with proper control qualities can not only increase revenues, but also lead the company to a new level.
Cooperating with us, you get the following privileges:
Lots of reliable manufacturing partners who manufacture products in Thailand for external and domestic market, are ready to place customer's advertising on product packages.
Our company is part of several companies that are engaged in the manufacture of curry pastes, sauces. We offer a wide range of branding products. To your attention - a large number of titles.
Thai sauces range includes: oyster sauce (oyster sauce), soy sauce (soy sauce), seasoning sauce, ferment soy sauce, dipping sauce, soup powder, mushroom sauce (mushroom sauce), cooking oil.
Curry pastes we produce: Red, Gaeng pah, Green Curry Paste, Sour Curry Paste, Sour Southern Curry Paste, Southern Style (Tai Pah), Southern Red, Panang Curry Paste, Yellow Curry Paste, Massaman or Massaman Curry, Stir Fry Curry Paste, Thai Chili Past.
Private label manufacturing service customer's own brand consists of the following elements:
To organize the production of products under your company's brand, we are ready to choose a reliable manufacturer. We have trusted partners producing products such as food, beverages, cosmetics, clothing, hotel products.
We also offer advertising materials of our own production. Our printing house makes any printed matter from 1 piece. We have extensive experience in printing packaging and stickers, labels of varying complexity.
Seven reasons why you should contact our company:
We are ready to be your sales agents and resolve all issues related to representing your company in Thailand. If you are interested in the production of products under your trademark, then our managers are ready to advise on any areas of cooperation. For all questions, please contact via the contact form or via email.
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Against the backdrop of a series of topics from expats, I decided to share it too. I'm not sorry, but someone will be interested.
My name is Vlad, I was born in Vitebsk, Belarus. At the age of 23 he emigrated to St. Petersburg, Russia. I currently live in Bangkok. I am proficient in PHP and technical SEO skills. 2 days a week I work in an American company, the rest of the time I work on my projects. I've been in Thailand for a year now and I'm not going to move anywhere yet.
So, I ended up in Thailand quite by accident. By that time, I had already been freelancing in PHP for a year in St. Petersburg. I was offered to update the website of an American company in Bangkok. It so happened that I showed them how smart, experienced, and ... lazy I am. Therefore, they offered to come to BPC for two months, because they were tired of working remotely with me.
It was scary. Despite the successful experience of emigration to St. Petersburg, Asia seemed to be a poor, dirty, culturally alien, third world country. I refused for two weeks until I was offered payment for everything (apartment, tickets, food) and 2k a month.
The first month I walked with my mouth open
Thailand is a country with a strong bias towards Buddhism (90% of Buddhists), and this is very pronounced in their attitude to life (mai pen rai - “don't care, don't pay attention.”), and in tolerance for everyone.
Now having lived here for a year, I clearly understand why I did not like Malaysia. The attitude towards Asians, in particular in Russia, is rather skeptical and wary. Everyone heard about the trick, that they can lie, rarely wash, etc. Now I understand that this is true and applies to most Asians. For example, Indians or Malaysians. But not the Thais.
They are second to none when it comes to personal hygiene. For example, walking in the same T-shirt for the second day in a row is a dirty stigma. Your own Thai girlfriend will fall into the ground if she finds out. Smoking is also very reprehensible, it's too bad a smell. Approximately 99% of Thais do not smoke, unlike neighboring China or Malaysia.
There are serious differences in the checks and balances, the morality of society compared to the post-Soviet states.
Firstly, the society here is Buddhist (up to 90%), and the caste system makes people treat others very respectfully, who unofficially belong to a higher caste than you yourself.
Therefore, a lie to save the face of the boss, or parents, or the person to whom you are indebted is sacred.
Secondly, society is loaded with the concept of karmicity. If you showed a stupid foreigner how to get to the library, get points for karma. I caught up with a drunk foreigner and gave him a forgotten bag with money and a laptop - get more. You send 80% of your earnings to your parents and get a huge boost to karma, and universal respect in your village.
For example, quite a lot of young women come from the provinces and work on their backs in Bangkok, not so much because their parents are begging, but because they need a cool new car. In the next life, everything will count, and most likely you will be a rich, healthy, white person.
And thirdly, this is the phenomenon of losing face. There is nothing special to tell, in short: the girl who tucked her skirt into her shorts is likely to change jobs and maybe even the city. Persons who have committed crimes, or stupid things, especially in front of foreigners, will be branded all their lives.
Street where I live
Despite personal hygiene and huge beautiful skyscrapers, the entire capital is cut by channels with stagnant water, if you get into it, there is very little chance of survival. Last year, a pop star fell there in a car, and later died from an infection. The streets are constantly cleaned and washed (much like in Belarus), but due to the fact that everyone here eats on the streets and the population of the capital is very large, smelling heaps lie everywhere in the evening.
The city of Bangkok itself is very large. I was very struck by the availability of personal transportation options.
— taxi. This is usually a new and clean machine with a license. Landing + some distance = 35 baht. (35 rur/$1) further down town is very cheap.
- motosai. A boy on a motorcycle, in special clothes. Cheaper than a taxi at 2x, and very convenient to drive between cars in traffic jams.
- ground train. It looks like a subway at a height of 10 meters above the ground. Very clean and pleasant train, runs very often and quickly. Costs from $1 for 3 stations.
- underground metro. Unfortunately somehow did not get. But apparently they also drive it out of town.
— personal car. I don't have it, and don't really need it. But there is enough parking. Usually condos come with a private space in the garage. Russian expats say that it is very convenient to have a car, fill it up, etc. I'm off topic here.
Thailand is a monarchy, and the king is very loved and respected. Despite the fact that 80% of the population lives in poverty, no one is hungry. As my American friend said, he likes it here because the state allows people to live. The state tries to keep the population at a low level of income and education, but well-fed. As I found out, at school they are not even given a multiplication table.
Because there are calculators. This explains the presence of a large number of foreigners in leadership positions.
IT technologies are well developed. For example, by turning on the laptop in my favorite cafe, I get 3 free Wi-Fi lines (one from this cafe, two from neighboring ones), two dozen private or office ones, and three paid ones that are caught throughout the city.
Any iron is the latest in large stores. Any pirated software on the street and in stores. The prices are the same as in Russia. (I was eyeing the GF260).
Any Russian can come to Thailand without a visa. They put a stamp for 15 (30?) days at the border. Belarusians and Ukrainians need to get a tour visa for three months (now free of charge). You can extend a tour visa once a month (2 + 1 total 3m), but Russians can easily, even on foot, cross the border with, for example, Laos and get a new one. I had to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (the only close visa-free country) to get a new one when I was living there on a tourist visa.
I won’t tell you about visas, the company did everything for me, and I didn’t really go into it. But there is a wonderful forum farangforum.ru, where you will be prompted.
Work is a vicious circle, like everywhere else. To find a job, you need to have a permit, and to have a permit, you need to have a job. Therefore, it is difficult to advise something. Read the forums. I was lucky, although I did not aspire to emigrate to Thailand.
A lot of foreigners work here because the local education is very poor. Yes, people are lazy. I think you can find sites where you can leave your resume.
If you are already earning over $1000 on the Internet, you will be very comfortable here. The banking market is very developed, atm machines are at every turn. The government, as long as you don't apply for a retirment visa, or for a bank loan, is up to Paraguay on what you live on. No one checks the documents of Caucasian foreigners on the street.
The office of the company I work for is located in the center of the BKK. Ordinary office. It differs from St. Petersburg only in that usually everyone eats together at lunch, right in the office in a large kitchen. We have 5 taeks working, me and the American boss, who is also the owner. The girls at the office take great care of me, they are happy to make me coffee at any time. Their work is completely trifling, and by and large, I would be alone with the boss, I would keep this business. But according to Thai laws, in the office, 4 Thais must work for 1 foreigner.
By and large, my job is not good either. I maintain a website that sells products. The girls take pictures and put on new products.
When I worked full time, I was paid $2k. Now for 2 days a week I get paid 1k. And most likely will soon be reduced to $ 700, because of the crisis. As such, there is no crisis. Rice as it grew 4 times a year, so it will be. Only American businesses have suffered, because Americans are not buying anything now, and a little bit of tourism, because there are fewer people coming.
As you might guess, the police very harshly suppresses any crimes against foreigners, protecting one of the major sectors of the country's budget. In public or tourist places, I did not observe any excesses. Walked around the city at night. Although looking through the local newspaper, I see that murders and robberies occur as in any country. Around every bank, store, condominium, a lot of security guards are on duty around the clock. This reduces the likelihood of crimes around the clock.
Attitude strikes at first. People smile at you, but not from the fact that it is so accepted (as in the US), but from the fact that people in the bulk are in harmony with themselves and with those around them. I will not say that they are glad to see you on the street just like that. Half of you don't care at all, and half of you are just funny.
I have never encountered aggression or rudeness towards myself.
After all, raising your voice is a loss of face. And a foreigner is, first of all, a funny cute animal that spends money here and does not create problems. I smile back at everyone, I always speak in a low voice, I use the local language and I am welcome everywhere. And in shops and casual passers-by. I am always happy to help with directions or advice, because helping them earn points towards karma. In addition, foreigners with white skin are something of a slightly higher caste than the average city dweller.
There is an opinion that Thailand is the capital of debauchery. In fact, society is very puritanical. For example, both men and women bathe in the sea dressed. In shorts and t-shirts. Because it is not accepted to be naked in public places. It is not customary to kiss in the street or even hold hands. All debauchery takes place in legal, specially designated places. There are bars, saunas and short-time hotels. Any girl you meet there can be taken to this very hotel.
Prices depend on your experience. On average, if you take a girl in a bar, you pay 600 to the bar, 1 to the girl, 300 per hour in the hotel. If on the street - then only a girl.
Normal young women, of whom there are millions (I wrote that there is a gender predominance in Thailand), will also be very glad to meet you. It depends:
— from recognizing the Western way of life as super cool and correct;
- from white skin, which is considered a reward for a good previous life;
- from a fairly high caste of a white foreigner, as is customary in Asia;
- from a sufficiently high level of the material condition of foreigners, in front of the locals;
- and from the fact that the local guys are very lazy and do not look after themselves.
So it turns out that the cream of society becomes expats. Educated, purposeful, looking after themselves people. They look, speak and behave normally. Therefore, any Thai girl walking with a white foreigner makes everyone jealous.
But, as I have already noted, the society is very puritanical and do not expect anything serious, either on the first or on the second date.
Thailand I really like the differentiation of benefits. Along with real boutiques from Prada and others, you can buy clothes on any street or one of the hundreds of markets. T-shirts, shorts, etc. cost a penny, because they are locally made.
You can eat in a western-style restaurant for about 300 baht (300rur/$10), or at McDonald's for 120 baht, or on the street, like everyone else, for 40 baht - local food.
You can rent an apartment close to the metro for 20k baht, or 80k baht. If you are ready to go to the metro for about 10 minutes by taxi, then rent a small studio for 10k. I have an outdoor pool in my house on the 9th floor, in which I swim every day after work, and 2 minutes from the metro. But my apartment is expensive.
Thais are generally capable of living in places where a foreigner would not set foot for 1k baht.
