Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai outrage growing at the antics of foreigners behaving badly here in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Thai Examiner, that is thaiexaminer.com, the article is titled: Anger in Phuket over brazen Aussie who pilfered and shoplifted at will from local shops before his arrest. As usual, Thai Examiner does a rather exhaustive coverage of this whole thing. That said, I am going to quote some excerpts here. Quoting directly, but I urge those who are watching this video, go check out thaiexaminer.com for yourselves. Quoting directly: "Outrage erupts in Phuket after Australian tourist Liam Allan Lakeman is caught shoplifting multiple football jerseys, a mobile phone, and other items. Locals demand he face the full force of Thai Law amid growing frustration and anger at rising foreign crime." Quoting further: "The 25-year-old was finally caught on Saturday after an off-duty policeman spotted him fleeing a nearby leisure shop. The Australian was found with multiple football jerseys, a stolen mobile phone and other paraphernalia afterwards. The incident alarmed local business owners and the wider public. It comes as complaints are mounting in Phuket over leniency for foreign offenders, with calls for Mr. Lakeman to face the law to the fullest extent." 

Now a couple of things. To provide some context, I did some videos, I did a handful of videos in the past week or so about this group of Israelis that now seem to be at multiple points, in multiple places in Thailand and there's Thai outrage that's coming from these folks that are doing all kinds of, they are engaging in illegal behaviour insofar as they are engaging in restricted occupations here in Thailand. There's another element of this that I haven't really delved into even in those other videos, but I think it's worth mentioning here, is that they seem to also be trying to set up exclusive communities that weren't even allowing Thai Law Enforcement to enter them and to basically check out what's going on. That has engendered a lot of Thai vitriol or ire if you will, and Thais aren't happy about that because any place in Thailand is going to be subject to inspection by relevant Thai Authorities at the very least. So yeah, you can rent a room or something in Thailand but if they have a valid search warrant for example they're going to go ahead and execute it and as we've discussed in other videos, they are doing this more and more. 

I get into deep dive analysis in this in our long-form news service. If you're interested in that please feel free to email us [email protected], you can get on the email list for the long-form content. Also while I'm talking my book, I guess it's worth pointing out that my better half and I have set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok. If you're interested in American Diner style food and breakfast anytime, Pancake Palace; links are in the description below. We'd love to see you at Pancake Palace.

But again circling back here, this is all happening, this young person, this young man's machinations if you will, activities have occurred sort of in the eye of the storm if you will, during the confluence of a lot of events that are occurring that are causing some backlash in the Thai Community against basically as the titles suggests, 'foreigners behaving badly' and it's not just this kind of petty crime stuff, it's also restricted occupations, flouting Thai Laws regarding decency and things in the community as well as thinking that you can set up your own little enclaves that aren't going to be subject to Thai oversight. Yeah, this is Thailand. No one's interested in that, period, end of discussion. Everybody get that one down clearly. 

That said, quoting further: "Amid recent warnings from foreign embassies about unrest and border tensions, Thailand now faces another concern. It centres on foreign behaviour and rising public anger linked to foreign tourists misbehaving. The situation is particularly notable in Phuket, where last Saturday saw the arrest of a young Australian man showing a blatant disregard for the law. Officers say Lakeman admitted to the theft on the spot. In a police interview video, he allegedly confessed to "taking" items to pay off credit card debt. That claim did little to soften public reaction. Instead, it fuelled online calls for strict and severe punishment." Yeah, and look, this may seem like petty stuff but if it was done multiple times and it's in the aggregate, that adds up. Quoting further: "Thailand is still a country where the public feels the law is there to protect them," - yeah, Thais like Thai law because it is there to protect Thailand, Thais in Thailand, especially from 'Foreigners Behaving Badly' - Quoting further: "especially from violent crime, but also, in particular, crimes relating to property." And again, who is this person stealing from? Some guy that runs a little bodega where he's selling some football jerseys and cell phones or something, to make ends meet? How much does the person that this person stole from make in a given year? How much could this person who stole stand to earn in their home country just at a basic job? Really, it's not only the flagrant disregarding of the local laws, but it's the just spit in the face of the locals here who are trying to make ends meet selling stuff to tourists and things and to think that you can just walk around and flout the law, shoplifting and just steal from these people. It's morally wrong. It's not just a legal problem. And also who are you stealing from? And who are you to be doing it? Do you come from a place that afforded you far more, I hesitate to use the word ‘privileges’ but allowed to it to enjoy perhaps a higher standard of living - I'm not going to say 'better' - but a higher standard of living in some objective sense than the people you are stealing from? Come on. That said, quoting further: "Meanwhile, local sentiment on Phuket Social Media pages exploded. Thai residents demanded a firm legal response. Many insisted that authorities must not allow the suspect to escape justice by paying a fine and flying home. Indeed, they were possibly referring to a notorious incident in March 2024. This saw two New Zealand brothers attack a motorcycle cop with his own gun."

Yeah, I reported on that at the time. Yeah, I kind of agree with the other Thais on this. They're saying, 'hey we hope he doesn't have to just pay a fine and fly away.' I mean the two guys that attacked the cop, if they had done that their home country, they'd be in prison probably for decades. The fact that they, however that went down, whatever was going on there. But again, I understand the sentiment of Thais on this one where they're like ‘hey, is this just going to result in some slap on the wrist and this person gets kicked out?’ Now personally I think blacklisting from the country is probably not a terrible idea, again if after adjudication this person is adjudicated to be guilty, but it sounds to me like the person confessed so there is that element of this whole thing. But long story short, yeah, I understand the sentiment of other Thais. 

The thing to take away from this video, if you're going to come to Thailand, obey the law; don't run around shoplifting. And understand, there is an increasing attitude of negativity toward this type of activity and there will be consequences in Thailand, and they are not going to be consequences that I think most folks from the West or from elsewhere are particularly going to like.