Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing sort of the overall situation involving a shift in the Paradigm of Thai Law Enforcement, that Thai Law Enforcement is no longer, Thai Law Enforcement always was what it was, it enforced the law, but there was kind of a 'mai pen rai' attitude about certain activities if a foreigner is engaged in;  I shouldn't say that Thailand was lax on Law Enforcement, they never were, but there have been some incidences, what I have been calling 'foreigners behaving badly' - getting on to about a half a dozen of them now, in the past roughly three, four months - where foreigners have just been completely out of line; I mean multiple incidences of this. I mean allegations of assaulting and robbing Thai people in parking lots, the situation involving two foreigners who apparently disarmed a Thai traffic cop for no apparent reason, a foreigner assaulting a Thai cab driver - there are two incidences of that - and we are talking physical assaults here, we're not talking like just an argument or an altercation. I mean this really broke down into a bad state of affairs and again the point being look when Thais snap, it's over. When enough is enough with the Thais, they are done and they decide on a path to deal with whatever the problem is, they are resolved to deal with that, and that is the point of this video. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Phuket News, that's thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: Step by Step: Reimagining paradise through the 'Phuket Model' and a reformed Senate. Quoting directly: "Strictly enforcing regulations: Existing regulations on offenses like noise pollution, public intoxication and disrespect for sacred sites need to be consistently and fairly enforced. Many will scoff that Officials in Thailand don't enforce anything unless there is personal gain involved." Yeah that's like a constant refrain from in my mind the ne'er do well expat community, "oh the cops only enforce the law if they get something out of it!" No they don't. That's like the nonsense that I have heard for years, over a decade: "oh you can get anything done in Thailand; you can just go and bribe somebody." No you can't, that's just nonsense. 

Now I do get that there are incidences where graft in this world and things of that nature occur but I remember many, many times I have seen foreigners talk in this very broad and sweeping language about corruption in Thailand, "oh, all the Thais are corrupt!" No they are really not. Many Thai Police Officers that I have met over the years are perfectly, like the traffic cop for example that got disarmed by, allegedly whatever you want to call it, allegedly disarmed by two foreigners down, I think it was on Samui or wherever it was, or was it Phuket? In any event, they're done with this. The Thais, that person was a traffic cop; that was their chosen vocation. As I say, I have met many, over the years, a few Thai Police Officers, they want to be Police Officers; most people get into it to help. It's not some racket operation the way that many foreigners make it out to be. It's really silliness. In any event, quoting further: "But this needs to change so as to send a clear message about Thailand's commitment to maintaining order and ensuring a respectful travel environment." See, this is clear to my mind. I want to repeat that: "To send a clear message about Thailand's commitment to maintaining order." That's what Thais are concerned about. The notion of 'kreng jai', the notion of order, civility, is something that very much resonates in the Thai mind and when they start seeing all these incidences of 'foreigners behaving badly' they start getting upset with law enforcement saying "hey what are we doing about this?" and we're seeing the consequences of that. As we discussed in a prior video, there is now a mechanism, an informing mechanism, between Thai Immigration and the Royal Thai Police and the Government wherein they want now reports on a regular basis about how these cases are being followed up. I cannot explain to you, I cannot overstate the gravity of that change. You have to understand the way bureaucracies work and when you have an ongoing, reporting duty regarding cases, that's going to change in a very fundamental way, how these type of cases are going to get processed. Then on top of it, as we have discussed in other videos, the Interior Minister Anutin has come out and said in a couple of cases "hey there isn't going to be any "lobbying"; there isn't going to be any hinky stuff going on with regard to enforcement of Thai Law and with regard to enforcement of Thai Immigration Law and issuance of visas. I mean I can't stress enough how much of a sea change this is in terms of thinking, so again be aware and act accordingly.