Transcript of the above video: 

This is going to be kind of an odd video and I'm going to go ahead and preface it with a bit of a plug here over to the Integrity News Service channel. I'm going to get into some deeper dive into this overall issue of sort of demands of the digital age. Frankly the real dark water I see ahead for Thailand and the world, especially after putting behind us, 2025 especially, but this past election as well, the real dark water I see is coming from just this pernicious, and it seems like, and it always seems that way, it seemed like this under COVID too, relentless push toward all of this digitization, and all of these things. But plugging the Integrity News Service channel, I get into it in a little further detail over there because this is all coming up in the context of the recent election and voting and some stuff like that gets into this. This main channel over here which is kind of more expat related, more news for expats and immigration law and things like that, I'm going to keep it purely to the BTS card and the driving license. I'll get into that in the other video because it all kind of inter-connects but I can kind of keep them bifurcated on this channel and then I'll get into the other stuff over on the news service channel. 

Also while I'm talking my book, I guess it's worth pointing out my better half and I did set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok. It's called Pancake Palace and as the name implies, it is breakfast anytime - American style breakfast - although we do have an English breakfast and we also have American Diner style food anytime. So it's not just breakfast; don't be fooled. Also, while I am at it, I think I'll get into this over on the Integrity News Service channel but there was a really hilarious, I don't even know what you call it video, put up on X that came from apparently the Seedance AI about Waffle House, and so I just thought it was funny. I'll put the link in the description below to that, but we'll get into that over on the news service as well. But yeah, Pancake Palace, we are Thailand's answer in my opinion to The Waffle House. Unlike Waffle House maybe it's not quite as obviously in the video that we get into, it's a little crazy in the Seedance video; it's quite funny. But that said, while I'm plugging all of that stuff, on the news service we will get into how this whole story inter-relates more broadly but just specifically and for expats especially, there has been a lot going on. Over the past like 6-7 years especially with BTS cards, I haven't covered this all that much, but I think it all kind of comes together in this video. 

That said I thought of making this video initially after reading a recent article in a very recent Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Land Transport Department to allow online license renewals. Quoting directly: "The Department of Land Transport (DLT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH)," - and okay, first of all, why is the Ministry of Public Health involved? And by the way, ever since COVID, my hackles go up anytime these folks show up - quoting further: "is upgrading its service standards to allow motorists aged under 55 to renew their driving license online from June. Sorapong Paitoonpong, Director-General of the Department of Land Transport said the move will help manage the high volume of renewals for private cars and motorcycles which average more than 2.5 million applicants per year." Yeah, and for those who are unaware, driving licenses rank among the more obtuse annoyances of expat living. I think pretty much any expat - it's up there with banking, visas, driver's licenses - I mean we're talking the DMV back home if you will, in the West, it's never been the easiest thing to use. I have watched the evolution - I'll get into that here in a moment - the evolution of driving licenses, of getting them. Had my own experiences, good and bad trying to deal with that. Frankly I don't even think it's worth it anymore; now that I have my Thai ID, I don't really care.

But the long story short of it is let me get into it, hold on. Quoting further: "Applicants aged under 55 whose licenses have not expired for more than one year will be able to apply electronically without traveling to a transport office for a physical fitness test." Quoting further: "The measure will reduce the need to travel and better" - and this just hit me like a ton of bricks. "meet the demands of the digital age." What demands are those? And what does that even mean? Again when I read that kind of empty, I hesitate to call it hyperbole, but that sort of empty, passive voice, really, it's just, it's almost programming. It immediately gets my hackles up and I start looking around and like, "hey, what's going on here? Because there are no “demands” of the digital age. We could all just be living our lives fine. It's like the whole notion that we need all of this biometric scanning and nonsense for banking when I see no exigent need for that. Quoting further: "he said, adding it will also ensure citizens receive the best possible services." 

Well great on that. That's certainly a laudable endeavour but first of all, I think it's worth pointing out because people will say, "well hey, they're adding an online component. That will make it easier. Why are you complaining?" Well because I remember when they used to issue lifetime driving licenses. I remember when they had the ability and did issue licenses where you didn't have to show up at the DMV all the time or DLT here in Thailand and go through that rigamarole. No, instead they figured out a way to just do it in such a way that there were no "demands" of the digital age. It was frankly called freedom is what it really was. They just weren't nitpicking you all the time and making you jump through hoops to be able to get something most people need to get on with their lives. This demands of the digital age is just killing me. 

And further getting into this, going over to Reddit, as this pertains to BTS cards. Going over here to Reddit under: Change in BTS Rabbit card top up rules. “So a question for BTS Rabbit card users. Are you being asked for your passport when you top up a registered card at BTS station counters? I bought my card years ago and did the registration process. No one asked for my passport again until recently. Now I've been asked twice in a row. First time they accepted a picture if my bio page (likely out of pity). Now I was told to bring my actual passport next time (they still did my top up). I didn't want to ask any questions at the counter since there was a line behind me and a quick web search didn't turn up anything new, so I'm turning to Reddit. Is it a change in rules or change in enforcement? It's not really a problem but I'd be interested to read other people's experiences." Yeah, I'm hearing the same thing. Now in order to top up your mass transit card, if you're an expat, you have got to bring your passport which if anybody that's an expat that has ever lived out here knows, that's not the easiest thing in the world all the time. The other thing is you are not aware sometimes when you might need to top up and you may come to a point where you need a top up and you are not carrying your passport. I'm really curious as to why this is even necessary, and again, it comes back to this notion of "well the demands of the digital age" and all of this. What are those?

And again, I am going to get into this in a much deeper dive because there are even broader ramifications, especially in light of the recent election, and I've been talking about this stuff for years. This just inexorable, relentless move towards bagging and tagging all of us like some sort of chattel biometrically and making us go through all sorts of portals and online hoops and things, but meanwhile the bureaucracy itself atrophies behind this wall of digitization, because they are doing less and that's just the fact of it. I have seen it in the US Immigration context; I have seen it over here in many different contexts in bureaucracy in Thailand albeit in a much more nascent stage than it has gotten to especially when dealing with any US bureaucracy. This is the kind of stuff that leads to just gross inefficiency and on top of that, a system that doesn't particularly work other than to track and trace everyone in a totalitarian manner. It is not going to be good for Thailand. It is like the banking stuff. This stuff is going to have ramifications, and we are already seeing it. Nobody really wants to talk about it but there are already people saying, "hey do I really want to bank in Thailand?" and things of that nature, and that is going to have an impact on the economy. This stuff is going to have an impact on our lives. Who said we want to live in a digital age that demands anything of us? We are people. Whatever this digital age thing is it sounds to me a lot like freaking Skynet or something from Terminator. It is scary and frankly it is inconvenient and obtuse, and I just don't see any purpose for it. Hopefully, maybe things will change but as you can probably surmise, we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as that situation evolves.