Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing yet again this phenomenon which is becoming increasingly common here in Thailand of Foreigners Behaving Badly. That's the only way I can describe it is just 'Foreigners Behaving Badly'. This was not something we were really prone to seeing back pre-Covid; I don't know what's going on. There may be an element of this where there is better sort of media coverage and we are sort of seeing it more; I don't get that impression though. These kind of incidents are like something you would have heard about once every like half decade some years back and now it seems like not a week goes by that we don't hear something like this. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Phuket News, that thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: Arrest warrant issued for Brit over Tuk-Tuk driver assault. Quoting directly: "An arrest warrant has been issued for a British man wanted for physically accosting a Tuk-Tuk driver in Karon in an incident over the Tuk-Tuk driver allegedly not paying the correct change for the fare." So I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in detail, we're quoting excerpts here and there's more detail in there. The Phuket News as per usual does a really good job of coverage of this whole thing. But apparently this had something to do with the fare was one price and the foreigner gave the driver, this Tuk-Tuk driver like a thousand Baht. The guy said "hey I don't have change" and look this is something that I know is kind of frustrating to foreigners here in Thailand where they will have local funds – they will have Baht - but they'll be carrying around 1,000s, or 500s and 1,000s and primarily the local economy here more or less operates on bills that are under 500 Baht. I mean those kind of bills are kind of difficult to break. Now I've had my own frustrations associated with this in the past. I even remember doing, way back, talking in podcasting about the only two things for example motorbike drivers really should have on hand is a gassed up motorcycle and some change. That said, a thousand Baht, that's kind of like $100 bill in the United States or maybe I should say like what a $100 bill was like some 15 years ago before the inflation got to the point where it is now where a hundred bucks will buy you like a McDonald's value meal or whatever it is over there in the States. But you have got to remember, most locals, especially street level, folks driving Tuk-Tuk and things they may not have that kind of change. That said, then after this issue with the change, quote: "The pair argued leading to (I am just going to redact the name of the person) leading to the foreigner placing his hands around the Thai person's neck and slapping him in the face before walking off. Then again I'm going to redact names here. "The Thai later filed a formal complaint at Karon Police Station. Pol Lt Col Aeksak Kwanwan of the Karon Police received the complaint. Police have since learned that the foreigner had now fled to Krabi province, Karon Police are now coordinating with Krabi police to track him down and "bring him to trial quickly". 

Look, the Thais are not happy about this. I don't know how to put a finer point on that than that. At the end of the day you are guests in this country and these are really nice people who are trying their best. Now again I understand how frustrations can be but I mean to physically assault a guy because he doesn't have change? Really? I mean that is just, I'm not going to say that over the years that I've been here that I haven't had a good time and been in situations where perhaps I was under the influence and I got a little more overwrought than I should have, but I like to think in fact I know that I'm not attacking local people over not having change. I mean at the end of the day, can we not have a little bit of civility or is everything that's going to be represented by the West going to be these incidents of people flipping out and assaulting Thai people for innocuous things. So I didn't really mean to get off on a rant with regard to this whole topic but we are at like what, the third or fourth one of these in like less than six weeks and each and every one of these incidents is really nuts and I don't know where this is coming from. Again somebody doesn't have change. Well it is frustrating. Maybe you have to drive further up to a 7-Eleven or whatever and get change and then move on. It just sort of is what it is.

Again the Thai Police are taking this very, very seriously. As noted here, this person wandered on to Krabi beach; I don't know that this person necessarily is presuming that they are under any kind of suspicion. They may have just sort of done that as naturally part of their itinerary as a tourist here, but the police are looking for this person. I don't know, perhaps by the time this video goes up, they may have apprehended them. I have got to imagine it's going to involve criminal proceedings and then the possibility of deportation and blacklisting. Is that really the position you want to put yourself in here in Thailand over a matter of change. Then meanwhile, at the end of the day, all of this stuff just makes all the foreigners look bad, at the end of the day, it really does. So hopefully this will stop.