Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing is Thailand still the "cheap paradise" that folks once thought it was. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Tourists walk away from exchange booths as strong Baht dampens Pattaya's appeal. Quoting directly: "At a currency booth along Beach Road this week, a pair of European tourists stood counting notes, frowning before walking away -- a scene that has become increasingly common. For many long-term visitors and holiday makers alike, Thailand is simply no longer the "cheap paradise" it once was". I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in detail, again pattayamail.com. When I was reading that, and I went through and read the whole article, the point is that the Baht is strong, as the title of their article suggests. And as I have discussed in other videos, that's not a terrible thing right now, especially in the current state of currency and trade in the world right now. I'm not really exactly unhappy where Thailand is at.

The writer of the article, the Pattaya Mail, however you want to look at it, bring up a good point though which is that the Baht is a bit stronger than people are oftentimes used to. Now they cited a kind of band right now between upper 31 and change and lower 32 and change. I would note, I was here in 2011. I think we can all remember what it was like when it went under 30, and I think we can all definitely remember what it felt like when it went to 28 and change; that was not a good time. The point I am trying to make with this is the Baht could be stronger is my only point. To all the folks in the tourism sector and everything, I am just saying, I am not trying to be the person who's always saying it could be worse, but really here it could be worse, I think. In my opinion all things considered, if we survive this high season with over 32 on average as the exchange rate against the Dollar, we could have done a lot worse. Now that said, I do get it. The tourists that are down here at the moment are not as free and easy throwing the baht around like they were back in the old days of 38 to 1 against the Dollar or the upper 40s into the 50s against the Pound. I get it, and God knows what against the Euro. But that said, things ebb and flow and in the current state of things, the trade relationship between Thailand and other people, and other Nations, this is someone warranted, again based on the overarching circumstances. 

That being said, is Thailand still a cheap paradise in light of all of this? And I did appreciate Pattaya Mail's analysis where they said look on a macro analysis this strong Baht may not be a bad thing, and I was kind of wondering if they were maybe referencing videos I've made recently about that topic. So fair enough, and I take their points that yeah, maybe the strong baht in a macro way is not a terrible thing, and again I'm happy with 32; 32, 33 somewhere in there, that's a real happy medium. That's kind of a sweet spot we would like to be at where tourists say, "hey I want to come here and spend some money", but it's not so super crazy that we're having all kinds of problems with the Thai baht being too weak which that's another issue. Jim Rickards pointed that out in one of his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Currency Wars books where he said, Thailand has had to deal with this odd situation over 20 years where before they had to let in anybody with foreign exchange coming in to strengthen their baht. Now more and more, they kind of want a weakened Baht. It's a weird pendulum to be kind of swinging back and forth between. 

Long story short, I think this high season we are going to see a very kind of reasonable type tourist environment. Based on the exchange rate maybe we're not going to see as many two-week millionaires as we once did. But I think the people that are coming in are more thoughtful insofar as they may actually spend more money individually than other folks did in the past. I think that's somewhat bearing out as well. It will also be interesting to see if we see a large influx of Chinese tourists especially in the latter half of this high season in quarter one of 2026, especially in light of the fact that casino legislation has largely been put down here in the Thai Parliament and Xi Jinping has noted that because Thailand is not now exploring casinos, there's more of a chance that a lot of these foreign Chinese tourists may come in. Again, that is sort of a weird, backhanded kind of threatening semi-extortionate way to discuss tourism, but whatever. Long story short, we may see more Chinese tourists. That may also change the dynamic of the tourism sector here in Thailand and the overall feeling amongst the tourists about Thailand's "cheapness". It will be interesting to see. 

Long story short, yeah, look, the current exchange rate is not the best it's ever been for the foreign community, but let me assure you having gone through it, it is definitely not the worst it could be in terms of baht strength and the standard of living dictated thereby for foreigners here in the Kingdom of Thailand.