Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing doing business with foreigners in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article, well no actually not a recent article, sorry, recent comment on our channel, quoting directly: "Ben, is it a good idea for foreigners to do business with other foreigners in Thailand? I hear that it is not good as your own countrymen will rip you off more so than anyone else in Thailand. I hear the Thai Courts are full of farang versus farang lawsuits on bad business practices. Is that true? How about a video on that?" Well here's the video. 

So, this is one of those things that I would kind of chalk up to, I am not going to call it an old wives’ tale, I am not going to call it sort of a myth of things going on out here in Thailand but it is kind of something that I think gets a little bit over exaggerated. I've heard and seen many horror stories involving foreigners doing business with one another out here, but I do have to say overall, there’s good and bad people anywhere in the world and of any persuasion. So on the one hand, I wouldn't say there is disproportionately sort of a bad reputation if you will amongst the foreign community of doing business with foreigners. 

Now that said, there is a different way of doing things in Thailand and when someone new - especially a foreigner who is not very long to the country - deals with another foreigner who has had a long experience here, that person with long experience is going to have some comparative advantage in terms of their own internal institutional knowledge if you will of how things work in Thailand versus the new person. Now that can be something that is mutually beneficial because the new person's working with the old hand if you will, and they are benefiting by each other's - the new guy usually has new expertise and the old guy usually has that institutional knowledge. That said, I have seen just as many incidents and frankly in my personal experience, I have had an equal number of bad incidents of doing business with foreigners among old hands, as I have among new guys. I've had plenty of new guys show up in my experience, and I will just leave it at that, that seem to be on the up and up but had their own ulterior motives. 

To be clear, everybody has their own agenda. When you are doing business with anybody, you have to enter into these things knowing that people have their own agenda. But I have to say, when trying to compare between, "don't do business with somebody who has been here forever" versus somebody new, I don't think there is any real comparison there. I think on balance you are going to find again good and bad people probably in equal proportion on both sides of that sort of divide. 

Meanwhile, though foreigners in general doing business with foreigners, again I wouldn't say it's disproportionately worse than doing business with Thais. Now there is the argument that when you're doing business with foreigners, you are sort of on a more equal footing than you are with Thais because Thais have some kind of advantage because it is sort of their home court. Legally speaking, I really haven't ever found that to be the case and trying to sort of fall back on the notion that you are Thai and this is a foreigner, that doesn't really work. The Thai Courts really don't view things that way as a practical matter nor as illegal matter for that matter. 

But long story short I don't think there's any disproportionately worse chance of doing business with a foreigner here than with a Thai when you are comparing those things. That said, again if you will, to quote the Bible, I'm not wanting to do this on this channel, but "by their fruits or by their deeds you shall know them", you know. Do your due diligence, check into the person's background. Don't just sort of take them completely at face value. If they don't have much of a background, or they're very opaque and they have been here a long time, well that might in of itself be a red flag. 

So do I think that doing business with foreigners here in Thailand is any better or worse compared to doing business with Thais? I can't say that I would look at it that way. I do think if you are new, it's worth being aware that somebody that has been here a lot longer than you is going to have some inherent comparative advantage, but then at the same time, old timers and look I have fallen victim to this myself of thinking that I have got some insight that maybe new folks don't have or I have my own advantage and it turns out, no not really. You are still going to deal with people that are trying to deal with you in a less than above board way. So all things being equal, well I can't say it's any better or worse doing business foreigner to foreigner versus foreigner to Thai, here in the Kingdom of Thailand.