Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, well, “if you don't like Thailand, feel free to leave”, and I will tell you why, I made maybe not the best decision of checking out some of the comments. We really don't do that all that much. We do have a moderator kind of person that does help me with the channel; they kind of look at some comments from time to time and might comment something back. If you don't see my BWH under whatever is said, that's not me, that's somebody that is working on our channel here in the office and  their comments are just as valid but if it says BWH, then that's me specifically. 

But yeah I was just kind of scrolling through some comments. I made a video I don't know a couple weeks back about "If you're going to come to Thailand please support local Thai businesses". Honestly I thought that was a pretty straightforward video. I didn't figure I would get a lot of blowback on that one but lo and behold, yes I did. One comment said and again the title of the video was "please support local businesses in Thailand" and my reasoning was we have come off two and a half years of just economic devastation. Anything you can do to help these folks would be great but some people don't agree. Okay, so quoting directly: "No thanks. When they are more than eager to not post prices on purpose so they can dual charge foreigners. Ever wonder why cart vendors never have a menu with prices? Wow, Farangs so rich, give me 200 Baht, you are in my country so give me money." When I read that, it doesn't even sound like you are happy to be here man. I mean I just would have a problem, I never even thought about that. I have been here 15 years and I have never even thought about the fact that yeah the fruit vendor guy doesn't have like a menu with his prices on it. Wow you just ask him what's a pineapple and he says 10 Baht or 15 Baht or whatever it is now. I think when I got here it was like 5 Baht, it was 10 Baht for a long time, I think it's 15 so inflation is what it is. The other one is a lot of foreigners over here get obsessed with dual pricing. It becomes like almost a weird religion or something. It never particularly bothered me, I mean even after I became Thai. Yeah when I go to museums and stuff they will try to dual price me, I pull out my Thai ID card and they don't do it. Again it never really bothered me particularly. I don't know why. I don't really have any specific logic behind why it doesn't bother me, it just didn't really, I don't really think about it. I guess when I think about it it's not something I love but I kind of get the Thai logic that it is like "hey, on the socioeconomic strata of the globe you are like way up here and I am like down here, I am going to hit you for a little more money". It is probably not the right attitude to have but it just is what it is. Again it has never really bothered me and more to the point, if it is really bothering you that much, you can leave. I mean I am not telling people to do that. This isn't a mean spirited video candidly. It is more just a response because it never dawned on me that you do a video about "hey please support local businesses" and someone says, "no I am not doing that!" It is like okay, whatever. Then we got another one and this one I guess struck to the quick whatever, cut to the quick. Quoting directly: "Rather highbrow and sanctimonious to suggest local businesses "need our patronage". They don't." Well yeah they do. I've been here two and a half years; I've been here all through this thing; I haven't left. I watched the rice lines form out in Lumpinee Park when they shut everything down and all the Tuk Tuk drivers were sitting over there with nothing to do. And good Thai people, Thais being Thais taking care of each other, all showed up at the park and started handing out box meals, a little bit of food, some rice, some water, this and that. Thais really took care of each other. I was really, really struck when this started and all throughout it when Thais were helping each other out. It was something to watch but that said yeah, they do need help. Small businesses in Thailand do need your help, very much so. In any event, quoting further: "Frankly, I get tired of replacing household items after a year or two when Amazon can deliver far superior products to my doorstep without having to get dressed, double priced, sneered at or chronically relegated in the back of the queue. I am under the same obligation to support local businesses as they are to support me. Yes, reciprocity." Well no actually. Not reciprocity because you're not from here. I mean reciprocity exists when there's sort of two equalities dealing with each other I guess you could say and that I don't think is a correct assessment there. But again just the kind of vitriol in these comments, it's like do you really even like being here at this point? I am really not, this isn't me being facetious or sarcastic or snarky. When I just was reading both of those comments, it wasn't so much sarcasm that was my immediate response, it was do you really enjoy it here because if this stuff really bugs you that bad, and believe me as anyone in my office can tell you, things in Thailand, I am not like sweetness and light, things in Thailand annoy me too. Don't get me wrong but this stuff, I mean to be annoyed at this level of just "hey maybe support a local business every now and then", "no I am never going to do that". Well, then do you really like even being here at all?