Is Thailand a foreign country

Answer 1

Thailand is technically a Constitutional Monarchy, where they have a Prime Minister and related cabinets/ministries that handle the day to day administrative tasks of government and the Royal Family where paparazzi goes wherever they go. Not sure if the King is technically the Commander and Chief of the military forces, but in public schools and throughout all government offices there is definitely a photo of him and his wife. There are Lese Majeste Laws (disrespect towards the Royal family). Any Thai-related online forum will have a rule that says something like this: "No discussion of Thai Royal Family in a political context. If you say something disrespectful towards the Thai Royal Family, we will ban you permanently without recourse." In practice, as a foreigner, you have to be a complete idiot to do this. There's no practical reason to even mention the family in 99.9% of your conversations. The 0.1%, you'd probably be taking a tour of the royal palace.

If you are referring to in a more 'conspiracy theorist' way whether the police or big brother government will track/harrass you at every corner, then you have nothing to worry about. Illegal drugs and certain political dissident (royal family criticism) seem to be Thailand's main pet peeves. You're much more likely to get a $6-10 ticket for not wearing a helmet or driving without a license. And you'd actually have to NOT be wearing your helmet or driving without a license. The banking system in particular is extremely cash-friendly. You can usually deposit up to 300,000 baht (appx $10,000 USD) into a local bank cash machine and it will post immediately to that local bank account. In person, people make deposits/withdrawals with small backpacks full of money without a blink from the teller...takes a little longer, though. 2-factory security (cell phone SMS + password) is often used for many important transactions, especially internet banking. When it comes to privacy, they are very geared towards individual freedom.

The legal age of majority is 15 and you can enter contracts by then. The government offers basic free health care at government hospitals. They have If you want more, you have to pay for it. Most consumables and produce you buy at the store is usually priced near the actual cost, unless it is imported. It is not uncommon for prepaid mobile phone plans to have compatible deals to that of post paid plans. They are not big on credit-based systems. This is much different than Western countries whose majority of infrastructure may rest on credit. It allows for many larger social programs to 'pull the masses up by the bootstraps', so the standard of living is 'higher' or more complex. Of course this also means that the cost of living is also higher, particularly for those people who attempt to opt-out of the social programs.

There are many locals who sit around that do nothing all day long and seem very proud to do that, even if they don't have a lot of money. They usually have a smile on their face and aren't in the slightest concerned about Western affairs or anyone else affairs. From my point of view, that's care-free[dom].

Answer 2

If you live outside of Thailand then yes. But if you live there it would be your home country.