Bangkok Lad

Category · 9 articles

The Parallel Economy

What Thailand built where the formal system doesn't reach.

The illegal one is the bigger one The illegal one is the bigger one Underground lottery against the legal national lottery, by estimated size One variant draws its winning numbers from the last two digits of the SET index at close. 81% 19% Underground — huay tai din Legal national lottery Thai research. Estimated at four to five times the legal lottery; around a third of the population participates. BANGKOK LAD
20 The Parallel Economy

The underground lottery: Thailand's other financial market

Thailand's illegal lottery is four to five times the size of the legal one, and one version draws its numbers from the closing stock exchange index. Explained by someone whose family plays it.
฿100s → ฿10s of millions and it works exactly like a gem trade THAILAND'S AMULET MARKET ฿100s → ฿10s of millions and it works exactly like a gem trade Dedicated magazines, online auction platforms, professional dealers and authentication services. The most revered — the Benjaphakhi — include Phra Somdej Wat Rakhang and Phra Rod. Thai amulet trade material. Transactions use the language of renting rather than buying. BANGKOK LAD
23 The Parallel Economy

Thailand's amulet market: the market that refuses to call itself one

Thai amulets trade for tens of millions of baht, with price guides, authentication services and auction houses. And nobody involved will say the word "buy".
฿45 million for a number plate THE NUMBER MARKET ฿45 million for a number plate 9กก 9999, the record at Department of Land Transport auction. Individual rounds have raised between ฿42 million and ฿127 million. Proceeds go to the Road Safety Fund. Department of Land Transport auction records. Nine is the most desirable digit. BANGKOK LAD
24 The Parallel Economy

฿45 million for a number plate: the state's numerology business

Thailand's government auctions lucky registration numbers. One went for ฿45 million. The proceeds fund road safety — numerological belief paying for accident prevention.
Simultaneously a loan and a savings product Simultaneously a loan and a savings product What a len chae circle is, depending on when your turn comes A member-set interest rate, with no bank and no contract anyone would enforce. EARLY TURN LATE TURN You receive money before you've paid it in You pay a premium, set by bidding You earn a return on what you contributed You carry the risk of someone defaulting Regulated under the Chit Fund Act. The order is allocated by member bidding. BANGKOK LAD
25 The Parallel Economy

Len chae: the bank made of friends

Millions of Thais save and borrow through rotating circles run by a friend, not a bank. It's regulated, partly criminal, universally practised, and unwritten in English.
The envelope is the insurance The envelope is the insurance What a Thai funeral costs, and what arrives to offset it Named, because it creates a reciprocal obligation. You will be at their funeral too. GUESTS' ENVELOPES, PER HOUSEHOLD cash, named COST OF A THAI FUNERAL ฿80,000–200,000 Bangkok Lad. Several nights of chanting before cremation; guests bring cash in a named envelope on arrival. BANGKOK LAD
28 The Parallel Economy

The envelope: what a Thai funeral actually costs, and who pays

A Thai funeral costs ฿80,000–200,000. Guests bring envelopes of cash. It's a mutual insurance scheme that has been running for generations without anyone calling it one.
Life insurance with no insurer Life insurance with no insurer ฌาปนกิจสงเคราะห์ — how a Thai cremation welfare association works No contract with an insurer, no reserves, no regulator pricing risk. It works because everyone pays. Paid in by each member, per death ฿20–100 Administrative deduction 4–9% Registered mutual aid associations. Non-profit; the pooled sum goes to the deceased's family. BANGKOK LAD
29 The Parallel Economy

Life insurance with no insurer

Millions of Thais belong to mutual associations where members pay ฿20–100 each time another member dies. No premiums, no actuaries, no insurer. The pool is the membership.
ฤกษ์ the auspicious moment THE CALENDAR EVERYONE CHECKS ฤกษ์ the auspicious moment Calendars of auspicious days are published monthly — by major newspapers, by retailers including 7-Eleven, and consulted before buying a car, moving house, opening a business or marrying. Bangkok Lad. Read alongside article 70 on the omen economy. BANGKOK LAD
56 The Parallel Economy

The calendar everyone checks

Thai auspicious-day calendars are published by newspapers, 7-Eleven and listed property developers. Belief here isn't private — it's a scheduling system, and it moves real money.
It works because you have to see these people again It works because you have to see these people again The enforcement mechanism behind Thailand's informal financial systems And article 71's surname law is what makes reputation portable nationally. No contract No court Reputation Repeat contact It gets paid Bangkok Lad articles 57, 70, 80 and 91. BANGKOK LAD
57 The Parallel Economy

Thailand's parallel economy

The state pension is ฿600 a month. In every gap the formal system leaves, Thailand has built something else — and it runs on the fact that you have to see these people again.
The most egalitarian financial product in Thailand The most egalitarian financial product in Thailand Gold against a bank savings account, for a household the banks don't reach well Gold wins four of five. What it loses is interest — and given Thai deposit rates, that is not the argument people think. GOLD 96.5% BANK SAVINGS Price published nationally, several times daily Immediate liquidity, every town No documents or minimum balance Works as regulated pawn collateral Pays interest Gold Traders Association standards and pricing practice. Not financial advice. BANGKOK LAD
80 The Parallel Economy

Money you can wear

Thai gold is 96.5% pure, weighed in baht, and priced identically in every shop in the country — repriced 38 times in a single day this June. That's not jewellery. It's currency.