14 Strange Thailand Laws Tourists Should Know
1. Leaving the House with No Underwear
The first law might seem very, very strange, and this law is written down in the statute books (The Royal Gazette). It’s actually illegal in Thailand to go outside of your own residence wearing no underwear underneath your trousers (pants, as the Americans call them).
I don’t know how they’d actually catch you. I’ve actually gone commando a couple of times myself needed to go over to 7 Eleven to pick up some bits and pieces, just thrown on a pair of shorts, nothing underneath. I suppose if you had an accident and they had to cut the pants off you, then I guess they’d find out. I suppose technically they could prosecute you but it is illegal to go outside of your property wearing no underwear.
2. The Defamation Act No Bad Reviews
The next one is a little bit well, quite a bit more serious. This is the defamation act. It’s actually illegal in Thailand to leave bad reviews for a business. Anywhere else in the world, if you stay in a hotel or a restaurant and you’ve had a not great experience, you can go online and tell everybody about your experience. But here in Thailand, you can’t do that. It is actually against the law.
There are ways to do it in a roundabout way if you’re very, very subtle. I do a lot of hotel reviews I don’t ever say something was terrible because obviously it’s against the law. It’s just how it is here. It might seem strange to you in your own country. The way around it is you can say things that kind of hint that you wouldn’t come back again.
There has been people deported for this very, very strict law about writing bad things about businesses. A case a few years ago: there was a guy what you would call an influencer he had a few thousand followers on Facebook, and he thought that gave him the right to do whatever he wanted in Thailand. He wanted to take a bottle of his own whiskey into a hotel, and of course they charge a corkage fee if you bring your own alcohol into a hotel that’s very, very normal. He kicked off. He didn’t like the fact that they were going to charge him. It was a case of \”Do you know who I am?\” and he acted all high and mighty.
He went away and made lots and lots of bad comments about the hotel the staff are terrible, the food is terrible and he didn’t let on. He just done lots and lots of very, very bad comments. He was actually given the choice to be removed from the country (deported), or he had to go in public and apologize to this hotel which was a massive loss of face for him, very embarrassing. So be very, very aware of this defamation law. It is in the statute books it is law.
3. Driving Without a Shirt
Number three another quite comical one is driving a motorcycle or operating a vehicle without wearing a shirt can result in a fine. Not quite as strict as the last one, but it is actually illegal. In your own country, if you’re out and about and it’s very, very hot, a lot of guys will just take their shirts off that’s normal. Women don’t think nothing of it. But here in Thailand, it’s actually illegal to operate any machinery drive a car or a motorcycle you must be wearing a shirt at all times.
4. Adult Toys
Number four I have to try and say this in a roundabout way adult items for pleasure are absolutely illegal in Thailand. You do see them being sold here and there in markets (not in official shops, of course), but they are illegal as well. So the last thing you want is to be coming through customs and they pull something out your bag and start waving it around. You don’t want to be caught up like that.
5. Using Durian as a Weapon
To anybody who hasn’t been to Thailand before: a durian is a very, very smelly fruit. It’s about slightly bigger than a coconut and smaller than a watermelon. It’s banned in all hotels there are signs in reception: \”Durian not allowed to be eaten here.\” But there is actually a law regarding durian fruit, and that is using durian as a weapon. You can be fined.
A durian fruit has spikes on it, and depending on the number of spikes that impale your victim depends upon the fine that you’ll get. If you throw a durian at somebody and a couple of spikes get them in the face, that’ll be one fine. Whereas if the whole thing sticks to the poor guy’s face, then you’re going to get a hefty fine. So don’t be throwing any durian fruit at anybody.
6. Stepping on Money
Number six you’ll have heard this on lots and lots of videos before, including mine in the past. It’s a very old one now, but I thought I’d include it anyway. Don’t drop any money if you drop money on the floor, don’t put your foot on it to stop it blowing away, because that is actually illegal. The king’s head is printed on all currency, as it is in any other country, and when you put your foot on a note, you’re putting your foot on the king’s head. It is illegal, and you could actually technically be arrested for it.
I guess as a foreigner, if you pleaded ignorance and said you didn’t know, the Thai people are quite kind and they would probably turn a blind eye and say, \”Look, don’t do it again it’s very disrespectful.\” But try not to do it anyway.
7. Vaping Is Illegal
This one is very, very serious, and you might wonder why. In your own country, vaping was seen to be a replacement for smoking much, much healthier although now it’s turning the other way; they’re saying vaping is actually a lot more dangerous than smoking. I used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day. I gave up, went on to vaping I thought it was a better option. I was sitting on a beach in Hua Hin one day, and I looked up and there was a sign. It said: Vaping is illegal. 20,000 baht fine or 2 years in jail.
I thought, 20,000 baht is bad enough, but there’s no way I’m going to end up in a Thai jail that’s not for me. So I gave up on the spot.
Now, what will happen I dare say people will write in and say, \”Well, I’ve seen lots of people vaping in Thailand,\” and yes, you will see people vaping, and you will see people selling vapes on little street markets (not in the main shops because they are illegal). But the police from time to time do crackdowns, and they do arrest these factories these people who are supplying the vapes. It’s on the news all the time.
You might come here and you might spend a couple of weeks vaping and you’re fine. You see lots of other people vaping. But you’re giving the police an excuse to arrest you whether it’s for a fine, or whether it’s to go through the court system, or whether it’s for some under the table money. You don’t want to be giving anybody an excuse. It is actually the law. It might seem stupid to you you might think, \”Well, in any other country you can vape. Why is it against the law in Thailand?\” The fact is: if you come here to Thailand, you need to respect the law that vaping is illegal. If you want to take the risk and do it, that’s up to you but you can get arrested for vaping.
8. No Alcohol Sales Between 2 00 p.m. and 5 00 p.m.
The next one is very common knowledge here in Thailand. Alcohol you can just about buy everywhere. A lot of alcohol flows freely all over Thailand. The Thais love alcohol, as do Westerners and everybody who comes to Thailand. Alcohol is a very big thing here.
But did you know it’s illegal for any shops to sell alcohol between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.? The sale of alcohol is prohibited between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., and from midnight till 11:00 a.m. (except in a licensed establishment). Obviously, if you go to a nightclub that’s open till 2:00 in the morning, they’re going to be able to serve alcohol after midnight but they’ll have a special license.
Something that’s quite irritating sometimes: you’ll go out for the day, you come back, and it’s 4:00. You’re outside 7 Eleven, you’re going to go up to your room and you think, \”You know what? I’m going to have a little sleep for a couple of hours. We’re booked to go to dinner about 7:30. I’m going to grab myself a couple of cold beers, go up, have a beer, have a shower, and grab an hour’s sleep before dinner.\” You can’t grab that beer at 4:00 p.m. because it’s illegal. So what you need to do is go upstairs to your room, come back down at 5:00. It’s very, very irritating, but that’s the law here in Thailand.
9. Insulting Foreign Dignitaries
Number nine it is illegal to insult, defame foreign monarchs or heads of state, with penalties of up to 7 years in prison. In a lot of countries in the West, if you see a foreign diplomat coming along, you always get these protest groups they start shouting things when they leave the car and go into the building, things they’re not happy about. But it’s just seen as free speech, isn’t it? Unless you pelt eggs at somebody (that’s a little bit more serious) or try to cause them some bodily harm just shouting abuses or things you’re not happy about, normally nothing would happen.
But if you do that in Thailand a foreign dignitary gets out of his car, he’s walking up the steps to some official building or wherever, and you start shouting things at him you can get 7 years in prison. It seems harsh, but Thailand cracks down on things like that. They don’t want to lose face and be embarrassed in front of other countries. They want their dignitaries to be able to come here without any worry.
10. Possessing More Than 120 Playing Cards
This one makes sense, but you probably haven’t heard about it. It’s illegal to possess more than 120 playing cards without government permission. It’s illegal, aiming to curb unregulated gambling. Well, if you’ve been here fairly often, you know the Thais absolutely love gambling. They’re thinking about legalizing casinos on the border whether they will or not, I don’t know.
If you’ve got more than 120 playing cards, then you could come unstuck. You could ask a question and say, \”Well, how is somebody going to come and knock on your door and say, ‘I’m the card counting police get your cards out’?\” No, I don’t think it’s that that’s a bit silly. Basically, what it is: if they raid a particular room and people say, \”Well, we’re just playing for fun, we’re all friends, having a few beers,\” then obviously if they count a few hundred cards, then it’s obviously run as an illegal casino. So that’s the whole reason about it.
11. Chewing Gum Is Banned
Another one this is a law that’s been around in Singapore for a long time. I didn’t actually know until I was doing some research I didn’t know this was actually illegal. But it’s actually illegal the importing and selling of chewing gum is banned except for dental or nicotine gum, to maintain public cleanliness.
Thinking about it, I’ve been here this is my third year now I’ve lived here for years on and off, but continuous this time, up to my third year. I’ve never sort of thought about it, but I’ve never noticed any chewing gum in any of the shops. I’ve never really noticed anybody chewing gum or chewing gum on the street or anything like that. It’s just something I didn’t think about. But I now know, like you do, that it’s illegal.
12. Standing Still for the National Anthem
So those are the things that are in the statute books The Royal Gazette that are actually law and illegal. But there are two or three other things I thought I’d just mention that you need to be aware of.
If you’re a regular visitor to Thailand, you probably know this already, but citizens and visitors are expected to stand still when the national anthem is played daily at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. in public places. I know this isn’t quite as strict as it used to be. 20 years ago, I remember walking through a park or along Sukhumvit Road, and the speakers would go off at 6:00 national anthem playing and everybody stood absolutely still, including all the foreigners. Now I do see some people carry on if they’re in the park jogging or doing exercise, they don’t necessarily all stop. But that’s not a law that’s just something that’s expected.
13. Mandatory SIM Card Registration
Something that is mandatory is that a lot of people come here and they think they can just pick up a SIM card at a local convenience store or 7 Eleven, or at the airport for that matter. You can but you can’t have it unregistered. Because of national security, Thailand, like any other country, is trying to look after its citizens. You have to have it registered. Mandatory SIM card registration purchasing a local SIM card requires registration with a passport to enhance national security.
When you go to buy a SIM card myself, for instance, I used to get one at the airport, choose what I wanted, they’d sort it all out for me, put the PIN code in but they took a picture of my passport, and that SIM card was linked to my passport. So if I was one of those guys who was coming into the country to make some kind of a problem and they were looking for me, they could trace that number back to my passport, which obviously tracks back to me. But if you don’t break the law, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
14. Public Displays of Affection
The last one on today’s list, just out of interest: excessive public displays of affection are frowned upon and can be considered indecent. Again, this isn’t law up to a point, but then it becomes law after a certain point. The Thais don’t show affection in public unlike the West. You won’t see them standing in the street necking, kissing. You might see them holding hands that’s about it.
When it gets more serious there have been silly, stupid, young couples who have come on holiday and gone down to places like Phuket, Krabi it’s paradise on Earth for them, isn’t it? They’re young, it’s a gap year maybe. They’ve been caught making love on the beach. I don’t mean in the middle of afternoon when it’s surrounded by kids it might be 1:00 in the morning when they’ve come from a nightclub, they’re on a deserted, secluded beach, a little bit of cover on each side, the petting gets quite heavy, and they get carried away. Some of them have been caught, and that is very, very serious you would get prosecuted. So if it gets hot and steamy, just go back to the room.
