Cityscape photos during my bus journey to sell my silver beads.

The price of silver has increased by almost 80% since the day I bought my silver beads years ago. At that time, I knew that I should get some silver beads as the return should be higher than bank interests. I also knew that I would easily spend all my extra cash income so it’s better to stash some silver. I did some reading that silver should do very well in the future. But the market manipulation of silver prices had been very disappointing as the return on gold bars went through the roof this year.

However, the price of silver had shot up more than 30% this year. I was waiting for the silver price to breach the resistance of 40 dollars per ounce. But the power-that-be was very reluctant to lose control of the silver market. So, I decided to sell my silver beads which I bought from a gold shop in Chinatown several years ago. I was afraid if I left it too long, the shop might be closed or went out of business. I guessed many gold shops might have been under lots of pressure as customers went back to sell their gold at higher prices. I was afraid some gold shops might went out of business if people kept selling their gold jewelry and gold bars.

I couldn’t help feeling that some powerful elites allowed the huge fluctuations of gold prices as a means of wealth migration and for restructuring the gold businesses around the world. I hoped I was wrong and that my imagination was too wild. So, I took the local bus towards Chinatown one afternoon to sell my silver beads. The twenty minutes trip was very enjoyable as I loved to observe all the old buildings and changes along the route. The old and familiar cityscape gave me a sense of stability and continuity. At least something remained the same since my childhood.

This bus route followed the New Road from my old school to my old house in Chinatown. So, the trip always brought me lots of warm memories and reminisce about my childhood. This was always an emotional trip for me as I realised that things wouldn’t stay the same forever. Some old familiar buildings and architecture had been changed and replaced with higher buildings. But I was glad to see many old shops with their Chinese names and old Chinese workers waiting for customers. At least the old style of doing business could stull survive the forceful changes brought about by new technologies.

These old shops selling all kinds of metal pipes, pulleys and machine tools wouldn’t survive in the next ten years. But if there’s some kind of meltdown globally because of a major conflict, these shops would become very useful to local communities. These shops could offer spare parts and equipments for repairing machines and some industrial plants. This area was full with of warehouses full of old spare parts from all kinds of car and truck engines. So, old cars’ parts could be sourced for repairing cars whose parts were no longer available in the market. So, I hoped that these seemingly old shops would remain as backups in times of ‘mad Max’.

The old two storey shophouses always reminded me of my old house where I had a very happy childhood. These old houses gave me very warm feelings and comfort. They reminded of my childhood playmates with whom I used to play in front of our houses. The old Chinese workers in front of these old shops reminded me of those workers I used to see as a little child. They were always very nice and friendly to children. So, I was never afraid of these rough looking people and would chat easily with them whenever I had a chance. Some even offered me Chinese tea when I said I was rather thirsty.

On the other hand, changes to the old architecture and buildings along the route to Chinatown were a great reminder for me to keep moving with changing time. The dynamics of changes from all directions were too strong to resist so it would be wise to be prepare and be quick to spot the urgent changes which would affect our society. Some old shophouses have been transformed into coffee shops and guest houses for tourism.

The most noticeable changes were those in Chinatown. There were so many new high buildings instead of the old simple shophouses. There were more modern hotels and restaurants along Yaowarad road. I was glad to see several tourists in Chinatown as the locals needed a boost economically. Lately, terrible news about Chinese mafia and scammers came to set up their operations in Thailand by taking advantage of ‘free visa’ had caused fear among Chinese tourists. News about rich Chinese being kidnapped while having holiday in the country and some was human trafficked to illegal casino in neighbouring countries had stopped Chinese tourists from visiting our country.

The authorities had to seriously cracked down on these ‘grey’ Chinese gangs around the country. But the damage had been done. The Chinese questioned the police or local officials were bribed so that these gangsters could operate freely without being caught. So, there would soon be a change to the ‘free visa’ policy soon. Several foreign gangs including Russian prostitution became available on tourist destinations and far away island! I was quite flabbergasted by the incredible news about foreigners working and setting up touring businesses, illegal casinos, etc. in popular tourist destinations.

I guessed things would get worse as the Great Reset or the Fourth Turning has been fully launched around the world. People would be forced to make money which ever ways they could for survival. It saddened me deeply to see our local politicians remaining ignorant of real games being played on the world stage. They continued to be manipulated and ordered by their handlers and outside power. They were very few intelligent and well weathered people who had indicated that they were extremely well read with deep understanding of history and politics.

Most of my western educated friends got stuck and programmed by various news media psyops and psychological manipulations via fear mongering or misinformation campaigns. I found it very difficult to try to get them to see the bigger pictures. They were either emotionally involved in ‘hating’ certain politicians (divide to rule tactic) or became disengaged from having any meaningful discussions on the predicaments of our society. I had the feeling that we would face a failed state situation in the near future. Trump’s tariff strategy was very successful in speeding the pace of the Great Reset, whether it was the byproduct or the actual objective.

Time seemed to be running short and I still had to catch up with the list of things I had to managed and sorted out. This phase has become very challenging and a tough test of my stamina and steadiness. It was emotionally exhausting as I couldn’t get any close friends to do some readings or find relevant information on critical issues. The fourth quarter would be quite dicey as many serious problems could erupt at the same time and the government would have to either resign or be forced to have a general election.

My bus ride through Chinatown gave me an opportunity to enjoy myself and to gauge the local pulses on the economy. I observed the gold shops as well as the street stalls, the wet market and small restaurants including the wholesale hubs in side streets. The gold shop where I sold my silver beads gave me a very anxious feeling about the financial situation. The young and older generations of shopkeepers didn’t look very lively or cheerful. I could sense some hidden fear and anxiety in the atmosphere. I seemed to be the only customer during my two visits to the gold shop.

I dreaded to imagine what Chinatown would look like had the Great Reset and digital ID had been launched here. I could still recall the strange and quiet atmosphere around Chinatown during the plandemic. Those quiet trips haunted my peaceful mind several days, so I was glad to see liveliness returning to Chinatown once more. I just hoped and prayed that somehow we would be able to muddling through future crisis without too much damage.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.