Support independent journalism in Bangkok
Soiciety was founded because I believe Bangkok deserves better coverage than national political noise or recycled tourist listicles.
Readers tell me they come to Soiciety to understand parts of the city that rarely make it into English-language coverage, from decisions made in local meetings to issues that shape daily life in the city’s sois. The publication is low noise: everything here is selected, verified and written with context, not speed.
Much of the information that affects life here exists only in Thai. By reporting in English, Soiciety expands access to that knowledge, making the city more legible to the people who live in it.
It’s produced by me, Chatwan Mongkol, a Thai journalist reporting directly from the ground here in Bangkok.
But one person can’t build a whole soi, and they certainly can’t keep a newsroom running alone.
Up until now, Soiciety has been kept alive by a small, dedicated group of Soi Builders and Soi Visionaries, early supporters who stepped up with one-time contributions. They represent just 4% of our readers, but they’re the reason this work has stayed free for the other 96%.
Reporting from the sois, digging through archives and interviewing sources take time and resources. If our reporting has been useful to you, this is how you keep it going.
Become a Soi Resident — $15/month
If you rely on Soiciety to understand Bangkok more clearly, support its continued operation. By becoming a Soi Resident, you’re underwriting my labor so I can keep this publication open to everyone and move us toward a future that’s 100% ad- and sponsor-free.
More importantly, it changes how I spend my day. Every hour I spend drafting pitches to brands or chasing potential sponsors is an hour I’m not listening to public meetings, digging through documents, searching for story ideas or verifying a lead.
Your support lets me spend 100% of my energy as a journalist, reporting the stories that actually matter to people in the city.
Here’s what that support makes possible
While the newsletter is free to read, delivering it is not. Beyond the labor and logistics of reporting, the annual infrastructure costs about $800 per year. This doesn’t include other operating fees like marketing, bank fees and transportation fees.
Simply put: Your $15/month contribution moves the needle.
The fees (about $1.95): Roughly 13% goes to credit card processing and bank fees.
The infrastructure (about $0.05): This is the monthly cost of the digital tools required to send Soiciety to a reader.
The reporting ($13): This pays for labor and logistics. As anyone living here knows, the BTS fares and Win rides on the sois add up quickly. Your support covers what it takes to report from the ground.
Because the operations are lean, it costs only about $0.05 per month to send Soiciety to a single subscriber. This means that with a $15/month contribution, each Soi Resident effectively “pays for” over 250 other Bangkokians to read for free every month, keeping the publication open and accessible to the city.
A note to non-financial membership
If you aren’t in a position to contribute financially right now, please stay. You’re a vital part of this community, and I want you here!
Non-financial support matters just as much. The best way to help Soiciety succeed is to share our stories with your friends, family and neighbors. It’s free, it helps us grow the soi and it moves us closer to that ad-free future.
But if you can, your membership keeps this independent, Thai-led reporting accessible to everyone. Thank you!