⚡️ Block 942667

Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to Sovereign Individual 🌏:

🇹🇭 Moments with Me

Since I’m planning to travel to Australia via Japan in mid-April, I went to the immigration office last week—located near Jomtien Beach, just next to Pattaya Beach—to get my re-entry permit.

It feels like I’ve been going there quite often lately. But since going independent, everything falls on me now… so I guess that’s just how it is 😂

A re-entry permit is, as the name suggests, required if you want to return to Thailand.

Without it, your current visa would be void once you leave the country.

This time, I took a songthaew—a shared pickup truck taxi that’s widely used in Pattaya Beach—to get there.

The immigration office opens at 8:30 AM, so I left home a little after 7 to give myself plenty of time.

Pattaya Beach in the early morning is something I’ve always liked.

It’s quiet, almost still.

But this time, it felt a little different.

Normally, when I go out with my family during the day, we don’t go much further than Central Festival—the large shopping mall in the center of Pattaya Beach.

But heading to immigration meant passing through Walking Street, which lies beyond the mall.

It had been a while since I’d been that way.

What I saw there felt quite different from what I remembered—though that memory goes back more than 10 - 15 years.

Closed shops, the smell of drainage, and a few people who seemed to be living on the streets.

Maybe it was just the early hour.

Still, something about it felt a bit… quiet in a different way.

I imagine it comes back to life at night—at least I hope so.

Maybe I’ll stop by again one evening and see how it feels.

If anyone has been there recently, I’d be curious to hear how it is now.

Up to around Soi 11, before Central Festival, the pace feels much more relaxed—with just the right mix of cafés and restaurants. It’s a nice area to spend some time.

To get to the Jomtien Beach immigration office, you’ll need to switch songthaews near Walking Street (see the photo above).

Songthaew transfer point: Google Map

If you’re planning to use an eSIM in Thailand, you can get 5% off Holafly through this link: here (Coupon code: YOURLOG)

✍️ What’s Happening

I came across this post recently, and it stayed with me a little.

It talks about Australia 🇦🇺—rising energy costs, pressure on infrastructure, and a sense that things aren’t working as smoothly as they used to.

Almost like a system under quiet strain.

Australia is often seen as stable.

A resource-rich country, well-developed, generally “safe.”

So seeing it described this way felt a bit unexpected.

Of course, it’s a post on X.

It may be exaggerated, or just one side of the story.

Still, it made me pause for a moment.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be traveling to Australia in mid-April with my parents.

So this didn’t feel like distant news.

It felt a little closer than usual.

I’m sure the trip itself will be completely fine.

And I’m not particularly worried.

But having this in the back of my mind might change how I see things there—even slightly.

In a way, it feels like events happening far away—wars, tensions—are starting to surface distortions that were already there beneath the system.

Not something entirely new, but something that had been quietly building.

And once something triggers it, the impact can spread quickly, almost like a butterfly effect.

Things that seemed stable can suddenly feel more fragile than expected.

I guess I’ll see it for myself soon.

💻 Work & Projects

I’ve been working on a guide site around my upcoming Australia trip—pulling together places, routes, and a few practical tips along the way.

I touched on this project a bit more in a previous piece: https://buttondown.com/yutaro/archive/choosing-freedom/

As part of that, I’ve started working with a couple of travel services to support monetization.

For hotel bookings, I’ve already been working with Agoda 🏨

GetYourGuide

A platform where you can book tours and activities around the world—things like city tours, day trips, and local experiences.

It’s especially useful when you want to plan something ahead of time, or simply get a sense of what’s available in a new place.

>> GetYour Guide

Holafly

An eSIM service that lets you stay connected while traveling, without needing a physical SIM card.

You can set it up before your trip, and start using data as soon as you arrive.

It’s a simple option if you want to avoid dealing with SIM cards at the airport.

>> Holafly

I’ve also started using both of these in this newsletter from time to time.

If you end up using them, I’d appreciate it if you go through my links.

For Holafly, there’s a 5% discount available through my link 👍

⚡️ Bitcoin Notes of the Week

🇹🇭 A Thai-listed company, DV8, has announced plans to build a Bitcoin treasury equivalent to 10,000 BTC by 2028, starting with 1,000 BTC this year.

At the same time, they’re acquiring a licensed custodian—building not just exposure, but a full structure around holding and managing Bitcoin.

Up to this point, it looks like a fairly typical “next phase” story.

But DV8 isn’t acting alone.

A consortium involving Metaplanet is behind the move.

👉 It looks more like an already-established treasury model being replicated.

To be honest, I don’t see this trend very positively.

Not because of Bitcoin itself, but because of the structure—this corporate treasury model.

At its core, it relies on familiar financial mechanics:

• Capital raised through equity

• Expansion driven by market valuation

• Growth through dilution

While using the name of Bitcoin, the underlying structure remains financial.

In that sense,

👉 this isn’t really about using Bitcoin but about packaging it into a financial product.

Core properties like self-custody or censorship resistance are mostly absent.

What matters instead is how easily it fits into markets.

At that point, it starts to look like something different from Bitcoin itself.

This trend will likely continue.

But it’s probably worth stepping back to consider what it actually represents.

🤖 AI Notes of the Week

Lately, I’ve been considering bringing Claude Code into my workflow.

I’ve been using ChatGPT since the early days of generative AI—probably as an early adopter.

For building websites and services, I still rely on Codex.

In practice, it’s been one of the most dependable tools I use.

But recently, something has been shifting.

Part of it is that I find myself less aligned with the direction and thinking coming from OpenAI and Sam Altman.

At the same time, watching the pace of development around Claude Code—and the kinds of features and updates being released—it feels like something worth taking a closer look at.

I’m not planning to fully switch.

If anything, it feels a bit early to commit to a single tool.

So for now, I’m thinking of keeping Codex in place, while trying Claude Code alongside it.

If you’re already using Claude Code, or running it in parallel with Codex, I’d be curious to hear your experience.

How you’re dividing usage, and where you’re noticing the differences.

🤔 Closing Thoughts

I recently switched to the iPhone 17e.

I had been using the iPhone 12 mini for over four years, and I really liked the size.

But lately, the battery wasn’t holding up, and the connection had started to feel a bit unreliable—so it felt like the right time to replace it.

Ideally, I would have gone for a newer mini-sized model.

But Apple stopped making them after the iPhone 13 mini, so I went with a standard-sized iPhone this time.

At 6.1 inches, it does feel a bit large for me—I don’t have the biggest hands 🤭 But the trade-off is better battery life, and overall, I’m pretty happy with it.

The timing also worked out, with the iPhone 17e just being released.

I’ll probably use this one for another 4 years, at least.

And with it, I’m hoping to take more photos—from Thailand, Japan, and Australia—and share them here from time to time.

Hope you’ll enjoy the next update!

Past posts here: ARCHIVES

⚡️ If you’d like to support my work, you can send sats here.