About
Who is writing, why in English, and how the numbers are counted.
The Kept Journal is written by a software engineer in Bangkok. It exists to answer one question a Western travel video almost never does: what does this actually cost, and drive like, for the person who lives here? Every entry carries a real ledger in THB and USD — estimates labelled as estimates, receipts replacing them the moment they exist — and the practical, Thai-side detail (an International Driving Permit rule, a counter price versus a posted one, a local’s shortcut) a visiting crew wouldn’t know to film.
It’s written in English first, because that’s who this is for, with Thai used when the moment calls for it — a comment answered in kind, a local sign or menu translated on screen. The journal text on each entry page is the same script the video is built from, so nothing is written twice.
The five surfaces
YouTube
@thekeptjournal
Long-form: the full drive, the walk-and-talk, the ledger overlay.
TikTok
@thekeptjournal
Same-day vertical cut-downs of the long-form entry.
@thekeptjournal
Reels and stills; the same verticals, a different feed.
@thekeptjournal
Arrives through Instagram's auto-share, not a separate upload.
not connected yetThis site
@thekeptjournal
The written journal, the trip pages and the ledger, always.
not connected yet