If you have a TikTok account then, at least once or twice, you’ve probably encountered a video from ‘Your man in Thailand’, Tom Birchy (real name Tom Birch). His content revolves around his experiences as a young Brit living in Southeast Asia, with a general ethos of how much better life would be if you just left the cold, rainy UK behind for the tropical beach paradise of Thailand. For most, though, life is not that simple, and Birch’s very particular outlook on life makes him anything but a voice of reason.
With nearly 400,000 followers and 16 million likes on TikTok, Birch has amassed a large fanbase over the past few years, granting him that ever-exhausting title of 'influencer'. But how did we get to where we are now, with Birch starting a cannabis store on Thailand’s southern coast while sharing videos of his drunken escapades online?
Anyone who’s heard Birch speak could probably guess he comes from an affluent background, a fact that, in all fairness, he doesn’t hide. Brought up in Singapore where his father, Justin Birch, co-owned a consultancy firm, Tom enjoyed a childhood far from one that reflects how the average person lives. He then moved to the UK to live with his mum in his teenage years, where he attended Christ College Brecon, a boarding school in South Wales.
Birch studied Law at the University of Leeds, which I happened to attend over the same period. I remember seeing the self-proclaimed 'King of Leeds' posting all over online student forums, week in, week out, promoting club events. What he saw as a direct and competitive PR campaign came off as relentless self-promotion. Meanwhile, he began posting videos to TikTok – usually on the subject of drugs and girls – and began to cultivate a following of like-minded individuals.
Speaking anecdotally, I never came across a person during my time at Leeds who didn’t find Birch’s content to be irritating, out of touch and misogynistic. His videos were tapping into a persona of being ‘one of the lads’, a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the emerging ‘alpha-male-mindset’ style of content aimed at insecure young men, which was rapidly growing in popularity on TikTok.
If there was even a hint of self-awareness or irony in Birch’s videos, their entertainment value could have been justified. Instead, though, it all came off as very disingenuous and his flippant language – particularly towards women – caused his local reputation to dwindle. This all came to a head during a session at a Leeds Wetherspoons when Birch shared his table number on TikTok, leading to his followers sending him thousands of pounds' worth of food and drink.
Unsurprisingly staff could not keep up with all these orders, and when it didn’t all arrive Birch went on a rant online claiming the staff were “scammers” who had stolen money from his followers. After all the unsent orders were refunded, Birch was banned from the pub, banned from Leeds Student Group on Facebook, and had his TikTok account removed.
Shortly after this incident, his time in Leeds concluded as he headed off for a trip to Thailand. Here, his content switched toward travel tips and stories, but the general haughty tone remained the same. One of the themes of his earlier videos is the ease with which you can bribe the Thai police:
"If you actually do a crime here ... most things can be settled with money ... If you get stopped for [driving under the influence] the usual going rate...is 500 or 1,000 baht."
While I observed the casual way the police operate in Thailand when visiting, Birch's overall tone suggests he sees himself as above the law. This is, of course, a common tourist trait for those who come from money, but to dole out this sort of advice to thousands of followers could be regarded as irresponsible.
Birch’s blasé approach would be seen mask off when he decided to organise a tour around the country for foreign travellers. In 2023, Birch began to promote all-inclusive two-week tours around Thailand covering six locations, promising “boat parties, jungle trekking, seeing elephants, snorkelling with sharks and turtles and seeing some of the most beautiful beaches in the world”. All of this, for a price tag “cheaper than a holiday to Spain”. Sounds too good to be true right? Well, that’s because it was.
I spoke to a tourist, X (who wishes to remain anonymous), who says they paid around £1,500 for a fourteen-day tour led by Birch including all expenses other than food, drink and flights into the country. (For context Thailand can easily be enjoyed on a £30-a-day budget.) However, it quickly became clear that the tour was on shaky financial ground, with X saying guests were required to pay additional charges for hotels and activities.
On the third day, X says, Birch told X that he was running out of money after booking the group's travel to the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. X then says Birch asked them to send an additional £1,000; in return, Birch would give X an extra 10 free days at the end of the tour. X says that those extra days never happened - nor did they get the £1,000 back.
On top of the shaky financial situation, Birch’s behaviour as a tour guide didn’t seem to meet any level of professionalism above the persona on display on TikTok. X discusses the extremely dangerous conditions the group were faced with on their travels:
“On the first day of the tour with ten people in a minivan leaving Bangkok, Birch was drinking kratom [a stimulant/painkiller] and alcohol while smoking joint after joint. Furthermore, while driving with people in the back of a pickup truck, he had no regard for their safety whatsoever. He would speed around steep corners to the point where everyone in the back was sliding into one another, and hitting bumps so hard that we were flying into the air.”
Birch's disregard for the safety of others and Thailand's legal system, as X describes, is also evident in this video he provided:
In another video posted to his TikTok while running the same tour, Birch details his acquisition of Ritalin (a prescription-only drug) and ya ba (illegal methamphetamine substance):
As the legitimacy of the tour venture fell apart, Birch switched lanes and went into business in the recently decriminalised cannabis industry. With additional investment from his partner and fellow TikToker Ellie Selway, the two set up a cannabis and kratom shop, Knock Out Labs, in Ao Nang. (In June 2020, back in his Leeds days, Birch set up another business, By Any Means Necessary; 18 months later, in December 2021, it was compulsorily struck off by Companies House.)
With things at Knock Out Labs seeming steady and business also venturing into organising music festivals, it seems that Birch plans to stay in Thailand for the foreseeable future – even with the news that the government plans to re-criminalise cannabis by the end of the year.
Birch's behaviour has not gone unnoticed by fellow Brits living in Thailand. Tom Moore, for example, a fellow TikToker who died of cancer in February, called out Birch's behaviour. This was Birch's response:
Most recently in February, Birch was removed from a flight before take-off for being uncooperative with staff – the many drinks he showed himself enjoying in the members' lounge pre-flight probably didn't help the situation. Following his removal, he would upload a video of an interaction with airport staff: (Link here)
Unbelievably, he then uploaded the following video, saying that "this encourages me to do things like this again", suggesting that the incident had boosted his TikTok revenue.
No apology, no acknowledgement of his behaviour, no remorse. Since his days in Leeds, 'content is king' has been the memo for Tom Birch. Hopefully, though, his behaviour will shift gears before public opinion – and more importantly, the law – come back to bite him.
Birch has been approached for comment but is yet to respond.
And is a woman beater too now it appears
Would make an excellent cabinet minister