I just noticed that there are more people interested in trading—people who make money by buying low and selling high. But most of them are still confused about where to start. Let’s see what a trader is, really.

Put simply, a trader is someone who makes money from the price difference. Buy gold for 4,600 dollars, and when the price rises to 4,650 dollars, sell it for a profit of 50 dollars. Done. It’s like a flea market vendor—except the thing they’re selling is a financial asset, and they do it via a mobile phone instead of standing in front of a shop.

So how is this different from a “natural” investor? A natural investor buys and holds for the long term, waiting for it to grow year after year. A trader is someone who buys and sells frequently—maybe only for hours, days, or weeks—and takes the profit from the price difference. For example, an investor is like a garden owner waiting 3 years, while a trader is like someone who buys mangoes from the garden and sells them at the market day by day.

There’s some interesting data from statistics by U.S. financial market regulators. It shows that 72 percent of day traders end the year with losses. This isn’t meant to scare you—it’s just to make you understand that if you want to start, you need to prepare well.

Traders can make money in 3 main ways. First, buy low and sell high directly. The second way is selling first and buying later. Sounds strange, right? But it’s easy to understand: you borrow a friend’s iPhone, sell it for 30,000 baht. The next week, the price drops, so you buy it back for 25,000 baht. That gives you a profit of 5,000 baht. In the trading world, you can do this easily—just press the Sell button in the app. You don’t need to go borrow real items; the system handles everything.

The third way is using Leverage as a profit multiplier—but it also multiplies losses. Leverage is simple as a concept: it’s a multiplier. You have 1,000 baht, and normally you can buy assets worth 1,000 baht. But with 1:100 leverage, you can control assets worth 100,000 baht. Your profits increase 100 times—but your losses increase 100 times as well.

Traders have 4 main types, divided by how long they hold positions. Scalper: open and close within a few seconds to minutes, taking small profits little by little, but doing it dozens of rounds per day. Day Trader: trade within the same day and don’t hold overnight—like a market vendor. Buy in the morning; by evening, everything must be sold.

Swing Trader: this is recommended a lot for beginners. Hold for 2 to 3 days, or 2 to 3 weeks. Check in the morning before going to work and in the evening when you get home—you don’t need to sit and stare at the screen all day. It’s like fishing: you “cast the line,” set conditions, and wait for the right moment, without watching all the time.

Position Trader: hold positions for weeks to several months. Look at the big picture. Don’t care about daily price fluctuations—like someone buying land, buying it and then waiting.

If you’re a trader and want to start, there are 5 steps. Learn the basics, practice with fake money, choose a trading app, plan, and then start for real with a small amount of money. Don’t skip steps.

Step one: learn the basics. No need to be too much—just know what can be traded in the market, how to read price charts, what Stop Loss is, what Leverage is. That’s enough.

Step two: practice trading with fake money. This is the most important step, but most people skip it. Every good trading app has a Demo account that gives you fake money to trade with. The prices are real prices from the market; everything feels just like real trading. The only difference is you don’t lose real money. It’s like playing a driving simulation before driving for real. No matter how many times you crash, you won’t get hurt. Practice until you’re comfortable, and only then go onto the road.

Step three: choose a trading app you can trust. It should have a real license, be easy to use, and offer a Demo with no commission fees. It should also provide analysis tools.

Step four: plan before you trade. Traders without a plan are like people buying lottery tickets. Answer 4 questions: What are you trading? Where are you entering? If things go the wrong way, how much are you willing to lose? If things go the right way, where will you exit?

Step five: start real trading with a small amount. Practice with the Demo until you’re confident, then do it for real. But don’t throw a big lump of money in right away. Start with money you can afford to lose—it’s not a big deal if it’s gone.

Golden rule: don’t risk more than 1 to 2 percent of your total capital each time. Set a Stop Loss every time. This is what separates traders from gamblers.

A skilled trader isn’t someone who has never lost money. It’s someone who loses less and makes more profits over the long term. Keep a record of every trade. See where you went wrong and how to fix it.

The advantages of being a trader: you’re your own boss. You can trade anywhere, anytime. There’s no income cap. The better you get, the more you earn. You can start with a small amount of money. You can make money in both rising and falling markets.

The disadvantages: 70 to 90 percent of beginners lose money. It’s stressful—watching prices go up and down all day can erode your peace of mind. There’s no salary. If you don’t trade well in a given month, you won’t have income. You have to keep learning, risking burnout. And the more time you spend staring at screens, the worse it can be for your health.

Summary: Being a trader isn’t hard, but you need 3 things—knowledge, practice, and discipline. There’s no shortcut, and no quick “get rich” formula. A trader is someone who makes money from the price difference—buying low and selling high, or selling first and buying later.

The best first step: try opening a free Demo account and test trading. You don’t need to put in real money yet—just try it first to see if you like it. If you do, then keep learning. If you don’t, you lose nothing. Try it now.