Currently, people generally think that a chaotic market is a crisis, but traders understand that trader means someone who makes money from price differences. This is a golden opportunity to generate additional income. The problem is that most people don't know where to start. Today, we will explain simply what a trader really is.

Suppose you go to a market and see a shirt priced at 100 baht, knowing you can resell it for 200 baht. You buy it and sell it for a profit of 100 baht. That's what a trader does—just changing from shirts to gold, currency, or stocks. Doing it via mobile or computer, no need to stand in front of a shop.

Traders differ from regular stock investors (Investors) how? Investors buy and hold long-term, waiting for value to grow. Traders buy and sell frequently, maybe holding for just hours or days, and profit from the difference. Imagine an investor as someone planting a mango tree and waiting 3 years to harvest, while a trader is someone buying mangoes from the orchard and selling them daily at the market for a profit margin.

The fact to know from the start: According to FINRA statistics, 72% of day traders end the year with losses. This isn't bad news but a reminder that if you want to start, you must prepare well.

Traders make money in three ways. The first is buying low and selling high. For example, gold at $4,600. You buy it, and when the price rises to $4,650, you sell, making a $50 profit.

The second is called Short Selling—selling first, buying later. It sounds strange, but imagine a friend lends you an iPhone to sell for 30,000 baht. A week later, the price drops, and you buy a new one for 25,000 baht to return to your friend. The difference of 5,000 baht is profit. In trading, this is easy—just press the Sell button on an app, no need to borrow real items.

The third uses Leverage as a multiplier for profit. You have 1,000 baht, which normally can buy 1,000 baht worth of assets. But with 1:100 leverage, you control assets worth 100,000 baht. Your profit increases 100 times, but so does your loss. It’s like driving fast—very fast—but if you crash, it’s serious.

There are four main types of traders, categorized by how long they hold positions. Scalper opens and closes orders within seconds to minutes, making small profits repeatedly—like someone selling grilled skewers, earning 2 baht per skewer but selling 500 a day for 1,000 baht. But it’s very stressful and not recommended for beginners.

Day Traders trade within a single day, not holding overnight positions—like a market vendor who buys in the morning and sells everything by evening. The advantage is no need to worry about tomorrow’s prices, but they must be free all day, which is hard if you have a full-time job.

Swing Traders open positions and hold for 2-3 days up to 2-3 weeks. No need to watch the screen all day—just check in the morning before work and in the evening. Like someone casting a fishing line, not constantly watching. This suits people with a regular job who want extra income from trading without quitting.

Position Traders hold for weeks or months, focusing on the big picture, ignoring daily price fluctuations—like buying land and waiting.

The key point: traders can profit from both rising and falling prices, but they must always set stop-loss points to prevent total loss.

If you’re a beginner wanting to become a trader, how do you start? Five simple steps: learn the basics, practice with fake money, choose a trading app, plan your trades, and start trading with small amounts. Don’t skip steps because most failures aren’t due to market difficulty but rushing too fast.

Learn the basics: understand the main concepts—what can be traded? Gold, currency, foreign stocks, crypto, how to read price charts—green candles mean rising prices, red candles mean falling prices. What is Stop Loss? It’s an automatic cut-loss point that closes your order when losses reach your set level. Very important. What is Leverage? It’s a multiplier of buying power—using less money to trade more, but with caution.

The most important step is practicing with fake money first. Most people skip this. Every good trading app offers a Demo account with virtual funds. Prices are real market prices, everything is the same as real trading, just without risking real money. Like a driving simulator before actual driving. It’s recommended to practice demo trading for at least 2-4 weeks before risking real money.

Choose a trustworthy trading app. It’s the trader’s tool for earning. Wrong choice can lead to scams or high fees. Pick an app with proper licenses, such as regulated by ASIC or FCA. Don’t trust unlicensed apps. They should be easy to use, have a demo account, no commission fees, and analysis tools.

Plan before trading. Don’t trade randomly. Traders without a plan are like lottery players. Answer four questions before opening each order: What to trade? Which 1-2 markets? Where to enter? Set clear conditions—if wrong, how much are you willing to lose? Always set Stop Loss. If right, where to exit? Set Take Profit in advance. The golden rule: risk no more than 1-2% of your total capital per trade.

Start trading with small amounts. Practice demo until confident, then go live. Don’t risk a large sum immediately. Begin with small money that, if lost, won’t hurt. Gradually increase your capital as you see consistent results. Don’t rush to get rich—rushing is the shortcut to failure.

Being a trader has pros and cons. Pros: being your own boss, trading anywhere anytime, unlimited income, the more skilled, the more you earn. You can start with small capital, no need hundreds of thousands, and profit from both rising and falling markets.

Cons: high risk of losing 70-90% of beginners’ money, stress from watching prices all day, no fixed salary, if a bad month, no income. Continuous learning is necessary—stopping learning means stopping earning. Risk of burnout from excessive screen time, damaging health.

From studying over 8 million traders over 27 years, 74-89% lose money. This number hasn’t changed much. The remaining 11-26% who succeed do different things: follow a plan, set stop-losses, accept losses as part of business costs, practice with fake money, and record every trade to analyze mistakes.

Skilled traders aren’t those who never lose, but those who lose little and profit much over the long term.

In summary, a trader means someone who earns from price differences. Becoming a trader isn’t hard, but it requires three things: knowledge, practice, and discipline. There are no shortcuts or get-rich-quick formulas. The best first step is to open a free demo account and try trading. No need to risk real money at first—just see if you like it. If you do, learn more; if not, nothing is lost.