bkkcanuck8

I don't generally buy alcohol outside of hours at the store, but I do actually make an effort to buy anything I can from my local mom & pop shop before opting for other locations.

A lot of those hotel safes have a superuser code - and in some cases they are left on defaults by lazy hotel management - which will allow anyone in. There are travel locks of different types that can be used to add a lock to the safe and prevent opening of the safe even if you have a superuser code or know the code... but then if for some reason you forget a code or key or something and cannot remove it - you could be on the hook for that safe... Also those solutions are not cheap and not really affordable by occasional travellers (lower budget). You could look at renting either a bank safety deposit box (but those may be limited) or private vault companies... You can also carry things like clips and plastic bags and find hiding places out of the way of where a cleaner would clean or even lock typically and clip things up temporary - or drop them at the front desk if they have a higher security box to store things in.... If possible I prefer having a local bank account in a place I travel often, but that depends on local regulations.

Having been here when the lines across the ocean were dredged up and cut off... shutting down international bank transactions... having backup is a good idea (if you can have a bank account locally that works).

It can be worse than that, cell sizes of 20 square meters with 30+ prisoners per cell (that is head to toe - side to side by side sleeping arrangements - no room for anyone that moves around in their sleep)... with one squat toilet per cell with very little privacy... and you are locked in the cell for more than half the day... The 5 by cell is relatively nice accommodations. That picture of 5 to a cell is going to give foreigners the wrong idea of humane treatment of prisoners in comparison. That cell with 5 is for 'special cases' (i.e. high profile individuals).

Not a surprise since there is no appeals from the Supreme Court... only constitutional issues to the Constitutional Court (of which I am hard pressed to find any myself).

That is a semi-VIP cell, regular cells are much more overcrowded.

No appeals court is possible UNLESS it is a constitutional issue and then that would go to the constitutional court. Only way out now is a pardon... which if there was a ruling that the medical process was the issue.... I am pretty sure there are people in the prior government (aka coup government) that were part of this scheme and everything was worked out... which might be at risk if Thaksin feels he is free to spill the beans. He would not have come back unless everything was choreographed.

Constitutional norms would require a constitution be in place long enough to have norms... the only norm with the constitution is it is not worth the paper it is written on if the military decides that it is a national emergency and they MUST take control of the government.

I am tired of people using that and not being charged with when it is not applicable. I however was expecting it.

Pretty much all western countries require the bank to 'know you' and what the transactions are for. As part of setting up an account (and managing it) at a bank the banks have to follow the "Know Your Customer" (KYC) rules. On transfers, when a transfer is done internationally, they have to indicate what the purpose of the transfer is. If the transaction you do is not compliant (as @richard_smith237 has stated) the rule may require specific action to be taken (intercepted for manual review, rejected, account suspension, etc.). A lot of development goes into implementing this into banking and brokerage systems. Thailand really cannot go any other route and still be a member of the international financial order without following the rules that are set down internationally (of which Thailand may not have been involved in setting up the rule). I found that on inbound transactions some banks fudge missing fields - though I suspect the Bank of Thailand would not appreciate it. (purpose of transfer missing).

I have worked in the software development industry for Banking/Brokerage industries for around 35 years... (up until a couple years ago)... nothing online is secure. Computers and Phones are both computers, but smart phones tend to be more locked down, and are generally more secure. If you think that having the phone in public is the reason for more risk, buy one for banking only and place it in a safe at home 🤣 (air gapped is more secure) A phone has more security typically (assuming it is used), the apps on the phone are 'sandboxed' which makes it more difficult for a malicious app or web app to gain access to it. The phone has extra authentication that can be used (biometrics), and the phone has a secure enclave to store tokens. The web platform is more susceptible to social engineering attacks that use schemes like phishing to gain access to your computer and then into your banking applications. There is probably north of $100 billion a year (probably more due to under reporting) in losses due to these crimes - it is also big business.

Whoever you place near the trough - eats from it... it is endemic here. I think it was Suthep (though not sure) that basically indicated that the crime was letting everyone know it - as opposed to keeping it hidden from sight. The issue with the party dissolution is that the democratic processes here are never given the chance to mature and thus no ruling that offends those that are powerful is ripe for getting a party dissolved... It will prevent the government for actually working for the people... What is needed is to pursue those that are corrupt with criminal sanctions and long sentences... but not disrupt the maturing of the democratic processes.

What I have recommended some people do is have at least two accounts, one for larger sums of money and one for your daily use... one you can connect with your phone etc... and the other one you just have an ATM card for. You can then just transfer what is reasonable to the small daily account what you need every once in a while while keeping the big account isolated. I would trust web application access even less than a phone app on an iPhone.

He is protected by the Chinese, if he had any problem they would have arranged his ability to get back to safe territory. i.e. he is living openly in China... that would not be possible if not being protected.

Last time I was in Bangkok, the hair cutting place in the underground near Asok - was QR code only (use to accept cash via depositing into a machine and getting a slip). QR code/Promptpay is quickly becoming the preferred payment option (low to no fee as opposed to foreign credit card networks). I actually use QR code payment quite often now for local transactions.

It is unfortunate that your bank messed up, but the IO officer was right as they have rules they are suppose to follow and they are unlikely to be the last one reviewing those documents. On the bright side, you are now more knowledgeable about the process and document requirements - so you will able to check what the bank gives you in the future...

I guess you were not here the last time the international network was dredged up cutting off Thailand for what seems like it was at least a week if not longer (no international ATM transactions, etc.) -- or had a your credit cards compromised and you have to wait for new cards before you can access everything. If you are a regular visitor, or you are here for months rather than a week or two - it makes sense for you to have a local bank you can rely on. Having robust KYC (know your client rules) that model your expected behaviour can greatly reduce the abuse - if you start receiving money locally into your account regularly - and you don't have a business or own a condo - that would be a red flag.

I know that a friend of mine from Japan who was in Canada as a tourist for 1.5 years (6 months with 2 extensions of 6 months each - after showing she had no need to work... ever), opened up a bank account. If you are a regular visitor to a country (annually) or stay a significant amount of time, it makes sense to open a bank account locally as it makes it easier to handle your money that you are relying on locally. I have had my credit card suspended at times when using it internationally because the modelling they do for risk analysis sees you change your behaviour and then determines it is a risk that you have been compromised. It is fairly quick (if annoying) to get it unsuspended but it is still a risk. If you have your credit card you are relying on compromised while you are hear and you do not travel with enough cash as backup - it can be problematic. I have also been hear when the international cables were dredged up cutting of the international connections - which brought down the international ATM/Bank/Credit Card network for at least a week... That was not a good think to go through without having a local account to rely on. Personally, I use QR codes for most of my local transactions these days.

QR Code under the hood is just an ATM transfer to another account as far as I can tell... the QR code has all the information to make it easy. (i.e, transfering money using government backed infrastructure). From what I understand (a bit fuzzy) - promptpay fees are: Micro payments below a 'certain amount' are typically free. Larger transactions, for example 1,000 baht are between 0.25% and 0.50% of the amount (so for 1000 baht it is 2.5 to 5 baht). If the fee exceeds a certain amount (dependent on bank it can range but typically you are talking about 25 baht or so maximum). The network used for transactions is National ITMX Co., Ltd. which is a consortium owned by all the Thai banks and is run like a utility (i.e. it is a for profit company but it is run more like a utility not a company that is focused on maximizing profits over those that use it).

This is an action that actually rises to a higher charge since it was intentionally reckless - not just reckless. In Canada (Ontario) the charge COULD result in a maximum sentence of LIFE.... though if it was a first offence it would likely not result in that...but I highly doubt it would be a mere 3 years ... as Canadian courts tend to treat it very seriously (and Canada is notoriously soft on in comparison to other countries when it comes to sentencing). The charge the offender is charged with here though has a sentence of zero to 10 years and up to 20,000 baht fine I believe.

Maybe he changed it after finishing confinement, but then if he is the person people on social media are saying - his fingerprints used on entry here would match his criminal record in UK and the charge he is facing - has an equivalent law in UK so he would be able to be extradited.

This was about a foreigner INTENTIONALLY being recklessly negligent... that is a crime. There is actually one charge higher that would likely be applicable that is 3 to 13 years, this charge is likely the one that is zero to 10 years. His actions lead to the death of another...

For a replacement of a Canadian passport, the embassy would require you to report it to police as lost or stolen and bring back a police report (had to do that for a stolen passport once). I would expect most countries around Thailand would be able to and also do checking the immigration status of who is reporting the lost passport as part of filling out a report - but that is just a logical guess.

(Not a lawyer) but it looks like a choice between Section 291 - Negligence and Section 290 - Recklessness approaching intent... my guess is this would rise to Section 290 since there was intent to be reckless... If that is correct the punishment would be between 3 and 15 years (probably top end of that range), which typically could be reduced somewhat if he managed to compensate the family of the deceased. (Section 291 would be up to 10 years and a small fine).

I would think they would take him into custody because he definitely has to be a flight risk at this point.