sidneybear

Interesting. But as you say, Burmese or Cambodian bank accounts aren't as useful as Thai accounts, due to challenges transferring funds in and out, insolvency risk, etc. The fact remains that Thailand, as an established member of the global financial system, has been quite slack on eligibility requirements.

Wise is a bit hit and miss, which is disconcerting when there's money involved, and when they're so opaque about what's happening to your money when hold ups occur. I've had some transfers take seconds, other similar transfers take days. Once I had a transfer invesigated then cancelled just for putting my wife's nickname in the transaction reference box. This having already declared the purpose of the transaction. I got refunded, after several days, but I've given up using them for all but small sums of money.

I'd say that Thai banks have actually been easy going for years, but are catching up with the rest of the world. Try opening a bank account anywhere else in the world as a tourist.

Another vile import from the western world. Perverts in drag and gimp suits coming on to children should be thrown in prison.

But you're speaking to lots of foreigners here @simon43 😀

The problem isn't with Wise, it's the insanely strict Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing regulations they have to adhere to, in order to stay in business and avoid penalties and sanctions. They're obliged to freeze accounts and are forbidden to say why they did so under anti tipping off rules. They (and all similar financial service providers) err on the side of extreme caution, freeze accounts and cancel transactions for all kinds of obscure reasons. I had a remittance frozen for using my wife's pet name in the transaction reference field, even though I'd stated what the transaction was for. They'd flagged it as suspicious under CTF and Sanctioned individual concerns. They cancelled the transfer and I did get the money refunded a few days later, after I'd provided them with extensive information on whom I was transferring to and why. Gone are the days when our money was ours to do what we liked with.

The problem isn't with Wise, it's the insanely strict Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing regulations they have to adhere to, in order to stay in business and avoid penalties and sanctions. They're obliged to freeze accounts and are forbidden to say why they did so under anti tipping off rules. They (and all similar financial service providers) err on the side of extreme caution, freeze accounts and cancel transactions for all kinds of obscure reasons. I had a remittance frozen for using my wife's pet name in the transaction reference field, even though I'd stated what the transaction was for. They'd flagged it as suspicious under CTF and Sanctioned individual concerns. They cancelled the transfer and I did get the money refunded a few days later, after I'd provided them with extensive information on whom I was transferring to and why. Gone are the days when our money was ours to do what we liked with.

I think all that's happened is the removal of a filter that used to only allow content from the Left. Now others can have a say as well.

I can remember people marvelling at 9 million annual visitors, and the place felt busy then. Mass tourism is a horrid disease that spoils so many beautiful places.

How remarkable! An article about the weather that doesn’t mention the climate change alarmist hoax. Times might be changing at last.

I think this article is pretty accurate: Thaksin is the lesser of two evils that the Thai establishment is dealing with at the moment. The Orange brigade threaten to turn Thailand into a woke, lefty, crime ridden hellhole, like the Western world, where nobody has any respect and Thailand's charming culture gets trampled underfoot. I hope that the powers that be succeed in defeating these two evils.

Well, governments that Thaksin has led (including this one have): 1) Jacked up fees for visas, elite cards, and permanent residence 2) Imposed tax on remittances into Thailand, impacting almost everyone who brings in money from abroad

It's a cold

Wow. Seems like spending jumped during Covid, then never went back down. I wonder why 🤔

Agreed that this is no laughing matter. Integration and data matching of international passenger movement records and the revenue department records happens already in places like Australia. The tax folks know exactly how long you've been there.