sidneybear

You said it yourself: Enforcement happens in the west that doesn’t happen in Thailand. In the west, they'll always bust you and pin huge fines on you for even minor traffic offences. Western countries have gigantic, parasitic governments that are hugely expensive to support. Thailand is much more flexible, and cheaper to get yourself out of trouble, which is why we love the place.

But it's a lot less regulated than the West

There are reasons: 1) Envy: Most people who come here love Thailand, even if they don't admit it, but resent the fact that they aren't Thai and don't get the same rights as the locals. 2) Arrogance: Many people come over here feeling superior (even though they're not). They look down their noses at any culture that's different from the crime ridden and degenerate dumps that they came from. 3) Inability to adapt: Others come here and become disillusioned at the differences in the way Thais do things. These people suffer from culture shock and desperately try to change Thailand to resemble their home country, which of course is never going to happen.

That's right. Banks operate on a fractional reserve system, whereby they don't need to hold deposits in reserve that equal the value of the money they lend. This means that they produce loans out of thin air.

Australia taxes property too, in the form of council rates, as do most places.

So don't drive then.

True. Look at places like Australia, where housing has been made unaffordable to most people who don't already own a house. Savers are penalised, inflation destroys wealth, and small increases in interest rates are a national emergency, because everyone is buried under huge mortgages.

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.

They want to turn Thailand into a woke hellhole, like the "progressive" West.

Which one of them was shagging on thr side?

I think you missed the gist of my message. I agree with you, but the British government doesn't care one bit about pensioners, still less about expatriate pensioners, and will come up with all sorts of excuses to divert funding to projects that win more votes - like "our" NHS.