Jay0kay

As expected there is always one, e.g. wordchild, gives an opinion, without any credible evidence to back up. After the matter was resolved, thankfully quite quickly once evidence provided, the person whose bank account was frozen rang around and asked other high street banks about their policy in regard to freezing accounts. Every single bank replied, "it is an automated computer system for which they have no choice in the matter!" There was lots of legislation brought in under the radar during the covid shutdown, so that if you still believe the uk is the same free democracy that most british expats grew up in, then you've been totally asleep at the wheel.

Thanks VocalNeal. I think the 3 month bank statement is the best immediate approach as they are open now and also tomorrow when immigration is closed. To get an address on the statement, I read on here that you need to go in person. My current branch is not in Bangkok, so the address I will be asking for is in another jangwat. I'm so sick of the hassle of going through all of this here that I am looking for accommodation back near where I used to, where a residency certificate can be done in a day or two at most and going to immigration at the right time of day is always a breeze.

Q: Why have the U.K. bank frozen the account? A: Absolutely no idea, except that TL was mentioned, I have read online that it is AI based and the people asking for the evidence have no idea either. The Tories slipped in legislation during covid which allowed banks to freeze accounts indefinitely without giving any justification. Complete madness I know and I won't be rushing back soon! The person sending the funds doesn't have a history of sending funds abroad and has reached an age in which anything out of the ordinary, e.g. shopping at amazon and waitrose, is deemed suspicious activity by their bank despite working nearly 30 years in the public sector and also having served as a magistrate for over a decade.

Just realised that the visa extension stamps are mostly in English, so maybe just needs to be notarised that they are in my passport, but as scubascuba3 rightly says, the odds of a UK bank accepting visa stamps is not very high. I am trying to get a definitive list of things the bank would accept. All they have said is that anything in Thai will be be translated by them at cost, which I can only imagine will be far greater than anything translated officially here.

Thanks CallumWKm, but unfortunately I only rent in Bangkok and couldn't imagine the owner allowing me to be registered on the Tabien Baan. My long term partner (15 years), has a nice house, but it is a thousand kilometres away from Bangkok, and is far too quiet for me to call home...just yet! Again, definitely one for the future.

Thanks scubascuba3, a Thai driving license would be ideal, but I stupidly let mine expire during the covid years and is on my list of things to do. I have driven thousands of miles around TL, when I was younger, but ever since Grab, Bolt etc arrived, my need to drive in Bangkok has reduced greatly as I live a few minutes walk from the BTS. A Thai driving license is definitely the best long term solution for this issue and will also start the process as backup for if the residency proof fails.

Thanks Bacon1 for the reply. No yellow book, I'm afraid. Copy of extension of stay method would hopfully be faster than a certificate of residence, here in Bangkok. My last three annual extensions are on the same ajoining pages, but I presume that it would need to be notarized to say that it was visa extension stamps in my UK passport. Any suggestions for a business in Bangkok, who could do this in a timely and preferably price efficient manner? Does the British Embassy here provide any service that would suffice?

Never had problems before, but now a family member has had their UK bank frozen because they wanted to send about a thousand pounds to my Thai bank, which I've had for over 10 years. I have lived non-stop in TL for nearly that long, so long that my UK driving license expired and now I can't get a new one online either. There UK bank said they will not unfreeze the account until they have proof that I the recipient live in TL. I don't really know what they will accept, but an offically stamped translation of a certificate of residence seems to be one solution. I live in Bangkok, so there is an undesirable waiting time, plus tomorrow's a public holiday. Has anyone experienced anything similiar and did an official stamped letter from a Thai bank or bank statement with my address suffice, as it doesn't prove I live here. I read that the British Embassy has discontinued their 45minute fast track proof of residency service or has it been replaced by some other equivalent service? The source of funds is of course legitimate and it is hardly an amount that could be considered money laundering, but I read on another thread that Lloyds bank considered Thailand an embargoed country, which officially it is not, and also First Direct refused to send funds to TL, despite the account owner banking with them for over twenty years. Any help, advice and solutions to similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.