Bangkok bank asked me to sign a form that made me more worried now, after i heard about the 100 years

jail sentence given to a dutch man for "money laundry" (details on google).

While i am not engaged in any illegal activity, this form makes me worried because it require to mention my "net worth", my

income, wethear my wealth comes from "investments" or "work", from which countries i expect to receive money, and more

and more sensitive details, and aventually to sign that "all the information provided here is accurate and  complete ...".

i was tricked into sigining this form by another incompetent banker who told me with a silly smile that "bank of thailand need to know

where the money comes from".  i understood that this form is passed to central bank of thailand, but now they

told me it is kept by bangkok bank. i asked bangkok bank to give me back the form or to alllow me to change it,

because i am not sure about some of the information (for example "net worth" - what i i had a good investment and now 

my net worth is doubled? will i now be considered a liar by the bank ?)

i am affraid this form expose me to legal complications with the bank , and in a country like thailand it means

allways that i will lose. do you have any idea how to solve this? maybe close the account in bangkok bank (don't

have much $$$ there anyway)...

 

Seriously?

I bet 99% it is put in some file box never to be used or looked at again.

I would not worry about it.

There is nothing sacred about who one chooses to bank with. Close the account, and bank it somewhere else.

8 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Seriously?

I bet 99% it is put in some file box never to be used or looked at again.

I would not worry about it.

yes, seriously.

i acctually went to the bank and asked to get the form, or to fix it.

they came back with my file and the form in it, but said firmly : "you will

not get the form !".

if you heard about the recent developments in international banking, you 

would also be worried. 

banks are closing / blocking / even confiscating accounts in masses, especially 

for foreigners.

and in a country like thailand, with a rigid and twisted justice system (just few weeks ago

thai courts released a serial killer after 7 years in jail for "good behaviour". and he killed another woman !!)

even a form like this can get you in trouble.

besides, thailand will join soon the CRS and all bank info will be reported. but they

did not tell me that when i signed the damn form.

Just now, Lacessit said:

There is nothing sacred about who one chooses to bank with. Close the account, and bank it somewhere else.

this is what i plan to do, problem it is not so easy, as i allready transfered some money to this account, and opening a new account in thailand - or anywhere in the world - is not easy these days.

2 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

this is what i plan to do, problem it is not so easy, as i allready transfered some money to this account, and opening a new account in thailand - or anywhere in the world - is not easy these days.

Try this:

Walk into a bank of your choosing with your passport and 200,000 baht in cash, and tell the staff you want to open an account.

If they don't fall over themselves getting you signed up, I'll be very surprised.

Just now, Lacessit said:

Try this:

Walk into a bank of your choosing with your passport and 200,000 baht in cash, and tell the staff you want to open an account.

If they don't fall over themselves getting you signed up, I'll be very surprised.

why won't you try it yourself and see what you get (to save your time, i will tell you how it'll go:

thai banker : you have work permit?

you: no.

thai banker: cannot.

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

There is nothing sacred about who one chooses to bank with. Close the account, and bank it somewhere else.

And be confronted with a similar form.

Unfortunately the picture is too blurry for me to read what it says.

Sounds like a form for opening account and following rules about money laundering.

If one is not involved in serious criminal activities there is no need to loose sleep over such a standard form.

Can't count how many such forms and more I have filled over the years.

Not being a US citizen I still had to sign documents with endless no/no/no... ticks regarding any connection to the US.

To the topic starter: are you a US citizen?
Don't blame Bangkok Bank if your government/revenue traces you to the end of the world. As far as I know that they have to report any business with US citizens to the respecting agencies. Others should know the details.

 

 

 

 

Just now, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

why won't you try it yourself and see what you get (to save your time, i will tell you how it'll go:

thai banker : you have work permit?

you: no.

thai banker: cannot.

I've done it before. However, I am on a retirement visa.

2 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

And be confronted with a similar form.

Unfortunately the picture is too blurry for me to read what it says.

Sounds like a form for opening account and following rules about money laundering.

If one is not involved in serious criminal activities there is no need to loose sleep over such a standard form.

Can't count how many such forms and more I have filled over the years.

Not being a US citizen I still had to sign documents with endless no/no/no... ticks regarding any connection to the US.

To the topic starter: are you a US citizen?
Don't blame Bangkok Bank if your government/revenue traces you to the end of the world. As far as I know that they have to report any business with US citizens to the respecting agencies. Others should know the details.

 

 

 

 

i am not a u.s. citizen and i do not engage in any criminal activity.

however, i do suffer from some tax problems, like most people on this planet (excl. salary man).

so yes, these days governments. not just the U.S. , do follow their tax money all over the world.

and this can get the unsuspecting expat to serious problems and years in jail, like in the

case of that dutchman i mentioned.

At what point were you asked to complete this form? When opening your account?

22 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Try this:

Walk into a bank of your choosing with your passport and 200,000 baht in cash, and tell the staff you want to open an account.

If they don't fall over themselves getting you signed up, I'll be very surprised.

Reminds me, I walked in a bank in the PI with 5k USD to open an account, they refused, don't take cash sir, that was 1981, sure it will be the same still, banks are having to really do their due diligence now, most of it is to stop them committing crimes, though they still keep getting caught!

Just now, SteveK said:

At what point were you asked to complete this form? When opening your account?

yes.

but i was not warned / told that this might be used for CRS reporting.

so i did not think much when i filled it.

now i am learning that this kind of form can get me in serious troubles, even 10 years

from now. that's nasty from the bank side. other banks in OECD countries do tell you

that the form can and will be used to report to other countries, but in thailand whey do it

all with that garfield smile...

1 minute ago, CGW said:

Reminds me, I walked in a bank in the PI with 5k USD to open an account, they refused, don't take cash sir, that was 1981, sure it will be the same still, banks are having to really do their due diligence now, most of it is to stop them committing crimes, though they still keep getting caught!

well, banks are banks, but a fair bank will tell you that you are about to sign an important form.

that is not what the bangkok bank clerk did. 

I would say about 7000 million USD GBP EURO  Afghani rial whatever  

Ive got 3860 .78 THB in my account here maybe my cash dont come to your bank

 

 

Suck it up buttercup!  these stupid form elicit stupid answers i am very rich on arrival form as well

... honestly what can they do to you

 

7 hours ago, poohy said:

I would say about 7000 million USD GBP EURO  Afghani rial whatever  

Ive got 3860 .78 THB in my account here maybe my cash dont come to your bank

 

 

Suck it up buttercup!  these stupid form elicit stupid answers i am very rich on arrival form as well

... honestly what can they do to you

 

you don't make much sense...especially the "buttercup" part...but i'll tell you what "they" - or any bank around the world these days - can do to you:

1. report the account to your home country / country of residency / ex-wife lawyer, ext.

2. fine you 1000's of dolars for giving wrong information (yes, banks do it now)

3. freeze your account until you provide "more papers" / other <deleted>

4. block transfers from / to your account right when you need it most.

5. report you to police / money laundry agencies that will push you to a washing machine.

ext.

 

now i m not sure if you need to worry, with your 3860.78 baht, but other people with 

more substantial amounts might find it worrying.

8 hours ago, CGW said:

Reminds me, I walked in a bank in the PI with 5k USD to open an account, they refused, don't take cash sir, that was 1981, sure it will be the same still, banks are having to really do their due diligence now, most of it is to stop them committing crimes, though they still keep getting caught!

in singapore, hong kong and cambodia most banks accept cash o problem.

but philipines is playing the holy cross country (catholic) so they are full of it...inside and out.

11 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

but i was not warned / told that this might be used for CRS reporting.

so i did not think much when i filled it.

For someone who on previous threads was quite vocal about the issue of tax reporting it seems like you have a very short memory.

 

12 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

equire to mention my "net worth", my

income, wethear my wealth comes from "investments" or "work", from which countries i expect to receive money, and more

and more sensitive details, and aventually to sign that "all the information provided here is accurate and  complete ...".

Even for someone as paranoid as you seem to be I cannot believe you gave them detailed genuine information......

 

I have had to fill in similar forms for western financial institutions. Personally I make it as general as  can so it is pretty much worthless. I doubt as others have posted that the staff member you were dealing with would have even bothered to read and understand your answers.

 

If you are that worried close your account as you suggest and keep your money under the mattress...............

 

Oh and CRS will happen, just a question of when. Perhaps you may want to find another banking jurisdiction....

11 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

however, i do suffer from some tax problems

 

is that code for "I don't pay my taxes" ?

12 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

i am not a u.s. citizen and i do not engage in any criminal activity.

however, i do suffer from some tax problems, like most people on this planet (excl. salary man).

so yes, these days governments. not just the U.S. , do follow their tax money all over the world.

and this can get the unsuspecting expat to serious problems and years in jail, like in the

case of that dutchman i mentioned.

The Dutchman was totally different your just paranoid. You just worry that the tax man tries to collect.

Normally when opening a bank account and presented with a form like this they just want your phone number and sign the bottom and leave the rest blank and the teller will fill it out if it's needed.

Basically the OECD putting pressure on all nations to comply with their money laws and regulations to be able to do business with them.

 

Assume there are many specialist companies employing a host of financial, legal and law enforcement personnel roaming around the world selling their training, advice, knowledge, expertise and software to financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to monitor and control financial systems and transactions to be compliant according to OECD financial requirements.

 

Expect to see people being locked out of their accounts with no access to their money on what their banks software algorithms detect and report as suspicious financial transactions whilst the law authorities receive bank reports and investigate. This happens all too frequently now in Europe.

 

 

14 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

why won't you try it yourself and see what you get (to save your time, i will tell you how it'll go:

thai banker : you have work permit?

you: no.

thai banker: cannot.

I can confirmed that. I have a buyer who struggled 2 days to open a bank account in Bangkok. At the end he found one branch who accepted because he had our Sale Agreement in hand.

 

14 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I've done it before. However, I am on a retirement visa.

Before... is not now.  Reading ThaiVisa you should know that banks have become a lot more strict in recent years... ????

No sense in going to another bank,  they are all as bad as one another!  I have tried a few: Kasikorn,  SCB, Krungthai, Land and House,  Thanachart......but ended up back with Bangkok Bank.  I know I came back for a good reason......oh yer,  the BAAC which is the closest to me don't allow foreigners to have an account!  And the Bangkok Bank has the sweetest little tellers to flirt with! 

Had to fill in a similar form at Kasikorn bank a few years ago. The lady opening the account also called the bank manager over and he also asked a few questions about my history and source of funding and transacting through the account before they allowed the account to be opened.

 

 

I must of been lucky. Open a bank account with bangkok bank in Bangkok. Didn't have work permit, married to thai, or a retirement visa. That was 3 1/2 year's ago though. Had about £6000 at hand and they was very helpful.

Had to sign the same form. You can thanks the US (even as a non US citizen) for imposing AML and CRS on the rest of the world. 

 

6 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

in singapore, hong kong and cambodia most banks accept cash o problem.

but philipines is playing the holy cross country (catholic) so they are full of it...inside and out.

Cambodia and Philippines are one of the rare countries that are not part of CRS. Not sure about Hong Kong and Singapore but its not easy to open account there anymore. 

Just looks like one of the standard new acct forms Bangkok Bank has used for a "long" time for all customers.  More of Customer Info gathering thing like in the title of the form.  

 

And where did you get these "Dangerous Assets Declaration" words you used in the thread title related to the form?   Let's not panic here over a simple acct opening form.

 

 

15 minutes ago, Pib said:

Just looks like one of the standard new acct forms Bangkok Bank has used for a "long" time for all customers.  More of Customer Info gathering thing like in the title of the form.  

 

And where did you get these "Dangerous Assets Declaration" words you used in the thread title related to the form?   Let's not panic here over a simple acct opening form.

 

 

 

That is how I read it to. Marketing info of a type companies often gather.

 

Bank probably IS going to report how much you have in the account via CRS and may also report your bank activity (transfers in etc) yhrough it. This would be true anywhere  in Thailand (and most countries) even if not given a form like this.

 

They are almost certainly NOT going to report the "net worth" you put on the form and so forth.  Who on earth would they report it to and why? this is just customer info for marketing purposed (if indeed it gets analyzed at all).

 

Now, if you are evading lax liability, you may indeed get tracked down due to CRS but it won't be because of what you put on this form (other than of cousre your identifying details - passport nationality etc).

 

I would suggest you report your income to whomever you are required to report it to and pay such tax as you are required by wherever to pay. Then no worries.