What is happening with PayPal Thailand?

[doctormann]

28 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Got a "Final Warning" for verification for my Thailand Paypal account. But the verification link seems to require a government-issued Thai ID number. It's not accepting my passport number. Anyone else with the same problem? 

Yes, exactly the same here - they want a 'Population ID Number', whatever that is.  Passport number doesn't work,

[doctormann]

30 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Yes, exactly the same here - they want a 'Population ID Number', whatever that is.  Passport number doesn't work,

Update:  I just tried entering the ID Number from my vaccination certificate and this was accepted.

Then got a pop-up saying 'Thanks, you're all set'

That ID Number is the one that I used to register on the Mor Prom app so I guess that it must count as a government-issued ID.

Is my PayPal account now OK>  We shall see!

 

[KhaoNiaw]

7 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Update:  I just tried entering the ID Number from my vaccination certificate and this was accepted.

Then got a pop-up saying 'Thanks, you're all set'

That ID Number is the one that I used to register on the Mor Prom app so I guess that it must count as a government-issued ID.

Is my PayPal account now OK>  We shall see!

 

Good tip! I thought it would then ask for an upload or something but like you I just got the "all set".   

[StayinThailand2much]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:15 AM, Isan Farang said:

As per the PP site they quote the following

 

Yes, there will be some changes. * See details below:

Bank withdrawals

• Only businesses registered in Thailand can withdraw funds from PayPal Thailand accounts and withdrawals must be made to Thai bank accounts in THB. Linked Thai bank accounts must be registered to the same business as the PayPal business account. Withdrawals to U.S. bank accounts will not be available.
  
  PayPal personal accounts will not be able to hold a balance or withdraw funds.

Obviously bringing PayPal in line to make it impossible for private account holders to  transfer money out of the country (in league with countries like China and North Korea).

 

And same as in China, I suspect, it's not about 'money-laundering', but about stopping possible capital outflows, and keeping the currency "strong".

Edited January 11, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[fdsa]

28 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Update:  I just tried entering the ID Number from my vaccination certificate and this was accepted.

which is the length of that ID? Does it consist of numbers only or letters too?
I wonder if I could just write something like 1234567890 in that field.

[KhaoNiaw]

7 minutes ago, fdsa said:

which is the length of that ID? Does it consist of numbers only or letters too?
I wonder if I could just write something like 1234567890 in that field.

Maybe. It really wants a 13-digit Thai ID number (no letters). But possibly any 13 digits would work. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by KhaoNiaw

[Isan Farang]

8 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Maybe. It really wants a 13-digit Thai ID number (no letters). But possibly any 13 digits would work. 

I entered the 13 digit number from my pink id card, and this was accepted. No further info was required.

[doctormann]

9 hours ago, fdsa said:

which is the length of that ID? Does it consist of numbers only or letters too?
I wonder if I could just write something like 1234567890 in that field.

13 digits - numbers only.

Yes, i think that any 13-digit number would work as i don't think that they have any way of checking.

If you have a pink card - I don't - then the number from that would be the one to use.

[doctormann]

48 minutes ago, Isan Farang said:

I entered the 13 digit number from my pink id card, and this was accepted. No further info was required.

Yes, if you have a pink card then the number from that would be the one to use.  Pity that PayPal didn't make it a bit more obvious though.

I don't have a pink card - my Amphur steadfastly refused to issue a yellow book for me so I can't get one!

[userabcd]

5 hours ago, doctormann said:

Update:  I just tried entering the ID Number from my vaccination certificate and this was accepted.

Then got a pop-up saying 'Thanks, you're all set'

That ID Number is the one that I used to register on the Mor Prom app so I guess that it must count as a government-issued ID.

Is my PayPal account now OK>  We shall see!

 

Don't think that vaccination ID number was envisaged or intended to be used by non immigrant foreigners in Thailand for financial reasons and PayPal verification.

 

I think PayPal and the government need to clarify this.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by userabcd

[sanmyintmaung]

13 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Got a "Final Warning" for verification for my Thailand Paypal account. But the verification link seems to require a government-issued Thai ID number. It's not accepting my passport number. Anyone else with the same problem? 

I managed to successfully updated my nationality and passport number in Paypal Thailand by following the link in "Final Warning" email. I received the "you are all set" message. No Thai ID needed. 

[KhaoNiaw]

10 minutes ago, sanmyintmaung said:

I managed to successfully updated my nationality and passport number in Paypal Thailand by following the link in "Final Warning" email. I received the "you are all set" message. No Thai ID needed. 

I didn't get any option to update nationality, only to put in the ID number. I've found that having done that, it now gives the option to edit and use driving licence number instead. There is also an option to add passport details. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by KhaoNiaw

[doctormann]

1 hour ago, userabcd said:

Don't think that vaccination ID number was envisaged or intended to be used by non immigrant foreigners in Thailand for financial reasons and PayPal verification.

 

I think PayPal and the government need to clarify this.

 

 

 

 

Quite.  I'm not saying that it's intended to be used on PayPal but it is an official ID and it does appear to be acceptable.  Those of us without a yellow book/pink card do not have any sort of Thai ID anyway.  Even your Thai driving licence only has your passport number on it.

[fdsa]

6 hours ago, doctormann said:

13 digits - numbers only.

Yes, i think that any 13-digit number would work as i don't think that they have any way of checking.

If you have a pink card - I don't - then the number from that would be the one to use.

yes, there is a simple check that the field must contain 13 digits, I think Thailand government did not provide Paypal with any way to check the number validity.

I've just put 13 zeroes in that field and Paypal accepted it and I have an excuse for the support just in case - the field was not accepting my passport number.

[rabas]

FYI Alert. I seem to remember February 22 as the deadline to accept PayPal Thailand's new agreement.  That is now February 18 2022 according to  link

 

"To continue using your PayPal account in Thailand you will need to take two steps by February 18, 2022:"

[Caldera]

I received the following SMS, which finally has a firm deadline for accepting their new terms (unlike any previous communications):

 

PayPal: PayPal Thailand is relaunching. Your account needs urgent action before February 18. Please log into your PayPal account and follow the next steps.

[Regyai]

TBH

 

Much of this puzzles me. Why are you all doing backflips to validate this neutered pared down parody of a PayPal account?

[doctormann]

14 hours ago, Regyai said:

TBH

 

Much of this puzzles me. Why are you all doing backflips to validate this neutered pared down parody of a PayPal account?

PayPal has its uses as an alternative payment channel.  I rarely use it but it's convenient sometimes.  I've only ever had a personal account so I have no idea how trading accounts have been affected.

[doctormann]

Well, sorting out the PayPal problem was not difficult but, of course, this has not stopped the phishing attempts that I seem to get on a regular basis.  The latest one was today - telling me that my account was locked, which it isn't, of course!  A quick check on the real PayPal site - not the link provided in the phishing email - will tell you if there is a problem.

[Ohyesuare]

2 hours ago, doctormann said:

Well, sorting out the PayPal problem was not difficult but, of course, this has not stopped the phishing attempts that I seem to get on a regular basis.  The latest one was today - telling me that my account was locked, which it isn't, of course!  A quick check on the real PayPal site - not the link provided in the phishing email - will tell you if there is a problem.

I've been getting these consistently for years now. Amazon ones as well. If you hover over the sender it'll always be a bunch of numbers and letters for the email and they'll never address you by your full name like official PayPal emails do.

[doctormann]

1 hour ago, Ohyesuare said:

I've been getting these consistently for years now. Amazon ones as well. If you hover over the sender it'll always be a bunch of numbers and letters for the email and they'll never address you by your full name like official PayPal emails do.

I get the Amazon ones as well and nowadays quite a lot offers for Viagra and Cialis.  Mt SPAM filter is very good at sorting out the dodgy stuff - just check the SPAM box once a day in case anything genuine ends up in there.  Rarely happens.

 

[Ohyesuare]

34 minutes ago, doctormann said:

I get the Amazon ones as well and nowadays quite a lot offers for Viagra and Cialis.  Mt SPAM filter is very good at sorting out the dodgy stuff - just check the SPAM box once a day in case anything genuine ends up in there.  Rarely happens.

 

Yeah not quite sure how the rare ones make it through to my inbox but it does keep most out.

[Caldera]

20 hours ago, Regyai said:

TBH

 

Much of this puzzles me. Why are you all doing backflips to validate this neutered pared down parody of a PayPal account?

I like to use PayPal to make online payments without having to give each merchant my credit card details. That limits my exposure to theft and is a big plus in my book.

 

As all I'm currently using it for are such outbound payments, the changes they are about to make don't affect me personally. For me, their fees have made them unattractive for receiving payments long before.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Caldera

[Caldera]

On 1/12/2022 at 9:18 AM, KhaoNiaw said:

I didn't get any option to update nationality, only to put in the ID number. I've found that having done that, it now gives the option to edit and use driving licence number instead. There is also an option to add passport details. 

My nationality was set to Thai in my profile and I couldn't change it as well. I contacted support and they asked me to upload a picture of my passport to change the nationality for me.

 

I don't recall being asked for my nationality when I opened my Thai PayPal account a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to rectify this. 

[fdsa]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:33 PM, fdsa said:

I bought digital goods from USA.

 

Maybe it's only USA thing? I often buy stuff on Ebay from other countries (mainly Europe, sometimes Australia/Japan/Hong Kong) and was never taxed before. The last purchase from Germany was just before the New Year and I was not taxed.

The last purchase from USA was about 3 years ago and I was not taxed then, so it may be a fresh tax law.

 

I'll report back when I'd buy something else from a different country.

Update: yes, the tax added is a USA-only thing, it has nothing to do with Paypal Thailand.

When I bought that item I used an address in USA (because seller could not "ship" internationally, even digital goods). I'm buying another digital item now and if I choose USA address on the checkout page then a tax row appears, but if I choose address in Thailand then the tax row disappears.

 

[Caldera]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:14 PM, Caldera said:

My nationality was set to Thai in my profile and I couldn't change it as well. I contacted support and they asked me to upload a picture of my passport to change the nationality for me.

 

I don't recall being asked for my nationality when I opened my Thai PayPal account a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to rectify this. 

Quick follow-up on this: PayPal confirmed that they've updated my nationality as per my passport and that I'm "all set" for the transition.

[phaholyothin]

On 1/11/2022 at 7:44 PM, KhaoNiaw said:

Got a "Final Warning" for verification for my Thailand Paypal account. But the verification link seems to require a government-issued Thai ID number. It's not accepting my passport number. Anyone else with the same problem? 

 

I got this about 8-10 days ago.  I followed their instructions and used the only government-issued ID that I have; my passport.  It did not accept the numbers (too short) so I just kept typing in random numbers until the submit button became active, then submitted it and received a warm 'thank you' screen.  Maybe at some point down the road they'll actually get around to checking it and it'll fail verification. Who knows. But maybe that'll give me a few extra months of account usage before I have to fall back onto plan B.

[Paulaew]

On 1/11/2022 at 9:16 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

And same as in China, I suspect, it's not about 'money-laundering', but about stopping possible capital outflows, and keeping the currency "strong".

I don't think that's correct. You can't accept any payments either (unless you have a business registered in Thailand). But you can still make purchases with vendors outside Thailand.

 

Rather than keeping the currency strong (which isn't to the benefit of Thai export industries anyway), the Thai government is trying to control the underground economy which is not being taxed.

 

Paul Laew

 

 

[StayinThailand2much]

Just now, Paulaew said:

I don't think that's correct. You can't accept any payments either (unless you have a business registered in Thailand). But you can still make purchases with vendors outside Thailand.

 

Rather than keeping the currency strong (which isn't to the benefit of Thai export industries anyway), the Thai government is trying to control the underground economy which is not being taxed.

 

Paul Laew

Well, I base my opinion on the difficulties I had in the past wiring money out of Thailand, even small amounts like a few thousand baht, and I don't think this had anything to do with preventing money-laundering. And as for China, their example has been widely publicised, i.e. to stop people (citizens and foreigners) to take currency out of the country.

[phaholyothin]

10 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Well, I base my opinion on the difficulties I had in the past wiring money out of Thailand, even small amounts like a few thousand baht, and I don't think this had anything to do with preventing money-laundering. 

I didn't have any problem wiring 50 thousand baht back to the US two weeks ago.  There's even an option on the Bangkok Bank iPhone app that made it easy. No need to go into a branch or fill out any paperwork and no questions asked.