PayPal in Thailand: Company U-turn means users can continue to fully use accounts from Monday

[Oxx]

Company U-Turn? Not according to a mainstream newspaper.  It headlines "PayPal wins reprieve from local regulators".

[Kerryd]

14 hours ago, bstafford214 said:

For people who rely on PayPal to receive payments from overseas, they will no longer be able to do so without a registered business account. 

Online teachers, freelance workers, digital nomads or even people in Thailand who use PayPal to receive money from friends and family overseas will have to find an alternative.

 

Here is the real kicker and many people who are trying to run an online shop as their main business are being shut down by this Greedy Thai Government.

I never panicked when I first heard about the issue because they said it was accounts that only receive money (in Thailand) from sources out of country that would be affected, i.e. "digital nomads" and others working in Thailand while pretending to be tourists.

It's unlikely that PayPal's reversal had anything at all to do with a few foreigners closing their accounts. Why do the tiny, wee percentage of foreigners in Thailand keep thinking that the world (and Thailand specifically) revolves around them ?

It is far more likely that it was all the little vendors all over the country (like the ones on Lazada or various "Facebook" shops as well as the restaurants and food vendors that supply all those "Grab" delivery people) who receive a lot of payments through PayPal that complained and caused PayPal to reverse their decision.

And some people are just ID-10-Ts.
I had a Thai friend who had his PayPal account frozen. Turns out a guy he knew (American) from a motorcycle gang he wanted to join asked to use his PayPal account (and associated email account) so my friend gave him the log-ins/passwords.

Turns out the guy was selling stuff from the USA like marijuana seeds and hydroponic supplies and of course, didn't want to use his own PayPal account or email where the transactions could be traced back to him. (Basically, the money was all coming in from the US but withdrawals were being made in Thailand.)

PayPal flagged the account for suspicious activity and my friend couldn't prove that the transactions were legit because he had no idea what was going on (until I showed him and explained what was happening and why that guy was using my friend's account instead of his own).

So he screwed himself and his only choice was to basically abandon the account as he couldn't "unfreeze" it. (I have no doubt he probably opened a new account and then gave access to it to that guy again, or someone else.)

I use PayPal when paying for Lazada and some other transactions. It's better than it used to be. In the early days they were pathetic. I had a credit card with a $12,000 dollar limit but PayPal told me I was restricted to $1,000 (total) - unless I "verified" my identity by giving them my banking details ! They wanted access to my bank account !
And despite paying off my credit card within days of making a transaction, as soon as I reached the "$1,000 total" PayPal froze the account !

I sent them a couple emails, no reply. Sent them a nasty one and then closed the account.

Didn't open a new one until something like 15 years later (while I was overseas) and it's worked fine, without having to give them my banking details.

[grin]

When I opened a PayPal account in the U.S. 20 years or so ago they wanted to link a bank account as well. I was just about to close a bank account I no longer needed so I linked that one. A few months later I closed the account and PayPal never noticed. It still shows up on my PayPal account but my guess is that if you never use the linked account then they will never notice that it no longer exists.

 

One other thing is that the only time I had to deal with identity theft was when someone managed to set up a PayPal account including PayPal credit in my name. They charged a few thousand dollars before I got some notice about a credit account that I knew was not mine as I never set one up. As I own a number of internet domains and use a different email address for all of my accounts I know for sure that PayPal was the source of my email address and SSN leak. It was a PITA to get this account closed and to get it removed from my credit record but after many calls I finally found a sympathetic ear and got everything cleared up.

Edited March 6, 2022 by grin
grammar

[ujayujay]

21 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

A useless company with zero customer service. They have locked our business account and funds for weeks, despite compliance being submitted and accepted several times in full. They fail to respond to messages and when they do, they confirm that the issue has been resolved and the account will be functional within 5 business days. The funds are still locked and their customer service continues not to respond. Personally, once we resolve the issue and withdraw the funds, I will never use them again. Online mobile bank transfers or transferwise are much more efficient. 

So you did nothing wrong????????????

[moogradod]

I used them almost from the very beginning while I was still in Switzerland and never had any problems - even not after our move to Thailand. If you use their system build in communication channels it should work well. Trying to call them because of something is probably difficult because they might have many customers with questions.

 

It was very convenient for buying small items online or sell small things via Ebay occasionally, a book, an old instrument you do not play anymore, things like this.

 

The big advantage was that you had to store your credit card number only once and you did not need to transmit the data again every time you bought something. This is especially very important here in Thailand for their credit cards (even if they come with a Visa or Mastercard logo) do not offer any security. My Visa card from Switzerland had a maximum liability of the card owner of CHF 120.-- and it came with travel insurance etc. etc. Nothing I have seen here. My wife even has a credit card by invitation (and I have the partner card) and I do not see any advantage of this plastic exept a questionable social effect and that you can make reservations and pay big bills at hotels for it is recognized as credit card and not debit card.

 

Selling small household items on Ebay (not at all in a commercial sense, just very occasionally) has been as well very convenient in the past for me. Paypal offers as well buyers protection. I have never sold anything on Ebay while in Thailand but how do I go about that if I wanted to ? I have for example a very much rare book which is of interest only to a very limited crowd. No chance to sell it by writing an advertisement and stick it on the wall at Big C. Newspapers ? Complicated as can be and probably expensive, too.

 

I cancelled my Paypal private account immediately when I read about their new regulations. It was just the hunger for more and more data they wanted to collect even from a small user like me which put me off. I do not support the big data idea and resist that where I can.

 

So no more Paypal for me ever again. And I am sure it was not Paypals idea to change anything at all. To buy our usual lot of Nespresso we now need to put in the credit number any single time we buy some capsules. How convenient and safe that is.

[CharlieH]

People were upset and undoubtedly  concerned having to find and learn something new etc after having and being used to a service for many years in most cases.They even tolerated the poor exchange rate and fees for convenience sake.

 

Humans are resourceful creatures and they simply went elsewhere and having jumped through those hoops albeit reluctantly, I doubt many will now unring that departure bell.

Besides, in Paypals own words it's still going to happen further down the road anyway! so I see no point at all returning.

 

PayPal it's too little too late, BYE!

[Dogmatix]

I got an email saying that they had informed me my account was dormant because it had been dormant for 2 years and that they were previously going to close it down but had decided to keep it open.  It is complete BS.  My account has been used several times this year and I never received the notice that it would be closed down. 

 

 

[Dogmatix]

In order to get established as an onshore business in Thailand Paypal has been determined to destroy the offshore business it had with accounts in Thailand.  I have mainly only used Paypal for online shopping overseas.  Because of all this rubbish I have replaced it whether possible with credit card payments.  What remains is some Ebay sellers who only accept Paypal.  

 

The local Thai market can't be worth much to Paypal because Thai online buyers are willing to transfer money online and send a slip on LINE, thereby having no protection from fraudulent sellers. It would have been better for them to keep what they had, not try to go onshore for small benefit and refuse to engage with the Thai authorities. 

 

[Dogmatix]

4 hours ago, moogradod said:

I used them almost from the very beginning while I was still in Switzerland and never had any problems - even not after our move to Thailand. If you use their system build in communication channels it should work well. Trying to call them because of something is probably difficult because they might have many customers with questions.

 

It was very convenient for buying small items online or sell small things via Ebay occasionally, a book, an old instrument you do not play anymore, things like this.

 

The big advantage was that you had to store your credit card number only once and you did not need to transmit the data again every time you bought something. This is especially very important here in Thailand for their credit cards (even if they come with a Visa or Mastercard logo) do not offer any security. My Visa card from Switzerland had a maximum liability of the card owner of CHF 120.-- and it came with travel insurance etc. etc. Nothing I have seen here. My wife even has a credit card by invitation (and I have the partner card) and I do not see any advantage of this plastic exept a questionable social effect and that you can make reservations and pay big bills at hotels for it is recognized as credit card and not debit card.

 

Selling small household items on Ebay (not at all in a commercial sense, just very occasionally) has been as well very convenient in the past for me. Paypal offers as well buyers protection. I have never sold anything on Ebay while in Thailand but how do I go about that if I wanted to ? I have for example a very much rare book which is of interest only to a very limited crowd. No chance to sell it by writing an advertisement and stick it on the wall at Big C. Newspapers ? Complicated as can be and probably expensive, too.

 

I cancelled my Paypal private account immediately when I read about their new regulations. It was just the hunger for more and more data they wanted to collect even from a small user like me which put me off. I do not support the big data idea and resist that where I can.

 

So no more Paypal for me ever again. And I am sure it was not Paypals idea to change anything at all. To buy our usual lot of Nespresso we now need to put in the credit number any single time we buy some capsules. How convenient and safe that is.

There are some items that people buy on Ebay from Thailand because they are specialialty items made in the country that are cheaper than elsewhere e.g. certain types of jewellery and leather gun holsters.  But other high price items, I guess most buyers will lose interest when they see they will be coming from Thailand like many sellers refuse to ship to Thailand, Nigeria etc.

[bangkokstick]

if some people believe that paypal listened to them, they really have no brain 555...

 

[bangkokstick]

On 3/5/2022 at 4:42 PM, bstafford214 said:

The Thai government is looking for ways to make money and this is making it hard for their own people to live and try to run a business online.

joke of the day when actually most people pay on delivery...

 

 

 

[Eaglekott]

I deleted my PayPal account some years ago. I got bored by all their "You got money on your PayPal account" e-mails. I had like 5 satang on my account.

[NativeBob]

Worked with PayPal since 2001 w/ "Buy Now" buttons on many websites. Learn that their customer support is very unprofessional. Well, they outsourced it to poorest countries, dah!

However generally I'm satisfied with PayPal - they were my main payment processor, although I used Skrill (Moneybookers), CCNow, 2Checkout, and that Canadian-something Pay.

Works fine with many online shop software packages. But their % system is street-robbery.

Edited March 7, 2022 by NativeBob
grammar correct

[mommysboy]

I'm in Thailand. I've recently been badly crossed by a major money transfer player or the bank it was sent to so really need an alternative quickly. 

 

I used to use Paypal Thailand but drained my account just before the proposed closure, though didn't close it thankfully.

 

I now understand that actually I can still use it for the time being to receive money (as I used to) and then withdraw it to my Thai bank account.

[Lacrimas]

19 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

I'm in Thailand. I've recently been badly crossed by a major money transfer player or the bank it was sent to so really need an alternative quickly. 

 

I used to use Paypal Thailand but drained my account just before the proposed closure, though didn't close it thankfully.

 

I now understand that actually I can still use it for the time being to receive money (as I used to) and then withdraw it to my Thai bank account.

Nope, this is old and misunderstood news. Paypal actually just delayed the process, I think in a few months Paypal will be available only for Thais with a registered company in Thailand.

[Sjptain]

Thais with a register Company for business accounts or for Personal accounts the need to register NDID with local bank (again Thais's only) so the farang Thai Paypal account will disappear later this year...unless there is another u-turn in the road.

[mommysboy]

32 minutes ago, Lacrimas said:

Nope, this is old and misunderstood news. Paypal actually just delayed the process, I think in a few months Paypal will be available only for Thais with a registered company in Thailand.

But it's been delayed until later in the year. Right now it's got full functionality up until October.

 

I just checked it on the fact page.

 

Can you link your info?

[Lacrimas]

5 hours ago, mommysboy said:

But it's been delayed until later in the year. Right now it's got full functionality up until October.

 

I just checked it on the fact page.

 

Can you link your info?

https://www.paypal.com/th/webapps/mpp/thailand-relaunch-faq?locale.x=en_TH&utm_source=epsilon&utm_campaign=A_OW_EM_AH_HR_NI_NI_202206_239351_Email_NDID_Phase1_Consumer_2_TH_en_TH&utm_medium=email

 

Yes October 2022. If you want to use it for just one time it will still work but don't count on it for the long term

[mommysboy]

6 hours ago, Lacrimas said:

https://www.paypal.com/th/webapps/mpp/thailand-relaunch-faq?locale.x=en_TH&utm_source=epsilon&utm_campaign=A_OW_EM_AH_HR_NI_NI_202206_239351_Email_NDID_Phase1_Consumer_2_TH_en_TH&utm_medium=email

 

Yes October 2022. If you want to use it for just one time it will still work but don't count on it for the long term

Yes, that's why I wrote : I now understand that actually I can still use it for the time being 

[roamer]

On 3/7/2022 at 6:17 AM, NativeBob said:

Worked with PayPal since 2001 w/ "Buy Now" buttons on many websites. Learn that their customer support is very unprofessional. Well, they outsourced it to poorest countries, dah!

However generally I'm satisfied with PayPal - they were my main payment processor, although I used Skrill (Moneybookers), CCNow, 2Checkout, and that Canadian-something Pay.

Works fine with many online shop software packages. But their % system is street-robbery.

Strange how different experiences can be. I've used PP on websites now operating from the UK for at least the last 10 years, where its the most popular form of payment. Their business support for UK is based in Ireland, very efficient and very willing to work with customers. Contrast this to Facebook, my ad spend is £2k + monthly, support is outsourced to India and even by Indian standards it's exceptionally poor, and I'm being very generous with that description. ????

[Lacrimas]

9 hours ago, mommysboy said:

Yes, that's why I wrote : I now understand that actually I can still use it for the time being 

Okay so why the question if you already know the answer? You can use it until October, after that you can forget about PP.  For the time being could have meant for years which is not... 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Lacrimas

[mommysboy]

6 hours ago, Lacrimas said:

Okay so why the question if you already know the answer? You can use it until October, after that you can forget about PP.  For the time being could have meant for years which is not... 

I wanted to my check my understanding was correct.

 

 

'for the time being'

phrase of time

for the present; until some other arrangement is made.

 

 

 

[NativeBob]

Well, goodbye PayPal then ) or rather sayonara - if you pass anything technologically advanced to local company that would mean "same-same kaput". 

Honestly, with crypto-wallets this days, who need this anyway? 4% fee? seriously? ROFL