In 2023, Thailand shifted away from cash just as Sweden asked to see it protected

[josephbloggs]

34 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

When I used to buy expensive air tickets I would sometimes go to the bank to get the cash and save the 2,000 - 3,000'ish Baht card fee.

So you buy "expensive" air tickets, then can be bothered wasting your time going to your bank, queueing, waiting for cash, then visiting the airline office, queueing and wasting more time to hand over the cash, wait for it to be counted, to save 2,000 baht? Seems your time is not that valuable.

I just book directly on the airline website for my "expensive" ticket, pay with my credit card, then pay the full amount in my bill cycle and don't have any added fees - you should try it.

Even if there was no alternative to your dinosaur, queueing, time wasting method, and someone said I can save you all that time for 2,000 baht I would take that in an instant.

[kwilco]

13 hours ago, DPKANKAN said:

Rubbish % figures again. A good part of the Thai Populace especially in the boonies and lots of small street vendors only have and use cash. Most of them do not pay tax and don't use bank accounts, therefore their transactions are not recorded.

you just can't properly visualise those figures.

[drgoon]

555..  60% of the ones they know about. Cash is king in the provincial markets.

Give a person 100 baht. It remains 100 baht. 

[Andrew65]

11 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

So you buy "expensive" air tickets, then can be bothered wasting your time going to your bank, queueing, waiting for cash, then visiting the airline office, queueing and wasting more time to hand over the cash, wait for it to be counted, to save 2,000 baht? Seems your time is not that valuable.

I just book directly on the airline website for my "expensive" ticket, pay with my credit card, then pay the full amount in my bill cycle and don't have any added fees - you should try it.

Even if there was no alternative to your dinosaur, queueing, time wasting method, and someone said I can save you all that time for 2,000 baht I would take that in an instant.

There was virtually no queueing, and I had absolutely nothing else to do. So why not spend 30-60 minutes, my time wasn't valuable in any way at all, I had nothing whatsoever to do all day other than sit around and BS with friends. It also meant that I got a bit of exercise walking to the bank and back.

I've known of guys walking quite a way to a different exchange bureau to probably save 30 Baht.

[richard_smith237]

I like the opportunity of having both and never want to lose that duality even though I find cash-less far more convenient.

So, if there's a shop or establishment that only accepts one or the other form of payment, that doesn't exactly endear me to repeat custom. 

 

But...  this is were I see the difference:

- If I were to leave home for a night out with the friends (and or wife) and got 500m down the road in a taxi and realised I'd left my wallet at home it wouldn't bother me...  

- If, in the same scenario I got 500m down the road and and realised I'd forgotten my phone, I'd get the driver to turn back so I could get my phone.

 

The reason for that is multifold - but the phone does multiple things and now have various payment options amongst a multitude of other things.

A wallet, has cash... and thats it.... 

 

Yes, you can lose a phone, but so can you lose a wallet - so that argument if flawed....  BUT...

 

......   the consideration I give to that is how powerful and valuable the phone has become, such that its seems worth while now to have two phones... one with the simple stuff on it to take out... and one with the various full on banking and other important stuff on it.

 

 

 

 

[bokningar]

If you are close to war, you might want to make sure there is a analog way of paying.

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, bokningar said:

If you are close to war, you might want to make sure there is a analog way of paying.

 

If you are close to war.... its ok... you 'mericans have your bunkers and arsenals of bumper-stock fitted assault rifles....... 

... who needs cash then ?  

[Maitdjai]

What do you expect, in a country that's at least 40 years behind. In experience, average education, and structural development.

They jump on everything, trying to participate, but cannot.

Like children.

They like to play with their stupid smart phone, even at 7/11, trying to pay 87 Baht, waisting everybody's time. No Problem.

I'm "hip", and modern.

Like children.

Everyting is improvisation, and a compromise,

but blown up (warm air) in a big cloud.

Producing photocopies. Yes, this an economical factor.

Only copying modern technologies?

Oops, Take a look at Thai IT/websites. Katastrophy.

The hub of unreliability, and big dreams, but absolutely self entitled.

Like children.

This train is much too fast, for a big part of the population. The avarage Thai people are not to blame. Only those, who take advantage of it. But those didn't go to a "traditional" Thai temple school, where the repeating (out of mind), of the national anthem, is the essential task. To get a job at 7/11, or cleaner in a tourist 5* Ghetto, for the minimum wage.

Even Waitresses there, need English, what most kids never learnrd, because the English teacher, in the school can't speak English, either.

Many Thai university degrees are only worth for low paid government jobs.

So, shure they don't think about surveillance by digital payments.

Like too many stupid Westerners also. This makes me much more aware.

The common thing for all is:

It's called "progress". 

Lol

[Lacessit]

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I like the opportunity of having both and never want to lose that duality even though I find cash-less far more convenient.

So, if there's a shop or establishment that only accepts one or the other form of payment, that doesn't exactly endear me to repeat custom. 

 

But...  this is were I see the difference:

- If I were to leave home for a night out with the friends (and or wife) and got 500m down the road in a taxi and realised I'd left my wallet at home it wouldn't bother me...  

- If, in the same scenario I got 500m down the road and and realised I'd forgotten my phone, I'd get the driver to turn back so I could get my phone.

 

The reason for that is multifold - but the phone does multiple things and now have various payment options amongst a multitude of other things.

A wallet, has cash... and thats it.... 

 

Yes, you can lose a phone, but so can you lose a wallet - so that argument if flawed....  BUT...

 

......   the consideration I give to that is how powerful and valuable the phone has become, such that its seems worth while now to have two phones... one with the simple stuff on it to take out... and one with the various full on banking and other important stuff on it.

 

 

 

 

I can't lose a wallet because I don't have one. I carry 2-3K baht in cash instead.

I also carry a debit card in a Faraday cage. For emergencies only. Much of the time it stays in the condo.

I simply have no trust in phones. To me, they are a useful tool for various functions, but certainly not to be entrusted with vital financial information.

Telstra and Optus are the two biggest telecoms in Australia. They have both been hacked. That's enough evidence for me.

I've seen multiple examples of payment terminals being down. I just sail through with cash, provided there is not some idiot faffing around with their phone in front of me.

[Lacessit]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Does your disc problem on flair up from the additonal microwaves emited from all this excessive phone use when paying digitally? 

 

Or... does it also flare up when a disorganised person is paying in cash too ???

 

 

Because - I can pay digitally far more quickly than most can pay in cash...

 

I don't know whether it's coincidence, but two of my golfing friends died of glioblastomas. Both were inveterate phone users. Perhaps you should think again before having two of them.

 

My back pain flares up when I am forced to stand still for some time, I am OK if I can keep moving. Thanks for your concern.

 

Saying you can pay faster than most in Thailand is not really setting a high performance bar.

[bradiston]

22 hours ago, BritScot said:

One thing I have realised over the past few years is how stupid people are. Accepting lockdowns and in the uk publicly telling people they were using Phyops against their own people a fact that still disgusts me (being ex army). Then watch people sleep walking into digital currency  with the power banks and governments already welding. I tokenly carry an oz silver coin in my pocket to remind myself its real value and not made up. Everyone should read about the Bradbury pound (it scared the hell out of the Bank of England because it had real value).

Phyops? Tokenly? Oz silver coin? String of garlic? Wooden stake? Holy water?

[AverageAussie]

22 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

There have been times I've been so frustrated with the four or five minutes that this person is fooling around with their phone that I pulled out 20 or 40 baht and handed it to them. Here, take it, pay for it move on please.

 

Can you PM me next time you head down the 7/11 please?

 

I'll quietly slip into the line ahead of you and then fumble about with my phone, waiting for you to get triggered behind me.  

 

#wealthaccumulation20bahtatatime 

[spidermike007]

19 minutes ago, AverageAussie said:

 

Can you PM me next time you head down the 7/11 please?

 

I'll quietly slip into the line ahead of you and then fumble about with my phone, waiting for you to get triggered behind me.  

 

#wealthaccumulation20bahtatatime 

That's really cute you might consider taking your show on the road, you might be able to make a living doing stand-up.

 

I don't get triggered easily, and I don't get particularly upset when some guy or gal in front of me can't figure out how to pay with their phone. it just seems ridiculous and it's astonishing how frequently I'm behind somebody that's fumbling with their phone. Some people seem to have a pretty good handle on how to scan with their phone and how to use these payment apps with their phone. Other people just seem completely lost, and all I'm saying is that maybe prior to walking in the store somebody should be prepared with their app if they're pathetic enough to not carry a small amount of cash? 

[LALes]

You thought chicks writing checks was bad, this whole app payment nightmare is even worse.

[sherwood]

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"Can someone please educate the writer of this article in basic math?"

No one's maths needs to be checked, but someone needs to educate you about basic English comprehension, all the report said about Thailand was, "...in the last two years, there has been a change", that is 100% accurate.

Stop skipping your medication. 

Struth 

[Zack61]

It’s now becoming more common that to pay using your phone incurs an extra fee. Someone is making money from this convenience and I think you’ll find it’s the banks. Don’t kid yourself, it’s just another way of the banks milking you to increase their profits. 
A few years ago very few businesses charged the surcharge in Australia but now almost all do. At least with cash if something costs a hundred bucks that’s all you pay. Not $101.60 using the phone. It adds up over a year and it all goes to the banks. No wonder they are pushing for it’s uptake 

[Lacessit]

19 hours ago, James105 said:

 

Only over here is it so difficult.  In the UK with Apple pay or whatever there is not a chance someone using cash will be faster than someone using their phone to pay as it literally is just a tap that is needed - it's people who use cash who are now the ones holding up queues as they fish it out of their pockets and then wait for change.  The problem here is that every shop does something different, they don't want to pay the fees for Visa/Mastercard transactions or even debit card transactions so there is a mess of scanning QR codes to directly transfer from banking app or using one of several different apps to pay.

 

I prefer cashless (typically) as everything time I buy something from 7/11 it always ends up being something like 21/41/61/81 bahts so I end up with useless annoying small coins rattling around in my pockets.

I use a debit card almost exclusively in Australia. Cash almost exclusively in Thailand.

Phones can be hacked, I have never heard of anyone skimming a card if it is in a Faraday cage.

 

Small change in Thailand is no problem to me. Every day, any coins in my pockets go into a piggy bank. When it is full, it's presented to my GF's grandson.

[metisdead]

A post with a derogatory ethnic slur comment toward Chinese people contravening our Community Standards has been removed.

[JimHuaHin]

Electronic payments are fantastic, as long as ...

 

1 - Electricity is available 24/7, without a nanosecond of outage (too bad if there is a natural disaster, flood, earthquake, cyclone, etc.).

 

2 - All necessary components of the Internet function 24/7 - a month or so ago a major provider in Australia went down for a few hours, no Internet, no electronic payments for users, some business had to shut.   Walked into Tesco a few months ago - sign at the checkouts, cash only as system down.

 

3 - Of course, your mobile banking and "do everything" system, ie Android or iPhone, never ever stops working, right?, and finally,

 

4 - Of course the banks love electronic payments - they can charge new fees and make more profit.

[BangkokHank]

I hope this is the start of a trend:

 

https://petersweden.substack.com/p/huge-norway-goes-against-cashless

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, Zack61 said:

It’s now becoming more common that to pay using your phone incurs an extra fee. Someone is making money from this convenience and I think you’ll find it’s the banks. Don’t kid yourself, it’s just another way of the banks milking you to increase their profits. 
A few years ago very few businesses charged the surcharge in Australia but now almost all do. At least with cash if something costs a hundred bucks that’s all you pay. Not $101.60 using the phone. It adds up over a year and it all goes to the banks. No wonder they are pushing for it’s uptake 

I never pay a fee using prompt pay or scan. What are you talking about?

[bradiston]

43 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

Electronic payments are fantastic, as long as ...

 

1 - Electricity is available 24/7, without a nanosecond of outage (too bad if there is a natural disaster, flood, earthquake, cyclone, etc.).

 

2 - All necessary components of the Internet function 24/7 - a month or so ago a major provider in Australia went down for a few hours, no Internet, no electronic payments for users, some business had to shut.   Walked into Tesco a few months ago - sign at the checkouts, cash only as system down.

 

3 - Of course, your mobile banking and "do everything" system, ie Android or iPhone, never ever stops working, right?, and finally,

 

4 - Of course the banks love electronic payments - they can charge new fees and make more profit.

When you need cash, how many times has your ATM been out of order? If there's an internet outage, they'll probably go down. And there's always a charge if out of province, 15 or 20 THB. And who wants to sit in a bank waiting behind people with a clutch of blue books, chanotes, id cards, opening accounts, withdrawing or making deposits? I take out 20k THB at a time. Usually lasts 6-8 weeks or so. But I only use it in markets, massage and a few other places.

[JGV]

What about the millions of older Thais who rely on going to branches to get their money - I don't think that they are going to switch to passwords and Internet banking as most don't have Internet

[ftpjtm]

2 hours ago, Zack61 said:

It’s now becoming more common that to pay using your phone incurs an extra fee. Someone is making money from this convenience and I think you’ll find it’s the banks. Don’t kid yourself, it’s just another way of the banks milking you to increase their profits. 
A few years ago very few businesses charged the surcharge in Australia but now almost all do. At least with cash if something costs a hundred bucks that’s all you pay. Not $101.60 using the phone. It adds up over a year and it all goes to the banks. No wonder they are pushing for it’s uptake 

Maybe where you live, but not in Thailand. 

 

While in Thailand I do 95% of payments with the QR/Promp Pay system. I have never incurred a charge, and the receiver is never charged. 

 

The day fees are charged to QR/Prompt Pay payments is the day Thais will revert back to cash

[ftpjtm]

7 hours ago, drgoon said:

555..  60% of the ones they know about. Cash is king in the provincial markets.

Give a person 100 baht. It remains 100 baht. 

I use QR electronic payments for all transactions at the 700 rai Sattahip market. 100 baht remains 100 baht with QR payments too

[bradiston]

54 minutes ago, JGV said:

What about the millions of older Thais who rely on going to branches to get their money - I don't think that they are going to switch to passwords and Internet banking as most don't have Internet

No passwords involved. Just thumb print. Or pin if you prefer. And internet Sims are available anywhere in Thailand. Can talk to your family anywhere, anytime. The big ISPs have coverage all over Thailand.

[sambum]

12 hours ago, Conno said:

Maybe you should have used a different search term. Behavioral Science. PSYOP in every sense of the term. The push for a cashelss society may involve a different subject matter but the techniques used will be very similar. 

 

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-the-uk-government-is-using-behavioural-science-134097

 

https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p652

 

Maybe you should have used the correct acronym ("PSYOP") in the first place , and explained what it stood for!

[bradiston]

3 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

I use QR electronic payments for all transactions at the 700 rai Sattahip market. 100 baht remains 100 baht with QR payments too

I usually use cash in the market but most stalls in Rattanakorn have a QR code you can use if short of cash. And they don't need to handle dirty notes and coins. Great way to pass on infectious diseases.

[bradiston]

6 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I can't lose a wallet because I don't have one. I carry 2-3K baht in cash instead.

I also carry a debit card in a Faraday cage. For emergencies only. Much of the time it stays in the condo.

I simply have no trust in phones. To me, they are a useful tool for various functions, but certainly not to be entrusted with vital financial information.

Telstra and Optus are the two biggest telecoms in Australia. They have both been hacked. That's enough evidence for me.

I've seen multiple examples of payment terminals being down. I just sail through with cash, provided there is not some idiot faffing around with their phone in front of me.

Or somebody digging around in a bag looking for the missing 2 THB he/she needs to pay with.

[bradiston]

6 hours ago, bokningar said:

If you are close to war, you might want to make sure there is a analog way of paying.

But you still have to get the cash from the bank. What happens if your nearest ATMs are smashed up? The only analogue is if you enter a bank, if you can find one that's  open, fill in a withdrawal slip, wait in a probably endless queue, and wait at the counter. You got your passport? Some other ID then? They'll pay you in the highest denomination notes probably, so you'll need to ask for smaller ones which they won't have in any quantity. I know this because on my monthly visits to an ATM I get all my 1000 THB notes changed into 500s. Nobody ever has change. Haven't you noticed? Oh, no have! Cannot! Drive around looking for a 7. Buy some gum to break the 1000 THB note. Omg get me outta here. Pay by phone!