23 hours ago, KhaoHom said:

 

Rubbish 

 

Probably three people in the entire Thai government could explain Blockchain technology.

 

I challenge this.

Yes, article obviously put together by AI.

23 hours ago, KhaoHom said:

 

Rubbish 

 

Probably three people in the entire Thai government could explain Blockchain technology.

 

I challenge this.

As many as three !!

23 hours ago, Trippy said:

I've never had my cash turned down anywhere in Pattaya. 

 

I seem to remember cash but I have not used it for years, it's the paper stuff people used to carry around in wallets I seem to remember. 

 

I think people used to get mugged in order to get to the bits of paper.

 

The complaint in this article seems to be the new technology will catch people out who are fiddling their visas, what is wrong with that?

 

It must be hard for technology illiterate people when they need to top up their cash, they have to fly to the UK (for example), get a bag of cash, bring it to Thailand and then change it to baht at a bank, it must be expensive doing it that way. 😄

 

I prefer to sip a beer, use my iPhone to transfer money from my UK bank to my Thai bank via the Swift App, then pay for the beer via my iPhone, it is a lot quicker and cheaper. 

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Really?  Have you an example of "that happening every time"?

 

It must be true, his cash only mates told him. 🙂

33 minutes ago, Russel said:

You will notice it when you are no longer in control of your money and an algorithm will establish how and when you can spend it.

Good luck

 

By then, I’ll be off-grid, buried so deep in the wild they’ll never sniff me out. My bunker will be stocked for decades - food, water, tools, the works. I’ll be self-sufficient in every sense, no chains to their systems, no hand stretched out for scraps. They can’t tax me if they can’t find me, can’t freeze what they don’t control. My money won’t be theirs - no digits on some bank’s screen that can vanish with the push of a button. Every ounce of value I hold will be in my hands, not theirs.

 

When I need to touch the digital world, I’ll slip in like a ghost - machines routed through layers of transient firewalls, ever-shifting identities, so no authority, no bureaucrat, no faceless system can track me. They want us tagged, monitored, predictable - but I’ll be the exception. While they choke the world with regulations and control, I’ll already be gone, untouchable, watching their crumbling empire from the shadows.

 

I'll show them.... 

3 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Last time I was in Bangkok, the hair cutting place in the underground near Asok - was QR code only (use to accept cash via depositing into a machine and getting a slip).  QR code/Promptpay is quickly becoming the preferred payment option (low to no fee as opposed to foreign credit card networks).   I actually use QR code payment quite often now for local transactions.

 

True, Thais seem to love Promptly in Phuket, most of them use it via their mobile phones at supermarkets, Makro etc.

 

 

1 hour ago, Russel said:

Boycott anyone who doesn't accept cash payments

 

While I find digital payments in every aspect of my life quicker, more convenient and just a lot lot easier to deal with....  I also agree with the above....

 

We cannot lose a 'cash system'...  any user needs ready access to whichever system they prefer... 'the tail should never wag the dog'....

 

For that reason alone: I fully support the use of cash systems and those who express this personal preference, though I do find many of the arguments to justify what is a simple preference ranging from fundamentally flawed to extremely paranoid and somewhat delusional. 

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

They want us tagged, monitored, predictable

Many a true word said in jest.

23 hours ago, bdenner said:

And the agents have to come up with a new method to get potless expat's extension over the hurdle.

800K into a bank account for 5 minutes is over, nation wide.

In my Isaan location some 70% use these agents. ALL their arses are twitching.

 

i wager you are always twitching your arse for da boys 

5 minutes ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

Thais seem to love Promptly

 

Yes it became all the rage during the Covidiocy Plandemic

no one wanting to be infected by the filthy virus laden cash and inevitable death  cashless was pushed to the max

the syop worked wonderfully !!!

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

While I find digital payments in every aspect of my life quicker, more convenient and just a lot lot easier to deal with....  I also agree with the above....

 

We cannot lose a 'cash system'...  any user needs ready access to whichever system they prefer... 'the tail should never wag the dog'....

 

For that reason alone: I fully support the use of cash systems and those who express this personal preference, though I do find many of the arguments to justify what is a simple preference ranging from fundamentally flawed to extremely paranoid and somewhat delusional. 

 

Cash systems have more or less disappeared and did so quite a few years ago to all intents and purposes. 

 

Try getting a largish cash amount out of a private bank in the UK or putting it in to a private account. 

 

I tried to get £8k cash out about four years ago, they asked me why, I asked them to sod off, they froze my account until the fraud department had spoken to me, I told him to sod off and five minutes later two coppers were at my door.

 

They asked me what the cash was for, I pointed to the kitchen and said I am having a new one fitted, the builder wants cash, they stated they understand as they have done the same thing, end of conversation, I got the cash out the next day.

 

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

By then, I’ll be off-grid, buried so deep in the wild they’ll never sniff me out. My bunker will be stocked for decades - food, water, tools, the works. I’ll be self-sufficient in every sense, no chains to their systems, no hand stretched out for scraps. They can’t tax me if they can’t find me, can’t freeze what they don’t control. My money won’t be theirs - no digits on some bank’s screen that can vanish with the push of a button. Every ounce of value I hold will be in my hands, not theirs.

 

When I need to touch the digital world, I’ll slip in like a ghost - machines routed through layers of transient firewalls, ever-shifting identities, so no authority, no bureaucrat, no faceless system can track me. They want us tagged, monitored, predictable - but I’ll be the exception. While they choke the world with regulations and control, I’ll already be gone, untouchable, watching their crumbling empire from the shadows.

 

I'll show them.... 

It will be much faster than you think

3 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Yes it became all the rage during the Covidiocy Plandemic

no one wanting to be infected by the filthy virus laden cash and inevitable death  cashless was pushed to the max

the syop worked wonderfully !!!

 

I have two sons, both in their thirties, I have never seen them use cash, always a debit card etc.

 

I was in a pub a few days ago with one of the sons and his girlfriend, we all used debit cards to buy rounds, so the use of cash is related to age and not the Covid virus. 

30 minutes ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

I seem to remember cash but I have not used it for years, it's the paper stuff people used to carry around in wallets I seem to remember. 

 

I think people used to get mugged in order to get to the bits of paper.

 

The complaint in this article seems to be the new technology will catch people out who are fiddling their visas, what is wrong with that?

 

It must be hard for technology illiterate people when they need to top up their cash, they have to fly to the UK (for example), get a bag of cash, bring it to Thailand and then change it to baht at a bank, it must be expensive doing it that way. 😄

 

I prefer to sip a beer, use my iPhone to transfer money from my UK bank to my Thai bank via the Swift App, then pay for the beer via my iPhone, it is a lot quicker and cheaper. 

 

I just got a thumbs down, probably from an old bloke. 😄

Just now, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

Cash systems have more or less disappeared and did so quite a few years ago to all intents and purposes. 

 

Try getting a largish cash amount out of a private bank in the UK or putting it in to a private account. 

 

I tried to get £8k cash out about four years ago, they asked me why, I asked them to sod off, they froze my account until the fraud department had spoken to me, I told him to sod off and five minutes later two coppers were at my door.

 

They asked me what the cash was for, I pointed to the kitchen and said I am having a new one fitted, the builder wants cash, they stated they understand as they have done the same thing, end of conversation, I got the cash out the next day.

 

 

So you manufactured a problem out of thin air… all because you refused to answer a simple question about what you were doing with your own money, then told both the bank and the fraud department to “sod off”.

Well, talk about lying in the bed you made yourself....

 

I remember wanting to withdraw £2,000 some years back. The teller initially refused, saying they couldn’t release that sum. I asked for the manager, explained it was to pay rent, and - no problem. Done. Simple. I could have dug my heels in and tried to “win”, but why make life harder than it needs to be?

 

This is the same energy as those “First Amendment activists” who pick fights with police officers over being asked for ID, or the drone hobbyists who fly over sensitive areas and then get huffy about their “rights” when questioned. They provoke a response just to prove a point. It’s not some sinister plot - it’s routine procedure. But paranoid minds spin it into Orwellian oppression, making their own lives unnecessarily difficult or like causing conflict.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Russel said:

It will be much faster than you think

 

It is taking its time, people have being saying that since the 1980's. 

6 minutes ago, Russel said:

It will be much faster than you think

 

I hope you trafficked your comment through various roaming VPN's...   They might be after you... 

 

 

7 minutes ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

I have two sons, both in their thirties, I have never seen them use cash, always a debit card etc.

 

In Thailand ?  cash was much more prominent as a payment method before the 2019.

On 8/27/2025 at 6:16 PM, KhaoHom said:

Given the skint nature of the Pattaya expat the value to the nation is probably net net negative.

Agree, said so recently and received the usual indignation from many. It's not just Pattaya either. There is clearly a push nationwide to get rid of the zero sum foreign contributors (not just farangs, all poor foreigners, unless laborers). Like I said before, Thailand has lots of poor people. Why does it need poor foreigners? They're just an added hassle and drain on state resources (immigration formalities to stop the agent scamming, use of state hospitals by foreigners, wasted visits by IOs to check if the marriage is real, 'teachers' who aren't qualified and don't have work permits, all the paperwork with arrests, bureaucracy, etc.). They want foreigners only if the country gets something out of it financially - and that means spending more than what the average Thai spends, earning 15-20k a month. I don't like the inisistence on cashless payments either, I also want a choice, but if that's what they want/insist, then okay. BTW - Black Canyon and Amazon coffee still takes cash, while S&P, Starbucks and many others have insisted on cashless. So I go to the former.

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

So you manufactured a problem out of thin air… all because you refused to answer a simple question about what you were doing with your own money, then told both the bank and the fraud department to “sod off”.

Well, talk about lying in the bed you made yourself....

 

I remember wanting to withdraw £2,000 some years back. The teller initially refused, saying they couldn’t release that sum. I asked for the manager, explained it was to pay rent, and - no problem. Done. Simple. I could have dug my heels in and tried to “win”, but why make life harder than it needs to be?

 

This is the same energy as those “First Amendment activists” who pick fights with police officers over being asked for ID, or the drone hobbyists who fly over sensitive areas and then get huffy about their “rights” when questioned. They provoke a response just to prove a point. It’s not some sinister plot - it’s routine procedure. But paranoid minds spin it into Orwellian oppression, making their own lives unnecessarily difficult or like causing conflict.

 

 

 

I gave you the short version in order to not have to write a book about it.

 

It is easy to get £2000 cash out, I have done it many times, I have never been asked about such small cash withdrawals.

 

I told the woman in the bank what the 8k was for, then she wanted me to fill out a long form, then speak to the security people, that is when the sod off was said.

 

The actual words were "I can not be bothered".

 

I had brought my passport and other id with me and shown her.

 

But the story does prove in the UK cash of any large amount has almost disappeared, which was the point of my comment. 

 

It was a bit of a leap connecting my experience in this story to an activist though.

 

Maybe I can say you are a pacifist as you complied with the bank, I think not.

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Walt Kowalski said:

Champion? are you taking the proverbial urine?

 

what about the smog, the traffic, the heat, the hassle, the noise, the foul odor, the rats....

 

you see none of that ey?

Sounds like any large city....anywhere.

7 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

No

You CAN be asked to show Bht 20,000 IN CASH on entry.

10 hours ago, CecilM said:

Good. Get rid of the bums. 

So when are you leaving?

Mr Benjamin Hart is right. follow every rule and you will wake up in China.

·         https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/16/richest-1percent-amassed-almost-two-thirds-of-new-wealth-created-since-2020-oxfam.html
The richest 1% of people amassed almost two-thirds of new wealth created in the last two years, Oxfam says

·         https://www.biometricupdate.com/202507/mexico-makes-biometric-identifier-mandatory-for-all-citizens
Mexico makes biometric identifier mandatory for all citizens
Mexico has officially introduced a digital identification system by signing a law that turned the previously optional biometric-based citizen code into a mandatory document for all citizens.

·         https://www.biometricupdate.com/202505/greece-launches-personal-citizen-number-for-unified-digital-id-system
Greece launches Personal Citizen Number for unified digital ID system

·         https://www.biometricupdate.com/202505/vietnam-urges-corporate-banking-customers-to-complete-biometric-verification-as-deadline-looms
Vietnam urges corporate banking customers to complete biometric verification as deadline looms

aso.......

 

10 hours ago, Pla Simon said:

QR payments have considerable value, as revalatory tracking and habitual behaviour mechanisms, under the guise of convenience.

 

If they decide I can only take one Soi 6 girl a day and only drink one case of beer a day, I will be raising hell...I want freedom not tracking...

1 hour ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

I have two sons, both in their thirties, I have never seen them use cash, always a debit card etc.

 

I was in a pub a few days ago with one of the sons and his girlfriend, we all used debit cards to buy rounds, so the use of cash is related to age and not the Covid virus. 

 

Any one who does not use cash needs to go to jail....Until they realize they are helping to enslave everyone by going cashless..

1 hour ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

I seem to remember cash but I have not used it for years, it's the paper stuff people used to carry around in wallets I seem to remember. 

 

I think people used to get mugged in order to get to the bits of paper.

 

The complaint in this article seems to be the new technology will catch people out who are fiddling their visas, what is wrong with that?

 

It must be hard for technology illiterate people when they need to top up their cash, they have to fly to the UK (for example), get a bag of cash, bring it to Thailand and then change it to baht at a bank, it must be expensive doing it that way. 😄

 

I prefer to sip a beer, use my iPhone to transfer money from my UK bank to my Thai bank via the Swift App, then pay for the beer via my iPhone, it is a lot quicker and cheaper. 

And then you lose your Iphone...

5 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

 

Reading is Fundamental:  They wrote: "I’ve noticed several “‘cash only” signs in English at the beach resort in Croatia (EU member) where I am right now, although all supermarkets I’ve visited have accepted my credit card. I suppose that does show that people are now expecting all businesses to accept electronic payments.

This is why I said "THE MERCHANT is paying 3% - 6% in fees to do credit card transactions"

I have lived in Thailand for 14 years, so ... yeah ... pretty familiar with QR Code - Bank Direct Payments that are in no way associated with CREDIT CARDS.

But thanks for your meaningless input / update / advice.

Are you always a d*** or just today?  

57 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

You CAN be asked to show Bht 20,000 IN CASH on entry.

Ok

5 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

People do not understand that in many cases THE MERCHANT is paying 3% - 6% in fees to do credit card transactions.  In other words, the FEE often is greater than the PROFIT.  Cash is KING.

I understand and so do merchants.  They also appreciate; efficiency, improved cash flow, reduced exposure to employee theft and holdup and direct damage losses, ability to process larger purchases, greater appeal to demographic with disposable income and reduction of administration. Merchants with a Large credit card transaction volume do get fee rebates.