September 22, 2025Sep 22 Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post Recent days have seen a spike in public complaints due to the suspension of digital money transfers and payments. This disruption results from a security upgrade by authorities to combat financial fraud linked to mule accounts. Affected users can resolve blocked transactions usually within a day by verifying their accounts. The suspension follows an amendment to the Royal Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology-related Crime. This decree authorizes temporary suspension of suspicious transactions or permanent closure of mule accounts, classified into five levels from light brown to black. In most cases, users face suspensions only for specific transactions flagged as suspicious rather than total account closures. Government and banking agencies have created a "war room" to differentiate between legitimate users and scammers. This unit investigates fund flows through suspicious accounts and aims to protect innocent customers. Stricter measures include tracing e-money and digital assets, increasing scrutiny since August. Authorities acknowledge that these measures may occasionally inconvenience innocent users but are necessary for safeguarding genuine transactions. Daranee Saeju, a central bank official, emphasized efforts to protect lawful account holders and support fraud victims. Users can contact the Anti-Online Scam Operation Center (AOC) to remove suspensions if no fraudulent activity is detected. The operational process for unlocking accounts has been streamlined. Banks now suspend only the flagged amount instead of freezing entire accounts, with suspensions typically resolved within a day. Blacklisted accounts linked to police investigations can remain suspended for up to 10 days. Key Takeaways New measures aim to curb financial fraud through mule accounts. Suspended transactions can usually be resolved within a day. Measures may affect legitimate users but aim to protect them in the long term. Related Stories: Police to Unfreeze Innocent Accounts in Scam Investigations BoT to Improve Account Freeze Procedures After Errors Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-09-22
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post Close bank branches. Remove ATMs. Cancel online banking. Force people to use phone apps. Then freeze bank accounts because the reliance on digital banking makes it easy for financial fraud.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 21 minutes ago, John Drake said: Close bank branches. Remove ATMs. Cancel online banking. Force people to use phone apps. Then freeze bank accounts because the reliance on digital banking makes it easy for financial fraud. A scaremongering and pointless post on a very serious subject.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post 26 minutes ago, DezLez said: A scaremongering and pointless post on a very serious subject. Why say its scaremongering? Every thing he said is completely true.... Folks just to set the record straight.....The powers that be who are pushing these banking crackdowns in all countries dont give a rats azz about mule accounts or scammers....And I do mean zero....Also include money laundering... I cant say exactly where all this is going....But I do know its leading to more power and control for them and less for average people....
September 22, 2025Sep 22 I'm still using my debit card without issue, booked a nice fancy flight to London, just over 160,000 Baht, had to increase the limit from 100k Baht to 200k Baht but it worked just fine, booked it one day last week. I use Kasikorn. My Mrs who is Thai on the other hand and also has a Kasikorn among other accounts is stuck on 50k limits and I'm pretty sure I know why - it's because the millions of Baht I've spent this year all went through my Kasikorn account - hers is for housekeeping expenses, shopping, bill payment, etc so the 50k limit matches her account usage pattern.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post 2 hours ago, John Drake said: Close bank branches. Remove ATMs. Cancel online banking. Force people to use phone apps. As someone who worked in IT for a bank for more thanty years - yeah that sounds about right.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 2 hours ago, redwood1 said: Every thing he said is completely true.... According to who?
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Could be worse , or maybe coming soon to Thailand ? Banking purge: Vietnam FREEZES 86 million accounts for noncompliance with new biometric requirements (newstarget.com) https://thehighwire.com/editorial/the-great-reset-in-motion-vietnams-banking-overhaul-as-a-warning-to-the-world/ Who said Vietnam was better ?
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post Are you walking around with thousands of $$$$$ in your pocket? You'd better hope the Thai authorities get a handle on this and soon. Thousands of $$$$$ in your pocket in mobile apps is vulnerable to coercive tactics to force you to transfer your funds to another - potentially untraceable or mule - account. Or just to a normal account, the owner of which will claim your transfer was voluntary. Because as it stands, you're the banks' security guard when someone threatens violence to rob you. A gun or knife pointed at your ribs is all it takes to potentially clean out your account. And there's no ATM camera or bank branch CCTV recording the event to dissuade the perps. Leave your banking apps at home when you go out & won't be needing them (along with your jewelry). Limit the daily transfer amounts if possible. Have a 2nd 'decoy' phone. Dress down, like a hobo. Have a decoy account with limited funds. If you're fit, learn self defence.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post 7 hours ago, John Drake said: Close bank branches. Remove ATMs. Cancel online banking. Force people to use phone apps. Then freeze bank accounts because the reliance on digital banking makes it easy for financial fraud. Some people do not like to use phone apps. I for one do not trust them as much as I might trust a website on my pc which has proper anti virus and scam protections.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post 13 minutes ago, Lee65 said: Are you walking around with thousands of $$$$$ in your pocket? You'd better hope the Thai authorities get a handle on this Ssoon. Thousands of $$$$$ in your pocket in mobile apps is vulnerable to coercive tactics to force you to transfer your funds to another - potentially untraceable or mule - account. Or just to a normal account, the owner of which will claim your transfer was voluntary. Because as it stands, you're the banks' security guard when someone threatens violence to rob you. A gun or knife pointed at your ribs is all it takes to potentially clean out your account. And there's no ATM camera or bank branch CCTV recording the event to dissuade the perps. Leave your banking apps at home when you go out & won't be needing them (along with your jewelry). Limit the daily transfer amounts if possible. Have a 2nd 'decoy' phone. some people say I am mad to even consider such bad things, but they do happen and are likely to happen more often. Good post
September 22, 2025Sep 22 3 hours ago, FlorC said: Could be worse , or maybe coming soon to Thailand ? Banking purge: Vietnam FREEZES 86 million accounts for noncompliance with new biometric requirements (newstarget.com) https://thehighwire.com/editorial/the-great-reset-in-motion-vietnams-banking-overhaul-as-a-warning-to-the-world/ Who said Vietnam was better ? Oh my is this true in vietnam? I would never agree to biometrics. So far I have not had to on any websites I use. I do use one or two apps, and just one banking app which I only use because now and then I have to deposit a paper check to my etrade bank which does not have local brick and mortar branches. I do have other ways to deposit the check using my other banks but they are not always near where I am at the time.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 Popular Post 4 hours ago, ukrules said: I'm still using my debit card without issue, booked a nice fancy flight to London, just over 160,000 Baht, had to increase the limit from 100k Baht to 200k Baht but it worked just fine, booked it one day last week. I use Kasikorn. My Mrs who is Thai on the other hand and also has a Kasikorn among other accounts is stuck on 50k limits and I'm pretty sure I know why - it's because the millions of Baht I've spent this year all went through my Kasikorn account - hers is for housekeeping expenses, shopping, bill payment, etc so the 50k limit matches her account usage pattern. I personally never book anything with a debit card here in the USA. Debit card issues have much less protection than booking with a credit card. Credit cards have more consumer protection than bank debit cards.
September 22, 2025Sep 22 10 minutes ago, gk10012001 said: I personally never book anything with a debit card here in the USA. Debit card issues have much less protection than booking with a credit card. Credit cards have more consumer protection than bank debit cards. Well it's the only card I have from Thailand and I do very rarely use it - so if Thai Airways gets hacked I will know
September 22, 2025Sep 22 "Affected users can resolve blocked transactions usually within a day by verifying their accounts." Thai people say it takes 4 months. Exactly the same amount of time that they freeze accounts of foreigners that need a paper for their marriage extensions. Excuses are different but the result is the same. So it looks like the banks created some kind of bubble out of a huge amount of digital money. And when people came to withdraw this money, they came up with some ridiculous excuses to not give the money.
September 23, 2025Sep 23 Popular Post 13 hours ago, Sir Dude said: Use cash. I recently went to New Zealand. Basically cash is defunct there now, everything on App or card. Now the banks charge around 2.5% transaction fee to use your card. A total bloomin' ripoff when card use is much cheaper to manage than cash. Likely my last ever trip to New Zealand. In China it's similar, virtually zero ability to pay in cash. Cards, AliPay or WeChatPay. All works well, no rip offs (well, maybe a bit of personal data, likely no worse than the UK though). I still like the common use cash in Thailand though.
September 23, 2025Sep 23 10 hours ago, zmisha said: So it looks like the banks created some kind of bubble out of a huge amount of digital money. And when people came to withdraw this money, they came up with some ridiculous excuses to not give the money. That's interesting - they could just assign baht amounts to their various accounts and not really have the money. Surely there are safeguards against this. There's only one bank doing this so aggressively, and there are persistent rumors of it having financial problems.
September 23, 2025Sep 23 13 hours ago, gk10012001 said: Oh my is this true in vietnam? I would never agree to biometrics. So far I have not had to on any websites I use. I do use one or two apps, and just one banking app which I only use because now and then I have to deposit a paper check to my etrade bank which does not have local brick and mortar branches. I do have other ways to deposit the check using my other banks but they are not always near where I am at the time. Is it true ? Are they all wrong : https://duckduckgo.com/?q=vietnam+closes+86+million+accounts&ia=web
September 27, 2025Sep 27 My friend does a lot of crypto things. One of their security features is when you want to do some transaction they route you to an actual speaking agent. And your account uses two passwords, one you can give and do routine transactions. The other password is a "safe" password which means if you give it, it means you are under duress, or being threatened and the agent knows to say there is some issue, server is down, transaction is delayed or whatever and blocks things
September 27, 2025Sep 27 On 9/22/2025 at 1:48 PM, gk10012001 said: Some people do not like to use phone apps. I for one do not trust them as much as I might trust a website on my pc which has proper anti virus and scam protections. After all, can you read or see what is in a QR code before you snap photo it and upload to your phone? Of course not.
September 29, 2025Sep 29 On 9/23/2025 at 12:21 AM, FlorC said: Could be worse , or maybe coming soon to Thailand ? Banking purge: Vietnam FREEZES 86 million accounts for noncompliance with new biometric requirements (newstarget.com) https://thehighwire.com/editorial/the-great-reset-in-motion-vietnams-banking-overhaul-as-a-warning-to-the-world/ Who said Vietnam was better ? Vietnam is a communist controlled country. Not that that makes any difference in reality. All governments want to go to pure digital transactions. It gives them complete control.
September 29, 2025Sep 29 On 9/22/2025 at 5:29 AM, Sir Dude said: Use cash. Awesome idea. Why didn't I think of that. And how do I get that cash exactly?
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