Royal Approval for 23 Gambling Activities, Including Bull Races and Mahjong

[SLESQ]

My first ever post resulted in very good advice. Thanks to all, even to those few who are inclined to write only insincere barbs. Two good suggestions brought back to mind the proper course of action that had trouble making it through the fog of contempt I held for the banking irregularity suffered.

Recall, my bank account in HCMC was closed without any notice received by me or my bank authorized local representative. Phone calls and letters to the branch General Directors and managers in both HCMC and BKK (the closest branches to Chiang Mai were I reside) merely solidified their wholly unacceptable “cure,” compelling me to make a two-day trip to either branch to file required paper in person.

Within 4 days of writing to the Bank Chairman at its world headquarters, on the written advice of the HCMC Vietnamese manager and a follow-up telephone call from his British counterpart, I am told my account is already re-opened without the need for any fuss or bother. A good piece of humble pie was offered and accepted.

This forum reminded me of the need to address seemingly un-resolvable challenges to the company chairman, a course I knew but that did not come to mind on its own.

Being steered by this forum to the proper HQ city of the offending local branch, I want to share here my course of action should any others find it useful.

A Google search gave me the name and street address of the bank’s world headquarters. The Chair’s office would not reveal his E-mail address. I had a format from the branch letters, did a new Google search for other suggested formats, and sent blank letters in a few formats using an alternate server to protect my ISP from being blocked. The one e-letter that was not returned as “undeliverable” was presumptively the Chair’s secret, unpublished e-mail address. I sent the Chair my letter both by E-mail (to reach him and the branch quickly) and by Federal Express to show the level of importance of this issue.

My opening paragraphs and the letter format followed what I call a standard US corporate format:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I have since 1994 and until last week enjoyed excellent commercial banking relations with [THE BANK] both in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (HCMC). Recent events compel me to write to you, Chair to Chair, as so often what could have been small matters of routine take in a life of their own when managers don’t bring them soon enough to men at our level for attention.

I seek your intervention to correct what should have been and can yet remain a minor matter.

SUMMARY – My [####] Vietnam account was closed with absolutely no notice to me or to my authorized local representative. #### Vietnam now also denies to my HCMC representative the opportunity to re-activate my account.

There is no ### branch closer to me than a 2 day journey. The insistence by #### that I personally visit a #### branch to have my passport and activation form authenticated (1) places an unreasonable, unnecessary, and relatively huge burden on me, and (2) flies in the face of current #### advertising to encourage other expats by proclaiming in effect, “#### understands and meets the needs of expats.”

REQUEST – Please intervene and request the HCMC branch to either (1) allow my local representative to activate my account; or (2) accept the notary seal of the US Consulate General’s office in Chiang Mai, Thailand to authenticate both my passport and my signature on the branch “account activation form.”

BACKGROUND: I have a broad and several decades-long history of successful international banking, corporate, and legal affairs with concentrations in Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. Etcetera

DISCUSSION: Etcetera.

The bank took an even more expeditious repair that was more than expected and very much appreciated.

A full copy of my correspondence on this now hopefully closed matter will be sent on request.

[FritsSikkink]

Nice 1