Sakon Nakhon's changing image

[johntren]

We went down to the newly opened Robinson’s complex in Sakon Nakhon the other day. I drew out cash from the Aeon Bank’s cash machine and was pleased to see that, as noted elsewhere on this forum, I had not been charged 150 baht for the privilege.

Then, having a little business to transact with Western Union, we sauntered along the upper deck until we came to the familiar black & yellow sign in the window of Bangkok Bank’s newest branch. Alas and alack! The beautifully turned out lady manager had a very interesting story to tell. All the banks with branches in the new complex (i.e. all the ones you’ve heard of and a few more along the colour spectrum that you may not have) were obliged to accept leases which forbade them to operate Western Union or its equivalents.

‘No Remittance Riff-Raff Here’, in other words.

So anyway, we took our worn t-shirts and old sandals down to the Tesco Lotus branch of the same bank, where we sat with all the other chan naa bohts until it was our turn to fill in long forms, provide photocopies of this and that, sign here, here, and, oh sorry, here as well… And at the end of the day the remittance was precisely 1 baht short of a good round number so the kind lady cashier threw in a coin for good luck, and may she earn much merit for that.

On the way home, I reflected on Pattaya. Boot out Western Union from all the banks there and how long would it take for the economy of Chonburi Province to collapse, once it dawned on all the gorgeous girls and luscious lads that there was now no way of accessing Hunny’s monthly honey?

Just a thought.

Oh, and in case you were wondering … the reason I had to dabble with WU was that the UK bank card I used to ‘feed’ my Caxton FX currency card (highly recommended) had been blocked by the all-seeing all-knowing computer at Head Office. ‘My screen is telling me that your card has been used in an area where there’s a lot of fraud,’ the chap on the phone told me. ‘Yes,’ quoth I. ‘It’s called Thailand.’

[CTO]

Many I know go to the Post Office to receive their Western Union remittance,

[johntren]

Good point ... but think of the queues !

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[DILLIGAD]

Good point ... but think of the queues !

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

True but what would be more important in their lives than receiving money?

Worth the wait, me thinks