Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing banking specifically in the context - this is a comparison between Vietnam and Thailand. I'm making this video somewhat in reaction to a video a lot of people have sent me in the past few weeks, or past couple of days I should say by email, also in comments and things on prior videos. There is a video where this guy is talking about how Vietnam is shutting down 86,000 bank accounts because they feel like that is the best thing to do being in line with the OECD. I'm going to go ahead and put a link in the description below so you can go look at that video directly. 

My comment on that is look, for as bad as, and you have seen my videos on this, all this facial recognition, all of this nonsense of dragging people in, closing their accounts, or I should say freezing their accounts and then dragging them in to align their information with whatever the bank deems is necessary and appropriate at any given moment. It's an issue unto itself and I think it is completely wrong by the way, and also completely out of line with how digital banking was sold to us all. Digital banking was sold as a convenience, and it was sold as "oh, everything is going to get easier" and what have we seen? It's all gotten harder; it's like neo-Soviet now. You have got to show up and line up around the side of a bank in order to present documentation to get your own money. What kind of nonsense is that? 

By the way, I do get into deep dive analysis of this stuff in our paid news service. You can email us, [email protected], where I get into sort of a deep dive, long-form analysis of these things and how they impact expat land. While I'm talking my game here, it is probably worth it to point out my better half and I also set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, it's called Pancake Palace, breakfast anytime. We've also got American Diner style food, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, buffalo wings, grilled cheese sandwiches, glass bottled Coke, all that good stuff. If you're interested, there are links in the description below for how to get there, and we would love to see you at Pancake Palace. 

But going back to this, yeah, I am very much against all of this talk if you will, not talk, the actions taken by the banks in freezing people's accounts with regard to Immigration, even though Immigration isn't making those rules. I have videos forthcoming where I do a deep dive analysis into what Immigration is actually asking for versus what the banks are saying you need to do, which I have real problems in the disparity between all of that. Meanwhile the banks are also requiring things like facial recognition, face scans, to be able to get money out. They are also dropping down the amount of money you can transfer digitally to 50,000 Baht per transaction which again, who said they have the right to do that; I just find that ridiculous. 

The point I am trying to make with this video though is look Vietnam is just flat out, it seems shutting people's bank accounts down in “accordance” with the OECD. And please explain to me, what part of Economic Cooperation and Development does shutting down people's bank accounts have to do with that notion? What part of constricting the liquidity by tamping down the amount of money people can transfer, of their own money digitally, is helping Economic Development let alone cooperation. The OECD looks more and more to me like International Banking totalitarianism, that is all it looks like to me. Not really surprised - no offense to you Vietnam - but you are a Communist country that you just kind of adopted that and just ran with it. Over here in Thailand it seems to be they are taking kind of a slower tack on it because I expect that at certain echelons of the policy making establishment, there has probably been a bit of pushback as to why the heck we are doing this stuff. I have my questions about it too. I am very hopeful this incoming government, this new government, will at least reassess whether OECD is a good idea because from where I am sitting, I don't see any reason why Thailand should even be involved in it. 

Now that said, and to kind of conclude and wrap up this video, yeah look, in comparison to Vietnam, Thailand is better as far as banking goes. It doesn't look like they are just outright shutting down tens of thousands of bank accounts. That said, there are still hoops you have got to go through. Look, folks that find this stuff overwhelming, we have been assisting a number of clients - both retirees as well as non-retirees - in getting banking facilities here in Thailand. Again, those who find themselves a bit overwhelmed, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.