Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, I am asking the question, "so wait, now we have got to do facial scanning for healthcare?" We've already gone through all this nonsense for all this banking stuff. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the print edition of the Bangkok Post, print edition but you could find it on bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Facial Scan to prevent health fund fraud. I love how this is always framed. "Oh, there are bad people out there, there's fraud, there are scammers." I thought that the Government's job was to forestall this stuff, and no not through Orwellian nonsense. Just do your due diligence. Ascertain who is who. By the way, we already have a National ID in Thailand. It's got a chip in it with everything related to your Biometrics and your biometric documentation. Why is this necessary? We are already on ID cards. It seems pretty redundant, to say the least nonsensical! 

That said, quoting directly: "The National Health Security Office will roll out facial scan verification today as part of an upgrade to the Universal Health Coverage scheme with the goal of preventing fraud." Again, how is an ID card not able to do this? Quoting further: "Deputy Government Spokeswoman Aiyarin Phanrit said the NHSO will use facial recognition technology to verify requests from patients seeking healthcare services at medical and dental clinics, pharmacies, physiotherapy clinics, medical technology clinics and Thai traditional medicine clinics." Look, this is just one of these where this isn't even needed. What is this for? What extra thing, what value is added to the process of administering healthcare to somebody by doing this facial recognition? Especially where Thai ID cards are basically - it's like fish in the sea - everybody in Thailand that is over whatever it is 13, has to have it. No, not even that. It's like over 8 years old or whatever it is; it is not has to have, but children it's a good idea to have one these days, but everybody over 20 has to have a Thai ID card. I mean so what is being added by facial recognition stuff? Quoting further: "Facilities that fail to update their information will be unable to provide services under the new system." Why? Again, if this was something like "oh hey, we're adding these new hygiene practices of like washing your hands before you operate on somebody. If you don't do this, you're not going to be in our system anymore." Fine, I get that. That's a healthcare protocol; it makes sense. Again, what value is being added by these facial recognition? I don't see what value is added in the banking sector where people have ID cards. You could make the argument maybe foreigners ought to do it or something. Again that doesn't make any sense when you consider the literal mountain of paperwork a foreigner has to basically throw over to any bank to get a bank account to begin with. The whole notion of facial recognition in my opinion is pretty nonsense in that context too, but when you look at it as well - essentially they are trying to control how much money you can move around okay - I mean I don't agree with it, but I see what they are doing. I don't even get what this is for. What is being added to health care by being able to do a facial recognition scan? Again, presumptively on state benefits which again wouldn't a Thai ID card be sufficient?

This doesn't make any sense to me, but that said, none of this makes any sense. It just looks more and more like the ever-increasingly Orwellian creep that we've been seeing mostly since COVID. That being said, it remains to be seen how this plays out, so we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.