Transcript of the above video: 

This video is something of a response video. I recently made a video where I was citing anecdotal evidence via a comment from our channel regarding the Thailand Elite Visa and issues involving banking where it was being said - at least this was my understanding - that new Thailand Elite Visa holders were having problems getting set up with banking facilities.

Specifically there seems to be issues at one particular big bank here in Thailand with banking generally as it connects to Immigration, but I wanted to make this video to clarify a couple of things. Most notably, as the title of the video suggests, Bank Policy is driving a lot of immigration outcomes here, because I saw a bunch of comments, people kind of burning me and stuff, and they were saying “oh you should check with the source, you should check with Thailand Elite”, that wasn’t what we were talking about. We were talking about the banks not dealing with setting up banking facilities. It wasn't anything to do with Thailand Elite, which by the way Thailand Elite or Thailand Privilege, the folks that do that Visa, they are not even Immigration. And I have had issues in the past where Immigration's policies are out of whack with what even they say. So everybody who is getting all angry with me, really gets kind of old. I do know what I am talking about when it comes to this stuff. And there are major disconnects between these different institutions and how this stuff works out practically.

The point of the video was that I was hearing information coming at me. I had actually received two emails as well from folks who had said they were having issues. They newly had come to Thailand with Elite status, and they were having issues getting banking facilities set up as well, so this wasn't apropos of nothing. So from that standpoint, can you give me a break please YouTube sphere, whatever, I mean I am doing the best I can out here, all right? And I am giving away what I like to think is pretty solid, free legal analysis and information based on the facts as they are coming at me, and I am trying to give this to people to allow people to do the best they can under less-than-optimal circumstances. But the point of this video is that Bank Policy is driving outcomes. This isn't about what even Immigration is doing at this point. Immigration hasn't changed anything. In fact contacts we have here in Bangkok Immigration as well as Pattaya Immigration aren't thrilled about this; they're kind of angry. They are like, “we are not asking for all this stuff. Why you are the banks making such a big deal and making everything so obtuse and complicated?” We have talked our contacts there and they are frustrated as well.

The point I am trying to make with this video is this banking stuff and again it depends on the bank - different banks have different policies. Those who are out there may find themselves in a position that “I don't know what to do here, I need to get my Visa sorted out”. First of all as I have discussed in other videos, especially if you are a retiree and you haven't gotten to Thailand yet, you should probably contact a legal professional before getting here. Secondly, the other thing to think about with regard to this is you may want to contact a professional that is dealing with this on a regular basis, as for example we have certain information depending on the week at this point, as to what the best banks are for purposes of dealing with immigration stuff. So again, it really is kind of a fly-by-night situation, well not fly-by-night, fly by the seat of your pants kind of situation, as this thing is evolving so quickly. It doesn't really help all the uncertainty politically within government circles right now because things seem to again be kind of going by their seat of their pants with regard to that as well.

Just as an aside, we do have, I have a paid news service now, Integrity News Service. Those who are interested in that, I do get into deeper dives regarding this stuff and how it interacts with expat Thailand, visas, all of that stuff, but also just I look at sort of the macro and the micro. I try to go from 30,000 ft. all the way down to ground level as best I can with the analysis. Those who are interested in that, [email protected]. Also just as another aside, I have recently along with my better half, opened up a restaurant here in downtown Thailand. For those who are interested in American diner style food, it is called Pancake Palace, it is breakfast anytime as the name would apply, especially pancakes, but we have also got cheeseburgers, buffalo wings, great chilli bowls, so those who are interested in that, it might not be a bad idea to come on down; the link is in the description below for Pancake Palace.

Back to this though. I really can't stress this enough. This is not Immigration necessarily setting these policies. This is Bank Policy as I have discussed going back the past year, I have been really concerned about the World Economic Forum’s policies, I have been really concerned about the OECD coming in here to Thailand and basically dictating all this nonsense about supranational policies regarding tax and banking and all of this stuff. And now it looks like the chickens are coming home to roost. We are seeing this stuff occurring in real time, at ground level within the banking sector. It is impacting the foreign community; it is impacting expats. Their policies regarding banking are then having a knock-on impact on people’s ability to for example, get a new visa or extend a visa here in Thailand. It is not something to dismiss out of hand and I also kind of take offense to the notion that I am somehow trying to fear-monger based on inaccurate data points when the fact is, things are in a general state of disarray as they pertain to tax policy, banking policy and Immigration policy here in Thailand, to say nothing of the whole political situation. So look, I am coming up with the best information I can and trying to get it out to the public in as timely a manner as possible to hopefully provide some assistance to folks so they don’t fall into any bear traps, unforeseen or otherwise.