Transcript of the above video: 

We have been talking a lot lately about banking. Frankly, I am just angry beyond words about the way this banking stuff is working. I think it's entirely at the behest of undue foreign influence primarily in the form of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and I think it is going to have a massive detrimental impact on Thailand; I think making people line up to do biometrics to access their own money is ridiculous. I think it's going to lead to people pulling their money out of Banks, and as I have discussed in other videos, I think foreigners are trying to set up a narrative of a banking collapse of some kind here in Thailand akin to '97 so that they can profit from Thailand's misery. So I think this is all bad policy to begin with. That said, we have got to keep up with it on this channel; it is what we do. 

I thought of making this video after reading recent, actually correspondence from a viewer, quoting directly: "Just maybe an interesting snippet for you. I've just gone through the process of getting a Yellow Book in Ubon Rajathani. In the process, the Officer asked if I wanted the yellow book to change or open a bank account. When I said I wanted to open a second account with a different bank, he mentioned Bangkok Bank. He then said in at least three or four weeks, he has had a lot more requests for Yellow Book from foreigners who want to change from Bangkok Bank to a different bank. I know it will only be a small number of accounts Bangkok Bank will lose but maybe karma will get them. 55555" - so hahahahaha - "love your work." Thank you very much; tip the hat to you, the viewer. I'll leave you nameless, but yeah it looks like and from anecdotal evidence, we are seeing more Yellow Books being issued in association with wanting to change banking facilities and utilizing that document for that purpose. 

For those who are unaware, the Yellow Book is actually, it was created under the Civil Registration Act of 1991. Thai nationals and Permanent Residents are registered in what's called Blue Books. I call house books or Blue Books a living census in Thailand. They are effectively like a census in that you basically put your name in them; you are in there with your family. You'll be the head of the house; there will be other people that are in the house, but it's sort of keeps an ongoing record of who's who here in Thailand. The Yellow Book is actually created specifically for foreigners. You have got to be on a Non-immigrant Visa to get one, but it is possible for a foreigner to get a house book, specifically a Yellow Book. 

Recently, as we have discussed in other videos, there have been some banks, especially up country, who said you have to have a Yellow Book in order to change an account, open a new account; it may come to a point where they say you have got to go get a Yellow Book in order to maintain an account. I haven't seen any news of that yet, but it remains to be seen. That said, Yellow Books are increasingly becoming necessary in order to maintain banking facilities here in Thailand. So it looks like we are seeing an increase in this trend; this trend is continuing, and it is looking like more folks are seeking Yellow Books in connection with banking. 

This is definitely something we have discussed in my paid news service. For folks who are interested in that, you can email us [email protected] to get on the mailing list for the paid news service: long form videos pertaining to what is going on geopolitically, what's going on here day to day, local politics as well as policy changes and how this is affecting expat land. While I'm talking my book as well, it might be worth pointing out, my better half and I, if you are up country and you want some American Diner style food while you here down here, my better half and I set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, Pancake Palace as the name implies, breakfast anytime as well as American Diner style food: we've got buffalo wings, we've got cheeseburgers, we have got grilled cheese sandwiches, we've even got Sloppy Joe's - that's one I kind of forget to mention from time to time, Sloppy Joe's available, something you don't get very much up here in Thailand, glass bottled Coke. If you're interested in that, links are in the description below. We'd love to see you. 

That said, yeah, I think this is an increasing trend here in Thailand more necessity of having a Yellow Book in order to maintain banking facilities. That being said, we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.