Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing specific banking issues associated with Americans who are looking to set up some kind of banking facilities here in Thailand. This is going to be kind of a generalized video. To be clear there are specific considerations that one must take into account as an American doing business in Thailand with regard to corporate banking; I have done other videos on that in the past. The purpose of this video is just kind of a recap with regard to banking.

Yes Americans have to deal with heightened and more cumbersome protocols associated with setting up their own bank accounts here in Thailand. Let's be clear, this isn't Thailand's fault. This is a result of the FATCA. This was a piece of legislation, Foreign Account Transparency and Compliance Act as I recall, passed under the Obama Administration. It required foreign banks to have to go through all these extra hoops when dealing with banking matters for Americans lest they lose their ability to bank through the SWIFT system operating through the United States. So this was one of those things that I don't know who this was popular with, other than a bunch of bureaucrats and inside the Beltway Washingtonian folks because the average American expat can't stand this stuff. Quite frankly, most banks, financial centers outside of the United States really don't want to be doing this either. They just have to if they want to do business with American banking concerns or if they want to not get cut out of the American Banking system. But long story short, yes we have to deal with heightened paperwork here in Thailand. Oftentimes Americans, it's not unheard of for banks to just say "yeah we don't want to deal with it." You'll walk into a bank branch, and I know Americans especially they get all upset and offended and it's like yeah, I also kind of get the part or the point of the Thai Officers working at a bank, that just say "yeah we don't want to go through all this extra rigmarole for you to bank with us, it's just not a huge consideration of ours or a huge concern, so we are just effectively going to keep you from banking." We will sort of blacklist you by dint of being American. I have seen it happen. Again the more cumbersome nature of the documentation associated with American Banking can in and of itself just prove very nettlesome for Americans looking to not only do business, but live here in Thailand. 

So the thing to take away from this video, we do assist in setting up Bank Accounts for folks. Again we assist a lot in the context of retirement; we also assist with regard to Corporate Banking and just standard Bank Accounts but again depending on your Visa status, it may be difficult. Tourist Visa holders generally speaking are not able to get banking facilities. I'm curious to see how things are going to work on the Destination Thailand Visa because that Visa is specifically designed for those who are not really living here or making this place their home, it's sort of a temporary hub kind of set up. Again it remains to be seen exactly how all this stuff is going to play out, but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as this situation evolves.