Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "money launderers until proven otherwise". What are we talking about? Well as you know the banking issue has been something of a major concern on the lips of many, especially the expat community here recently, most notably because it has been in my opinion a totalitarian overreach of almost mythical proportions. If you would have told me a decade ago that this stuff would actually happen, I would not have believed you and I am inclined to believe when people say things like that. But "hope for the best, plan for the worst" is always my motto. That was what I was doing back then, but I still wouldn't have bought it. There were many things, from many different people that I find very credible. One person in particular who talked about so-called vaccine passports decades ago, and I was like no, no way that will ever happen, people won't put up with it. And in fact a lot of people actually clamoured for it, so be careful what you disbelieve in the world that we are continuing to all trudge through. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent comment on our channel. Quoting directly: "Great video Ben. I'm in the banking business and what Thailand is going through, the US has been going through for a few years now under the umbrella of the Patriot Act. Everyone is a drug dealer or money launderer until proven otherwise. The banking scam business must be at an all-time high. Just getting through the banking telephone prompts is a bit of a nightmare. I only wish I opened up a Thai bank account or two a few years ago when it was much easier. That window looks like it has pretty much closed for me now."

Yeah look, I don't think it's closed. For example we are assisting folks in getting banking set up here in Thailand. It has not been a big issue, so there is that and I urge those who feel overwhelmed, especially the older folks and especially if you don't have your Retirement Visa secured and you are looking for insights and assistance with that, if you are not in Thailand yeah, it is probably a good idea to contact a legal professional. If you are in Thailand and you are not in Retirement Visa status or some other type of Non-immigrant status, if you are having issues with banking, again, it's a really good idea to contact a legal professional because I can see how those problems can be difficult to overcome, if not impossible under present circumstances, and having professional assistance can really help. I have got to be honest, the girls here in our office - it's primarily a team of gals that is helping with the Banking and Retirement Visa stuff right now - they are miracle workers. My hat is off to them actually. I don't say that enough on this channel, but yeah, the staff that assist with that here in the office are doing a heck of a great job. They are actually assisting folks in moving to banks that are being less, quite honestly Draconian and Orwellian in how they just treat their customers which all of these banks seem to forget, not all, I should be clear on that, not all, but one in particular and a few others seem to be forgetting that these people are the customers at the end of the day. They are not like sheep or milk cows or something where you can just kind of treat them like they are chattel or something. It is very, very strange but that said we have had a lot of luck with that. But long story short though, the thing to take away from this video is yeah, and what I took away from this - this was somebody commenting from the banking business - this isn't just Thailand doing this. Thailand if anything is probably very late to the party. These are developments that back in the West especially, we saw some time ago.

Now that said, do I like to see these developments playing out right now? Not really. How they continue to play out remains to be seen. I am cautiously optimistic especially in light of recent comments from the new PM Anutin Charnvirakul here in Thailand, so there is some reason to think that there may be light at the end of this tunnel. Bear in mind he kind of was the light at the end of the COVID tunnel when he made a dramatic reversal on vaccine mandates at the end of the so-called COVID situation. So from that perspective, I'm optimistic. That said, we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.