Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the prospect of Retirement Visa holders not being able to open a Thai Bank Account. What are we talking about here? Well I actually came to the idea to make this video from a comment on our channel and it was on a video we made about Work Permits, salary slips, pay slips and other types of documentation associated with that being necessary to raise the transaction limit, to be clear, to raise the transaction limit, for digital banking here in Thailand but I think this commenter was a big confused and I could see how many who have been watching all of this and are kind of bewildered by everything that's been happening lately, might be confused as well. 

Let’s quote directly from this comment: "So a retiree on an O Retirement Visa cannot open a Bank Account?" To be clear, no, that is not what I was saying. We were talking about raising the transfer limits associated with digital banking, not opening a bank account per se. Quoting further: "Those people are not allowed to work, so that means no pay slips and obviously no Work Permit. I think Thai Immigration might have something to say about where retirees are supposed to keep their 800,000 Security money. A photo of the cash stashed under the bed? Who thinks up these Draconian measures? Obviously, they don't live on the same planet as us mere mortals." Well I have got to be honest with you, I do have my own issues sometimes with some of the rules the bureaucracy comes up with because it's not oftentimes in line with reality. My other issue, as I have is discussed in other videos is what I perceive to be undue influence by certain foreign entities not least of which being the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) as well the World Economic Forum, who seem to have frankly bad intentions for Thailand with regard to trying to implement these policies regarding tracking and tracing all transactions and not allowing people to move their own money from place to place. On top of that, we are also seeing stuff associated with Affidavits associated with Retirement Visas where people are being told their accounts are effectively frozen, which I don't even know where they get the authority to do that. And I am really curious, has anybody brought that up with these Banks and things? Where do you get the legal authority to tell people they can't have their own money back? Where does that come from? I haven't seen any Law changes with regard to that. And just some policy that is coming about because we are exploring going into the OECD here in Thailand, where does that authority come from because it doesn't look legal in nature to me. 

Now that said, the thing to take away from this video and the thing to understand is, at the end of the day, yes retirees are going to be able to open Bank Accounts, that is not the issue. The issue here pertains to whether or not folks can bump up the transaction limit when doing Digital Banking. And at least for the time being, it looks as though Work Permits may be a requirement associated with that. Now again, each given bank is going to have different rules and regulations regarding this, so it is hard to say exactly how this is going to play out. On top of that, we have got politics in the background which for those who are interested in a deeper dive analysis of how sort of the Thai political situation factors into expat land, how it may factor in to ongoing issues associated with being retired in Thailand, banking in Thailand, possible taxes in Thailand, you may want to check out our paid news service, you can email us [email protected] for information about getting on the mailing list for that. Also while I am talking my book, it is worth pointing out, my better half than I did set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, Pancake Palace as the name implies, breakfast anytime as well as American Diner style food including cheeseburgers, buffalo wings, chilli bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches: all of that good stuff that you would come to find in an American style Diner, links are in the description below to our location, we'd love to see you there.

But circling back to all of this again, even with this politics in the background, this stuff can be kind of overwhelming to retirees. At the end of the day, what we are talking about is not an inability to open a bank account but instead issues associated with digital banking transfer limits which at least for now it looks like Work Permits may be a requirement associated with those. That being said, the final outcome, sort of final conclusion on where this all stands remains to be seen, but we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.