FARANG LIVES MATTER

[Ivor the Engine]

So was this the humour section for American cousins or just associated "but makes you think" stories ?

Americans must provide by law "FINCEN/ FBAR" information on their accounts held in foreign nations predominantly for tax revenue oversight

So why would Thai banks need the same?

 

[Wanderer]

So was this the humour section for American cousins or just associated "but makes you think" stories ?

Americans must provide by law "FINCEN/ FBAR" information on their accounts held in foreign nations predominently for tax revenue oversight

You've lost me Coffee.
Must be different way in USA.
Yes. It would be more detailed if I was taking out a new account, understandably.

But this was just a second ATM card for my existing account that I've had for maybe 9 years. Something I did in a few minutes previously when I left my Thai wallet in the UK.
The political enquiry, and the more detailed passport origination requirements, were generated by their current system. It is clearly new, judging both from the confusion of the lady filling it all in, and she was far from being a trainee, and the two more senior people who had to help very carefully, otherwise, (just like a Thai visa application form), if you haven't completed every bit of one section to the programmer's satisfaction (and whims), you are blocked.
It was not "normal".
These days it sure isn't "Welcome to the Land of Smiles".

 

[Coffee]

You've lost me Coffee.
Must be different way in USA.
Yes. It would be more detailed if I was taking out a new account, understandably.

But this was just a second ATM card for my existing account that I've had for maybe 9 years. Something I did in a few minutes previously when I left my Thai wallet in the UK.
The political enquiry, and the more detailed passport origination requirements, were generated by their current system. It is clearly new, judging both from the confusion of the lady filling it all in, and she was far from being a trainee, and the two more senior people who had to help very carefully, otherwise, (just like a Thai visa application form), if you haven't completed every bit of one section to the programmer's satisfaction (and whims), you are blocked.
It was not "normal".
These days it sure isn't "Welcome to the Land of Smiles".

Sorry. You lost me as well.

Does your passport expire after ten years ? Mine does.
I can readily understand the bank making sure that your passport details are current to each account but I really didn't understand "the political enquiry".

Which language did they communicate this to you ?
What exactly did they ask ?
{---ie: do you send or provide funds to overthrow the government ?
---do you provide aid to protestors ?}

 

[Coffee]

So why would Thai banks need the same?

Need the same what ?

Any foreign /(Thai) bank should only request from an American citizen their taxpayer identification number or social security number if they cooperate with the United States Dept of the Treasury/ (IRS, FINCEN).

Reporting is supposedly generated by foreign financial institutions to the US Dept of the Treasury of all US citizen accounts. "Follow the money."

 

[Ivor the Engine]

Need the same what ?

Any foreign /(Thai) bank should only request from an American citizen their taxpayer identification number or social security number if they cooperate with the United States Dept of the Treasury/ (IRS, FINCEN).

Reporting is supposedly generated by foreign financial institutions to the US Dept of the Treasury of all US citizen accounts. "Follow the money."

Think Wanderer answered this in post 162

 

[Wanderer]

Sorry. You lost me as well.

Does your passport expire after ten years ? Mine does.
I can readily understand the bank making sure that your passport details are current to each account but I really didn't understand "the political enquiry".

Which language did they communicate this to you ?
What exactly did they ask ?
{---ie: do you send or provide funds to overthrow the government ?
---do you provide aid to protestors ?}

Started in Thai, then I realised my wife was being unusually strong about something just as the words politician and cousin became clear. "What's happening?" started an English conversation which then subsided fairly quickly when I said very firmly that I don't have any cousins (which is actually true), what is all this about? The bank staff were just doing their jobs, nothing other than normal mild friendliness.

Thinking afterwards, it really quite annoyed me.
What naive idiot thinks that putting questions like that to ordinary customers, it will encourage them?
And if they weren't an ordinary customer does the same naive idiot think that person will answer "yes I'm here to create trouble".
Ye Gods!

It also makes sense of Nomad's wish for us to be careful on this forum. Nobody but nobody on it has any involvement in, or wish to be involved in, disrupting the enjoyment of our lives in Thailand, but if the paranoia against Westerners keeps increasing, we will have to assume that all our internet traffic, not just the forum, is being spied on. And in the wrong hands, simple common phrases can be twisted into being malicious ones.
How sad.

 

[Deerculler]

Slightly off line here. About secret squirrel stuff. A question please Nomad if you are able to answer. I have some idea what a VPN is. Does a VPN hide a persons ID when online?

 

[nomad97]

Slightly off line here. About secret squirrel stuff. A question please Nomad if you are able to answer. I have some idea what a VPN is. Does a VPN hide a persons ID when online?

The short answer is yes. VPN stands for 'virtual private network' and is a piece of software that helps to make you more anonymous online, encrypts your internet use, and lets you effectively trick your laptop or mobile device into thinking it's in another location, e.g. maybe you want to stream films and series from the BBC or ITV iPlayer. To do so, you need to use a VPN to trick the website that you live in the UK. You may want to use a VPN to help keep your online life completely safe from hackers – especially useful for accessing Internet banking. Maybe you like to download films and TV series and you don’t want your ISP to know. Or perhaps it's the prying eyes of your government that you want to avoid. Finally, the use of a VPN would let you access websites that are being blocked by your Government or ISP. If you need any or all of those capabilities, you need a VPN.

See full explanation and a list of the best VPN providers here: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/best-vpn

P.S. Several browsers have a free VPN or as an add on. These are usually limited to daily data limit and can be quite slow.

 

[Croc]

I use Windscribe for that matter Deerculler.