Thailand Freezes Over 3 Million Bank Accounts

Armstrong Economics ^ | 22 Sep 25 | Martin Armstrong

[delta7]

Thailand has become a case study for the use of biometric data in every facet of life. Every banking transaction is monitored and scrutinized. Any perceived discrepancy is flagged as fraud and punished without due process. Regulations have overwhelmed the system, resulting in a full-fledged banking crisis. Over three million Thai bank accounts were frozen instantaneously without warning as a result of government overreach.

Transaction denied. You contact your bank to see why the payment failed only to learn that your account has been frozen–all of your accounts, for that matter. The bank is investigating you for suspicious activity and potential money laundering or fraud. There was no warning call or letter and there is no clarification as to what transaction was flagged. You’re completely locked out of your accounts and have lost the ability to purchase. You cannot fill your gas tank, you cannot purchase groceries, you’ve been completely removed from the financial system, and do not know when or if you’ll regain access to your funds.

This is the reality for millions of people banking in Thailand. The Bank of Thailand (BoT), with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, began an excessive crackdown on perceived fraud and streamlined the process under the premise of safeguarding the banking sector. Thousands of accounts are frozen each week. Panic has ensued. Retailers are no longer accepting cards, demanding payment in cash as they, too, are worried that they will be removed from the banking system.

Assistant Governor of the BoT, Darunee Saeju, publicly stated that the central bank is working to “immediately unlock wrongly affected accounts.” Saeju insists that new measures will enable the banks to verify accounts in under 48 hours. Confidence in the government and the entire banking system evaporated. People rationally fear that their account will be targeted next, without warning. Government overreach has backfired, and the people are removing themselves from the banking system entirely.

This phenomenon is not limited to Thailand. Vietnam recently erased 86 million unverified bank accounts. Governments are demanding banks track every transaction, tracing each account back to individual citizens using biometric data.

The government believes these provisions will prevent capital from leaving the radar and, therefore, taxation. Instead, governments are propelling the cycle amid this private wave, as the people cannot possibly trust the current financial system.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: banking; bankofthailand; frozenaccounts; thailand; thailandbanking

[delta7]

Vietnam and now Thailand….anyone seeing a trend? The EU is not to far behind….the EU with all their massive rioting is preparing the same by years end…total control and surveillance.There will be in the end no “ choice” as they abolish cash.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html

“We are working with the national central banks of the euro area to look into the possible issuance of a digital euro. It would be a central bank digital currency, an electronic equivalent to cash. And it would complement banknotes and coins, giving people an additional choice about how to pay.”

[Red Badger]

Thailand?.......................

[xp38]

Thailand?

[xp38]

12 seconds....GMTA

[tumblindice]

Where?

[Openurmind]

Once they place the whole banking industry under the control of centralized AI this very thing can and will happen here...

[wny]

it already happened in Canada...

[af_vet_1981]

Ah, the carefree life of the American Ex-Pat may not necessarily be as advertised …

AI Overview

+8
While not strictly required for short-term tourists, it is highly recommended for expats and long-term residents in Thailand to open a local bank account to handle daily expenses, pay rent, and avoid high foreign ATM fees. A Thai bank account is also a requirement for most long-term visas and offers greater convenience through local payment systems like PromptPay

[Persevero]

Cash is king

[Enterprise]

"Where?"

Somewhere near Boom Shaka Laka.

[BBQToadRibs2]

A college friend of mine, whom I am still very good friends with, is married to a wonderful mThai woman. He splits his time between the US and Thailand. As a side hustle, he has a small import/export business for Thai cooking ingredients that are not mass market you can find on the typical grocery store shelf. (Does pretty well, niche market)

Anyhow, he relates how there is a big underground ecomony between Thai business people in local economies. They don’t talk over the phone, don’t text eachother, don’t email, none of that. They walk/ride to each others businesses and talk about transactions in person. They trade, barter, use cash only. Everything is outside the electronic radar. They’re just sick and tired of constant Government intrusion, regulation, fees, fines, and non-stop taxes.
Where there is a will, there is a way.

[ComputerGuy]

When my family lived there, the Baht was worth five US cents.
A one dollar US bill would get you twenty Baht.
A one hundred dollar US bill would get you the equivalent of $150 in Baht. That was on the street, not at legal money exchanges.

[tumblindice]

Thailand, with a capital T!
Trouble (oh, we got trouble)
Right here in River City (right here in River City)
With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool (that stands for pool)
We’ve surely got trouble (we’ve surely got trouble)
Right here in River City (right here)

[TexasGator]

“They trade, barter, use cash only. Everything is outside the electronic radar. “

In Bankok we saw everyone doing transactions via phone apps.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

It’s where I grew up. Almost all Americans have NO clue what Thailand is like nor much of the rest of the world. However, you’re beginning to find out because Democrats have invited them all to come and live here with their religious beliefs/ideologies. Have fun.

[jimwatx]

Yeah a number of expats were caught up in this and many of them plan on leaving Thailand because of this and their ever changing visa rules.

[Red Badger]

[Comeandtakem]

Seems that things are all gradually falling into place for the one world government; I always thought I’d still be alive when this starts to materialize.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

When did you live in Thailand?

[Openurmind]

“Anyhow, he relates how there is a big underground economy between Thai business people in local economies. They don’t talk over the phone, don’t text each other, don’t email, none of that. They walk/ride to each others businesses and talk about transactions in person. They trade, barter, use cash only. Everything is outside the electronic radar. They’re just sick and tired of constant Government intrusion, regulation, fees, fines, and non-stop taxes.”

It would do us good to study this and learn the current methods because we are going to need it soon ourselves...