Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing banking yet again, specifically for Americans looking to avail themselves of their Social Security benefits here in the Kingdom of Thailand.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent comment on a related video we made recently talking about banking specifically in this context. Quoting directly from the comment: "Bangkok Bank has a special arrangement with US Social Security for direct deposit of monthly benefit checks but there are restrictions: no ATM card, passbook only, you must go to the bank to make the withdrawal money personally, no joint accounts. This was US Social Security knows you are still alive." (I think they meant 'this is so they know that you are still alive'). Quoting further: "I've done this since 2018 with no issues when you follow the rules. I believe you also need a Retirement Visa which I have but I am not sure about this. I have received IRS payments for the COVID payments also at the same account without any request by me. Maybe this applies to all US Treasury payments if you file a return from Thailand with an address here. Other Banks do not office" (I think they meant 'offer') this service. The payments are made to Bangkok Bank, New York City as the corresponding Bank and money arrives just as any wire transfer would." 

Yeah, as discussed in that prior video talking about the possibility of not allowing Americans to open Bank Accounts here in Thailand, yeah these accounts that are set up to basically act as a repository for foreign bank transfers into Thailand, these are accounts that do require some extra effort, and not all banks do provide this service as noted in that comment. Again you are going to need to either gain some assistance from a legal professional or somebody that knows how to deal with those kind of accounts, or you may need to deal with the bank directly. Again sometimes Banks makes this easier or more difficult depending on a lot of different factors unfortunately. As we discussed before, there does seem to be kind of a growing trend if you will of some reluctance in the banking industry here in Thailand to deal with Americans because of all the extra filings and compliance that they have to deal with but as of the time of this video, it definitely remains possible especially here in Bangkok. We assist folks all the time in setting up bank accounts not only of a standard variety, a standard nature associated oftentimes with getting folks into Retirement Visa status, although not exclusively, but we also have been known to assist clients who need to get these kind of special accounts to have benefits deposited directly into their account here in the Kingdom of Thailand.