@Colin ********
rules are the rules. You are being told the rules by people that know, and you're now accusing people of being judgemental and looking down their noses at you. If you had listened and accepted the answers given by those helping, this would have ended long ago. So yes this law might be considered decades out of date - ever been to Thailand before ? I guess not. Welcome to Thailand, where rules and regulations and even laws are decades outdated. Why do they want a tourist to carry 20k in cash ? To prove that they have money to cover their stay. That they won't get stuck here begging on the street, or in a hospital bed, or turning to crime to fund their stay, as a number of tourists have done over the years, in well publicized stories - fair enough ? And yes, it can be used to pay for anything. You can throw it in the bin, or put it back into an account. It is an ENTRY requirement only. Credit cards/ATM cards might be invalid, bank statements/screenshots can be faked. Book and pay for accomodation online ? Just 20 years ago, many accomodations did not have 'online booking'. Many that are more remote still don't. And they don't care. I know many places on Koh pha ngan and even Samui don't have online booking, a website, even a phone number. You need to shift your attitude from white, lower-middle class, privileged know-it-all, to something more humble, grateful, patient, understanding. And every idiot that maybe visited once, and posts on here that they didn't get ask so.....are just that, an idiot. I've never been breathalyzed by the police, does that mean it's ok to drink and drive ? Coincidentally, show me where it is written in law that drink driving is illegal. Come on dude, wake the fuck up.