'They are totally unaffected by what's going on with retirees.' If the retiree is their father and his bank account is frozen, they wouldn't care? You've got some cold-hearted relatives/friends.

David, read my comment again. Tourists are potential retirees; they come to visit relatives/friends in Thailand and take back negative reports about how Thai banks are treating their father (in my case.)

If Thailand can complicate things, they will; then they bleat about tourist numbers falling. Every ex-retiree will encourage friends/family to visit. We are a valuable asset to TAT. I have been here 22 years and average three people per year YET petty-fogging rules drive farangs away. Banking/Immigration rules are brainless and pointless but nobody changes them.

Still waiting Ron Duke. I answered your comment, 'It's a simple question- I can afford 5 star hotels in Vietnam but you want me to pay Thai price. How can I get round this conundrum?

@Ron *****

I want beer but it's cheap. What do you want me to do - offer more?

@Richard *******

Number 5 is the main reason why Thailand still has a tourist trade. (The numbers show the principal visitor numbers are crossing from Malaysia at weekends to shop for oats!) Thank you for enlightening me about 1-4. I go only for holidays; to enjoy affordable 5* hotels; good friendly service; excellent food and cheap alcohol - Vietnam draught beer is a third the cost of Thai stuff.

If an ex-pat suffers at the hands of, say Bangkok bank, as so many have done recently, their negative view is reflected in their comments about Thailand. TripAdvisor exists through these Chinese Whispers. Good/bad comments spread like wildfires. Thailand has been burning for some time as their idea of service is compared to that of Vietnam - which resembles what I experienced when I first came to live here fulltime 22+ years ago.

Tourism is about service and the perception of service, usually conveyed by word of mouth. Thai banks/Immigration offices offer poor service not just to ex-pats as detailed here, but to their friends/acquaintances often through FB and the like.

If Thailand can overcomplicate things, they will. No wonder tourists are flocking to Vietnam.

Overcomplication is the Thai curse and directly responsible for the boom in Vietnam's tourist numbers. Every Immigration task requires at least 4 A4 sheets of paper; four times a year = a small forest despite the data not changing over the decades I have lived here.