But if it does, from what I am reading, one will not be able to just go to an ATM and pull out cash?
I would assume so, but honestly, one never knows.
That's how it works with the police when you're stitched up, and Immigration is part of the RTP.
My read, and I haven't been following it, is that this is just some bleed-over from the most recent crack-down (crack-down = current, brief enforcement of existing laws) on foreign labor, which sent hundreds of thousands of Burmese/Cambodians, et al., running for the borders a few weeks ago. This crack-down has been "deferred".
I doubt any tourists/visitors reading here would be impacted.
New foreign labour law deferred 180 days
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will invoke Section 44 of the interim charter to postpone the introduction of new penalties for employment of unregistered foreign workers until the end of this year, army chief Chalermchai Sitthisart said on Tuesday.
The new executive decree on foreign workers was promulgated on June 23. It imposed very high fines of 400,000-800,000 baht per offence for companies employing illegal foreign labour.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/secu...erred-180-days
I recall that that SCB did have ATMs (which also dispensed USD, GBP and EUR) in the international transit area (so pre- Arriving Immigration, and post-Departing Immigration). I honestly do not know if those still exist. That said, Immigration police will be familiar with all of the methods foreigners can utilize to obtain funds to pay "administrative fees" and/or prove cash on hand.