Ralphanous

My wife and I were married in Australia years ago, my certificate is translated into Thai and certified by the MFA in Bangkok

It's the paper from the tessaban(city registrars office) stating that you are still married , its used for non O marriage extensions You have to get a new one every year costs 20thb It should have nothing to do with bank accounts , except at the moment banks really don't seem to want to open any falang accounts I was more giving an example of see what they want and go from there, some will be fobbing you off to get rid of you and some will tell you what they actually want The banks seem to have all different criteria and reading this thread even provinces are different But looking at it from the banks point of view, giving the Kor ror 22 shows that I have a type of certification that I do live here and I'm married My wife told me after that they said nearly straight away that I should get one but she really thought they were getting authorisation from somewhere else

Today I opened a Kasikorn account in Buriram I tried at SCB on the weekend and was told to get a yellow book, I'm booked in for a yellow book at the tessaban next January(yes that is the next appointment available in Buriram!!!!!!!!) A mate just was knocked back from this very Kbank branch as he was not married to his missus and couldn't produce a Kor ror 22 So I went in today with Passport, Non O visa, wife, her tabian ban , our marriage cert, Kor ror 22, a letter/COR from Buriram immigration and a translation of my passport(not all needed but all given over) They were initially confused as I'm on a 3 month O, and I was watching them consult a list of visas that could open a account, and the 3 month was not on it only the 12 month variant, but they consulted with head office(province I assume) who confirmed that was a valid O visa The second part was a valid reason to have the account which was being married to a Thai, and residing in the city, which for this branch/bank seemed to be the only reason The Kor ror 22 and marriage cert were sent to head office in front of me and they told my wife this was ensuring I was properly registered in the province and legally married So there was a definite approval process using this list of approved reasons/visas, and they did not seem to have the final say(at least at the moment maybe) They did read the COR/letter but only to confirm it was a non O visa as my stamp looks like non D(swampy immigration) Now I know that this of limited use and YMMV as many aren't married and this is probably specific to my province But I wish you all good luck and with patience you can get one

When I went to the branch the teller sorted through the documents looking for the yellow book and asked straight away where was it, when I said to her no I have a COR that's when she asked the other lady to come over When I asked at Buriram immigration for the COR I didn't say it was for a second account, as I'm new to them(all previous are Jomtien O retirement or Australian issued O marriage) They wrote 2 letters, the first was addressed to "the bank manager" and the second was to "the office of population registration"(Google translate, wife says to amphur) I never asked for the second letter and assumed the wife did, after writing the original reply I asked her and she said she didn't but immigration had told her that I would need to get a yellow book(thanks for filling me in dear...........), I thought I just had 2 COR for some reason and if the wife had told me what the second letter was for would have asked the IO to clarify what the local issue was or at least if they were having issues with certain banks as I just wanted a local account in light of all of the current banking issues So the IO must have known that there was an issue in Buriram at least with opening new accounts and its probably a very new problem not affecting those of us who have been around for a while And these were actually 2 letters separately addressed including on the envelope, again these were letters not COR, I had just assumed this was the Buriram version of a certificate of residence I feel sorry for those trying to get accounts at the moment and hope the original poster has managed to get one, I'm good,I have a account, I just view these interactions as part of a wider effort on behalf of Thai officialdom to keep me entertained in retirement

Interesting that it happened to you as well I went to SCB Buriram to open a second account this week(I'm lucky I have had a BB account for years in Pattaya) I had Wife, her blue book, letter from immigration(COR) ,passport and my Non O visa(retirement)and our marriage cert The first lady went and got the MGR who politely told us in English and Thai that a yellow book is now required and she has to send to Bangkok for authorisation that takes about 2 weeks And that with my documents I would get one easily I'm just after a second account and find the amphur about the only place in Thailand that gets me frustrated So I might try K bank or stop being lazy and get a yellow book Just found it interesting as I've never been asked for a yellow book ever, for anything...............

My wife and I are back in Austraila for a while and she finds her Khmer very useful in Markets here

Interesting , its what my wife calls it

wikipedia has a interesting article about this group calling them the "Surin khmer' and quotes census data showing a decline in the number who speak it Just search "Northern Khmer dialect" if you want to read

My wife's village near Sawai Chik on the 226 from Buriram to Surin speak Northern Khmer, but her daughter(24) will listen to the Khmer and understand but replies in issan or Thai(or both)

Cheers mate, great to know , I'm going back for good next year I prefer to arrive on a visa and then just do a extension

I agree , there is a category in the Evisa system that allows you to get a initial 3 month Non O retirement with the requirement of a pension(I'm thinking 800K in my Thai bank might suffice) and of course the Non OA which I don't want So i'm going to see what the IO says at Buriram, a friend has just done his extension there and says they were easy to deal with(I used to live in jomtien and used Chonburi) I regard the marriage extensions as too much hassle and am happy when I come back to just use 800K

The actual category on the Evisa site is visiting Thai family, so on this years trip back to Buriram I'm going to see immigration there on whether its able to be extended as a retirement extension or as a marriage extension

The visa is a Non O with the entry within 3 months of the grant date for up to 90 days(same as previous Non O single entry, no multiple option any more)

I live in Australia with my Thai wife(married in Australia) I have lived in Thailand on a Non O retirement and have moved back to Australia for a few years I have previously had a Non O marriage(3 months) granted by the Sydney consulate but as I live in Brisbane Queensland this year have used the new Evisa portal with Canberra embassy as the granting Authority I like getting Non O over visa exempt as I have bank accounts and property in Thailand and need to change or update them On visits I applied on the new Evisa portal and found that all I needed was a pdf or Jpeg of my Passport(which once uploaded fills in the personal data), proof of address(my superannuation statement), marriage certificate(Brisbane registry), proof of funds(my Australian share portfolio showing over the equivalent of 400k THB) my wife's ID card and a photo of myself. I filled in the online form listing my flights already booked It was very easy and not particularly detailed I then submitted it where it sat in document check status for 7 days, then pending approval for another 7 days Then approved at 2 weeks Where I was sent a email containing a pdf of the visa grant which is in English except for the remarks line which states in Thai : "Thai spouse"