OJAS

But how are you going to check whether or not this test amount has been credited to your BKKB account if you don't use or have access to online banking services? Just because Wise tell you that your money is on its way to BKKB doesn't necessarily mean that it will actually end up in your account with them (assuming that it's still active, of course) - as I can vouch for on the basis of recent personal experience with a token Wise transfer I unsuccessfully attempted to make to my wife's BKKB account.

All part and parcel of the general tightening-up of banking procedures we've been seeing in recent times, I think. Thankfully this won't be an issue for my Thai wife when I pop my clogs since she will be able to get the payments she receives based on my occupational pension paid directly into her Thai bank account, without the need for a Wise account. And, unlike Wise, my occupational pension provider accepts account names stated in Thai script in its application form!

One particular issue which, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet been raised in discussions on this issue is whether, in the case of the second scenario, the bank letter issued by BKKB will include an explicit statement that the account will then be frozen for 4 months. If so, this would, of course, mean that the funds on the frozen account would then not be freely available during the 4-month period in question, in violation of a specific IMM requirement - with the result that a consequential application for an annual retirement or marriage extension would then almost certainly be rejected. And, even if the BKKB letter didn't include any explicit statement to this effect, the word is surely likely to spread like wildfire of the bank's change of policy on the Immigration Bureau grapevine - with the result that ALL account confirmation letters issued by BKKB might then, at best, be viewed with suspicion by immigration officers.

Would not be at all surprised, though, if this were all down to the Bank of Thailand and the Immigration Bureau deliberately colluding with each other with the sole and avowed aim of ensuring that the annual retirement or marriage extension holder became an extinct species eventually.

Is your wife a Thai national, or is she not?

A problem with doing this, though, is that, whilst Wise insist on account names being recorded in the Western script, most Thai nationals' names as stated on their local bank accounts are recorded in Thai script. Hence any transfer from Wise accounts held by our Thai partners to their local bank accounts must be doomed to failure, as I can vouch from personal experience with a recent unsuccessful attempt to make a token Wise transfer directly to my Thai wife's BKKB account. I have drawn Wise's attention to this anomaly, but when and if they do anything about it is anyone's guess. This is not an issue for us Westerners wishing to avail ourselves of Wise's services, though, since our account names with Thai banks are (invariably?) recorded in the Western script.

If there is outstanding duty to be paid on your ebay item, then it is more likely to be gathering dust in some pigeonhole at some Customs office, I would have thought. People here are quick to criticise Thailand Post for any delays in receiving mail from abroad, whereas the accusatory finger of blame might IMHO be more appropriately pointed at those bunch of incompetents known as the Thai Customs Department - about whose (masterly in)activities Thailand Post can do SFA, of course.

Not sure that I'd be happy with leaving my passport with them for 6 days, though!

Have you only been completing the mandatory (asterisked) fields for your online submissions? If so, that might be the reason behind the inconsistencies you've been experiencing. Some time ago I had an online submission rejected (by Rayong) on the grounds of incomplete information being provided, even though I had completed all mandatory fields. Ever since then I've always ensured that all fields (mandatory and non-mandatory) are completed for my online submissions, and everything's been OK.

What was the size of the balance you left in your Bangkok Bank account before your departure from Thailand? If 2,000 THB or less it would have been subject to the bank's dormancy account procedures which would have reduced the balance further or even wiped it out completely if you had been out of Thailand for some time. The following recent thread includes a discussion about banks' dormancy account procedures, including a couple of posts from @KhunBENQ specifically relating to Bangkok Bank:

I adopted a "belt and braces" approach by doing both.

Most likely the Hong Kong couple themselves, I strongly suspect, on account of their apparent failure to check with the Japanese immigration powers-that-be before purchasing the property in question whether they could then stay in it on the basis of successive 90-day visa exemptions!

Probably not a good idea to bin it completely, though, in case some quirky immigration officer does demand to see it at some point in the future!

Yes.

Earlier on in this thread you stated: "TBH if i get much more sh*t from Wise i'll close the account and go back to doing Swift transfers with HSBC to my Bangkok Bank account and accept the lower exchange rate." Does your reference to HSBC means that you have a UK account with them? If so, could you not use a recent statement from them for this purpose (assuming, of course, that the address registered for your account is your Thai one)?