Using Income Affidavit as Embassy reference to open Bangkok Bank account

[SooKee]

Given the changes to regulations WRT income 'evidence' for extensions of stay and the fact that there may be folks who are in possession of their last Embassy income affidavit who may also be looking to open a bank account, I thought I'd post my experiences here having decided to squeeze more value for money out of my last affidavit and try to have it double as a reference to open a Bangkok Bank account.  I did post this under 'Opening a bank account in Thailand' but thought I'd post specifically about using the income affidavit again here.  I decided I would try to open an account with Bangkok Bank in Bangkok seeing as I use Transferwise for my transfers to LOS and it seems that Bangkok Bank has the greatest chance of the fund transfers showing up as international.  It turned out to be MUCH easier than expected.

 

I am here on a retirement extension (no work permit) and noticed from their website that for new accounts with no work permit they require a letter from your Embassy or some other reputable individual.  Having applied for a UK income affidavit a couple of months ago (for an extension application later this month) I thought I'd try and squeeze some more value for money out of the £52 you pay for those and try to use that as my embassy reference letter. Result!!

 

Ended up going straight to the Head Office branch in Silom (saw a post or two from folks saying they found it easier there with staff actually knowing the rules rather than the stock "cannot" or "work permit" responses), got my ticket and was approached by a member of staff while sat waiting my turn.  Once I told him I was there to open an account he asked if I had my passport and a letter from my embassy.  "Yup".  He looked at the income affidavit letter, said "fine", and scurried off to make copies of the documents for the desk officer.

 

Documents used:

Passport

UK Embassy Income Affidavit

Condo rental contract

Internet bill from AIS (probably didn't need this but they took a copy anyway)

 

All plain sailing after that.  Opened the account (min of 500 baht), paid 400 for the debit card (Master Card) and set up SMS alerts, internet banking and mobile app.  Very surprised how easy it was given how tough it's got to open an account in the last few years, even more impressed I managed to get a dual use out of my income affidavit rather than having to pay the embassy again for another letter.  Conscious some branches may even open accounts without an embassy letter but couldn't be bothered to traipse around multiple branches to seek one out.