I have both a US dollar and a Thai baht account at my Thai bank. I transfer money from abroad into my dollar account. Any money I need to spend I then convert into baht at the same bank. I do all of this online.

 

My question is since the transfer is dollar to dollar into the country, can I use this as for my income to extend my retirement visa later this year?

Edited February 28, 20197 yr by opporna
clarified title

I would think yes, but who knows what conversion method/numbers they will use when they calculate it out to baht when doing your extension.

You could show the monthly transfers going in you US dollar foreign currency deposit account if it shows the equivalent of 65k baht going into the bank based upon the exchange rate on the date you apply for your extension of stay based upon retirement.

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You could show the monthly transfers going in you US dollar foreign currency deposit account if it shows the equivalent of 65k baht going into the bank based upon the exchange rate on the date you apply for your extension of stay based upon retirement.

Thank you ubonjoe. I suspected as much but had not seen this issue addressed specifically. I may back it up with 800,000 in my account just in case. I will also communicate with my bank to make sure they'll be able to provide a confirmation letter.

You don't mention what bank. My friend has used his USD FCD account at BBL for his extension last year and I plan to do the same. We both have well over the needed equivalent of 800k in USD in the accounts. I would have to assume if you transfer in the income monthly you could also use this a proof of income.

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1 hour ago, longball53098 said:

You don't mention what bank. My friend has used his USD FCD account at BBL for his extension last year and I plan to do the same. We both have well over the needed equivalent of 800k in USD in the accounts. I would have to assume if you transfer in the income monthly you could also use this a proof of income.

Does the BBL offers advantages for USD accounts over the other banks in Thailand?

4 hours ago, opporna said:

I may back it up with 800,000 in my account just in case.

Nothing wrong with belt and braces in these strange times.

Expensive but peace of mind.

Convert dollar to Baht (800K) and put it in a fixed deposit accounts. Use dollar accounts for monthly expenses (converting as and when need). This is like hedging, if baht becomes stronger you still have access to your 800K for retirement extension and if baht becomes weaker, you can get more baht from you dollar accounts. 

Does anybody think baht will weaken and if so, why? Every week I am losing 100 baht when transferring 500 USD to Thailand. 

 

How do I open a dollar account in Bangkok bank? Just show up and ask for one? And how do I import dollar? Can I use Transferwise to import dollars in to a Bangkok bank dollar account?

Edited February 28, 20197 yr by onera1961

5 hours ago, opporna said:

Thank you ubonjoe. I suspected as much but had not seen this issue addressed specifically. I may back it up with 800,000 in my account just in case. I will also communicate with my bank to make sure they'll be able to provide a confirmation letter.

If you have 800K in the bank why mess around using income?

 

No on can answer your question about income in USD. At this time it’s just opinion. You will need to ask at your local office if you want to try using USD income.

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

If you have 800K in the bank why mess around using income?

 

No on can answer your question about income in USD. At this time it’s just opinion. You will need to ask at your local office if you want to try using USD income.

If you were using the 800K method but got sick and had to pay a hospital bill it would be nice to have a back up plan. 

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

If you have 800K in the bank why mess around using income?

I don't have 800K in the bank, but I can arrange to do so in plenty of time for my next visa. I am still undecided on this issue--I'm hoping things will get clearer as more people go through the process.

 

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

No on can answer your question about income in USD. At this time it’s just opinion. You will need to ask at your local office if you want to try using USD income.

No one can answer anything in this world 100%. Nonetheless I have yet to experience ubonjoe being wrong about something. In addition, I've gotten valuable feedback from longball53908 showing that others have used US dollar accounts for the process.

28 minutes ago, opporna said:

No one can answer anything in this world 100%. Nonetheless I have yet to experience ubonjoe being wrong about something. In addition, I've gotten valuable feedback from longball53908 showing that others have used US dollar accounts for the process.

You’re right, but UJ is just offering opinion, and is occasionally wrong. 

 

Using USD accounts is possible for the 800K method and others have successfully used USD accounts for years. I don’t see why they wouldn’t do the same for income going in to a USD account, but the option to prove income via transfers is new so no one - even UJ - knows for sure at this point what will be accepted.

 

The opinion of your local office is the only one that matters.

11 hours ago, elviajero said:

You’re right, but UJ is just offering opinion, and is occasionally wrong. 

 

Using USD accounts is possible for the 800K method and others have successfully used USD accounts for years. I don’t see why they wouldn’t do the same for income going in to a USD account, but the option to prove income via transfers is new so no one - even UJ - knows for sure at this point what will be accepted.

 

The opinion of your local office is the only one that matters.

I agree. Unfortunately, walking in and asking questions at my local office, in my direct experience, is problematic at best. Unless you have some connection, they're not interested in answering questions and can be quite dismissive. In addition, I've experienced getting answers to questions only to find out rather quickly from a different official that the answer was wrong.