Hey guy's 

what comes first, visa or bank account?

ive been given a non immigrant "O" from Glasgow consulate to visit my wife's family and as I am now retired (55) want to make it permanent, London would not give me the O/A visa because all my savings were in bonds and ISA,s but after selling my house now have £45k in my current account and it will have been there 3 months by the time my O visa expires.

I went into Kasikorn (pattaya Klang) bank today to open an account to get the ball rolling on a extending my permission to stay but they said I needed a 1 year visa minimum to open the account, I told them I needed to show money in a Thai account to obtain extensions or convert the existing one, am I wrong?

Kasikorn are making difficult now to open a bank account. Try Krungsi or Bangkok Bank, a tourist visa should be ok, depends on branch probably

 

 

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Kasikorn are making difficult now to open a bank account. Try Krungsi or Bangkok Bank, a tourist visa should be ok, depends on branch probably

 

 

 I will give it a try, I just liked the look of their internet banking, thanks for answering 

 I will give it a try, I just liked the look of their internet banking, thanks for answering 

i use Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank and Krungsi Apps, all good. I don't bother with online anymore, no need if you have a smartphone

4 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

 I will give it a try, I just liked the look of their internet banking, thanks for answering 

I recently opened a new bank account. I already have one but wanted a fixed term account. FD.

Anyway thought it would be a breeze. It wasn't. I went to bangkok bank head office (with Thai partner she has account there) The wanted all sorts of rubbish. Letter from au embassy and "letter" from my AU bank. What the..

Tried few other banks no joy. Then I went to KASIKORN. Not a problem. They wanted my passport, glanced at my lease. 30 mins later had a FD bankbook and also savings ac with debit card. 300baht for card. No insurance rubbish or anything else. 

19 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

27 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

 I will give it a try, I just liked the look of their internet banking, thanks for answering 

i use Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank and Krungsi Apps, all good. I don't bother with online anymore, no need if you have a smartphone

I just went to Bangkok Bank and she was prepared to open the account, if I stumped up 6,800.00 baht <deleted>, have I got a face no one likes, when I asked what she was talking about she said 5,800.00 was for insurance and I had to talk to the UK embassy to decline it, 400 for the ATM card and 600 baht for something else but at this point had stopped listening 

I recently opened a new bank account. I already have one but wanted a fixed term account. FD.
Anyway thought it would be a breeze. It wasn't. I went to bangkok bank head office (with Thai partner she has account there) The wanted all sorts of rubbish. Letter from au embassy and "letter" from my AU bank. What the..
Tried few other banks no joy. Then I went to KASIKORN. Not a problem. They wanted my passport, glanced at my lease. 30 mins later had a FD bankbook and also savings ac with debit card. 300baht for card. No insurance rubbish or anything else. 

Buy what visa have you got? Some Kasikorn branches are asking for 1 year visas/extensions

I just went to Bangkok Bank and she was prepared to open the account, if I stumped up 6,800.00 baht , have I got a face no one likes, when I asked what she was talking about she said 5,800.00 was for insurance and I had to talk to the UK embassy to decline it, 400 for the ATM card and 600 baht for something else but at this point had stopped listening 

Where are you based? if Pattaya i can advise the branches that are helpful and want your business, PM me if needed. No need to buy that insurance scam

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

39 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I recently opened a new bank account. I already have one but wanted a fixed term account. FD.
Anyway thought it would be a breeze. It wasn't. I went to bangkok bank head office (with Thai partner she has account there) The wanted all sorts of rubbish. Letter from au embassy and "letter" from my AU bank. What the..
Tried few other banks no joy. Then I went to KASIKORN. Not a problem. They wanted my passport, glanced at my lease. 30 mins later had a FD bankbook and also savings ac with debit card. 300baht for card. No insurance rubbish or anything else. 

Buy what visa have you got? Some Kasikorn branches are asking for 1 year visas/extensions

Yes Scuba, I have a 12 month extension. They didn't actually mention what was needed. I think they asked if I had a visa. I can't recall. I might ask next time as this "opening account thing" comes up often. My main point is that couple of other banks wanted embassy letter and some docs from my au bank. One common reply to bank accounts (from other threads) is bit like immigration it can even depend on which branch you attend. 

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

3 hours ago, brianj1964 said:

I just went to Bangkok Bank and she was prepared to open the account, if I stumped up 6,800.00 baht , have I got a face no one likes, when I asked what she was talking about she said 5,800.00 was for insurance and I had to talk to the UK embassy to decline it, 400 for the ATM card and 600 baht for something else but at this point had stopped listening 

Where are you based? if Pattaya i can advise the branches that are helpful and want your business, PM me if needed. No need to buy that insurance scam

Sorry for the later reply, I'm currently in pattaya but heading to Kalasin tomorrow.

after 2 unsuccessful attempts at 2 Thai banks, I went to Krungsri bank near Tukcom, and they said my non immigrant O was enough to qualify to open a savings account, 500 deposit and 400 for the ATM card and passbook, the girl spoke perfect English and helped me with everything and understood my need for the account. Job done thanks

You mentioned visiting your wife's family. Is she Thai and are you still legally married? I set up an account at Thanachart Bank several months again. As my work permit was about to expire I asked what other options I had. They said I could set up an account with me as the sole account holder if I submitted my marriage cert., and my wife's ID. There was no "insurance" or anything like that. They were quite nice about it too. Maybe it helped that I had my son, who's a toddler, with me. Little kids can open doors here. Anyway, if you have the necessary docs. maybe you can suggest this route to them if they start giving you that, "We don't want to deal with you look". Whatever gets it done around here, right? 

18 minutes ago, ilms said:

You mentioned visiting your wife's family. Is she Thai and are you still legally married? I set up an account at Thanachart Bank several months again. As my work permit was about to expire I asked what other options I had. They said I could set up an account with me as the sole account holder if I submitted my marriage cert., and my wife's ID. There was no "insurance" or anything like that. They were quite nice about it too. Maybe it helped that I had my son, who's a toddler, with me. Little kids can open doors here. Anyway, if you have the necessary docs. maybe you can suggest this route to them if they start giving you that, "We don't want to deal with you look". Whatever gets it done around here, right? 

Yes I am married to a Thai, they just weren't interested at Kasikorn unless I have a 1 year visa, due to the money I could only get a 3 month non o, Bangkok bank insisted I take insurance, clearly commission driven, Krugsri said yes immediately so I got there in the end, but thanks for your advi, much appreciated

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I recently opened a new bank account. I already have one but wanted a fixed term account. FD.

Anyway thought it would be a breeze. It wasn't. I went to bangkok bank head office (with Thai partner she has account there) The wanted all sorts of rubbish. Letter from au embassy and "letter" from my AU bank. What the..

Tried few other banks no joy. Then I went to KASIKORN. Not a problem. They wanted my passport, glanced at my lease. 30 mins later had a FD bankbook and also savings ac with debit card. 300baht for card. No insurance rubbish or anything else. 

Thanks for the information. That's the way it should be (Kasikorn). I need to take a flask and sandwiches every time I visit my Bangkok Bank branch!

It must depend on Branch. 
Kasikorn was very friendly to my (with Thai wife present).  I had to provide US IRS form.
Krungsai was not friendly, even though they financed a new car to my wife of no income.
Bangkok bank let me open one with wife and they even had the US IRS form for me to fill out.  (I wish I remembered the Form number)

BKK bank on beach road just passed the Macdonald's Ted's walking street. Open on TV no problem. Have sent many there very helpful. Only thing they ask for is a cert of residence.

Edited June 28, 20197 yr by fourpack

3 hours ago, fourpack said:

BKK bank on beach road just passed the Macdonald's Ted's walking street. Open on TV no problem. Have sent many there very helpful. Only thing they ask for is a cert of residence.

And do Immigration issue a Cof R on a tourist visa?

 

And do Immigration issue a Cof R on a tourist visa?
 

Jomtien yes

On 6/27/2019 at 11:05 AM, brianj1964 said:

I just went to Bangkok Bank and she was prepared to open the account, if I stumped up 6,800.00 baht <deleted>, have I got a face no one likes, when I asked what she was talking about she said 5,800.00 was for insurance and I had to talk to the UK embassy to decline it, 400 for the ATM card and 600 baht for something else but at this point had stopped listening 

Get the name and report to head office. I complained about this to kasikorn and was surprised how serious they took it. It turned into a big thing and the lady from the branch was calling me begging me to get them to drop it. The downside was that it made me feel a lot less secure using the branch wondering if she might be looking for some sort of revenge.

On 29 June 2019 at 10:03 AM, sikishrory said:

Get the name and report to head office. I complained about this to kasikorn and was surprised how serious they took it. It turned into a big thing and the lady from the branch was calling me begging me to get them to drop it. The downside was that it made me feel a lot less secure using the branch wondering if she might be looking for some sort of revenge.

I gave up on Kasikorn, my wife told me to accept the Bangkok bank life insurance con, I went into Krungsri Bank near Tukcom and employee I spoke with there was fantastic, account opened with  zero BS, she said my Non O qualified me for an account.

On 6/27/2019 at 10:18 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Kasikorn are making difficult now to open a bank account. Try Krungsi or Bangkok Bank, a tourist visa should be ok, depends on branch probably

 

 

Forget Krungsri! Tried to open an account recently. Order from head office: only foreigners with work permit. Won't open bank account for applicants with tourist visa. (Although, 'Non O' seems also be eligible, according to previous post.)

Edited June 30, 20197 yr by StayinThailand2much

You should all be very grateful if you can find a bank that will condescend to accept your 1 million baht or thereabouts, thereby shoring up their bad loan deficits and enabling them to make more of the same. Get on your knees and give thanks to God.????

Forget Krungsri! Tried to open an account recently. Order from head office: only foreigners with work permit. Won't open bank account for applicants with tourist visa. (Although, 'Non O' seems also be eligible, according to previous post.)

Krungsi in Pattaya opened an account easy for me with a tourist visa. Its a case of trying different branches, no consistency in Thailand on anything