Elite visa - kiss of death for opening a bank account

[pork hunt]

i have one kasikorn with one card, and one silom head office bangkokbank account with three atm debit cards which are mastercard, visa, and  union pay attached to the one account.

yes i too have had cards eaten by atms in the past.

i dont have an elite visa.

 

if you have a laos bank that will open a bank account on a tourist visa only please tell

Edited July 8, 2019 by pork hunt
spelling

[ad61]

Nope, 60 years old.
 
In any case, as I've mentioned before, it's the 'slowly boiling frog' syndrome that is encouraging me to seek pastures new.  Additionally, I blame my online work, (because that means I can live just about anywhere in the world).
 
With the choice of living in multiple locations worldwide, the 'lure' of Thailand  suddenly seems to have waned [emoji846]

Around a month ago you started a new post saying you had enough of Thailand and that you were going to move somewhere between the south of France and the Spanich border; you change your mind for Laos ?

Sent from my SM-A710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[pork hunt]

On 7/6/2019 at 10:34 AM, moana said:

How? The last time I tried to open a bank account in Laos they REQUIRED a work permit, and I tried all the big banks. A work permit in Laos is easy to get, but goes for around $600.

pm me the detail of getting this easy laos work permit if you dont want to air it publicly

[rott]

On 7/6/2019 at 5:25 PM, simon43 said:

Well done to all of you who were able to open bank accounts - my thread was specifically about problems opening a bank account when on an Elite visa.

 

To reply to specific comments, Thailand Elite said that they couldn't help. My comments about the donations is to explain to the bank why I need the account. I'm not moving to Laos because of my banking problems! The regime for expats is a lot less intrusive (based on my own experiences when I lived there in 2012/13)

Those branches you tried, were they all in shopping malls? In my experience not the easiest places to do business on a Saturday. Midweek at any branch "could" be better.

[rott]

22 minutes ago, ad61 said:

Around a month ago you started a new post saying you had enough of Thailand and that you were going to move somewhere between the south of France and the Spanich border; you change your mind for Laos ?

Sent from my SM-A710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Yes I followed that one and got some helpful replies from the OP which I was unable to thank him for as I lost the thread. If it was you Simon TVM. On closer examination winter temps not good.

 

 

Like Simon, the lure of Thailand is waning a bit for me but it is still better than the alternatives.

[simon43]

3 hours ago, ad61 said:

Around a month ago you started a new post saying you had enough of Thailand and that you were going to move somewhere between the south of France and the Spanich border; you change your mind for Laos ?

Sent from my SM-A710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I was considering 2 choices, Laos and Andorra/France/Pyrenees.  My preference was for EU because of the ease of access to good medical facilities.

 

However, my inquiries revealed that I would need to provide a tax history (I have legally not paid personal tax in 18 years). I suspect that relocating back to the EU would result in tax bills, or at least heaps of tax and government documents asking about my life.  Well, my life is private! I have followed the 5 flags theory for at least 20 years and I have no desire to change.

 

So Andorra/EU was passed over in favour of Laos.

[lkv]

Tax efficient solutions can be designed in Europe, but they come at a higher cost than the less regulated countries in Asia, and involve spending the larger amounts through companies that would own the respective assets.

Edited July 8, 2019 by lkv

[pork hunt]

15 hours ago, pork hunt said:

i have one kasikorn with one card, and one silom head office bangkokbank account with three atm debit cards which are mastercard, visa, and  union pay attached to the one account.

just remembered that bangkok bank doesnt do visa cards anymore so when my current visa card expires i will only have two atm cards from bkkbank, but my kasikorn is a visa card

[Guest]

On 7/6/2019 at 4:33 PM, NCC1701A said:

when I open a bank account I say "I want to put one million baht into a savings account. Can you help me with this?" 

I have only done it twice but both times no problems.  And of course I always dress like I am going to a important business meeting.

And that's exactly what I did 10 years ago on my first trip to Thailand.

 

Walked into an SCB office and asked to open a bank account, just a regular account, no CC attached (I only had a TR visa back then).

 

Me: I would like to open a back account.

SCB: No.

Me: I would like to speak to a manager.

3 minutes later.

SCB Manager: How can I help you? (he acts dumb on purposes, he knows what I'm about to ask and that I have been denied 3 minutes ago).

Me: I would like to open a back account.

SCB Manager: Uhhh... no?

Me: I would like to acquire a property in Thailand and need to transfer funds here.

SCB Manager: Sorry no, we don't do that.

Me: Are you telling me I can't transfer 16.000.000 baht here into your bank?

SCB Manager: Uhhh sorry? how much? (his eyes wide opened).

Me: About 16.000.000 and the property costs 3.300.000.

SCB Manager: One moment please.

Manager walks back into the back of the banks, mutters something in illegible Thai to 2 other staffers.

They all are staring at me from the way back of their office.

3 minutes later SCB manager returns to me:

SCB Manager: If you have any proof of residency even if you're staying at a hotel and you can get the hotel manager to write you a letter stating that is where you reside and you have a Thai SIM card we'd be more than happy to open you an account.

 

Two days later the account was opened. Two weeks later the funds were wired to that account. A week later the property was bought.

 

(And yes, 7 years later I lost it all to a bad Issan woman. But that story is for another day...)

 

[lkv]

Awesome. Do you want to hear my story of how I succesfully opened a Kasikorn account in 2011?

[balo]

My story was different in 2010. 

Me: Can I open an account ? Kasikorn : yes. How much is the deposit ? Kasikorn: 500 baht.  Do I get an ATM card? Kasikorn: Yes  

Me: Okay bye.