Open Thai Bank Account

[Hanaguma]

On 4/17/2023 at 8:48 PM, dddave said:

In another current thread, I wrote about my deceased friend's brother coming to Thailand to settle his affairs.  He needed a Bangkok Bank account but was on a 45 day visa exempt entry and staying in hotels. No go at Bangkok Bank when he tried.

He went to an agent I know.  She "leased" him a cheap b4000 condo for one month that he will actually never set foot into.  That enabled her to do a TM 30 and thus get a residency certificate.  Took it all to Bangkok Bank and got his account.

Similar experience in CHiang Mai last summer. We were staying for a month in an AirBnB. Used an agent for the Residency Certificate. Had to go to three branches of Bangkok Bank before finding one to open an account (Siam TV Branch). I think it helped to say that we needed a place for retirement funds and also condo purchase.  Took about 20 minutes. 

 

ETA we used CHiang Mai Buddy, paid I think 1300 baht for each certificate. Opened two accounts- one for me and one for my wife. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Hanaguma

[Liverpool Lou]

13 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Exactly how costly please?

Siam Legal, B5000.

[whereyougo]

Just now, Hanaguma said:

Similar experience in CHiang Mai last summer. We were staying for a month in an AirBnB. Used an agent for the Residency Certificate. Had to go to three branches of Bangkok Bank before finding one to open an account (Siam TV Branch). I think it helped to say that we needed a place for retirement funds and also condo purchase.  Took about 20 minutes. 

Nailed it! same here 2 banks 2 condos although 1 was legit. Banks need a good reason before they sit down for 30 mins of paperwork and I dont blame them as a lot dreamers plan to retire but last a month or so

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

But Siam-Legal Said they can open an account  5000+17% vat

7% VAT.

[bignok]

11 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Similar experience in CHiang Mai last summer. We were staying for a month in an AirBnB. Used an agent for the Residency Certificate. Had to go to three branches of Bangkok Bank before finding one to open an account (Siam TV Branch). I think it helped to say that we needed a place for retirement funds and also condo purchase.  Took about 20 minutes. 

 

ETA we used CHiang Mai Buddy, paid I think 1300 baht for each certificate. Opened two accounts- one for me and one for my wife. 

Thanks for info.

[hotandsticky]

19 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Siam Legal, B5000.

Thank you ????

[scubascuba3]

Might be worth trying in Pattaya, more agents available

[UKPaul67]

48 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Might be worth trying in Pattaya, more agents available

Limited time left on this trip, and probably same outcome, a friend from a thai bank said they now find it impossible to open accounts unless all the criteria is met.

[scubascuba3]

7 minutes ago, UKPaul67 said:

Limited time left on this trip, and probably same outcome, a friend from a thai bank said they now find it impossible to open accounts unless all the criteria is met.

I posted a few weeks ago that agents themselves in Pattaya said they can no longer open a bank account on tourist visas, but things change, still worth checking

[UKPaul67]

Eventful day ????

So the idea of a bank account was to buy a condo.

Been to all 3 main Banks today again, all say no to opening an account without, at least work permit.

They will also not allow the FET foreign exchange transaction via my name into girlfriends account, only via Girlfriends name, meaning the cheque would be written in her name for the condo and they say would not pass at land registry, for it to be assigned under my name. ( no idea if they are guessing or know for sure, they all seem to be clueless if I'm honest.)

Only option left would be to use Siam-Legal to do it all including POA No idea of the risks involved in that TBH and at great cost with cost almost £3500(approx 144,000 baht), for due diligence,  Contract check, POA , and Escrow banking for the FET.

Stressful day so no condo for me it's much to difficult on my limited stays while having a full time job in the UK.

Thailand cry for investment, yet block it in every single way possible. ????????

[NanLaew]

17 hours ago, norbra said:

23 hours ago, NanLaew said:

So how does a telephone call to head office magic up a new account? Do they open it over the phone? You still need to go to a branch to do it, right? Do you tell them 'Your head office said you must open an account for me with "name same as passport and address in English"' and they just jump to it? The same folks that said 'cannot' previously?

 

Your post is light on the mechanics of the process plus it doesn't have a date of when the last of your 3 account openings was so easily done. The banking rules and regulations have been tightened up over tha past few years.

Expand  

For the effort of a telephone call you will get advice regarding their requirements better than spending hours in a branch Q system and being denied.

My success resulted from making the phone call inside the branch while with a staff member who said cannot do.

If you make the call from home you will at least have an answer before wasting time looking for a branch that might accommodate your needs

Many thanks for explaining the mechanics of the procedure.

 

When was the last time this was successful?

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

Eventful day ????

So the idea of a bank account was to buy a condo.

Been to all 3 main Banks today again, all say no to opening an account without, at least work permit.

They will also not allow the FET foreign exchange transaction via my name into girlfriends account, only via Girlfriends name, meaning the cheque would be written in her name for the condo and they say would not pass at land registry, for it to be assigned under my name. ( no idea if they are guessing or know for sure, they all seem to be clueless if I'm honest.)

Only option left would be to use Siam-Legal to do it all including POA No idea of the risks involved in that TBH and at great cost with cost almost £3500(approx 144,000 baht), for due diligence,  Contract check, POA , and Escrow banking for the FET.

Stressful day so no condo for me it's much to difficult on my limited stays while having a full time job in the UK.

Thailand cry for investment, yet block it in every single way possible. ????????

So will you be getting the "minimum requirement" 60-day visa ahead of your next trip?

 

Thailand's not unique and if you want truly mind-blowing, dumb-ass, illogical, bureaucratic paper-shuffling dealt by serially unhelpful government and bank oxygen wasters, I reckon you can't beat Brazil. It was easier for me to rent a 4-bedroom villa in the diplomatic quarter of Havana, Cuba than to try and get condo squatting rights in Fortaleza.

 

Good luck on getting the ducks in a row for your eventual condo purchase here in Thailand.

[UKPaul67]

@NanLaew

Yes I will go for a 60 visa before I come back, I see I can apply online. 

But the election may also change for Bad or Good in the coming months. There may be more restrictive.

Maybe when I return the 60 day visa that for Siam-Legal quoted will not be enough.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

@NanLaew

Yes I will go for a 60 visa before I come back, I see I can apply online. 

But the election may also change for Bad or Good in the coming months. There may be more restrictive.

Maybe when I return the 60 day visa that for Siam-Legal quoted will not be enough.

I suspect a 60 day tourist visa won't be enough, sometimes you get duff info from staff, if they don't know, they guess. Maybe a non imm O will guarantee success. Agents are probably waiting for the crackdown to blowover, most things do

[NanLaew]

21 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I suspect a 60 day tourist visa won't be enough, sometimes you get duff info from staff, if they don't know, they guess. Maybe a non imm O will guarantee success. Agents are probably waiting for the crackdown to blowover, most things do

Since there's no specific visa for 'buying a condo', the TR is the probably the OP's best only bet since the visa-exempt is clearly a bust. Then it will be a case of doing the rounds of the banks, sifting out the 'cannot' repsonses and hoping to get lucky eventuallu. Or maybe cut to the chase and get an agent that says they can do it lined up before the next trip.