Renewal of retirement extension - new rule re. which bank to use.

[Inderpland]

So I went to my usual agent (in Pattaya) to check if the cost and procedure was the same as last year and they said that due to "new immigration boss" only Bangkok Bank accounts could be used if I went the "no 800k in the bank" route. Shew also said BB charge 5500 Baht if I didn't have a letter from Immigration. Stupidly enough I didn't ask if it was the residence certificate she referred to.

Anyone know if that is the case and if opening a BB account is a straight forward affair? I'm living here on a Non-O with a retirement extension and am married and in possession of a yellow house book.

[scubascuba3]

Yes that's correct about BB, seems to be the only bank that does the in and out transfer now, if you had a tourist visa or visa exempt it would be very difficult to open an account free but with a non imm O it will be easy, open one yourself ASAP

[jaywalker2]

I believe Thai Visa allows you to use any Thai bank

[foreverlomsak]

11 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

BB charge 5500 Baht if I didn't have a letter from Immigration. Stupidly enough I didn't ask if it was the residence certificate she referred to.

Anyone know if that is the case and if opening a BB account is a straight forward affair? I'm living here on a Non-O with a retirement extension and am married and in possession of a yellow house book.

Save your money and open it yourself, you've a yellow book so should not need a letter from Immigration, I opened a second BB account last year with just my passport and yellow book, make sure you refuse the "mandatory" insurance, it's not.

As an aside I opened two additional accounts with SCB 1 month ago, been here since 2005, and it was all too difficult, until I produced the yellow book.

[KannikaP]

26 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

Shew also said BB charge 5500 Baht if I didn't have a letter from Immigration.

She's 'avin' you on. Bank wanting a letter from Immigration?

[Sharp]

Opening a Thai bank comes with an apparent voluntary/mandatory insurance in approximately the amount stated

[george]

24 minutes ago, Sharp said:

Opening a Thai bank comes with an apparent voluntary/mandatory insurance in approximately the amount stated

No it does not. 

[DrJack54]

20 hours ago, KannikaP said:

She's 'avin' you on. Bank wanting a letter from Immigration?

Think is referring to certificate of residence obtained from immigration and used (in part) for things such as open bank account and Thai drivers license etc.

Has various cost and time to process.

For example at CW it's 200baht and takes up to 2 weeks 

 

 

 

[oobar]

My wife recently tried to open an additional BB account and was told she would have to visit the US embassy first, for what I'm not sure.  We live in Sisaket.  Ain't flying to Bkk, rent a hotel room and deal with the embassy, spending tens of thousands of baht for this nonsense.

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, oobar said:

My wife recently tried to open an additional BB account and was told she would have to visit the US embassy first, for what I'm not sure.  We live in Sisaket.  Ain't flying to Bkk, rent a hotel room and deal with the embassy, spending tens of thousands of baht for this nonsense.

Alternative to letter from embassy a better option is a certificate of residence from immigration office in your province. 

 

BTW: USA do not provide that "letter" anymore..

[oobar]

18 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Alternative to letter from embassy a better option is a certificate of residence from immigration office in your province. 

 

BTW: USA do not provide that "letter" anymore..

I know there is no letter available from the embassy.  What I'm thinking is the bank gave my wife the runaround.  She should have asked to see the manager.

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

As an aside I opened two additional accounts with SCB 1 month ago, been here since 2005, and it was all too difficult,

Depends on the bank location.

I opened a new SCB account in my name only last week.

Showed them my passport only for id..

Took 15 minutes, no other id required 

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, oobar said:

I know there is no letter available from the embassy.  What I'm thinking is the bank gave my wife the runaround.  She should have asked to see the manager.

The manager would have told her that she needs a letter from embassy OR certificate of residence from immigration office. 

 

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Depends on the bank location

Which province 

[Sigmund]

21 hours ago, Inderpland said:

So I went to my usual agent (in Pattaya) to check if the cost and procedure was the same as last year and they said that due to "new immigration boss" only Bangkok Bank accounts could be used if I went the "no 800k in the bank" route. Shew also said BB charge 5500 Baht if I didn't have a letter from Immigration. Stupidly enough I didn't ask if it was the residence certificate she referred to.

Anyone know if that is the case and if opening a BB account is a straight forward affair? I'm living here on a Non-O with a retirement extension and am married and in possession of a yellow house book.

Kasikorn rulz

[OJAS]

22 hours ago, Inderpland said:

I'm living here on a Non-O with a retirement extension and am married and in possession of a yellow house book.

Assuming that your wife is Thai, are you really that skint that you can't even afford a legitimate marriage extension?

 

[jesimps]

On 8/10/2023 at 4:41 PM, Inderpland said:

So I went to my usual agent (in Pattaya) to check if the cost and procedure was the same as last year and they said that due to "new immigration boss" only Bangkok Bank accounts could be used if I went the "no 800k in the bank" route. Shew also said BB charge 5500 Baht if I didn't have a letter from Immigration. Stupidly enough I didn't ask if it was the residence certificate she referred to.

Anyone know if that is the case and if opening a BB account is a straight forward affair? I'm living here on a Non-O with a retirement extension and am married and in possession of a yellow house book.

More or less true. BB seem to be the only ones who mark your monthly deposit from abroad as "Intl Transfers". I think the 5500 baht is for taking out accident insurance for the privilege of them allowing you to open an account without the residence cert, which Jomtien refused to issue me with, They said they'll only issue one for a new driving license. 

Be careful though, after years of sending my money via BB, last month Wise sent it to SCB, which I also have an account with. Fortunately, I started using the 400k in the bank method a while back instead of the income method.

Hope you can decypher that ????

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Which province 

I have 3 SCB accounts in muang area of nakhon pathom...

to open a anew account in my name only I just have to show my passport.

Last account opened a month ago took 15 minutes to process.

[Red Phoenix]

17 hours ago, oobar said:

My wife recently tried to open an additional BB account and was told she would have to visit the US embassy first, for what I'm not sure.  We live in Sisaket.  Ain't flying to Bkk, rent a hotel room and deal with the embassy, spending tens of thousands of baht for this nonsense.

Most probably your bank wants a Residence Certificate which is a requirement at most Bangkok Bank branches to open an account with them.

When residing in SiSaKet on a Non Imm O based extension (like myself), the Imm Office there provides a Residence Certificate free of charge and delivered on the spot, but they require a letter requesting to provide you with such Residence Certificate from the organization that requires it. 

E.g. when you want to apply for a Thai driver's permit the DTP - a few blocks down the road from Immigration - will provide you with such a request letter (also free of charge) when simply asking for it.

So in your case, ask your Bangkok Bank whether it is indeed the Residence Certificate they need in order to open an account for your wife, and if so ask them to provide your wife with such a request letter addressed to Immigration.

[Red Phoenix]

14 hours ago, jesimps said:

Be careful though, after years of sending my money via BB, last month Wise sent it to SCB, which I also have an account with. Fortunately, I started using the 400k in the bank method a while back instead of the income method.

You must have entered your SCB-account instead of your BKB-account when using WISE for the funds transfer.  For sure, WISE will not transfer funds to a different account than the one you ordered them to.

[lopburi3]

 

15 hours ago, jesimps said:

Be careful though, after years of sending my money via BB, last month Wise sent it to SCB, which I also have an account with.

They ask account during online process - suspect you have more than one account on record and did not make the right choice (they may have changed page format and you missed?).  You could still use for income if account is your name only - but might have to download transfer receipt and get confirmation from bank of international transfer.

[brianthainess]

20 hours ago, george said:

20 hours ago, Sharp said:

Opening a Thai bank comes with an apparent voluntary/mandatory insurance in approximately the amount stated

No it does not. 

It is quite a well known scam by them nation wide.

[brianthainess]

19 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Think is referring to certificate of residence obtained from immigration and used (in part) for things such as open bank account and Thai drivers license etc.

Has various cost and time to process.

For example at CW it's 200baht and takes up to 2 weeks 

 

 

 

When a friend of mine wanted to open an account with 'them' none of that was needed IF he brought the '5k insurance'

[Jaggg88]

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Think is referring to certificate of residence obtained from immigration and used (in part) for things such as open bank account and Thai drivers license etc.

Has various cost and time to process.

For example at CW it's 200baht and takes up to 2 weeks 

 

 

 

Certificates of Residency are free but my otherwise very honest immigration office charged me 500 baht, but it is available while you wait. They told me that it could not be used to open a bank account and BB told me the same but other banks were happy to accept it. A yellow book is better. 

[swerve]

Not Bangkok Bank, but I opened a Krungthai bank account about two weeks ago.  Krungthai allowed it using my passport (retirement extension of stay) and a Thai driver's licence.  Perhaps BB will do the same.  I fully agree the OP should open his own BB account to save the 5500 baht fee.

[cjinchiangrai]

On 8/10/2023 at 5:00 PM, jaywalker2 said:

I believe Thai Visa allows you to use any Thai bank

They do for legal visas. Apparently not for agent extensions though. 

[Pattaya57]

I really don't get this. Popular agent in Pattaya insists on BB too as they issue a letter saying applicant has had 800k in bank for 3 months.  How do they continue to get away with this when it's so well known and openly talked about on forums. Why no investigation on Bangkok Bank letter issuing process? 

 

[jaywalker2]

2 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

They do for legal visas. Apparently not for agent extensions though. 

That's not true. I know from personal experience.

[Inderpland]

On 8/11/2023 at 3:16 PM, OJAS said:

Assuming that your wife is Thai, are you really that skint that you can't even afford a legitimate marriage extension?

 

Assuming you live in Thailand at all are you so whipped that you'd rather go the excruciating marriage extension route than the retirement route?

 

Note to self; use the poster OJAS's post as a reminder to not EVER become one of those sad little keyboard Gollums.