Opening a new bank account in Pattaya

[Finspin]

Hi everyone,

looking for advice on opening a bank account in the Pattaya area.

 

I’m a regular visitor to Pattaya over the years, but as a tourist from the UK.

I'm looking to permanently retire in Thailand in late 2024. To that end I’m arriving in Pattaya in December 23 for a 3 month ( 60+30 ) stay, living as an expat. I’ll be researching areas, condos, doctors etc

previous posts have lots of moans and groans relating to dealing with Thai banks.

So is there any best practice is opening a Thai bank account, I’m hoping to set up an account within days of my arrival. I already have a Wise account in baht with a reasonable amount on it. I’m looking to set up regular payments from the UK into such account prior to my permanent move in 2024.

Any advice would be welcome, such as best bank for an English only speaker, and accepting payments from the UK. The account would only be used for day to day expenses 

Many thanks in advance 

 

 

[Ohyesuare]

Bangkok Bank is good. I've heard that as long as you have over 30 days remaining on your permission to stay, you can open an account. That said, some branches seem to have their own rules and either might refuse or ask you to purchase expensive insurance first. If you run into issues like this, there are agents available who can help, for a fee of course. TikTok services, Mot's services, VIP VISA and I'm sure many others. There also have been crackdowns lately due to many accounts being used for illicit purposes. Wise works just fine transferring to Bangkok Bank, use it all the time. Good luck!

Edited September 12, 2023 by Ohyesuare

[scubascuba3]

The word on the street is it's very difficult to open an account on a tourist visa or visa exempt.

 

The best is Bangkok Bank 2nd road by top of soi 6. If they say cannot then see an agent as recommended above

[Mike Teavee]

Requirements for opening a Bank Account are now (Since March)

1. Need to have at least 30 days (some agents can do it with 20 days) left on your permission to stay 
2. Need a Certificate of Residency from Immigration (NB This has to include the name of the Bank that you are trying to open an account for). 

It sounds like you'll have no problem meeting the 1st requirement, not sure how hard it will be for you to get the CoR, where will you be staying during your initial 3 months? 

 

Also might be worth considering that there are currently lots of rumours about potential tightening/changes to the Retirement Visa/Extensions so might be an idea to get your Non-IMM O Visa in Dec 2023 & then hopefully you'll be "Grandfathered" in should any changes happen next year [Though there are no guarantees that there will be changes or existing holders will be grandfathered in]. 

 

 

If it were me (I hate bureaucracy & tend to err on the side of caution when things look like they could change to make my life harder) I would enter Visa Exempt (Tourist Visa will do the job just as well) & get an agent (in Pattaya Maneerat on Soi 13/2, aka Soi Post Office) to:-

1. Get a Certificate of Residency  - 500b.
2. Open a Bank Account - 3,700b (if <64, 4,700 if over), NB 500 of this stays in your account as an opening deposit so it's really 3,200/4,200b cost.  
3. Do the conversion from Visa Exempt/Tourist Visa to Non-IMM O Visa & get the 1 year extension (so good for 15 months stay) - 23,500b 

Approx. 27.5K & you're all set...

I know some people will say you can do all this for 3K (& with enough effort/determination you probably can) but I view this as part of the retirement "Setting Up" costs & so should hopefully be easy enough to budget for before you retire.  I.e. it's not like it's an unexpected 27.5K expense out of your budget when you're already retired. 

 

 

 

[Finspin]

7 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

It sounds like you'll have no problem meeting the 1st requirement, not sure how hard it will be for you to get the CoR, where will you be staying during your initial 3 months? 

My intention was to rent three different condos for one month stay each. Starting off with central Pattaya ( LK Metro) , then Jomtiem, finishing off somewhere else, haven’t decided yet.

The CoR could be an issue if I do this and would be therefore better off picking one place for 3 months.. if that were the case , I would opt for Jomtiem, probably at one of the View Talay residences 

[Finspin]

8 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Also might be worth considering that there are currently lots of rumours about potential tightening/changes to the Retirement Visa/Extensions so might be an idea to get your Non-IMM O Visa in Dec 2023 & then hopefully you'll be "Grandfathered" in should any changes happen next year [Though there are no guarantees that there will be changes or existing holders will be grandfathered in

Thanks for this, I will seriously look at this when dealing with Thai embassy in London 

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, Finspin said:

My intention was to rent three different condos for one month stay each. Starting off with central Pattaya ( LK Metro) , then Jomtiem, finishing off somewhere else, haven’t decided yet.

The CoR could be an issue if I do this and would be therefore better off picking one place for 3 months.. if that were the case , I would opt for Jomtiem, probably at one of the View Talay residences 

Assuming you have a TM30 registering you at the address (agent or owner should provide this) then I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting a CoR if renting for 1 month… just provide your contract / AirBnB receipt - make sure you know/state which Bank you need the CoR for. 
 

Again, If it this were me, I would take any doubt/hassle out of it by getting an Agent to do it for me,  costs 200b more but that’s cheaper than a Bolt Central Pattaya to/from Jomtien IO.