Bank printout must show every transaction?

[Hokeus]

11 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

In case you have one Thai Bank-Account where you keep the required funds to meet the financial requirements for your Non Imm O  or O-A retirement based Permission to stay, it is indeed recommended to open a 2nd bank-account solely for  Immigration purposes.  Opening a Fixed Deposit Account would be the logical choice for such dedicated Bank-Account for immigration purposes.

However, to avoid slipping under the 800K tresshold (which is the minimum amount required during the first 3 months and last 2 months of the Non Imm O retirement based Permission to stay), it is recommended to transfer the funds in two steps. 

Once you are over the 3 month period in which +800K is required and it is allowed to lower to 400K, you can transfer a first batch of 405K from your original account to the new FD account (while ensuring that you stay well over 400K on your original account).  Then wait a couple of days and once the 405K has been confirmed on that new FD-Account, then in course of the following days transfer 400K, so that you now have a balance of 805.000,- THB on that FD-account. 

This avoids that you temporary would not be meeting the tresshold fund requirement while your 'funds are in cyber-space' between the moment of transfer and arrival. 

 

 

That is good information. I always wondered how you would be able to switch bank accounts if you ever wanted to and without falling below the threshold in the process.

 

I guess the easiest thing to do, assuming you have all your money in one account at the moment, would be to withdraw everything except 805,000 Baht from the account and then start a second account to use for your daily purchases. This way the balance in the original account never falls below the 800K and you don't have to do any fancy financial moves to maintain the threshold.

 

TBH, I never saw much value though in tying up the money in a FD account for the 800K Baht. I guess for some people who really want the interest it is OK, but it only pays around 2.25% interest and then minus the 15% withholding tax for foreigners and it doesn't leave you with that much, maybe around 15,000 Baht per year in interest after taxes. Meanwhile, a regular savings account will give you 1.5% interest, minus the 15% withholding tax which is a net of about 10,000 Baht after tax. So it is a difference of only around 5,000 Baht a year between a savings and a FD account. Maybe enough of a difference for some, but I rather not have it tied up in an FD for a difference of only 5,000 Baht.

[chilly07]

Immigration only want to see incoming FTTs. I obtain Credit Advices for FTTs then give them back to my bank to certify for Immigration 

[KannikaP]

7 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

I take the final page of the statement to the bank for them to stamp and sign

My Bangkok Bank will not stamp or sign any paper which they have not printed themselves.

Makes sense  (to them)

[Red Phoenix]

53 minutes ago, Hokeus said:

 

That is good information. I always wondered how you would be able to switch bank accounts if you ever wanted to and without falling below the threshold in the process.

 

I guess the easiest thing to do, assuming you have all your money in one account at the moment, would be to withdraw everything except 805,000 Baht from the account and then start a second account to use for your daily purchases. This way the balance in the original account never falls below the 800K and you don't have to do any fancy financial moves to maintain the threshold.

 

TBH, I never saw much value though in tying up the money in a FD account for the 800K Baht. I guess for some people who really want the interest it is OK, but it only pays around 2.25% interest and then minus the 15% withholding tax for foreigners and it doesn't leave you with that much, maybe around 15,000 Baht per year in interest after taxes. Meanwhile, a regular savings account will give you 1.5% interest, minus the 15% withholding tax which is a net of about 10,000 Baht after tax. So it is a difference of only around 5,000 Baht a year between a savings and a FD account. Maybe enough of a difference for some, but I rather not have it tied up in an FD for a difference of only 5,000 Baht.

Opening a Fixed Deposit Account to keep the required funds for Immigration purposes, instead of an additional Savings Account is not only a matter of the 'peanut' difference in interest. 

It also has the advantage that with an FD Account you cannot accidentally slip under the 800K tresshold, because that account does not come with a debet-card and to make any transactions on the FD Account that needs to be done in person at the Bank (or on-line if you opted for that, which I didn't ).  There are many posts on the Forum of members that were faced with a short dip on their sole Thai bank-account (either by accident doing it themselves of their spouses using their debit-card).  And that forced them to start the Non Imm O Visa application process from scratch again.

Personally I never touch the +800K on my FD-account, except one a year when I withdraw a couple of 1000 Bath (the interest the account provided) to update the account and then request my Bank-branche to provide me with the Bank-Account statement and 1-year Bank Transactions statement.  I simply consider that 'sleeping' +800K THB on the account as a kind of insurance, that can be used in case of urgent need.  

Each to his own of course, but doing so means I don't have any worries about not meeting the financial requirement. 

Edited February 26 by Red Phoenix

[Hokeus]

46 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

Opening a Fixed Deposit Account to keep the required funds for Immigration purposes, instead of an additional Savings Account is not only a matter of the 'peanut' difference in interest. 

It also has the advantage that with an FD Account you cannot accidentally slip under the 800K tresshold, because that account does not come with a debet-card and to make any transactions on the FD Account that needs to be done in person at the Bank (or on-line if you opted for that, which I didn't ).  There are many posts on the Forum of members that were faced with a short dip on their sole Thai bank-account (either by accident doing it themselves of their spouses using their debit-card).  And that forced them to start the Non Imm O Visa application process from scratch again.

Personally I never touch the +800K on my FD-account, except one a year when I withdraw a couple of 1000 Bath (the interest the account provided) to update the account and then request my Bank-branche to provide me with the Bank-Account statement and 1-year Bank Transactions statement.  I simply consider that 'sleeping' +800K THB on the account as a kind of insurance, that can be used in case of urgent need.  

Each to his own of course, but doing so means I don't have any worries about not meeting the financial requirement. 

I do the same at present, but with a passbook savings account. The account has no ATM card. Occasionally I login and check the balance using the mobile banking app to make sure the money is still there and in the app I have also disabled all withdrawals on the account. So no money can actually be withdrawn intentionally or accidentally and there is no ATM card which would render any charges to the account. So it's fine. I also keep 815K in the account just to be sure there are no accidents on the balance amount. It's probably a bit more than I need, but it's OK.

[Hokeus]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

My Bangkok Bank will not stamp or sign any paper which they have not printed themselves.

Makes sense  (to them)

Yes, most Thai banks won't stamp, sign, or certify and document that was not printed by their own systems. I don't blame them in a way. Extra liability they don't need. 

[LikeItHot]

I keep two accounts. One gets my 65k baht every month and then I transfer it all out to my other account that I use for everything else.  Immigration wants to see my foreign monthly transfers and that's all they get. On one page. 

Edited February 26 by LikeItHot