15 hours ago, SongSomSoda said:

 

just follow the rules and you should be fine. 

 

 

 

Indeed. I suspect part may be language barrier.  When I opened my account visa exempt, in 2016 !! Bangkok Bank staff made it clear at that time, that i had to update my account details as soon as I obtained a proper visa, and then each time visa changed and/or passport changed, show up at the Bank for them to update their records.  I had my Thai wife with me to translate. 

 

Recently that has been updated even more re: phone numbers are now required to be verified.

 

i dare say most with  Bangkok Bank accounts don't know this (timely updates of one's passport, visa are required as Bank policy in many branches), and that their local bank branches have not made any effort to implement that policy. 

.

Update. My BBL account is back on today 25 Aug. I went to verified the account on 19 Aug. 

10 minutes ago, LespaulAN said:

Update. My BBL account is back on today 25 Aug. I went to verified the account on 19 Aug. 

 

Great to hear that. Two questions, if you don't mind:

 

Which documents did you need to provide to verify your account?

Did they notify you today that you can use your account again, or did you just try and it worked again?

3 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

Great to hear that. Two questions, if you don't mind:

 

Which documents did you need to provide to verify your account?

Did they notify you today that you can use your account again, or did you just try and it worked again?

Passport, bank book, driving license and condo contract. its at Beach road branch. They said 4-5 working days from 19 and just ask me to try banking after that. I tried a couple of days ago during the weekend it's still freezed. Today transfer works.

On 8/23/2025 at 7:24 AM, Caldera said:

On 8/23/2025 at 4:07 AM, JohnnyBD said:

It's funny. Bangkok Bank Emporium branch in BK just called, and said they been checking all the foreigners files, and they need our marriage certificate & Chanote. Seems they misplaced the ones i gave them earlier this year.

That really fills you with confidence, doesn't it?

 

On previous occasions, I was actually impressed that they still had the photocopy of my passport that I had originally used to open my account with them 20 years ago. But with all that paperwork they've collected over the years or decades, they might not see the forest for the trees. 

I went into the bank and changed my address earlier this year. I told them we bought a new condo and that we moved. I thought we gave them copies of our marriage certificate & Chanote at that time, but now I remember, my wife applied for a loan earlier this year, so that was when we gave them the docs. That's a different desk. It wasn't a problem because we live close to the bank. At least they called and didn't freeze my accounts.

On 8/21/2025 at 5:34 PM, Crossy said:

 

Are they asking for ALL these??

 

Ah, I see a big "3", I originally linked that to being Step 3.

 

Did you ever find out just why the locked your account??

 

No I did not. My account is still restricted with my money in it. I was told to wait at least 7 working days. 

Hi Everyone,

 

Trying to understand the true meaning of this part of the document (please see photo) I signed that is supposedly tying up my 400,000 baht for 4 months from the date they issued the letter needed for my extension.  It is in a CD.  Does this mean I cannot access this money at all or that I lose the interest on the CD if I take it out.  Does this mean if I don't keep it in there, they will invalidate the letter they gave me possibly endangering my extension (can't see that being the case)?  My intention is to remove the 400k after I get me extension stamp.  I guess the worse they could do is ask me to remove my account which I have had with them for over 21 years.  Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am having problems with making international transfers TO my SCB account.  what is the correct  BIC code to use for SCB ? Search engines (Chat/Google) say ''use SICOTHBKXXX or SICOTHBKTSD'' neither work. should i be adding my branch code - despite the fact that the search results say you do not need to do that, because some branches do not have codes. My branch savings account does show a 4 digit code.  

56 minutes ago, paddypower said:

Hi, I am having problems with making international transfers TO my SCB account.  what is the correct  BIC code to use for SCB ? Search engines (Chat/Google) say ''use SICOTHBKXXX or SICOTHBKTSD'' neither work. should i be adding my branch code - despite the fact that the search results say you do not need to do that, because some branches do not have codes. My branch savings account does show a 4 digit code.  

I use SICOTHBKXXX and it works for me. My bank is Chase Bank.

On 8/24/2025 at 2:47 AM, Lorry said:

Just as I thought.  My home country is extremely bureaucratic (and quite xenophobic), but it would be unheard of for a bank to ask for the rental agreement of its customers.  Neither for a marriage certificate for authorized users of an account - the authorization is the important thing,  my personal relationship to the authorized person is none of the bank's business. 

 

There are no laws in Thailand requiring these things.  This is just making up ways to harass the most vulnerable customers,  foreigners. 

I smelled this attitude at BBL years ago, staff and forms were sometimes a bit off.  

I am glad I left them. After all, I am one of those criminals who dared to open an account on a visa waiver, by now I would "shiver with anticipation" of what might happen to my money. 

 

Why do Thais think foreigners want to rent somewhere and stay in that one place? Why not travel around, staying in different hotels. Is there something wrong with doing that and having a bank account at the same time? It’s ridiculous. 

52 minutes ago, Everyman said:

 

Why do Thais think foreigners want to rent somewhere and stay in that one place? Why not travel around, staying in different hotels. Is there something wrong with doing that and having a bank account at the same time? It’s ridiculous. 

There have been posters on AN who posted "only a criminal needs a bank account"

Why should Thais be smarter?

20 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I use SICOTHBKXXX and it works for me. My bank is Chase Bank.

i got great service by phoning the international dept in Bangkok. the BIC they gave me was BICOTHBK.  I will update, after trying this code.

24 minutes ago, paddypower said:

i got great service by phoning the international dept in Bangkok. the BIC they gave me was BICOTHBK.  I will update, after trying this code.

Maybe BIC and SWIFT are different types of transfers with different codes. I use SWIFT, and my code is SICOTHBKXXX. 

Just an update:  day 8, my account is still restricted.  

13 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

Just an update:  day 8, my account is still restricted.  

If you aren't money laundering don't worry, could be up to 2 weeks

48 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

Just an update:  day 8, my account is still restricted.  

 

I think they count business days, not that it makes it any better. 

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

If you aren't money laundering don't worry, could be up to 2 weeks

What is your source?  I have no idea about money laundering. This frozen money stayed in the account for almost 2 years.

52 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

I think they count business days, not that it makes it any better. 

My rental payment date is closer and closer. And many other expenses are on the way too. 

6 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

What is your source?  I have no idea about money laundering. This frozen money stayed in the account for almost 2 years.

Common sense and reading comments on social media 

On 8/25/2025 at 2:00 PM, Hellfire said:

My account is still restricted.....

Sorry, but English isn't my native language. But "restricted" means that some functions are possible. So  hasn't been frozen?

8 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Common sense and reading comments on social media 

Well, hardly a source one could rely on. My worst guess is that they’ll just keep playing games with their customers, coming up with yet another round of exotic and absurd document requests before people can get their accounts unlocked.

16 minutes ago, Fabio1980 said:

Sorry, but English isn't my native language. But "restricted" means that some functions are possible. So  hasn't been frozen?

 I use words like restricted, closed, frozen... The most important part here is that I don't have access to the money in my account. I could not care less about their games if there was no any money in the account.

45 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

My rental payment date is closer and closer. And many other expenses are on the way too. 

 

Putting all your eggs in one basket can be a problem, in the land of frowns.

Maybe have 2 or 3 accounts with different named  banks.  

 

Can somebody here comment on the next possible solution for my problem (I saw a video about it on youtube). What if I come to my Bangkok Bank branch and demand to close my account and then transfer all my balance to another bank? Will they be able to refuse doing this for me? And if so - will that be legal?

Did you went to the original branch to verify? If so, could you just wait a bit more? any number to contact? I got my back on after 6 days.

 

2 hours ago, Hellfire said:

Well, hardly a source one could rely on. My worst guess is that they’ll just keep playing games with their customers, coming up with yet another round of exotic and absurd document requests before people can get their accounts unlocked.

why would they, makes no sense to do that. They are doing what they are doing because of money laundering, mule accounts and dodgy 800k in and outs

1 hour ago, Hellfire said:

Can somebody here comment on the next possible solution for my problem (I saw a video about it on youtube). What if I come to my Bangkok Bank branch and demand to close my account and then transfer all my balance to another bank? Will they be able to refuse doing this for me? And if so - will that be legal?

 

Yeah they can refuse since your funds are frozen. 

41 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

why would they, makes no sense to do that. They are doing what they are doing because of money laundering, mule accounts and dodgy 800k in and outs

Are not you afraid that your account may be frozen too and for the same reasons listed by you? Because I know for sure I never laundered money, never used my account as a mule account and that my 800k was always on my account when I applied for visa.  And still they have frozen my account. I think it is called a "presumption of guilt". You are guilty until proven otherwise. 

On 8/19/2025 at 12:05 PM, Hellfire said:

Yes

 

The bank notified you? Why would the bank care about your extension? 

 

Why frozen??! Are you Ukrainian? 

 

 

 

* Sorry about your loss in the war

12 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

Are not you afraid that your account may be frozen too and for the same reasons listed by you? Because I know for sure I never laundered money, never used my account as a mule account and that my 800k was always on my account when I applied for visa.  And still they have frozen my account. I think it is called a "presumption of guilt". You are guilty until proven otherwise. 

Not worried at all, i have 3 bank accounts, guess why? in case of problems down the line