Furthermore, following cessation of the scam call centres closures and the follow-up investigations regarding 'money laundering' and 'mule' account operations, which have to a lot of the shenanigans, the banks have been ordered to tighten the ID proof of customers.

 

Friday last, (5th Sept), I received a call from my Bangkok branch in Roi Et requesting more proof of my ID.
They suggested I call in branch with any documents with identification > Passport, proof of address, driving licence, Marriage certificate if applicable.
Failure to produce the requested documents by the end of the month would result in my account being closed.

 

God knows how many previous copies of my Passport ID page they'd taken, but ..............

They photocopied the ID page of my Passport, Thai driving licences, marriage corticate and marriage certification, wife's ID card, but it soon became apparent they were in particular interested in other items. They were delighted that I had a yellow Tabien Baan as proof of Thai address and pink Thai ID card, also photocopied, but it was my Immigration status and proof of my previous UK address they were more interested in.
When the girl located my transfer of stamps in my newer passport detailing the Non O (Non Immigrant status) and the current 1-year extension of stay, she smiled.
The only thing I didn't have on my person was proof of my UK address.

 

I returned home and printed off a UK bank statement with my UK address and found a letter from a UK solicitor addressed to my UK address, so returned with these.
They stated the solicitors letter was fine and copied that as proof of my overseas address.

 

There are two Bangkok bank staff members that have been relocated to Bangkok banks main office in Roi Et, to deal with these enquiries.

They stated I was amongst the first to be contacted and showed us multiple pages of A4 sheets with approx 50 foreigners names, account numbers and contact details on each page, claiming they had over 2,000 foreigners to contact having accounts with Bangkok bank in the Roi Et province.

 

These extra security checks are not isolated to just Bangkok bank (although they were the bank most affected) as my wife has been contacted by the Government Savings bank to update her ID and that of her two sons asap. I understand there are Thai groups on Facebook also complaining about Kasikorn and other banks requesting the same. Whether you will be contacted in the future greatly depends on what information and ID they currently hold about you.

 

 

2 hours ago, Liquorice said:

This is the rule he was referring to. . . . <snip>

 

Yes, I've seen that but the point I was trying to make was it's a bank instigated thing, not immigration.

 

Regarding the letter, it's interesting that some branches refuse to issue it and that's maybe what prompted the comment which kicked off this thread, and is a branch specific instruction.

19 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Yes, I've seen that but the point I was trying to make was it's a bank instigated thing, not immigration.

 

Regarding the letter, it's interesting that some branches refuse to issue it and that's maybe what prompted the comment which kicked off this thread, and is a branch specific instruction.

The mandatory letter required for Immigration is the one detailing your name, account number and balance, addressed to the Commissioner of Immigration.

The 'other' letter is not mandatory, only a preference by certain Immigration officials, who in my opinion are just being lazy.
It's very easy to identify those monthly transfers on a statement, they appear in a column of their own, titled 'deposits', or 'in'.

 

Indeed, it is a bank instigated policy, regarding the mandatory letter.

Whether a particular branch of a bank will issue a letter detailing 'just' the monthly transfers is at their discretion, as there is no requirement to supply such a letter.

6 hours ago, Liquorice said:

The only thing I didn't have on my person was proof of my UK address.

 

I returned home and printed off a UK bank statement with my UK address and found a letter from a UK solicitor addressed to my UK address, so returned with these.
They stated the solicitors letter was fine and copied that as proof of my overseas address.

I may have missed this, so apologies if I have, but what is the need for proof of an overseas address if you live in Thailand? 

What am I missing?

8 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Whether you will be contacted in the future greatly depends on what information and ID they currently hold about you.

 

And it might take them a few months or even years. No doubt a few new requirements will come up in the meantime, so once they're done, they can just start over again.

2 hours ago, topt said:

I may have missed this, so apologies if I have, but what is the need for proof of an overseas address if you live in Thailand? 

What am I missing?

I'm guessing it far to easy to just disappear living in Thailand, but if you're married to a Thai and can confirm a previous foreign address, you are considered less of a risk.
They appreciated some may no longer have an overseas address and stated it could be old previous address.
A UK driving licence would have been ideal, unfortunately mine is in the UK.

28 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

And it might take them a few months or even years. No doubt a few new requirements will come up in the meantime, so once they're done, they can just start over again.

It appears to me, they are undertaking a risk assessment of their customers.
Apart from the usual documents they tend to copy, the emphasis was on establishing my Immigration status (Non Immigrant) and long stay (extension), proof of a Thai address and previous foreign address, and if married proof of such (marriage certificate, registration certificate), which I suppose in their eyes make you less of a flight risk.

 

With over 2,000 foreigners to contact in the Roi Et Province alone holding accounts at various branches, yeah, it's going to take some time, and they've only just started.
I was the 5th foreigner to have a line drawn through their name on the list.
 

14 hours ago, Liquorice said:

and stated it could be old previous address.

 

Must this also be one in your home country? Or can it be in Thailand?

 

On 9/9/2025 at 9:45 AM, KannikaP said:

What is this proof of monthly transfer letter the post is about.

12 monthly transfers via Wise should show as International/FTT on statements and bank book.

But the immigration still require via the police order a letter of verification

Yes this is true verified by me today you cannot get a verification letter from Bangkok bank Lam Plai Mat branch, yes I have the 12 month statement showing the transfer but immigration has the police order saying they need a letter.

Bangkok Bank at no time notified me of this, they know where Im at because they rang me about the security checks, they just put a line in the sand and said no more, not a warning they were changing and saying next year its 400000 baht or nothing

It looks like my marriage visa renewal will fail because of this.

22 hours ago, treetops said:

 

Yes, I've seen that but the point I was trying to make was it's a bank instigated thing, not immigration.

 

Regarding the letter, it's interesting that some branches refuse to issue it and that's maybe what prompted the comment which kicked off this thread, and is a branch specific instruction.

No quoted to me at branch its from head office.

37 minutes ago, BillyBloggs said:

But the immigration still require via the police order a letter of verification

Sorry, crossed wires. For each bank account they want a 12 month statement, a bank book update with a recent transaction,  and a letter confirming the account is yours. Supposed to all be dated that day, although I did read that the Statement can be up to 7 days old. Yes?

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Sorry, crossed wires. For each bank account they want a 12 month statement, a bank book update with a recent transaction,  and a letter confirming the account is yours. Supposed to all be dated that day, although I did read that the Statement can be up to 7 days old. Yes?

Every IO is different.
I think the larger busier IO's permit bank statement up to 7 days old, whilst smaller IO'd may insist they are dated the same day as the application.

4 hours ago, BillyBloggs said:

Yes this is true verified by me today you cannot get a verification letter from Bangkok bank Lam Plai Mat branch, yes I have the 12 month statement showing the transfer but immigration has the police order saying they need a letter.

They will not issue the letter for Immigration if said 400K funds haven't been in the account for 4 months, unless you sign an affidavit agreeing to freeze the account for the following 4 months.

 

 

 

On 9/11/2025 at 2:12 PM, Liquorice said:

 

This is the rule he was referring to:

 

Posted previously in the Immigration forum.

 

The letter in question, is that requested detailing your name, account number, and balance, addressed for the attention of Immigration, which is requested when applying for a further extension of stay. If you use the funds method and keep the funds in the account all year, then you are unaffected.
It affects those who top up to 800K 2 months prior, and in particular those who extend based on Thai spouse which only requires 400K in the account for 2 months prior.

You are required to sign an affidavit agreeing to freeze the funds for 4 months henceforth, if the said funds haven't been in the account for the previous 4 months.

Refuse to sign the affidavit, and they refuse to issue the letter for Immigration.

 

It does not affect those using the monthly overseas income method.

 

It further has nothing to do with the letter previously posted by @bamnutsak detailing monthly overseas transfers.
Whilst some branches may be prepared to issue this type of letter, other branches have refused.

When such a letter was requested by Immigration at my bank branch, the manager flipped, phoned Immigration and told them in no uncertain terms the monthly transfers could be identified from the 12 month bank statement, and her staff were far to busy to do their job for them.
They never asked again.

It does effect the pay in monthly I cant get a letter for my marriage extension From BBK bank after paying in for the last 12 months and 2 years prior.

 

What they want is pure and simple blackmail.

 

I will be going back monday and asking for a letter of confirmation that the account is held in my name solely, if no go I will go to Buri Ram and ask. I will also open a SCB account will there to stop this crap.

I think some Bangkok Bank branches are refusing to issue the "Account Ownership Letter", unless you meet/agree to the balance limitations associated with the "money in the Bank" method.

 

I also think they, front-line reps, are confused, or the order issued by HQ was not clear?

 

This letter states that you have an account, or multiple accounts and lists your name, account number, data and balance.

 

I've obtained this letter ~ 7 times to support my ext stay/ret-income. I've also obtained it to support visa (to other countries) applications.

 

I ran into this issue a few weeks ago, where my branch refused to issue the Account Ownership Letter, but I was able to obtain it at another BBL branch.

 

Hopefully, there will be some new trip reports that update the bank account documentation requirements.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, BillyBloggs said:

It does effect the pay in monthly I cant get a letter for my marriage extension From BBK bank after paying in for the last 12 months and 2 years prior.

Well, they were just plain wrong in that respect.

On 9/13/2025 at 7:31 AM, BillyBloggs said:

I will be going back monday and asking for a letter of confirmation that the account is held in my name solely, if no go I will go to Buri Ram and ask.

 

How did you get on yesterday, in the event?

 

On 9/9/2025 at 9:03 AM, fittobethaied said:

However, what they generally do is LIE and try to CON their way through a presentation to coerce one into making these kinds of decisions.

I wouldn't make the same generalization as you stated but an employee of the green bank tried to insist I MUST deposit a minimum of 10K to open my first bank account with them.  I smiled and said "That is not true".  She resumed the paperwork and eventually deposited my 500฿ and handed me my bank book.

 

That bank had refused to open an account for me while I was still on an O visa after my Thai wife and I moved to Thailand during COVID.  I only wanted an account as backup in case of difficulties with Bangkok bank.