Background: I use the 800,000 baht in the bank method to extend my Non-B for retirement every year. The account I use for the 800,000 (hereafter referred to as "in person account") requires me to attend in person with my passport for any transaction, as it was set up for US Social Security direct deposits and that was the requirement. I have a second account (hereafter referred to as ATM account) I use for ATM and regular debit card transactions. Both accounts are with Bangkok Bank. The immigration office I use is Chaengwattana.

Problem: Each month I go to Bangkok Bank and withdraw my monthly social security deposit from the in person account and deposit it in the ATM account. This last time, the teller took both passbooks and mistakenly printed a page of transactions from my ATM account book into my in person account book. The teller caught it immediately and drew a penciled line through the mistakenly printed transactions and put their bank stamp on it. Meanwhile, the bank copied the transactions mistakenly printed and pasted them into the ATM account book. The mistakenly printed transactions not only show a balance below 800,000 but below 400,000 (it was about one page worth of transactions). What problems can I expect to encounter at Chaengwattana when I go to extend my retirement visa in August? I'll go ahead and ask for one year bank statements from Bangkok Bank for both accounts and have them on hand, if needed. Is that enough? Or should I ask for a letter from the bank and would Bangkok Bank be willing to write one? Anybody else have a similar problem?

43 minutes ago, John Drake said:

I'll go ahead and ask for one year bank statements from Bangkok Bank for both accounts and have them on hand, if needed. Is that enough?

That's exactly what I would do in your situation.

The 12 month bank statement for the "in person" account would be sufficient if the statement does not include the fictitious transactions (the bank error) .

We all do things differently. Find your set up bit strange in having to "in person" account without an ATM card.

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

That's exactly what I would do in your situation.

The 12 month bank statement for the "in person" account would be sufficient if the statement does not include the fictitious transactions (the bank error) .

We all do things differently. Find your set up bit strange in having to "in person" account without an ATM card.

Thanks. The "in person" account was a requirement of the US government in order to get my US social security direct deposited into my account. At least that was the requirement when I set it up in 2017. That is why I took out a second account that allowed me to use the ATM/debit card. I already had a third account at SCB, which my former Thai employer required, but I wanted to handle things in one place when possible.

Added thought.

For the sake of 200b suggest you obtain a 12 month bank statement for the "ATM account" also.

Off topic: since you receive monthly transfers from USA you could consider using income method.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Added thought.

For the sake of 200b suggest you obtain a 12 month bank statement for the "ATM account" also.

Off topic: since you receive monthly transfers from USA you could consider using income method.

Yes, I'll get 12 month statements for both accounts as well as photocopies of both passbooks. Thanks.

I have BKB but accounts are ATM account receives monthly pension while the other account is just for the 800K. I add a little to the 800K account every year so that the account stays 'active'. Is it not possible for you to advise income source to switch account numbers so that you have the problem again?

Perhaps next time complete one transaction before starting the other one.

21 minutes ago, rwill said:

Perhaps next time complete one transaction before starting the other one.

In fact, I withheld the second passbook until I thought the teller had completed the withdrawal for transfer. She asked for the second passbook and then printed out the transactions.

25 minutes ago, parallelman said:

I have BKB but accounts are ATM account receives monthly pension while the other account is just for the 800K. I add a little to the 800K account every year so that the account stays 'active'. Is it not possible for you to advise income source to switch account numbers so that you have the problem again?

The income source is US social security, which specified the conditions in which the account had to operate back in 2017. As the social security agent in Manila told me on the phone at the time, Bangkok Bank was the Thai bank through which SSA operated. Among the benefits, they said, was a better exchange rate and no fees, which for the past nine years I have found to be accurate claims.

16 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Off topic: since you receive monthly transfers from USA you could consider using income method.

@John Drake - are these coded FTT in your BBL "in person" account passbook, though?

10 minutes ago, OJAS said:

@John Drake - are these coded FTT in your BBL "in person" account passbook, though?

Good question. Glad you brought it up. In fact, no, it is not coded FTT. It used to be but a couple of years ago, it changed to TPP in the coding. I think there were a couple of topics about the change in the Banking forum. Whatever the reason for the change, whereas I once had to wait a day or so before receiving the SSA deposit from the US, I now get it the same day the deposit is made, usually a little before noon.

If this happened to me I would get the last months statement for each account to see if this transaction was recorded correctly in their system. They can print out the statements while you wait. With the ATM account you should be able to have a statement emailed to you. I’ve requested statements through the Bangkok Bank app. On the main screen look under “other services”.

At least here in Chiang Rai, immigration looks at the 12 month bank statement even though they also get a copy of my bank book. One year the entries in my bank book were messed up and it wasn’t an issue since the bank statement was correct.

20 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That's exactly what I would do in your situation.

The 12 month bank statement for the "in person" account would be sufficient if the statement does not include the fictitious transactions (the bank error) .

We all do things differently. Find your set up bit strange in having to "in person" account without an ATM card.

Originally when set up it would have been coming from Bangkok Bank NY, you could not get an ATM card with this account. I am in the same position but he should have kept the 800,000 in the non SS account.

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

The income source is US social security, which specified the conditions in which the account had to operate back in 2017. As the social security agent in Manila told me on the phone at the time, Bangkok Bank was the Thai bank through which SSA operated. Among the benefits, they said, was a better exchange rate and no fees, which for the past nine years I have found to be accurate claims.

Do your transfers still come with the FTT code, in March of last year the code changed and I now have to get monthly credit advices. It comes in as a Prompt pay code but is still getting sent through Bangkok Bank NY

48 minutes ago, flexomike said:

Do your transfers still come with the FTT code, in March of last year the code changed and I now have to get monthly credit advices.

This probably won't help, however..

My Thai bank is Kasikorn.

I transfer every month using WISE and for extension (income method) I ask for the 12 month bank statement to be in Thai language.

The Thai script above the transfer states "funds from abroad"

CW accepted that.

The OP is using money in bank method so proof of foreign transfer is not required.

22 hours ago, John Drake said:

Problem: Each month I go to Bangkok Bank and withdraw my monthly social security deposit from the in person account and deposit it in the ATM account.

This will not solve your instant problem – I however agreen in that a bank statement will clearly show the balance without the printed error in the bank book – but in future do separate you 800k baht deposit account from other transactions; i.e. have your monthly transfer made directly into your ATM-account. In that way you always have a clean 800k baht deposit, and also makes it easy for the immigration officer to check.

14 minutes ago, khunPer said:

In that way you always have a clean 800k baht deposit, and also makes it easy for the immigration officer to check.

Or even better use income method and have no need to maintain the 800k in low interest Thai bank account.

19 hours ago, John Drake said:

Yes, I'll get 12 month statements for both accounts as well as photocopies of both passbooks. Thanks.

I would not over think it to much, not to be confused with having some expected anxiety about the situation. I think you've got it in hand with the bank statement, after all it was just a bank error, can't be the first time immigration has seen such a thing !!

I also use CW and have found them very understanding, letting me slide when they wanted changes to the supporting documents, asking me to provide them next year.

I think you'll be fine

2 hours ago, flexomike said:

Do your transfers still come with the FTT code, in March of last year the code changed and I now have to get monthly credit advices. It comes in as a Prompt pay code but is still getting sent through Bangkok Bank NY

No. They are coded as TPP now, instead of FTT.

23 hours ago, John Drake said:

Background: I use the 800,000 baht in the bank method to extend my Non-B for retirement every year. The account I use for the 800,000 (hereafter referred to as "in person account") requires me to attend in person with my passport for any transaction, as it was set up for US Social Security direct deposits and that was the requirement. I have a second account (hereafter referred to as ATM account) I use for ATM and regular debit card transactions. Both accounts are with Bangkok Bank. The immigration office I use is Chaengwattana.

Problem: Each month I go to Bangkok Bank and withdraw my monthly social security deposit from the in person account and deposit it in the ATM account. This last time, the teller took both passbooks and mistakenly printed a page of transactions from my ATM account book into my in person account book. The teller caught it immediately and drew a penciled line through the mistakenly printed transactions and put their bank stamp on it. Meanwhile, the bank copied the transactions mistakenly printed and pasted them into the ATM account book. The mistakenly printed transactions not only show a balance below 800,000 but below 400,000 (it was about one page worth of transactions). What problems can I expect to encounter at Chaengwattana when I go to extend my retirement visa in August? I'll go ahead and ask for one year bank statements from Bangkok Bank for both accounts and have them on hand, if needed. Is that enough? Or should I ask for a letter from the bank and would Bangkok Bank be willing to write one? Anybody else have a similar problem?

My setup in Phuket is I have an ATM account where I can take cash out from an ATM or buy stuff online via my phone app, it is Bangkok Bank. I have used them for decades now.

My state pension and the rental income I get from the UK is paid into a UK bank account in the UK, I then transfer money over using the Wise-App to cover the 800k deposit into the Bangkok Bank account when I need it, I also put in extra to live on.

The max time for a transfer to arrive is one working day.

It is a very simple set up so why not have you money paid into a bank account in your home country and then transfer it yourself when needed?

In Phuket I can see the immigration officer only checks my standard bank statements for the 800k balance and does not look at the bank book statements, maybe it is different where you are.

If the one year bank statements are correct you should be OK but it is worth checking with immigration.

I print out the bank statements myself which I download online from Bangkok Bank and also copy my pass book and print those myself.

It is allowed in Phuket but maybe different elsewhere.

31 minutes ago, expat_4_life said:

I would not over think it to much, not to be confused with having some expected anxiety about the situation. I think you've got it in hand with the bank statement, after all it was just a bank error, can't be the first time immigration has seen such a thing !!

I also use CW and have found them very understanding, letting me slide when they wanted changes to the supporting documents, asking me to provide them next year.

I think you'll be fine

I'll just go in prepared. As usual, I'll just present the passbook. If they want anything else, I usually have bank statements, leases, and landlord's ownership card of the house on hand. Last year actually was the easiest I ever experienced. I had an 11am appointment but arrived a couple of hours early because I always start out for Chaengwattana from Phutthamonthon Sai 3 and that can take hours sometimes. Anyway, the lady from the document check table said, "you're so early." I told her it was okay. I didn't mind. I could wait. But she went and got the officer sitting in the next booth to go ahead and process me. She did it in about five minutes. Turned over my passport for stamping and got that back in about ten minutes. I walked in and out of Immigration in less than 20 minutes. I've never had anything happen like that before.

17 minutes ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

My setup in Phuket is I have an ATM account where I can take cash out from an ATM or buy stuff online via my phone app, it is Bangkok Bank. I have used them for decades now.

My state pension and the rental income I get from the UK is paid into a UK bank account in the UK, I then transfer money over using the Wise-App to cover the 800k deposit into the Bangkok Bank account when I need it, I also put in extra to live on.

The max time for a transfer to arrive is one working day.

It is a very simple set up so why not have you money paid into a bank account in your home country and then transfer it yourself when needed?

In Phuket I can see the immigration officer only checks my standard bank statements for the 800k balance and does not look at the bank book statements, maybe it is different where you are.

If the one year bank statements are correct you should be OK but it is worth checking with immigration.

I print out the bank statements myself which I download online from Bangkok Bank and also copy my pass book and print those myself.

It is allowed in Phuket but maybe different elsewhere.

Thanks James, but direct deposit into Bangkok Bank works faster for me and I avoid any Wise fees. American banks sometimes take days to process things. For example, I have a separate annuity transfer coming up on the 1 May that will go from TIAA to my Bank of America account. It will be Monday or Tuesday before it gets into BofA. Then, there is Wise, which now seems to take at least two days routinely to transfer from the US. It's simply more efficient and cost effective to have SSA direct deposit into Bangkok Bank.

13 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Then, there is Wise, which now seems to take at least two days routinely to transfer from the US.

Only posting this for others re WISE.

Seems some time taken for transfers from UK, USA

I transfer from Oz bank to WISE (online app) then from WISE (wallet) to Kasikorn. The Transfers are Instant.

21 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Or even better use income method and have no need to maintain the 800k in low interest Thai bank account.

...And worry about exchange rates and that there is a transfer every month. No thanks, I prefer to sleep well at night, and the about 1.5% interest is OK, the Thai consumer price index-raise is lower – March 2025 100.35; March 2026 100.27 – so I gain...👍😊

28 minutes ago, khunPer said:

No thanks, I prefer to sleep well at night, and the about 1.5% interest is OK, the Thai consumer price index-raise is lower

You could consider quick Google of eg cBus superannuation returns (average) last say 10years.

Welcome to concept of "opportunity cost"

10 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You could consider quick Google of eg cBus superannuation returns (average) last say 10years.

Welcome to concept of "opportunity cost"

Thanks for your suggestion. Luckily we are all different, and I value a good nights sleep without financial worries; I get a pretty good gain from my other invested funds. Interest difference of 800k baht in average of 4% and a Thai bank's around 1.5% is relative small in real money – 24,000 baht per year before any taxes; i.e., 2,000 baht per month which equals 3% currency deviation of 65,000 baht monthly transfer – for me not worth worrying about transfers and exchange rates. You might furthermore gain with less than 12 yealy transfers and try to pick the better times for optimal exchange rate.

22 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Thanks for your suggestion. Luckily we are all different, and I value a good nights sleep without financial worries; I get a pretty good gain from my other invested funds. Interest difference of 800k baht in average of 4% and a Thai bank's around 1.5% is relative small in real money – 24,000 baht per year before any taxes; i.e., 2,000 baht per month which equals 3% currency deviation of 65,000 baht monthly transfer – for me not worth worrying about transfers and exchange rates. You might furthermore gain with less than 12 yealy transfers and try to pick the better times for optimal exchange rate.

I, too, tend to sleep better knowing the 800,000 is in my account and I don't need to worry about transfer glitches or drops in exchange rates. I've always wanted to keep the "in person account" as well, because the only way a withdrawal or removal of funds could take place is if I go in person to the teller and present my passport. It drastically reduces the chances of fraud, theft, and scams.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Only posting this for others re WISE.

Seems some time taken for transfers from UK, USA

I transfer from Oz bank to WISE (online app) then from WISE (wallet) to Kasikorn. The Transfers are Instant.

On 4/28/2026 at 2:14 PM, John Drake said:

Thanks James, but direct deposit into Bangkok Bank works faster for me and I avoid any Wise fees. American banks sometimes take days to process things. For example, I have a separate annuity transfer coming up on the 1 May that will go from TIAA to my Bank of America account. It will be Monday or Tuesday before it gets into BofA. Then, there is Wise, which now seems to take at least two days routinely to transfer from the US. It's simply more efficient and cost effective to have SSA direct deposit into Bangkok Bank.

No problem, you have chosen the method which works best for you in your personal circumstance. 👍