I extend each year based on original non-Imm OA visa (66K/month method). Before last year it all went easily. But last year getting the necessary docs from Bangkok Bank branch (letter of ownership, 12 months of statements and 12 credit advices for the 12 monthly transfers) took a much longer time than usual and came incorrect the first time, resulting in a lot of last minute stress.

My current extension ends at the very end of June.

1) Can I renew the extension any time in June (that is, up to a month before the due date)?

2) How far in advance of the appointment at Chiang Watthana TI can the necessary docs from the bank be dated? (I'd like to go to Bangkok Bank and set things in motion as early as possible but don't want them rejected for being "too early").

Thanks

At CW you can apply for extension up to 45 days ahead of the expiry of the current one.

Bank letters, account activity statements can be prepared ahead of extension. Some reports indicate up to seven days ahead of extension day, but I'd suggest not cutting it that close, just a few business days prior is perhaps the 'safer' route.

At CW application can be made up to 45 days prior to stamp expiry.

Appointments have a 30 day window opening.

Slots are added each new day however often not available.

CW accepts 12 month bank statement along with Bank Letter obtained days prior to application.

On day of application bank book needs to be updated. I do that via 100b deposit.

Should not be an issue even with using BBL.

Do not try bank statement using bank app.

Obtain from bank.

OP, you had recent related thread and did not add one reply.

Don't waste folk time.

Just now, rwilem said:

Some reports indicate up to seven days ahead of extension day, but I'd suggest not cutting it that close, just a few business days prior is perhaps the 'safer' route.

That is correct. Valid for 7 days but makes sense to obtain day or two prior.

Obviously BBL bit different as they do not provide 12 month bank statement on the spot.

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That is correct. Valid for 7 days but makes sense to obtain day or two prior.

Obviously BBL bit different as they do not provide 12 month bank statement on the spot.

Thanks for the replies. It was the 12 months of bank statements that was the problem last time. The branch said it would take 3 days to come from headquarters but it took well over a week, not in time for the appointment I'd made weeks before. Guess there's no choice but to take one's chances.

3 hours ago, JTPR1 said:

The branch said it would take 3 days to come from headquarters but it took well over a week, not in time for the appointment I'd made weeks before

Because it's Bangkok Bank perhaps a good working MO is to go to the branch and put in the 'order' for the 12-months activity statement, say 8 or 9 days before the day you plan on doing the extension. That's about the earliest you might want to do it. (You know, you assume it could take 10 days and then it comes back in three, ha!)

Then return to the branch the day prior to 'extension day', to get the account ownership/balance letter and pickup the activity statement at the same time.

Oh, and maybe it's worth considering to use a different branch this time around, given what you report happened last year.

I read somewhere , that somebody was using BBL and there office accepted 12 monthly bank statements .
On the spot statements every month , no waiting for days.
I don't know if CW would allow , don't see why not , might be worth looking into .

33 minutes ago, NE1 said:

there office accepted 12 monthly bank statements

Some offices do accept consecutive 6-month statements which BBL branches can (and do) issue on the spot. Not sure whether CW are one of them, though, since they're not my office. But clearly something for the OP to bear in mind for the future if they do.

Edited May 11May 11 by OJAS

6 hours ago, JTPR1 said:

Thanks for the replies. It was the 12 months of bank statements that was the problem last time. The branch said it would take 3 days to come from headquarters but it took well over a week, not in time for the appointment I'd made weeks before. Guess there's no choice but to take one's chances.

The way I get around this same issue is that I order a 11 month statement approximately 1 month before I do my extension. The day before I apply I go to the bank to get my letter and the statement for the last month which they can print out immediately.

Some good ideas about go-arounds for the monthly statements. Thanks.

18 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

On day of application bank book needs to be updated. I do that via 100b deposit.

Should not be an issue even with using BBL.

Do not try bank statement using bank app.

Obtain from bank.

Trying to understand.

For CW immigration.

Why do you advise against requesting and printing out the bank statement using the App. ( More services, Request Account Statement)? [I understand you may to request the statement one month prior and month of Immigration visit.

May 2025 Chonburi Immigration accepted the printed bank statement since I don't update my bank book frequently.

3 minutes ago, J Branche said:

May 2025 Chonburi Immigration accepted the printed bank statement since I don't update my bank book frequently

Bank statement from app presumably do not have the bank stamp and teller signature as per 12 month bank statement obtained from bank branch.

Fortunately banks (other than BBL) can produce statement on the spot.

200b

Chonburi accepted them that's fine

Suggest they should not have..

Ok, so possible to try to bring it when obtaining the account verification and balance letter. See if Bangkok Bank would stamp and sign it.

Or for people with Bank Branches without a 1 hour or more Queue go 1 week early and request it

Note when going to a bank branch other than where the account was opened the Bank Employee stated they can only see account history up to 4 months in the past.

1 minute ago, J Branche said:

Ok, so possible to try to bring it when obtaining the account verification and balance letter. See if Bangkok Bank would stamp and sign it.

First up bank should not endorse anything you provide off a app print out.

The fact that BBL customers order their 12 month bank statement from bank and that can take up to 7 days implies app print outs should not be acceptable to immigration.

I'm surprised folk even use BBL..

7 hours ago, NE1 said:

I read somewhere , that somebody was using BBL and there office accepted 12 monthly bank statements .
On the spot statements every month , no waiting for days.
I don't know if CW would allow , don't see why not , might be worth looking into .

Expensive (even if it did work). Bank usually charges 200 baht for a statement (3 or 6 mths printed locally or 12 mths from HO). So 2400 baht for monthly statements is a bit silly don't you think.

14 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

First up bank should not endorse anything you provide off a app print out.

The fact that BBL customers order their 12 month bank statement from bank and that can take up to 7 days implies app print outs should not be acceptable to immigration.

I'm surprised folk even use BBL..

Bangkok Bank Jomtien by Immigration was easy to open 4 years ago. This was back in Dec 2022.

Smile, 15 minutes later all was done and walking out. Now for teller services even in May after high season Queue can be an hour or more.

I agree, going to start looking at alternative banks that are more customer friendly. Bangkok Bank Locked 800k for 4 months even though I've always been in compliance with Immigration requirements.

Edited May 11May 11 by J Branche

1 hour ago, J Branche said:

Bangkok Bank Locked 800k for 4 months even though I've always been in compliance with Immigration requirements.

When I read these reports re BBL still cannot believe this actually accurs.

Seems a bank imposing ridiculous random rule related to immigration requirements.

Cannot imagine that happening in a "normal country".

Surprising hasn't even made Thai financial news.

I moved from BBL to SCB because after umpteen years of BBL just having to photo copy my bank book , then stamp and sign said copies , the new Immigration chief in Ratchaburi said he would not accept it and a years statement was now required .

After several trips to and from from Immi to my local bank I had had enough .
Bank told me it would take X days for a yearly statement to arrive , which would put me outside my extension date.
Totally stressed out .

Edited May 12May 12 by NE1

5 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Bank told me it would take X days for a yearly statement to arrive , which would put me outside my extension date.

Surely you were aware that unlike other banks BBL can take days to provide 12 month bank statement.

Plan extension around that.

4 hours ago, J Branche said:

I agree, going to start looking at alternative banks that are more customer friendly. Bangkok Bank Locked 800k for 4 months even though I've always been in compliance with Immigration requirements.

Well you can probably kiss goodbye to any chance of being able to open a new account with Kasikorn in view of their ridiculous newish requirement for proof of a (non-existent in most cases) home country address:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1387709-id-card-required-to-open-new-account/

https://aseannow.com/topic/1387149-kasikorn-bank-account/

as well as Krungsri if you're knocking 70+:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1373699-too-old-for-a-krungsri-banking-app/

This just leaves SCB and KTB as possible alternatives to BBL, I think.

On 5/11/2026 at 8:07 AM, NE1 said:

I read somewhere , that somebody was using BBL and there office accepted 12 monthly bank statements .
On the spot statements every month , no waiting for days.
I don't know if CW would allow , don't see why not , might be worth looking into .

Did my yearly extension last month at CW. I use a FD account so no statement needed, i asked again if they would accept 2. 6 month statements from my current account, said no it must be a 12 month statement not more than 7 days old, i had ordered one in the mall (Bangkok Bank) on the Saturday, and they can deliver it anywhere so i said CW, and on the Thur they had it in the CW branch, it seems the request for the 12 month statment is done by head office and posted to the branch,

Edited May 12May 12 by howerde

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

When I read these reports re BBL still cannot believe this actually accurs.

Seems a bank imposing ridiculous random rule related to immigration requirements.

Cannot imagine that happening in a "normal country".

Surprising hasn't even made Thai financial news.

Agreed, in fact I'm very surprised the likes of Pattaya, Phuket news outlets, Thaiger, haven't run articles on BBL rogue lockdown of farlang account holders money, Kasikorn's newish requirement for proof of a home country address, etc, and the unfair difficulties this is imposing on farlangs who wish to stay in Thailand yearly.

4 hours ago, NE1 said:

Bank told me it would take X days for a yearly statement to arrive , which would put me outside my extension date.
Totally stressed out

'X days'....what was the number?

You said that would put you outside your 'extension date'. You mean the expiration date of your extension?

If you were told a week-which is standard for BBL-that's seven days. Was 'X' = seven, or greater than seven?

Extensions can be applied for anywhere from 30-45 days ahead of the date the current one expires, drpending on the office.

Just a good rule of thumb is to apply for the extension early in that period. Especially for those needing to order a 12-month statement from BBL leaving the extension application till near the end is risky.

You don't gain anything by doing the extension near the end of the period. Meaning you don't 'lose days' for the next extension period by doing it early. Also gives a cushion in case issues arise where you're asked to return with additional docs you may not have in hand.

28 minutes ago, rwilem said:

'X days'....what was the number?

You said that would put you outside your 'extension date'. You mean the expiration date of your extension?

If you were told a week-which is standard for BBL-that's seven days. Was 'X' = seven, or greater than seven?

Extensions can be applied for anywhere from 30-45 days ahead of the date the current one expires, drpending on the office.

Just a good rule of thumb is to apply for the extension early in that period. Especially for those needing to order a 12-month statement from BBL leaving the extension application till near the end is risky.

You don't gain anything by doing the extension near the end of the period. Meaning you don't 'lose days' for the next extension period by doing it early. Also gives a cushion in case issues arise where you're asked to return with additional docs you may not have in hand.

I think it was 7 working days , my rule of thumb was to apply for my extension roughly 4 or 5 days before the extension expiry date.
But with the second new regime to take over my Immi office in 4 years , things unpredictably change and sometimes revert back to the old regime.
I have never needed a yearly statement for my extension , just bank book pages copied , stamped and signed by BBL.
So to make sure it doesn't happen again I changed banks.

Edited May 12May 12 by NE1

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Surely you were aware that unlike other banks BBL can take days to provide 12 month bank statement.

Plan extension around that.

No I wasn't because I have never needed one , please read the post.

1 hour ago, NE1 said:

But with the second new regime to take over my Immi office in 4 years , things unpredictably change and sometimes revert back to the old regime.

Fair point, and you've experienced it. Not withstanding the 30/45 days ahead of expiration to apply for another extension there's been at least one report here of applicants at Jomtien showing up to extend and being told to return when there's a week left on the permitted to stay stamp. Things can change on a dime for no rhyme or reason.

1 hour ago, NE1 said:

So to make sure it doesn't happen again I changed banks.

Understandable response.

That said, I still think it's advantageous to extend early. And even if the plusses aren't all that obvious, the feeling of 'just get this sucker done and out of the way early' is good. If there are surprises better to have them early rather than late.

Edited May 12May 12 by rwilem

1 hour ago, NE1 said:

No I wasn't because I have never needed one , please read the post.

I did read your post and find it surprising that you waited till last 5 or so days to apply for extension.

You can apply up to 30 days prior to expiry (45 at some offices)

Why do people leave it till last few days.

Your experience is good example of what not to do.

1 hour ago, rwilem said:

.....there's been at least one report here of applicants at Jomtien showing up to extend and being told to return when there's a week left on the permitted to stay stamp

Think you will find that stunt was being done by Jomtien for 30 day extensions not 12 month extensions.

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Why do people leave it till last few days.

Your experience is good example of what not to do.

Thought you would have to have the last word .
You may have taken Ubon Joe's mantle but you are certainly not as diplomatic as he was.
He gave advice , and didn't tell people what to do.

Edited May 12May 12 by NE1

2 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Thought you would have to have the last word

"Last word" was not point scoring.

Pointing out to others that leaving annual extension to last minute is just poor planning.

That's why the window for renewal is 30/45 days prior to expiry of current stamp.

The 12 months dates from current expiry and not application date.

Common sense really to apply early.. ish