I was in my local TTB bank, yesterday, getting the account verification letter for my extension application. I was told that the branch was to become one of the pilot scheme branches, whereby it will become 'paperless' and will no longer provide such a letter. The change in policy is imminent.

I foresee that this will cause problems if Immigration still insists on the letter being issued on the application date, after a transaction has been made.

It is likely that any account statement or letter will have to be obtained from a branch that has not gone 'paperless'. 12-month statements, for those of us using the monthly income method, have to come from Head Office anyway so might not be affected. Rather depends on exactly what 'paperless' actually means. If a branch no longer even has a printer and what comes from Head Office to the branch is a digital file then how is this going to work?

Maybe Immigration will modify their system - but don't hold your breath on that score!

I'd request a letter from the branch confirming that in future they are unable to offer the letter requested by Immigration, and present it to Immigration for their reaction.
I suspect they'll tell you to change banks.

Unless all banks decide to go paperless, then and only then would Immigration be forced to change the requirement.

4 hours ago, Liquorice said:

I'd request a letter from the branch confirming that in future they are unable to offer the letter requested by Immigration, and present it to Immigration for their reaction.
I suspect they'll tell you to change banks.

Unless all banks decide to go paperless, then and only then would Immigration be forced to change the requirement.

If he bank doesn't tell you what is going on - and TTB have not done so - you could easily get caught out. Not a lot of use trying to change banks when you already made payments to the one that is now refusing to cooperate with Immigration requirements.

Allegedly, opening a new bank account here, as a foreigner, is not easy! Never was and you generally had to shop around a bit. Seems to have become worse in recent years.

I have had a TTB account for more than 20 years and they have been pretty good. I also have a Kasikorn account but don't really use it. Maybe I should remit my monthly transfers to there, instead.

4 minutes ago, doctormann said:

If he bank doesn't tell you what is going on - and TTB have not done so - you could easily get caught out. Not a lot of use trying to change banks when you already made payments to the one that is now refusing to cooperate with Immigration requirements.

TTB are trialing the paperless bank system at designated branches as you previously stated.
You can obtain statements and the Immigration letter from any other branch not trialing the new system.

If you have an extension and either COR or yellow Tabien Baan, then many banks will open a new account.
Only Bangkok bank and Kasikorn are requesting additional proof of a present or past overseas address.

16 minutes ago, doctormann said:

I have had a TTB account for more than 20 years and they have been pretty good. I also have a Kasikorn account but don't really use it. Maybe I should remit my monthly transfers to there, instead.

Don't follow your thread.

You state that you already have K bank account and ramble about more difficult to open bank a/c

Your issue with TTB may be lost in translation thing.

In any event change banks

1 hour ago, Liquorice said:

TTB are trialing the paperless bank system at designated branches as you previously stated.
You can obtain statements and the Immigration letter from any other branch not trialing the new system.

My thought, too. You don't need to go to your home branch to get that paperwork.

Edited June 23Jun 23 by Caldera

TTB Branches are like hen's teeth where I am. I used to use a quite good one but they closed that and moved my account to a much more inconvenient branch. The degree of incompetence is outstanding! Took two goes to get them to obtain the 12-month statement from HO and even then they got the issue date wrong. The account certification letter that they produced was not in a format acceptable to immigration - had to get that from a different branch.

My comment on the difficulty of opening a bank account here does not relate to my situation as i already have two accounts here. It was only a reflection of what many members have reported when trying to open new accounts.

Anyway, my extension is now approved so I'm good for another year. Hopefully, things will be a bit clearer by this time next year.

I also encountered Thai banking system failure. I'm on income method verification for type "O" retirement VISA. Bank would not issue letter without 800,000 Baht in account. At Immigration I was advised to deposit 800,000 or change banks and was refused application until I resolved issue. Either Thai banking authorities misinterpreted their policies or blue bank was highlited for this draconian policy change.

17 minutes ago, david rucker said:

. Bank would not issue letter without 800,000 Baht in account

Are you referring to BBL (Bangkok bank)

18 hours ago, doctormann said:

I have had a TTB account for more than 20 years and they have been pretty good.

Do you mean Thai Military or Thanachart?

I opened a TMB account in 2000 and then in 2014 I got an email from the bank saying my account was inconsistent with my visa status, my address still showed Room 235 Apex Hotel.

I had to go and see the branch manager to get is sorted. She said there had been changes made and it would become more difficult for foreigners. Of course everyone on here dismissed it out of hand.

18 hours ago, doctormann said:

If he bank doesn't tell you what is going on - and TTB have not done so - you could easily get caught out. Not a lot of use trying to change banks when you already made payments to the one that is now refusing to cooperate with Immigration requirements.

Allegedly, opening a new bank account here, as a foreigner, is not easy! Never was and you generally had to shop around a bit. Seems to have become worse in recent years.

I have had a TTB account for more than 20 years and they have been pretty good. I also have a Kasikorn account but don't really use it. Maybe I should remit my monthly transfers to there, instead.

I would not move just yet, Kasikorn, as you may have read, is going the same way with digitization.

I have a not-so-funny feeling that if one bank is doing it, the others are too.

Add to that the fact that they have started virtual banks here, it is going to get scary.

Hoping that they do not get to the total digital partion until I am in an urn in a temple.

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

Do you mean Thai Military or Thanachart?

I opened a TMB account in 2000 and then in 2014 I got an email from the bank saying my account was inconsistent with my visa status, my address still showed Room 235 Apex Hotel.

I had to go and see the branch manager to get is sorted. She said there had been changes made and it would become more difficult for foreigners. Of course everyone on here dismissed it out of hand.

It was Thai Military Bank (TMB) but they merged with Thanachart a few years ago. Now known as TMBThanachart (TTB)

1 hour ago, kingstonkid said:

I would not move just yet, Kasikorn, as you may have read, is going the same way with digitization.

I have a not-so-funny feeling that if one bank is doing it, the others are too.

Add to that the fact that they have started virtual banks here, it is going to get scary.

Hoping that they do not get to the total digital partion until I am in an urn in a temple.

I think that you are absolutely right. If all the banks go paperless then Immigration will have to change their procedures. Timescale - who knows!

On 6/23/2026 at 8:33 PM, doctormann said:

I also have a Kasikorn account but don't really use it. Maybe I should remit my monthly transfers to there, instead.

Indeed, you need IMHO to start doing this ASAP so as to get 12 monthly transfers recorded in a single Kasikorn statement by this time next year. Dump TTB.

Edited June 25Jun 25 by OJAS

On 6/24/2026 at 5:03 PM, doctormann said:

It was Thai Military Bank (TMB) but they merged with Thanachart a few years ago. Now known as TMBThanachart (TTB)

Indeed, a bit of a chaotic changeover as Thanachart staff had little experience with immigration. When I went for the letter after the changever the manager had no idea and said there was no such thing. My wife stepped up to the plate and demanded she speak to head office. Took about 2 hours and several phone calls to get it sorted, too late to get seen at immigration in the morning.

Use a different branch now and service far better than ever had in the past.

12 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Indeed, a bit of a chaotic changeover as Thanachart staff had little experience with immigration. When I went for the letter after the changever the manager had no idea and said there was no such thing. My wife stepped up to the plate and demanded she speak to head office. Took about 2 hours and several phone calls to get it sorted, too late to get seen at immigration in the morning.

Use a different branch now and service far better than ever had in the past.

It does seem to depend on which branch you use. For many years, I used a branch on Pattaya second road and they were very good. That branch got closed and my account was transferred to one near Pattaya Klang (also on second road) and they don't seem to know much about Immigration requirements. On the latest occasion they could not produce the letter in an acceptable format and I had to get this from a different branch, which has now gone paperless, so that's not going to be an option next time. There are probably other TTB branches around but none on the Dark Side, not even a TTB ATM anywhere near me.

Hopefully, this situation will get resolved, somehow, in due course. I'm not sure that switching to a different bank is really the solution because you can bet that all the Thai banks will be closing branches and probably going fully digital.

What we really need is for Immigration to update their procedures to accommodate the digital age. Their online 90-day reporting app is working well so why not streamline the extension process? I'm sure that it could be done if the will was there.

47 minutes ago, doctormann said:

That branch got closed and my account was transferred to one near Pattaya Klang (also on second road) and they don't seem to know much about Immigration requirements. On the latest occasion they could not produce the letter in an acceptable format and I had to get this from a different branch, which has now gone paperless,

Don't you have a copy of a previously acceptable letter to provide as an example of the requirement.

2 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Don't you have a copy of a previously acceptable letter to provide as an example of the requirement.

Yes, I do, but they said 'new format' and produced something that immigration would not accept. It's a mystery because the branch that afterwards produced the correct letter had no problem at all!

So in other words... You were able to obtain the Bank Letter for immigration

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

So in other words... You were able to obtain the Bank Letter for immigration

Yes, eventually, but the branch that provided it can no longer do it as they are now 'paperless'.

15 hours ago, doctormann said:

Yes, eventually, but the branch that provided it can no longer do it as they are now 'paperless'.

Fact is you obtained the required bank letter

Come back for next extension when you could not.

Perhaps change banks in mean time

On 6/26/2026 at 3:41 PM, doctormann said:

It does seem to depend on which branch you use. For many years, I used a branch on Pattaya second road and they were very good. That branch got closed and my account was transferred to one near Pattaya Klang (also on second road) and they don't seem to know much about Immigration requirements. On the latest occasion they could not produce the letter in an acceptable format and I had to get this from a different branch, which has now gone paperless, so that's not going to be an option next time. There are probably other TTB branches around but none on the Dark Side, not even a TTB ATM anywhere near me.

Hopefully, this situation will get resolved, somehow, in due course. I'm not sure that switching to a different bank is really the solution because you can bet that all the Thai banks will be closing branches and probably going fully digital.

What we really need is for Immigration to update their procedures to accommodate the digital age. Their online 90-day reporting app is working well so why not streamline the extension process? I'm sure that it could be done if the will was there.

That was my original branch, the one on second Road, but not been since I had to see manager in 2014. When it closed they said where ths account had gone but never been.

I use immigration at Sri Ratcha so call into the one at Bang Saen on the way, they are very good. When I went for the facial recognition I was in and out within 5 minutes. Never seen such efficiency in the 25 years or so I have been banking here.