Chalong branch of blue bank refused issuing bank ltr because I didn't have 800,000 Baht deposited. I use income method for Immigration. Immigration suggested depositing 800,000 baht or change banks! Later found work around but am dismayed @ blue bank's policy.

3 minutes ago, david rucker said:

I use income method for Immigration

So you have a Thai bank book with monthly deposits* of income for at least twelve months prior to visa application that is marked FTT on the line with each deposit? 😀

*40,000 marriage, 65,000 retirement

10 minutes ago, david rucker said:

Later found work around but am dismayed @ blue bank's policy.

Don't follow your OP.

Wouldn't issue Bank Letter? Why.

Bank letter is simply proof of ownership of the account and balance at time of letter being issued.

Nothing to do with immigration in itself.

Why would immigration suggest you deposit 800k. Funds for money in bank method need to be seasoned.

What exactly was the "work around"

Is the bank BBL or KrungThai ?

Need more info. What's the history?Changing from banked method to income method? Failure to run the parallel 'two-track' approach to meet conditions of the last extension? Or even this, attempting to go DIY and get off the agent train?

5 hours ago, david rucker said:

Chalong branch of blue bank refused issuing bank ltr because I didn't have 800,000 Baht deposited.

Are you really unable to remember the name of your bank and need to name it by color like some inept little child? At least mention if it's the light blue or the dark blue bank.

42 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Are you really unable to remember the name of your bank and need to name it by color like some inept little child? At least mention if it's the light blue or the dark blue bank.

Really?

Which bank is the only bank to deny the letter for Immigration based on it's policy.

1 hour ago, Liquorice said:

Really?

Which bank is the only bank to deny the letter for Immigration based on it's policy.

Isn't it a little presumptive to expect that all readers, including new readers, of this forum should be familiar with the unorthodox colour labelling of Thai banks by some members?

Exaggerating a bit, the OP might as well have been written in Swahili or Esperanto.

Change Banks. They don't deserve your money if they do not provide top notch service. Don't spoil them.

1 hour ago, Liquorice said:

Really?

Which bank is the only bank to deny the letter for Immigration based on it's policy.

Really. If the OP had assumed that everyone on here knows all about his bank's policy already anyway, he wouldn't have needed to bother writing a report. If you do write a report, it should be written in a way that it can be understood by ANY reader.

There's also the very real possibility that a particular branch or clerk of ANY bank refuses to issue the letter for all sorts of reasons, even where it isn't bank policy. Just recently reported on here from a "paperless" branch of TTB - which isn't a "blue bank" though, so we can rule them out here.

16 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

Change Banks. They don't deserve your money if they do not provide top notch service. Don't spoil them.

That requires planning.

Cannot just switch banks.

Process outlined earlier in thread

4 hours ago, Maestro said:

Isn't it a little presumptive to expect that all readers, including new readers, of this forum should be familiar with the unorthodox colour labelling of Thai banks by some members?

My reply was to a long standing member who is well aware of which bank the OP was speaking about as he himself has commented on the many topics on this subject.

Surprisingly neither yourself nor Caldera have mentioned the bank in question, yet you're both fully aware of which bank he meant.

It's the only bank in Thailand that instigated such a policy.

9 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

It's the only bank in Thailand that instigated such a policy.

You are suggesting BBL.

From the OP... "Later found work around but am dismayed @ blue bank's policy."

Ridiculous thread. OP started thread and never then engaged.

Seems he found "a work around"

BTW: not a given it was BBL.

Many tellers have limited knowledge of things such as Bank Letter.

The OP has clarified zero

36 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

BTW: not a given it was BBL.

Don't play the fools advocate.

There are only two 'blue' coloured banks in Thailand. Krungthai (sky blue) and Bangkok bank (navy blue).
Only one of those banks has such a policy as mentioned, and you've criticised the bank and it's policy often enough.

44 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Many tellers have limited knowledge of things such as Bank Letter.

If they had no knowledge of such a letter, why would they state the reason for refusal as not having 800K funds in the account.

Just asking. Why does someone using the monthly transfer method need a bank letter? A bank book and a 12-month statement stamped by the bank should be enough to prove ownership, current balance, and 12 months of remittances.

4 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

A bank book and a 12-month statement stamped by the bank should be enough to prove ownership, current balance, and 12 months of remittances.

That would make too much sence.

Fact is the Bank Letter is required for both income method and money in Bank method.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Only one of those banks has such a policy as mentioned, and you've criticised the bank and it's policy often enough.

The OP has not clarified which Bank.

Most likely BBL.

Criticism of that Bank is fully deserved.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

If they had no knowledge of such a letter, why would they state the reason for refusal as not having 800K funds in the account.

The OP is using income method. Even for BBL a balance of 800b should not be required.

Apparently he obtained a Bank letter with a "work around" with no explanation.

16 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Really?

Which bank is the only bank to deny the letter for Immigration based on it's policy.

You're making it way too easy. You shouldn't mention that it's a bank, a letter, or immigration.

Just say "I went to a blue place and they wouldn't give the stamped flat thing I needed for the other blue place."

10 hours ago, Liquorice said:

My reply was to a long standing member who is well aware of which bank the OP was speaking about as he himself has commented on the many topics on this subject.

Surprisingly neither yourself nor Caldera have mentioned the bank in question, yet you're both fully aware of which bank he meant.

It's the only bank in Thailand that instigated such a policy.

I'll spell it out for you:

1) I didn't ask for clarification for my own benefit. I don't use any of the "blue banks" for immigration purposes myself. Such a report should be written in a clear way. Naming a bank by color is infantile at the best of times, and worse still if it isn't even unambiguous.

2) While Bangkok Bank obviously would be the usual suspect in such a situation, it's not inconceivable that a particular clerk at a particular branch of Krungthai Bank misunderstood that the OP uses the income method, or doesn't know anything about it.

In order for such a report to be useful to others, it needs to leave nothing to guesswork, hence my request for clarification.

Asking for advice on Facebook is not always a true and safe method of Asking questions.By the way what is the name of "The little blue bank'.

I also use the monthly income method. I just posted the following on another thread regarding my experience:

Bangkok Bank continues their ridiculous policy which make no sense. For those using the 800k in a Thai bank they insist it be in the account 4 months in advance (Immigration only requires 2 months). If it the full 800k has not been there for the 4 months, Bangkok bank freezes that amount from the account for the next 4 months (Immigration requires the 800k remain for 3 months and as mentioned, during the other 7 months it is not to fall below 400K).

For those using the 65k monthly income method, they refuse to give the verification method unless you bring your account balance up to 800k and if done, most likely they would freeze that amount for the next 4 months.

I do my annual renewal in June using the monthly income method - at least 65k deposited each month into a Thai bank account from a foreign source. In July & August last year I made the transfers into my Bangkok Bank account. But when Bangkok Bank started playing their silly games in September, I opened an account with Kasikorn Bank and made my next 10 transfers into that account.

I did my renewal on June 23rd. I had already obtained certified bank statements from Bangkok Bank for Jul & Aug. I obtained my certified statements from Kasikorn along with bank account verification letter the day before. I didn't bother getting a Bangkok Bank verification letter being aware of the current policy.

The Immigration Officer reviewed all my documents, highlighting the usual items including monthly transfers then said I needed a verification letter from Bangkok Bank. I said I did not believe they would give me one, but he said for me to go to the branch in Central Festival Beach and they would provide it. He also said I needed to update my Bangkok Bank passbook. Since it was full, I knew it would require a new one for the update. The Immigration placed a small note in Thai with my documents, stapled them all together and returned them to me.

I decided to first give the a try at the branch where I opened the account. No problem in getting updated passbook. The supervisor for the counter personnel looked through my passport noting I had a retirement extension. As expected, she said she could not give me a verification letter until I deposited 800k in the account.

This led to about 10 minutes of me explaining and insisting during which she made some phone calls, apparently to someone higher up. I showed her my packet of documents already reviewed by Immigration and pointed out the Kasikorn Bank provided the a verification letter with an account balance far below 800k and the bank statements from Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank which had already been reviewed by Immigration with the monthly deposits highlighted.

I think it was the fact that Kasikorn had issued a verification letter that finally persuaded her to give me one, but before doing so, she held up my passbook and asked if I was going to use it for my extension renewal next year. I told her no, I would be using Kasikorn account. She then issued the verification letter. If she had still refused, I would have tried the branch at Central Festival Beach. But since I did get it at my branch, I have no way to know whether the branch there would have been successful.

What really gets me is why Bangkok Bank has instituted such a policy. They should just provide the verification letter and leave it up to the Immigration Officer to determine if it was sufficient to approve the extension.

16 hours ago, Caldera said:

There's also the very real possibility that a particular branch or clerk of ANY bank refuses to issue the letter for all sorts of reasons, even where it isn't bank policy.

Indeed. The knowledge of the letter among bank staff is not so wide spread that many seem to think. This was highlighted when TMB and Thanachart merged.

I went to the branch I had used for several years and they refused to issue a letter. There was a heated discussion between my wife and the manager and calls to the head office. Turned out all the staff had been replaced and none had come from a branch that had any involvement with immigration. Not only that, all the TMB documentation and records were no longer at the branch.

Took a couple of hours for the manager to be instructed on what would be required, involved several calls back to head office and fax of the appropriate form.

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

I'll spell it out for you:

1) I didn't ask for clarification for my own benefit. I don't use any of the "blue banks" for immigration purposes myself. Such a report should be written in a clear way. Naming a bank by color is infantile at the best of times, and worse still if it isn't even unambiguous.

Do you make the same commotion when a member posts a topic 'renew retirement visa', demanding clarity.
The consensus is usually 'well, we know what they mean', which doesn't help a new member either.
It's a forum and new members are free to post a question if they don't understand a topic, or post.

I had no issue in fully understanding the OP's post, the bank, and their policy, which is not to say I agree with it.

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

2) While Bangkok Bank obviously would be the usual suspect in such a situation, it's not inconceivable that a particular clerk at a particular branch of Krungthai Bank misunderstood that the OP uses the income method, or doesn't know anything about it.

Granted a new untrained teller or a branch out in the sticks may be unaware of such a letter, that's why I always carry an older copy of exactly what is required.

I use an FTD account, but was once asked how I supported my expenses when funds were never withdrawn.

Since that time I always have the bank issue the letter showing both my FTD and Savings account balances.

Always be prepared in Thailand.

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

In order for such a report to be useful to others, it needs to leave nothing to guesswork, hence my request for clarification.

I'll look forward to you questioning for clarification in the future topics with ambiguous title headers.

I think some have made a mountain out of a molehill when it was obviously clear to most exactly which bank and their policy the OP was referring to.

Edited July 2Jul 2 by Liquorice

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The OP has not clarified which Bank.

Most likely BBL.

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Apparently he obtained a Bank letter with a "work around" with no explanation.

All the signs of a 'post-and-run' windup.

14 minutes ago, rwilem said:

All the signs of a 'post-and-run' windup.

I would encourage anyone starting a thread to stick around at very least initially to contribute.

Change bank! Period.

I have a NON-B plus WP, address certificate, yellow book and the lot. BBL suddenly locked my account for 45 days while HQ was "looking into it". No explanation at all.

Thank god it's not my main bank account. I do not recommend BBL, will close mine. 🤮

Revolut.

Regarding anyone opting to change banks and are on retirement extensions using money in bank method, there is a process.

Be aware of way to do that and remain compliant re immigration

On 7/1/2026 at 9:20 AM, david rucker said:

Chalong branch of blue bank refused issuing bank ltr because I didn't have 800,000 Baht deposited. I use income method for Immigration. Immigration suggested depositing 800,000 baht or change banks! Later found work around but am dismayed @ blue bank's policy.

This is not a policy of theirs, I used the monthly method with no problem at all and I don't have 800,000 in that bank. Had to be a misunderatanding

1 hour ago, george said:

Change bank! Period.

I have a NON-B plus WP, address certificate, yellow book and the lot. BBL suddenly locked my account for 45 days while HQ was "looking into it". No explanation at all.

Thank god it's not my main bank account. I do not recommend BBL, will close mine. 🤮

You can almost certainly kiss goodbye to your chances of being able to open a new account with Kasikorn, though, unless you can satisfy their ridiculous requirement introduced a few months ago for proof of a non-existent home country address in most cases, as discussed in these 2 threads:

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

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

Edited July 2Jul 2 by OJAS

11 minutes ago, OJAS said:

You can almost certainly kiss goodbye to the possibility of opening a new account with Kasikorn, though, unless you can satisfy their ridiculous requirement introduced a few months ago for proof of a non-existent home country address in most cases, as discussed in these 2 threads:

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

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

Most Thai banks lately ask for ID card from home country, I have had this with Kasikorn - UOB - CIMB, but not for an address in your home country