I recently tried to open a joint account with my Thai wife at Bangkok Bank. I am a U.S. citezen who owns a condo in Jomtien and property in Nahkon Nayok with the idea of retiring in Thailand. I was told I could not add my name to her account so I tried to get an account on my own at the downtown office after being told all I need is a passport. Of course when I got to the downtown main branch they wanted a letter from the embassy etc. My question is: Shouldn'y I be able to have my name put on the account opened by my wife? She claims that it could not be done but at this point I am not so sure that is true. Has any one had any similar experiences or know if there really should be a problem with me being on the jopint account?.

Edited September 1, 200818 yr by hegralow

Sorry, cannot answer your question.

BUt i will say this: i had problems with Bangkok Bank and switched to Kasikorn bank and had smiles instead of frowns from their more positive answers.

Kasikorn are advertising on Samui all you need is a passport...maybe worth trying them in Phuket...I thought all you needed anyway was your wife to show her I.D card...maybe it has changed

Same Same, BB is losing out on more customers everyday and SCB is right behind them, go to Kasikorn.

Recently I tried to have my name added to my wife's bank account. No way they said, had to open a new joint account... blah blah blah. I voiced my displeasure to the bank manager and suddenly it could be done.

Some banks make it very easy for a foreigner to open a bank account with only a passport. I find that Siam Commercial and Kasicorn (Thai Farmers) are easier to deal with. Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai impossible.

Ditto all above.. Siam and Kasikorn are easier to deal with BKK bank made it feel ike I should be kissing thier <deleted> to queue up and perform basic functions.. The word 'cannot' for the most simple of tasks was in evidence a lot.

I am told you technically need to be on an extension of stay or a WP type to have an account.. But some banks waive this.

I opened a joint one with SCB with no problems...but i will say..it is much easier if you just open your own bank in your own name..i was havin headaches galore things like..they wanted checks to be in both names to pay in, not being able to pay money in unless they have both names..much easier to open your own bank , K bank is best and the only one that will give you a virtual card to use on the net!!

K bank is best and the only one that will give you a virtual card to use on the net!!

I've been with SCB for a few years now, told them I needed a secured Visa card (I'd put money in the account, no credit needed) that I could use for internet purchases. Security thing for me, don't want to have my other bank cards on the net.

This was just baffling for SCB. They said I needed to put up 100,000thb to get a Visa card for 50,000thb. Again I said "no, I'll put 50,000thb in a bank account give me a card with that as the limit". "Mai dai, head shakes all around, cannot".

Stepped next door to Kasikorn bank had my internet K-card useable in the same day. Kasikorn, dai.

Opening a new account should be easy with the mentioned SCB and Kasikorn (I hate SCB in Chalong BTW, very unfriendly), but a name change is a big problem.

Closing the old account and opening a new one is by far the easiest solution.

I hear very good reports from Kasikorn.

I left BKK bank some time ago. Old school bank.

I recently tried to open a joint account with my Thai wife at Bangkok Bank. I am a U.S. citezen who owns a condo in Jomtien and property in Nahkon Nayok with the idea of retiring in Thailand. I was told I could not add my name to her account so I tried to get an account on my own at the downtown office after being told all I need is a passport. Of course when I got to the downtown main branch they wanted a letter from the embassy etc. My question is: Shouldn'y I be able to have my name put on the account opened by my wife? She claims that it could not be done but at this point I am not so sure that is true. Has any one had any similar experiences or know if there really should be a problem with me being on the jopint account?.

Kasikorn bank for sure you get your debit card on the spot and internet acess within days. I also like there visa payment notification which gets sent to your mobile via SMS