Opening A New Bank Account In Thailand

[GarryP]

In either case, bring along your K Bank passbook when you go, since showing them an existing account with a different Thai bank never hurts.

Having an existing account with the same bank never helps, they still ask for a work permit!!

PP, the prior poster was asking about opening a new account with some second Thai bank, beyond the K Bank account he already has.... So yes, in that kind of situation, bringing along the bank book for your already opened account at a different bank never hurts...

But more to the point, while many Thai banks often ask farangs for work permits as the opening point of any discussion about opening a new bank account, it's certainly possible for farang to open regular Thai bank accounts without holding any work permit.

People here do it all the time... although admittedly, it sometimes takes some persistence and insistence in dealing with local Thai bank staff.

Yes I know that.

But if the bank you already have an account with takes no consideration that you already have an account and insists that you present ALL the paperwork again (been there, done that, just last week) then why would any other bank take any notice of a pass book from a different bank?

I can see where you are coming from. I opened an account many years ago with Bangkok Bank, my salary is paid into my account and all the staff know my face, yet when it comes time to get a new passbook as the old one is full, they still insist that I produce my passport and work permit. They cannot simply issue a new passbook. It beggars understanding.

[theoldgit]

^^^^

Indeed I went into my Kasikorn branch a little while back as I needed a $20 note for a VOA in Bali, despite the fact that I went into my branch they were insisting on a copy of my passport, banks must have a massive warehouse somewhere full of these meaningless copies.

In the end sense prevailed and they completed the transaction but they still took a copy of my drivers licence.

As said above it beggars understanding.

[IMA_FARANG]

I'm pretty sure I posted this before...but i have 2 Bangkok Bank accounts, both at the

Sukhumvit Road Soi 43 Bangkok Bank branch

I've found them to be one of the friendliest branches I've found anywhere in Bangkok.

HOWEVER, they may want a non immigrant O visa to open your account. I opened my 2nd account with a multi-entry Non immigrant O visa in November 2010 (account for retirement).

Give them a try.

Sukhumvit Road soi 43 in Bangkok...can be treached by the BTS system...near the Emporium.

They seem to have a lot of Farang customers and are fluent in English.

If you have a Thai wife, her having an account there also will probably make a difference in you getting your account approved.

At the time I opened my 2nd account, although I did have a non immigrant O visa, all hesitation vanished once they learned I had already (years ago) already opened a joint account with my Thai girlfriend....she was with me at the time when I went to the bank.

After that, they were quite happy to take my 800,000 Bant equivalent cashiers check from my U.S. bank for opening an account in my name.

Edited March 1, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BKK Bank's own web page re foreigners opening accounts with them indicates that they'll open new accounts even with people just on tourist visas.... along with the regular ID documents required for all new account openings.

[Ducnguyen]

Hi guys,

I have my passport, work permit, employment contract and whatever documents a bank may require. I have already had a bank account with SCB but they are not friendly with farangs at all. Can anyone suggest a bank which is easy to use and friendly for farangs. Thanks

With a work permit, you ought to be able to open an account with any Thai bank that you desire...

Whether any particular bank is "farang friendly" IMO, has a lot to do with whether they have English speaking staff available at the specific branch branches where you will be banking.

It also depends on how you plan to use your Thai bank account, what you want your Thai bank to do for you, etc etc... If you wanna post with what are your priorities for a Thai banking relationship, perhaps folks can advise further.

But communication between the customer and the bank is often either the key to a good relationship or the cause for a bad one filled with frustration and misunderstandings.

BTW, in my experience, SCB can be a difficult bank for farangs without a work permit to open new accounts with. But, once you have an SCB account and are their customer, I've had generally good experiences with them...and MUCH better than BKK Bank.

SCB also has a decent online banking setup and bill paying setup... I've also found their English language call center staff, generally speaking in my experience, to be more helpful, better informed and providing of more accurate info than their phone center counterparts at BKK Bank.

Thank you for your reply, TallGuyJohninBKK

I will use the bank account/debit card/credit card for daily payment, withdrawing cash, internet payment. I would say my priority is for daily usage.

I had bad experiences with SCB when I dialed to their call centre and they asked me to wait for 45 minutes before a staff who can speak English would be available to talk to me. Next time was even more annoying when I asked a staff at a branch to withdraw some cash for me as I had to pay my landlord. After looking at my balance (which has only 20.000 baht at the time because I had not transferred my salary to the SCB account), he made me wait another 30 minutes to serve another Thai guy who was not in the queue. Well, if you were me, would you consider closing your bank account?

Edited March 2, 2012 by Ducnguyen

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You're welcome... Perfectly understand your feeling on this.. A lot of banking for farangs in Thailand revolves around the concept of YMMV... Even among the same banking company, service and practices can vary widely from place to place... You just never know until you know.

Kasikorn is generally considered a good alternative. But you really want to check in person with the staff in what would be your home branch...for any banking company. Pop in...see who and how many folks there can speak with you in your language. See how much they know about the bank's accounts and services...and what they'll ask you to provide. Then decide if you want to proceed. Think of it as a kind of job interview, wherein you're deciding whether to hire THEM!

BKK Bank has a very good and broad bill pay system, meaning most any Thai vendor type company you want to pay is likely available there. I've found SCB's bill pay setup to be more limited...some common payees are missing. Unfortunately, for all its other good account features and services, Standard Chartered has a pretty measley bill pay function, with all kinds of major payees missing.

If sending money from the U.S. or UK is important, then BKKBank's internal ACH system from its New York and London branches is probably the most economical thing going. None of the other Thai banks have anything comparable for regular accounts, leaving just traditional international wire transfers as their available method.

BKKB, SCB and Kasikorn ATMs are ever present in BKK... Upcountry, I believe SCB, KrungThai and Kasikorn ATMs tend to be more common, though I'm doing those stats from memory.

Also, another thing about opening new accounts. Some Thai banks, including BKKBank, have a real focus on requiring that you do various kinds of account service things at your home branch where the account was opened, and not at any other branches. So that's another thing to check about when checking on opening an account. What if I want to change my email address or mobile phone or some other info later... Do I have to go back to my home branch to do that, or I can do it at any of your branches?

[Troyron]

Walked into Krungthai bank in Ari. Told the person at the counter I needed a bank account to apply for visa, and that was fine. They just needed passport. Before I came here I went to Kasikorn Bank just next door, and they requested a work permit.

Look for a lady in her 50's with glasses, she was more than helpful.

PS! Im on a tourist visa.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

That's good to hear... Not too many posters here have written on their experiences with Krungthai... compared to others like SCB, BKK, Kasikorn and a few others...

Was KT willing to do online/internet banking as part of your new account....or just the account only?

[daxbr]

The saga of opening a bank account in Bangkok

d. Government Savings Bank

Government Savings Bank has no US branches. Does anyone have any experience with this bank and would like to comment? Appreciate it.

[Troyron]

That's good to hear... Not too many posters here have written on their experiences with Krungthai... compared to others like SCB, BKK, Kasikorn and a few others...

Was KT willing to do online/internet banking as part of your new account....or just the account only?

got it all.

[Peteinphuket]

I found that opening up a bank account with Siam Bank, in Phuket was fairly easy comapred to the rest of banks that offerred accounts to expats.. I wrote about it on my website... For more info on what to do and what you need, take a gander here:

peteinphuket. com under the teaching in thailand tab

[JackKern]

I wish I had $10 every time this question has been answered.

Kasikorn Bank , cnr of Sukh soi 33 & Sukh rd, rt by Phrom Phong BTS Skytrain, that's in Bangkok....

Definately stick with Kasikorn. SCB is generally slim to none....

[ScotsExpat]

Have had a quick look through the previous posts (God, my eyes are tired...!!) but can't find a post directly related to my question.

Went to Kasikorn branch in the same building as my office with our chief accounts girl and got an account opened (ATM card, Book etc) all ok.

I now want to add my fiancee to the account, but can't seem to get a straight answer. Having come from the Middle East, where its impossible to have an account with someone you are not married to, I just wanted to check if it is possible and, if so, what they would need from her?

[simple1]

Have had a quick look through the previous posts (God, my eyes are tired...!!) but can't find a post directly related to my question.

Went to Kasikorn branch in the same building as my office with our chief accounts girl and got an account opened (ATM card, Book etc) all ok.

I now want to add my fiancee to the account, but can't seem to get a straight answer. Having come from the Middle East, where its impossible to have an account with someone you are not married to, I just wanted to check if it is possible and, if so, what they would need from her?

Yes you can. She will need to provide her Thai ID card & perhaps household card as well. Perhaps a good idea to set a daily limit on her withdrawals with SMS notification to your mobile phone.

[ScotsExpat]

Have had a quick look through the previous posts (God, my eyes are tired...!!) but can't find a post directly related to my question.

Went to Kasikorn branch in the same building as my office with our chief accounts girl and got an account opened (ATM card, Book etc) all ok.

I now want to add my fiancee to the account, but can't seem to get a straight answer. Having come from the Middle East, where its impossible to have an account with someone you are not married to, I just wanted to check if it is possible and, if so, what they would need from her?

Yes you can. She will need to provide her Thai ID card & perhaps household card as well. Perhaps a good idea to set a daily limit on her withdrawals with SMS notification to your mobile phone.

Ahh, forgot to say, she ain't a Thai national, so would assume passport and visa enough?

[Arkady]

I went to an SCB branch in a Big C near my home at the week-end to open an account which I don't really need but it is just for convenience to pay my SCB credit card by direct debit. Out of curiosity I showed my passport which has a non-quota immigrant visa in it which they didn't look at and when the woman started repeating the "work permit" mantra I produced my blue tabian baan and my alien book which is supposed to be used as ID by permanent residents instead of their passport because it is Thai government issued and provides more information. I explained this to her and asked how I was supposed to live in Thailand without a bank account after being approved by the interior minister for a life long visa once I have stopped working. All I got was "work permit, work permit". When I pressed further I was told that it was head office policy that all foreigners must have a work permit and no one in the branch had any idea why. Once at Bangkok Bank I insisted that they call head office to clarify the policy because they were trying to close my account due to lack of work permit which I didn't have at the time and luckily managed to win the day. However, on this occasion it was a week-end, I didn't really care about getting the account, so after tiring of the sport I produced my work permit. All that remained was nearly an hour long wait while the woman did all the paperwork with countless questions to her "Phi" and some impertinent questions I refused to answer like what is your salary? ("I'm sorry that's none of your business") and how old are you? ("I can't remember but my date of birth is in my passport that is on your desk"). Altogether it was not a very edifying experience. Applying for a credit card at another SCB shopping mall branch was much more professional and friendly.

With some exceptions I have had much better experiences opening accounts with Kasikorn Bank than with BBL or SCB. I once opened a company account without a work permit with KBANK after being refused by the same BBL branch that wanted to close my account of ten years because I no longer had a work permit. The mind boggles as to what these idiots are thinking when they try to close the account of a PR and force him to withdraw maybe millions of baht in cash to keep permanently under the mattress for the rest of his life in Thailand. Xenophobia seems entrenched in the banking system in Thailand. However, the US is not much better with its nasty habit of rejecting credit cards from overseas and often refusing to ship goods overseas at all, e.g. all the nasty comments on US Ebay about bidders from Thailand, Land of Thieves etc.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Arkady

[richardjm65]

Walked into Krungthai bank in Ari. Told the person at the counter I needed a bank account to apply for visa, and that was fine. They just needed passport. Before I came here I went to Kasikorn Bank just next door, and they requested a work permit.

Look for a lady in her 50's with glasses, she was more than helpful.

PS! Im on a tourist visa.

In March 2011 I posted my experience with KTB. It was, indeed, easy to open an account with them, so I opened a savings account. They did not tell me that non-Thais do not receive interest on their savings account deposit. My fault, really, for not asking, and for assuming that all banks pay interest as per my accounts with other private banks. It appears that government banks discriminate against non-Thai account holders - the private banks do not.

I appreciate that the interest rate paid on savings accounts is pretty low, but even so, the interest over a one year period, if you started with a deposit sufficient to satisfy the immigration department when applying for a retirement extension, would be enough for several good meals out, (with drinks). It beats getting nothing at all. My choice for foreigner-friendly banks? Kasikorn or Standard Chartered - though Standard Chartered have very few up-country branches.

[c0mm0n]

Just opened a bank account at Kbank Soi 33 recommended here :

- they asked for work permit first

- I got a ticket to queue for operator

- work permit or lease agreement asked

- insisted, told I want to buy a condo, I want a visa but need bank account

- he doesn't care

- I insist i'm a business owner, serious, etc... Don't care

Then... I want to show him my passport to prove my stays here and he sees my several credit card (I have a few including premier, Amex, etc...) then he says ok oO

It took quite some time, but I know have a Passbook, Visa debit card, Internet banking and IBAN !

They charged 400 THB for debit card and only asked for a 500 THB deposit oOOOO but hey

Thx a lot for feedback guys !

[c0mm0n]

[Sophon]

It took quite some time, but I know have a Passbook, Visa debit card, Internet banking and IBAN !

Can you expand a bit on what you mean, when you say you have "IBAN"? IBAN is an international bank account standard introduced by the EU, and is with very few exceptions only used by European countries. AFAIK Thailand is not one of these exceptions and has not introduced IBAN numbers.

Sophon

[c0mm0n]

I took a shortcut, no iban, just meant I can wire from my European bank account.

Sry for misleading.

[jsflynn603]

Bank of Bkk, Chiang Mai, the branch is on Charoen Mueung Road, a bit away from CM after passing over the Ping River.

I had my Thai gf to help me... All I needed was my passport, and I did offer a copy of my condo lease but I don't think anyone could read it. Easy, I put 30k baht into it.

Painless............. BUT................BEWARE of this:

I was told that the PIN to my account to use online banking would be mailed to me.

Guess what? It never got to me.

And now...I've a bit of cash tucked away in a bank 12,500 miles away from me with no way to access it. No way to transfer funds to my gf, no way to transfer into a Thai stock market account.

I've tried explaining that now I'm in the USA...and what do I get? You guessed it "a smile" (over the phone) and a "come to your nearest brach." (aaaaaaaargh.....but my nearest branch is 12,500 miles! Even offering to go to the New York City branch in New York did not work," go to your nearest branch 'in Thailand."

Ah...I'll have my gf deposit 100 baht once a year to keep it open and then, about 5 years dow the line when I go back it'll still be waiting there.

SO>>>>>>>>>>>> If you use a residence address, use one where the mail WILL GET TO YOU!

What I suggest is that if you have a gf, have her make up a "lease" and use her address.

[jaysg]

Wonder how is the experience at UOB or CIMB?

[c0mm0n]

I had my online banking access via email from Kasikorn, working great.

[gladiolous]

I learnt from my experiences , i have no problem when my bf wanna open an account as saving account .We used kasikorn bank on Jomtien beach road branch .

[IMA_FARANG]

1. Bangkok Bank, Sukhumvit Road, Soi 43 branch.

2. Opened the account in November 2010.

3, Had a Non immigrant O multi-entry visa and deposited about 850K Thai baht equivalent as required for "retirement account".

4. Thai girlfriend ...note not wife...already had a Joint account with me in that same bank branch at the time I opened my account. I think that helped my chances.

5. Recieved a Bangkok Bank ATM/Debit card when the account was opened.

6. Took about 2 months for the actual funds to be transferred from my small U.S. bank to Bangkok.

7. Was rejected by one other Bangkok Bank branch nearer where I live in Bangkok before I went to that Sukhumvit Soi 43 branch.

Just keep trying...it is possible.

Edited June 20, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[Tomtomtom69]

I opened a Bangkok Bank savings account years ago - I believe it was in 2005 on a tourist visa at the head office located at 333 Silom Road. I was told that the only branch a foreigner without a work permit or long term visa could open an account (at the time) was at the head office branch so that's where I went and there were no problems.

It doesn't really matter whether or not you start working in Thailand later on or not, since you will receive a debit card with the visa electron logo (Be1st card) and you can freely deposit/withdraw funds using an ATM and you will receive a passbook from when you apply and you can use any of the banks ATMs or branches for most banking transactions, although sometimes you may be re-directed to your "home" branch.

Strangely though, when I applied for internet banking access in 2008 when I was working in Thailand, I was told I needed a non-B visa and a work permit! Although I was told I could apply for internet banking with these documents at any Bangkok Bank branch. So on this advice, I went to one of the Sathorn Road branches near my work and tried to apply for internet banking. For whatever reason, the clerk did not succeed in providing me access and I never followed up on it but if anyone could explain why a foreigner can open a bank account on a tourist visa but then requires a work permit for internet banking please enlighten me!

Edited July 3, 2012 by Tomtomtom69

[meand]

Wow that is surprising Bernie....or not

I cannot tell you how easy it was to open accounts at Bangkok Bank & SCB in Chiang Mai.

Makes you wonder eh?

I know TIT but I wonder if Farangs are just tolerated more in CM than BKK?

I know it is as others have said down to branch policy??? But still seems odd that

basically discrimination of sorts is considered as a branch policy.

Well if all else fails take a cruise up to CM for some shopping then open accounts.

Go back to BKK & make sure the same folks see you in the bank using them

I can tell you that if you are wearing a tank top and shorts you are less likely to be helped than if you wore long trousers and a button up shirt with long or short sleeves.

Bank Employees and staff think of themselves closer to Government Officials and workers.

If you walked into a Thai Immigration Office, Police Station or Government office wearing a Tank top, shorts and thongs you will get a lot less respect and service than if you dressed appropriately. Your lack of doing so just show them your lack of respect for their culture and authority.

respect is overrated. clean is not .

money trumps respect in thailand.........

ive seen many legit drinking establishments where tank top, hairy , foul smelling , belching man get more respect than button collar businessman get because he better customer, he spend more.

Oh god do I disagree with that, I'd say in matters where there is a decision like this to be made by a Thai manager, your odds of getting what you want double if you dress well and act politely too.

[simple1]

I opened a Bangkok Bank savings account years ago - I believe it was in 2005 on a tourist visa at the head office located at 333 Silom Road. I was told that the only branch a foreigner without a work permit or long term visa could open an account (at the time) was at the head office branch so that's where I went and there were no problems.

It doesn't really matter whether or not you start working in Thailand later on or not, since you will receive a debit card with the visa electron logo (Be1st card) and you can freely deposit/withdraw funds using an ATM and you will receive a passbook from when you apply and you can use any of the banks ATMs or branches for most banking transactions, although sometimes you may be re-directed to your "home" branch.

Strangely though, when I applied for internet banking access in 2008 when I was working in Thailand, I was told I needed a non-B visa and a work permit! Although I was told I could apply for internet banking with these documents at any Bangkok Bank branch. So on this advice, I went to one of the Sathorn Road branches near my work and tried to apply for internet banking. For whatever reason, the clerk did not succeed in providing me access and I never followed up on it but if anyone could explain why a foreigner can open a bank account on a tourist visa but then requires a work permit for internet banking please enlighten me!

I have an O visa and opened a saving account with Kasikorn Bank, provisioned on the same day with Visa Debit Card, provided will full internet banking services with good security.

Edited July 3, 2012 by simple1

[MaxwellsDemon]

Just to report, I opened a K-Bank account today on a single-entry tourist visa, 700 baht for the debit/ATM card, K-Cyber online Internet access included, 500 baht minimum deposit, all within about 30 minutes.

First local branch I went to said I needed a work permit, then tried the branch on Khao San and no problem. Though I did have to dodge the tricky question, "We have a branch closer to your home, why didn't you go to that one?" and I said "O RLY? Didn't know."