Opening A New Bank Account In Thailand

[skatewash]

31 minutes ago, SooKee said:

I am here on a retirement extension (no work permit) and noticed from their website that for new accounts with no work permit they require a letter from your Embassy.  Having applied for a UK income affidavit a couple of months ago (for an extension application later this month) I thought I'd try and squeeze some more value for money out of the £52 you pay for those and try to use that as my embassy reference letter.

 

 

 

Brilliant!  Smart thinking.

[yang123]

On 12/11/2018 at 7:13 PM, Nyezhov said:

I had my lease, passport, visa. But when I got my 90 day OA extension I opened a new account with a real visa card just by going back to the branch with my new Visa

 

My transferwise transfers show local.

In anticipation of a "must have work permit"-style response from Krungsri, I e-mailed its Head Office asking what documents a branch would require sight of before agreeing to open an account.

 

Response as follows: 

 

you can contact any of our branches nearby with one of the following document;
For individual account
(1) Valid Passport and one of the followings:
     1.1 Valid Work Permit
     1.2 Thai residential documents i.e. household registration or letter from educational institute or resident rental agreement or condominium buying contract.
     1.3 Business Visa or Retirement Visa
(2) Alien License
(3) Identity issued by trusty organization such as Embassy or Foreign Affairs Department or the United Nations.

For Savings account: Minimum initial deposit is THB500. For an ATM card or VISA Debit card: new card fee is THB100 and annual fee is THB200.

Thank you for your interest in our products and services. For more information, please contact our 24-hour Krungsri Call Center at 1572, overseas call (66) 2296 2000 press 1.

 

Seems straightforward, providing the branch I approach can guarantee that incoming credits will be shown in the pass-book/statements as transfers from an overseas bank (not as domestic in-country transfers, which appears to be the case with Transferwise credits)

[yang123]

Bank of Bangkok (BB) website sets the criteria below  to be filled before an account may be opened.

Have any BM's opened BB accounts since the kerfuffle about income certification erupted and, if so, what documents did the branch they approached ask for/accept?

 

Many thanks in advance for replies.

 

 

Required Documents

 2. Foreigner without work permit

• Passport
• A reference letter issued by one of the following institutes or organizations or required document
  • Embassy located  in Thailand 
  • An overseas bank where the customer holds an account sent via SWIFT 
  • Trusted individuals such as a Bangkok Bank staff member or customer, director of a private company, permanent residence in Thailand, government or private educational institutes located in Thailand trusted by the Bank
  • Trusted companies, e.g., an employment letter from the company if the customer is in the process of applying for a work permit.
  • Document showing ownership of a fixed asset such as a condominium sale/purchase agreement (a condominium which is acceptable to Bangkok Bank) Or a property reservation agreement valued at 100,000 baht or more with a reference letter from the property developer that is acceptable to Bangkok Bank.
     

Notes: Contact addresses for both Thailand and overseas must be provided (hotel and P.O. Box addresses are not acceptable).

 

[OzMan]

Walked into Siam Commercial Bank in Terminal 21. Showed my passport, filled in a form. They sent my form to head office overnight for permission to open a savings account with an O visa. Received an SMS next day saying head office had approved my account. They asked for the name and address of a Thai national, I gave a girl I knew, who they did not contact. Looked at my Condo contract as I was still living in a hotel. Deposited 15,000 baht and walked out a happy man.

 

[Crisu]

UOB Bank in Bangkok Silom Complex Building confirmed to me last week when i was there and asked, account opening is possible with only tourist visa+proove of adress in thailand (e.g. rental agreement)

[Date Masamune]

 

On 1/11/2019 at 8:46 PM, yang123 said:

Bank of Bangkok (BB) website sets the criteria below  to be filled before an account may be opened.

Have any BM's opened BB accounts since the kerfuffle about income certification erupted and, if so, what documents did the branch they approached ask for/accept?

 

Many thanks in advance for replies.

 

 

Required Documents

 2. Foreigner without work permit

• Passport
• A reference letter issued by one of the following institutes or organizations or required document
  • Embassy located  in Thailand 
  • An overseas bank where the customer holds an account sent via SWIFT 
  • Trusted individuals such as a Bangkok Bank staff member or customer, director of a private company, permanent residence in Thailand, government or private educational institutes located in Thailand trusted by the Bank
  • Trusted companies, e.g., an employment letter from the company if the customer is in the process of applying for a work permit.
  • Document showing ownership of a fixed asset such as a condominium sale/purchase agreement (a condominium which is acceptable to Bangkok Bank) Or a property reservation agreement valued at 100,000 baht or more with a reference letter from the property developer that is acceptable to Bangkok Bank.
     

Notes: Contact addresses for both Thailand and overseas must be provided (hotel and P.O. Box addresses are not acceptable).

 

The kad swan kaew mall branch in Chiangmai had been foreigner friendly I opened  accounts years ago. Same rules.

There is no rule against it so how does a  Thai bank benefit from turning foreigner away? 

[skatewash]

27 minutes ago, Date Masamune said:

 

The kad swan kaew mall branch in Chiangmai had been foreigner friendly I opened  accounts years ago. Same rules.

There is no rule against it so how does a  Thai bank benefit from turning foreigner away? 

Fair point, especially for those seeking to open accounts they will use to hold money to support their extensions of stay as that's a reasonable amount of money to have in an account and under the new rules it basically has to stay there untouched for most of the year.

I can see why Americans are persona non grata at any foreign bank, but that's because there's an administrative burden associated with complying with US IRS regulations and if the bank makes a simple mistake they could potentially have all their assets in the US frozen and be banned from doing any business with the US.  So the penalties associated with having an American customer if something goes wrong might be seen as hugely outweighing the benefit of opening a savings account.  More American customers, more chance for something to go wrong and have the US government descend on them like Atilla the Hun.

[Date Masamune]

If you are American at Bangkok Bank all you have to fill out a from and provide a SS number.

US is one of the largest economies in the "foreign" bank s don't want to be locked out so they comply.

Filing a FBAR is the depositors responsibility takes all of 5 minutes. 

 

[MikeN]

I went into the Bangkok Bank branch between Nana and Asoka BTS today hoping to open another account just for my spending money while I keep the 800,000 visa money in the existing account, as I originally opened one there 5 years ago on a tourist visa with no proof of address or anything.

 Even though I already had an account with them now I was told that I did need either a certificate of residence, a tabbien baan if I owned a condo, or a Stat. Dec from my embassy. The staff member knew his stuff as when he looked at my passport he reminded me that the Australian embassy will not do Stat Decs for address confirmation anymore.

 Then he really surprised when he told me that foreigners can only have one ATM linked account now, a new regulation from the Bank of Thailand apparently. Never heard of that before ? They get a lot of foreign customers at that branch and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

 He suggested that I get a Certificate of Residence, then come back and open a fixed/term deposit as they don’t have an ATM card. I declined that as I don’t really want to traipse out to CW right now, and being on the extension countdown clock already I am wary of transferring the money out of this account into a new bank book. Even though the money stays in the bank it might confuse Officer Somchai .......

 I might wait until after the post-extension 3 month freeze, withdraw the permitted 400k and add another 400k from home to give me 800k term deposit ready for next year.

 I also wonder, if the bit about only one ATM card is correct, how do they keep tabs on foreigners opening accounts with more than one bank ?   

[onera1961]

1 hour ago, MikeN said:

I also wonder, if the bit about only one ATM card is correct, how do they keep tabs on foreigners opening accounts with more than one bank ?

Did you try to open a Foregin deposit account? I already had one bangkok bank savings account in the same branch (opened early last year) and then I moved to Jomtien late last year. I opened another new savings account in Jomtien branch (near Rompho market) and they copied all the information from my old account to the new account and gave me a new ATM card (the master card one) based on my passport only.

 

The banks are just like Thai immigration. No consistency 

[MikeN]

2 hours ago, onera1961 said:

Did you try to open a Foregin deposit account? I already had one bangkok bank savings account in the same branch (opened early last year) and then I moved to Jomtien late last year. I opened another new savings account in Jomtien branch (near Rompho market) and they copied all the information from my old account to the new account and gave me a new ATM card (the master card one) based on my passport only.

 

The banks are just like Thai immigration. No consistency 

no, it was just another savings account that I wanted.

And I've been googling every combination of "Bank of Thailand/ATM cards/foreign customers/aliens/etc" that I can think of, and nothing comes up about this supposed new rule. ????

[maxx58]

Went to open a savings account at Bangkok Bank in Silom today.

I was told that I need a letter from my embassy.

Can someone please tell me exactly what information that I need to put in that affidavit?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

[shoeare]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:22 PM, maxx58 said:

Went to open a savings account at Bangkok Bank in Silom today.

I was told that I need a letter from my embassy.

Can someone please tell me exactly what information that I need to put in that affidavit?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

I've just recently opened mine and the letter is only a statement that you are the owner of the passport that you have at the moment and that you are a citizen of the passport's country.

[organicman]

I'm on a tourist visa and currently in Bangkok. What are the easiest places to try to open a bank account where I want to transfer money through TransferWise (Australian resident). 

 

If you can save me a whole lot of time, that would be great!

 

Do they close the account if I go back to my country for 6 months? How long until they close my account?

[organicman]

2 hours ago, organicman said:

I'm on a tourist visa and currently in Bangkok. What are the easiest places to try to open a bank account where I want to transfer money through TransferWise (Australian resident). 

 

If you can save me a whole lot of time, that would be great!

 

Do they close the account if I go back to my country for 6 months? How long until they close my account?

After reading this thread, it sounds like a headache!

 

I just worked out an EASY way to get a Thai bank account. Most of us have a Thai girlfriend so I just got my girl to open up an account in her name with another bank. I now have a Debit Card and can take money out. ????

[onera1961]

3 hours ago, organicman said:

I'm on a tourist visa and currently in Bangkok. What are the easiest places to try to open a bank account where I want to transfer money through TransferWise (Australian resident). 

Opening an account on a tourist visa is a hit and miss. At least Bangkok bank has a process outlined in their website. Please refer to that process. The simplest way to do is if you know a Thai with a good job or an embassy letter.

[4evermaat]

12 hours ago, organicman said:

After reading this thread, it sounds like a headache!

 

I just worked out an EASY way to get a Thai bank account. Most of us have a Thai girlfriend so I just got my girl to open up an account in her name with another bank. I now have a Debit Card and can take money out. ????

 

This is a short term solution.   You would eventually get one in your own name.  Especially for certain transactions that must be in your own name (e.g. Retirement/Marriage Extension of Stay) 

 

I would do this as soon as possible.

[Black Bird]

Hello, 

I have opened a Bangkok Bank " ibanking" account.

i was given a bank book and now i wish to register for online banking. 

Assuming i need to wait for a card, as that's what is required to register, does anyone have experience in the time frame i will get the card sent to me here in Thailand. ? 

Realising i opened it just before Songkran, it has been about 3 weeks now and still no card. i also understand things take their own time here. 

I will call them again tomorrow...  it is a broad topic, i have spent 30 minn surfing, any threads relating to this would be appreciated. 

 

Black Bird

Nakonratchasima area

[baansgr]

On 4/27/2019 at 6:09 PM, organicman said:

After reading this thread, it sounds like a headache!

 

I just worked out an EASY way to get a Thai bank account. Most of us have a Thai girlfriend so I just got my girl to open up an account in her name with another bank. I now have a Debit Card and can take money out. ????

Which she can withdraw all the funds anytime she likes....great idea....also no use for extensions/visas as they have to be in the applicants name

[onera1961]

49 minutes ago, Black Bird said:

Realising i opened it just before Songkran, it has been about 3 weeks now and still no card. i also understand things take their own time here. 

You should get the card on the spot when you open your account. It should be activated for phone banking also. After that you can take the card to any ATM and activate your online banking. This is how I did for Bangkok bank. For Kasikorn bank I don't remember and it was longtime ago. There were no online banking at the time. 

[direction BANGKOK]

https://youtu.be/10md9HKuxDM

[yang123]

Successfully opened a Krungsri account today, but it was chore-full.  I hope this will help anyone in a similar position.

 

I've banked with Krungsri in Bangkok for almost 15 years - no complaints at all: smooth UK-Thailand transfers in both directions.  However, it made sense to transfer the account to where I live now/open a new account here to ease the chore of producing updated pass-book and letter for the local immigration office when my next visa extension was due (used embassy statement of income in the past). 

 

Manager Jobsworth would not oblige - I'd had a work permit when I opened the BKK account years ago, but now, he said, as a holder of a Retirement Visa + many extensions, I had no work permit and was thus no longer eligible to open a new account/transfer the old account to his branch.  I resisted the urge to show him the Krungsri e-mail I reproduced in post 962 above confirming that I was eligible for both. 

 

Onwards to another branch, and a much warmer reception.  I took with me:

* copy of last statement from Krungsri in Bangkok;

* yellow household registration book & photocopy;

* Thai ID & photocopy;

* copy of UK bank statement showing regular pension income;

* copy of pension provider letter used in December to obtain embassy statement of income + a copy of the embassy statement;

* copy of passport ID and current visa extension pages;

* THB 1,500 cash to open the new account;

* cheque drawn on Krungsri Bangkok account to cover visa extension 800,000 requirement.

 

Not all were specified in the post 962 e-mail, but I opted for as many docs that I could think of that proved nationality, address, banking record and what-not.

 

All went fairly smoothly until inputting my data for the new account - system didn't like English, but the clerk sorted that after calling Krungsri Head Office. 

First time round, the passbook bore my given names but no surname, but a second and correct one was quickly prepared once I pointed out the omission.

I goofed by counter-signing the photocopies before I left home for the bank, so had to sign them again in the clerk's presence.

Pass-book shows the initial cash deposit of THB 1,500 - invited to return on Friday to have it updated to reflect the 800,000 cheque deposit.  Fair enough.

ATM issued on the spot after a cash payment of THB 300. 

Asked to complete a form promising not to be a US national or in any way a client of a US bank. 

 

The process took a shade under two hours from start to finish.  

 

Next step: opening an interest-bearing joint account.

 

Good luck to those that may follow!

 

[inThailand]

Sorry, have to laugh that it takes two hours for a Thai bank to open a new account. That's like waiting 30 minutes to get a beer in a bar. 

[inThailand]

Question....A couple years ago Auydha bank starting taxing deposit accounts if the some of interest earned across all accounts was 20k or more per year They start taking the 15% tax every month when the interest is posted. 

 

My banker just said only falangs are subject to this tax. Is this correct? 

[topt]

On 5/9/2019 at 1:19 PM, inThailand said:

Question....A couple years ago Auydha bank starting taxing deposit accounts if the some of interest earned across all accounts was 20k or more per year They start taking the 15% tax every month when the interest is posted. 

 

My banker just said only falangs are subject to this tax. Is this correct? 

 

[skatewash]

1 hour ago, topt said:

 

 Thanks for the link.  Krungsri Bank has already followed this policy on their savings accounts (for example, their Mee Tae Dai account, 1.3% interest).  I don't think this will apply to fixed accounts which will still have interest withheld at 15% (regardless of whether bellow 20,000), but if I'm wrong it will be a pleasant surprise.

[KhunFred]

As with everything else, there are agencies that can get a bank account opened for you. Just fork over the money until you have nothing to live on and finally realize that your business is no longer wanted in Thailand.

 

[Joseph C]

I have a bank account at Tri counties bank and want to transfer all my savings to Bangkok. This is a quite famous bank in California. Does anyone has had the same issue before? How did you solve it? I don't know if there will be problems because of IRS and other agencies... 

[onera1961]

I have a bank account at Tri counties bank and want to transfer all my savings to Bangkok. This is a quite famous bank in California. Does anyone has had the same issue before? How did you solve it? I don't know if there will be problems because of IRS and other agencies... 

You have to do FBAR reporting for IRS if you keep more than 10K USD in a foreign bank.

Sent from my moto g(7) using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Date Masamune]

You have to do FBAR reporting for IRS if you keep more than 10K USD in a foreign bank.

 

Sent from my moto g(7) using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

So what?

The US government won’t seize your assets unless you commit crimes, hide income, or lie on your tax return.

 

Doing the online FBAR report takes me about 10 minutes.