Walk in and put about B30K on the table, smile and say I would like to open an account...

Better say "I would like to open a savings account". I understand that one foreigner who merely asked for an account was refused because the bank clerk apparently thought he wanted a current account and did not offer a savings account as an alternative.

Yes, I will be specific. I would really have liked the K-Bank Internet savings account, but will probably stick with an ordinary savings account in the short term, so I have a physical passbook to show IO. So in October I will go for an account in joint names with 2 ATM cards, that seems to be the way the advice on this thread has evolved.

Once we move there in January, I will open a Pound Sterling account and also another account for paying day to day expenses.

Why are you distinguishing the K-Bank internet savings account with an ordinary savings account?

The account I opened has ATM Visa Card, passbook and Internet banking all in one. I didn't ask them for a specific account - that is what they gave me by default. They'll give you a passbook and ATM Visa Card right away.

Why are you distinguishing the K-Bank internet savings account with an ordinary savings account?

The account I opened has ATM Visa Card, passbook and Internet banking all in one. I didn't ask them for a specific account - that is what they gave me by default. They'll give you a passbook and ATM Visa Card right away.

Well I guess I will just need to judge that on the day. If you look to the right hand sidebar navigation on http://www.kasikornb...nkAccounts.aspx there are clearly 2 different savings accounts, the E-Savings account looks like the name of the Internet account, not the standard account. It's hard to tell the difference from over here ...

Edited June 26, 201115 yr by ukasianexplorer

To make it easy to follow, I'll include your quotes that I wish to comment upon in blue...

In the above - are you referring to the need for my wife to go out of Thailand in order to obtain her non-imm 'O' visa ONCE I have my own 'o' visa retirement extension in place?

Yes. In this scenario you will have already obtained your retirement visa in Thailand. Vientiane is a reasonable option and the one we took last year. I would certainly choose it over KL. Penang used to be a good option before Air Asia discontinued the morning flight and made it a 2 night affair.

but what an extended process for her!

It's really not too bad. It really makes sense that a consulate would not issue her with a non-O for retirement until you have yours because how would they determine if she would in fact be using it for the intended purpose.

Also... this process will only need to be completed once as long as you keep your extensions up to date. Only once in possibly years of retirement bliss?

seems like they discriminate against married folk!

The option of allowing your foreign wife to piggy-back on your retirement extension is a privilege we're lucky to have. Remember there is no age or income requirements for your wife. All other foreigners need 800K each and have an age requirement of 50 to retire. Sure, it would be nice if they could issue your wife with a non-O visa in-house, but I wouldn't call it discrimination.

So it seems to me that my dream of us BOTH getting a single stay, 3 month non-imm 'O' visa when we are on vacation in October - is just that ... a pipe dream!

I wouldn't say it's a pipe dream. No one here seems to know. I have a theory you cannot do it, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. You could always be a pioneer and try it, then report back here. You have mentioned a couple of times that it might be worthwhile giving the Thai Embassy in Manila a try.

Yes, the Thai Embassy in Manila has been blasted so many times on here that I'm sure most people are afraid to go there. If your wife is going to be in Manila on other business then I think it would be a good idea to have her go in there and enquire if it is possible for both of you to get non-O's there before you leave. Perhaps they will give her one - there's nothing to lose trying if she is going to be in Manila anyway.

If we fail to get those lovely people in Manila to issue her with an 'O' visa then we may as well BOTH return there in January on a visa-exempt basis and then throw away my wife's return air ticket. Under that scenario we will have to do whatever number of border runs are needed until we get our ducks all in a row.

I don't understand why you would need to do any border runs? At the most, one run to a neighboring Thai Consulate should do it. If you deposit your 800K by mid-November you'll have your retirement extension by mid-January.

We would like to buy you and your wife dinner when we are visiting Pattaya in October. My wife would enjoy some jabber, jabber with another Filipina too.

We look forward to it.

Why are you distinguishing the K-Bank internet savings account with an ordinary savings account?

The account I opened has ATM Visa Card, passbook and Internet banking all in one. I didn't ask them for a specific account - that is what they gave me by default. They'll give you a passbook and ATM Visa Card right away.

Well I guess I will just need to judge that on the day. If you look to the right hand sidebar navigation on http://www.kasikornb...nkAccounts.aspx there are clearly 2 different savings accounts, the E-Savings account looks like the name of the Internet account, not the standard account. It's hard to tell the difference from over here ...

I had a look at that. It looks like the only difference is that with an E-Savings account you DON'T get a passbook. Everything else seems the same.

If we fail to get those lovely people in Manila to issue her with an 'O' visa then we may as well BOTH return there in January on a visa-exempt basis and then throw away my wife's return air ticket. Under that scenario we will have to do whatever number of border runs are needed until we get our ducks all in a row.

I don't understand why you would need to do any border runs? At the most, one run to a neighboring Thai Consulate should do it. If you deposit your 800K by mid-November you'll have your retirement extension by mid-January.

Assuming we do NOT succeed in getting 2 non-imm 'O's in Manila, then we will both arrive in January on a visa-exempt basis. The only thing that may prevent me from doing the switch to non-imm 'O' THERE and getting the retirement extension, is that we may not succeed in finding a suitable place to rent in the first month and will not have a lease to show at the IO. Under that scenario we would both have to exit and return on a visa-exempt basis for another month, until we did accomplish that last task.

We would like to buy you and your wife dinner when we are visiting Pattaya in October. My wife would enjoy some jabber, jabber with another Filipina too.

We look forward to it.

WILL DO! You have been an extraordinary help to me!

I had a look at that. It looks like the only difference is that with an E-Savings account you DON'T get a passbook. Everything else seems the same.

Looks very strange eh? Well what you have would be ideal for me, has the physical passbook as well as ATM cards and internet banking combined. Exactly what I need.

Thanks again.

Assuming we do NOT succeed in getting 2 non-imm 'O's in Manila, then we will both arrive in January on a visa-exempt basis. The only thing that may prevent me from doing the switch to non-imm 'O' THERE and getting the retirement extension, is that we may not succeed in finding a suitable place to rent in the first month and will not have a lease to show at the IO. Under that scenario we would both have to exit and return on a visa-exempt basis for another month, until we did accomplish that last task.

I see your point. I recommend you don't rush into a rental agreement until you've thoroughly checked out the place.

Any old guest house with an official receipt showing you've paid them rent should suffice for both the bank and IO. They just want to see where you're living. These addresses can easily be changed at both the IO and bank at anytime. The K-bank allows you to change your address online. With the IO you just fill out a TM 47 which is the most basic form you'll ever encounter - and it serves as an early report so you'll reset your 90 day reporting clock when you do it. I went through all this myself a few months ago.

Edited June 27, 201115 yr by tropo

If you do want to go to Vientiane, you don't fly there directly. You fly from Bangkok to Udon Thani then take the airport limousine to the border (45 min - 200 baht). Once you've cleared the border it's a short tuk-tuk ride to the immigration office. This is cheaper than flying

if you are on a budgie,

you can have a mini bus to udon no 1 bus statio, 80 bht from airprt

and take a bus to vientianne .

or overnite @ udon, karin hotel 400 bht.

:jap:

if you are on a budgie,

you can have a mini bus to udon no 1 bus statio, 80 bht from airprtf

and take a bus to vientianne .

or overnite @ udon, karin hotel 400 bht.

:jap:

Surely those who are on tight budgets do not fly to Udon Thani but rather take an overnight bus. To catch a Nok Air flight to Udon Thani at 6am a Pattaya resident would have to travel by taxi to Don Muang Airport, so it's not a super budget option anyway.

It is important in my example to get to the border asap to get to the Thai Consulate as early as possible - to carry out the visa application over one night.

I see your point. I recommend you don't rush into a rental agreement until you've thoroughly checked out the place.

Any old guest house with an official receipt showing you've paid them rent should suffice for both the bank and IO. They just want to see where you're living. These addresses can easily be changed at both the IO and bank at anytime. The K-bank allows you to change your address online. With the IO you just fill out a TM 47 which is the most basic form you'll ever encounter - and it serves as an early report so you'll reset your 90 day reporting clock when you do it. I went through all this myself a few months ago.

Yes, I want to be sure about where we will live and not just jump into the first place that's available. I have been astonished at how high the rental prices are on websites like http://pattayapropertyfinder.com - I guess there's a premium to be paid for that kind of convenience. I don't want to spend more than 12,000 Baht a month (excluding utils) for a 2-3 bed bungalow (ideally) or apartment fairly close to town. We will not have a vehicle, so distance and commuting time is an issue. Hua Hin seems a lot cheaper in that respect.

Any old guest house with an official receipt showing you've paid them rent should suffice for both the bank and IO. They just want to see where you're living. These addresses can easily be changed at both the IO and bank at anytime. The K-bank allows you to change your address online. With the IO you just fill out a TM 47 which is the most basic form you'll ever encounter - and it serves as an early report so you'll reset your 90 day reporting clock when you do it. I went through all this myself a few months ago.

Hmmmn - then that may indeed be easier than I imagined. I am sure the bank requirements are quite superficial, but I imagined the IO would be more thorough. Your super leaflet says "5) ...... or a letter headed receipt of rent paid ...". So even a guest house receipt for a couple of weeks rent might do? That would be really useful!

Any old guest house with an official receipt showing you've paid them rent should suffice for both the bank and IO. They just want to see where you're living. These addresses can easily be changed at both the IO and bank at anytime. The K-bank allows you to change your address online. With the IO you just fill out a TM 47 which is the most basic form you'll ever encounter - and it serves as an early report so you'll reset your 90 day reporting clock when you do it. I went through all this myself a few months ago.

Hmmmn - then that may indeed be easier than I imagined. I am sure the bank requirements are quite superficial, but I imagined the IO would be more thorough. Your super leaflet says "5) ...... or a letter headed receipt of rent paid ...". So even a guest house receipt for a couple of weeks rent might do? That would be really useful!

I reckon a rent receipt with a couple of nights paid would be enough. They basically want to know where you live. When you're found more permanent accommodation go in and change it.

Don't overthink think this part. It's quite normal for people to relocate.

I see your point. I recommend you don't rush into a rental agreement until you've thoroughly checked out the place.

Any old guest house with an official receipt showing you've paid them rent should suffice for both the bank and IO. They just want to see where you're living. These addresses can easily be changed at both the IO and bank at anytime. The K-bank allows you to change your address online. With the IO you just fill out a TM 47 which is the most basic form you'll ever encounter - and it serves as an early report so you'll reset your 90 day reporting clock when you do it. I went through all this myself a few months ago.

Yes, I want to be sure about where we will live and not just jump into the first place that's available. I have been astonished at how high the rental prices are on websites like http://pattayapropertyfinder.com - I guess there's a premium to be paid for that kind of convenience. I don't want to spend more than 12,000 Baht a month (excluding utils) for a 2-3 bed bungalow (ideally) or apartment fairly close to town. We will not have a vehicle, so distance and commuting time is an issue. Hua Hin seems a lot cheaper in that respect.

You're being misled because real estate companies do not deal in 10 - 12K rentals. There's no money in it.

Most of the 10 - 12K rentals are Thai owned and are usually never advertised except maybe on the shopping centre notice . I can show you areas where you can find decent size townhouses near the centre of town and shopping centres for that price.

There's only one good way to do this. Walk (or ride) around the areas which interest you and look for rental signs. It won't take you long because their are so many available.

You're being misled because real estate companies do not deal in 10 - 12K rentals. There's no money in it.

Most of the 10 - 12K rentals are Thai owned and are usually never advertised except maybe on the shopping centre notice . I can show you areas where you can find decent size townhouses near the centre of town and shopping centres for that price.

There's only one good way to do this. Walk (or ride) around the areas which interest you and look for rental signs. It won't take you long because their are so many available.

Sounds identical to the Phils! OK, we will think more about that immediately prior to arrival. My fat old body doesn't like stairs, so town houses are not on my agenda. We have rented 2 great bungalows in 2 different towns in the Phils, each was about 100 sq.m. A really nice way of living, but in town I suspect it will be an apartment for 1 level living. I will also resist signing any lease for longer than 6 months, you never know a place until you're resident ... then the all-night Karaoke makes an appearance next door!

I take your point about not over-thinking on this, since changing addresses for bank and IM seems fairly easy (and I'll bet nobody ever checks either!)

I take your point about not over-thinking on this, since changing addresses for bank and IM seems fairly easy (and I'll bet nobody ever checks either!)

Certainly not in a busy office like Chonburi. My rental contract was very poorly done and difficult to read with no printed address or company title - I doubt anyone even tried to read it. If that was good enough, anything will do.