I was able to open up a savings account with a tourist visa at the Kasikorn Bank CMU branch after a previous rejection by Bangkok Bank in Kad Suan Kaew. At Kasikorn, all the tellers and customer service people working at the time I was there spoke English. They asked for my passport, local phone number and proof of local address. The owner of my hotel had given me a multiple page document but only the first page, a letter written by him in Thai, was looked at. The cost for an ATM/Debit card was 400 baht.

Thanks. This may seem trivial to the uninitiated, but it's actually useful information. A lot of banks don't like to open accounts for foreigners regardless of visa and proof of residency. Kad Suan Kaew may be the worst place to try and open a bank account.

Many Thai banks have non-resident accounts.

I believe there is no interest paid on these accounts and a minimum amount of money specified by the bank is required. Also if not regularly used the bank will terminate the account.

Out of interest, I would like to ask the OP with how much money did he open the account and what are the terms and conditions? Because I don`t believe this is as cut and dry as it appears.

Edited June 7, 201214 yr by Beetlejuice

Initial deposit was about $400 US and I'm embarrassed to admit I really don't know the terms and conditions. I was so relieved to get the account and so hot and sweaty from the trek to the bank that I just signed my name to the multitude of papers written in Thai. And actually I wasn't asked about the amount of my deposit until the paperwork had begun.

At this point I don't plan to keep much more of a balance--just enough for some expenses here. And if I do decide to transfer a larger amount for a retirement type visa I'll definitely do more research before deposit or opening another account.