moonseeker Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Today, at the usual farang-friendly green bank, trying to get a new account for a friend, who was here on a tourist visa and wanting to buy a condo: "Can not! Need WP! New policy order from BKK, have many poblaem with bad foreigner!" No way to reason. We then moved next door to the purple bank. Exact same scenario, on top of that quite rude & arrogant. Then moved to the blue bank trying to re-activate a "sleeping/unused" account & ATM-card the guy had for many years, but stopped using. "Now can not do quickly, need wait 1 week or more for OK from BKK". That is a first. Never had any problems of this kind and the green bank was always very friendly and welcoming. Hope this fades away, as most things here do......MS> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giddyup Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 You are going to get a flood of responses saying how easy it is to open a bank account, when in fact a lot of people have been having difficulty for quite a while now. Not saying it's impossible, but likely that you are going to get a few knockbacks before you strike a bank that's prepared to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonseeker Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script> You are going to get a flood of responses saying how easy it is to open a bank account, when in fact a lot of people have been having difficulty for quite a while now. Not saying it's impossible, but likely that you are going to get a few knockbacks before you strike a bank that's prepared to do it. THX. Yeah, i was one of them who posted just recently how simple it is. Just a few weeks now and things seem to have changed. Never a boring day :-)...Have a nice weekend. MS> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaPhom Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 K Bank Klang normally do, try there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry skipper Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) here on a tourist visa and wanting to buy a condo tell him if he wants to gamble on high uncertainties there are casinos on the cambo border that are more suitable. Edited June 5, 2014 by merry skipper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MrWorldwide Posted June 5, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 5, 2014 Mine wasn't simple at all - first 3 basically gave me the same line and I immediately got a moto-taxi to Jomtien and extended my stay in Thailand for another month on top of my 60-day tourist visa. My reasoning was that I would have more time to find a way through this particular hoop, but on the way back I decided to give the banks on the 4th floor of Central Festival a shot and - to my surprise - the teller waved me through to a manager who asked me a few questions and I now have a Krungthai passbook and ATM card. She told me I'll be able to apply for an interest-bearing FIxed Deposit Account in a week or so and gave me the details I need to transfer my 800k - all good so far. There are snipers on this forum who will criticise us whatever we do, but I believe I'm now on the road to getting the correct visa to reflect the fact that I want to live out my remaining years in Thailand, whatever the inconsistencies between banks or Immigration officers. Even with computerised systems, setting up an account isnt a trivial exercise - for them to do it for every Farang looking in the hopes of avoiding the 150-180 baht fee on withdrawals makes no sense. For the record: - account fees - 599 baht - ATM card fee - 100 baht - the above was deducted from my initial 10k baht deposit - I dressed appropriately for the 'interview' - it may not have been a suit and tie but it wasnt shorts and flipflops either - different day, different teller/busy manager maybe not such a happy outcome - just move to the next branch Inevitably, someone will now tell me that KT was the worst possible choice and there is no way they would pay those fees - I couldnt give a flying fox about comments like that : this board is full of people who have all the answers but somehow dont supply them when a thread like this appears. TiT and the goalposts move all the time - I guess we just have to be prepared to move with them, I wish the OP every success. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonsalviz Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Thing may have changed but I had great success by taking a Thai national with me to verify me and then use his address as mine. Then it can be changed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Thing may have changed but I had great success by taking a Thai national with me to verify me and then use his address as mine. Then it can be changed. Fortunately I didnt have to do that - I dont think she even rang the number I gave her for the people who manage the apartment block I live in. No guarantee that it will be so smooth for the OP - in any case, if you have access to this sort of help why the hell not ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. You are also better of going to the head office of the bank to open an account. They are not too friendly to you if you don't have an active a/c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMGImInPattaya Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Sounds good to me...keep out some of the riff-raff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry skipper Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 New policy order from BKK, have many poblaem with bad foreigner! definition of bad poblaem farang: any despicable alien character characterised by the audacity or gall to want to remove his very own money from noble thailand to any non thai place .sheesh how despicable can you get that is the lowest of the low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. If you have an employer than one will have a WP which works fine. The last account I opened I walked into the bank and asked to open an account. When he started asking a lot of questions I just pulled out my WP and all smiles and took me over to get me setup promptly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogNo1 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Caution on putting that 800,000 into a fixed deposit account. I'm not sure that immigration will accept that. I think that it has to be in an ordinary account subject to withdrawal at any time. Better check with ubonjoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 - account fees - 599 baht There should be no account opening fee. If you check you may find that this is for optional insurance, or some other optional extra. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Caution on putting that 800,000 into a fixed deposit account. I'm not sure that immigration will accept that. I think that it has to be in an ordinary account subject to withdrawal at any time. A fixed term account will be accepted at Jomtien immigration. The important point being that nearly all fixed term accounts these days allow for early withdrawal, albeit with some interest penalty. You do need to check that your fixed deposit does allow this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. You are also better of going to the head office of the bank to open an account. They are not too friendly to you if you don't have an active a/c. Between the 3 who sent me away - all branches in Big C Extra fwiw - I got everything from 12-month visa+WP to the 90-day visa (non-Imm O I assume). I think the Ed visa was mentioned by two of them and one mentioned 'investment in Thailand'. I dont have a problem with any of that, but it seems to me that getting that first 90-day visa will be a whole lot easier when I can present them with a letter of guarantee from a Thai bank along with a copy of my passbook. I do have a query re the seasoning rule but I'll raise that in the appropriate forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil B Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Maybe things have tightened up at the banks to prevent money laundering as the CAPO starts to look at certain politicians and their assets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. You are also better of going to the head office of the bank to open an account. They are not too friendly to you if you don't have an active a/c. Between the 3 who sent me away - all branches in Big C Extra fwiw - I got everything from 12-month visa+WP to the 90-day visa (non-Imm O I assume). I think the Ed visa was mentioned by two of them and one mentioned 'investment in Thailand'. I dont have a problem with any of that, but it seems to me that getting that first 90-day visa will be a whole lot easier when I can present them with a letter of guarantee from a Thai bank along with a copy of my passbook. I do have a query re the seasoning rule but I'll raise that in the appropriate forum. The truth is that most of the Bank managers wont like taking the risk of opening an new bank account for fareng as they are not used to it, there is a set policy for opening an a/c on their website but they would rather flog you off as their not comfortable dealing with fareng and their English is usually very poor. As said before if you have a work permit they will open an account for you as that seems like that was the set rule in the past, but that has changed. Bangkok banks website states - <Even if you are only visiting Thailand for a relatively short period of time, you can open a savings account and get a debit cardto use for shopping and ATM withdrawals. All you will need to provide is your passport and one other official identification document for example, your drivers license or a reference letter from your embassy, your home bankor a person acceptable to the bank. (More details below) You will also need to provide evidence of your address in Thailand as well as your regular address in your home country.> As I said before your better of going to the main bank branch which are located in Bangkok. Their professional there and they are used to opening accounts and dealing with fareng. And they wont mess around with you. Another tip is that SCB are less strict on these rules, Bangkok Bank are stricter on rules - take from that what you like... Another factor is that Bangkok Bank will offer you a Visa Best bank card that can be used for online purchases, SCB debit card will not give you this option. Edited June 5, 2014 by Display Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericthai Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. You are also better of going to the head office of the bank to open an account. They are not too friendly to you if you don't have an active a/c. Incorrect. I just opened another bank account three weeks ago with bkk bank and all they asked for was my passport. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) You need a long term visa, 2 forms of I.D one a passport, A letter from your employer or school etc. You are also better of going to the head office of the bank to open an account. They are not too friendly to you if you don't have an active a/c. BS I just opened another bank account three weeks ago with bkk bank and all they asked for was my passport. Lol every bank branch is different with the deciding factor down to the bank manager, AND THE FACT THAT YOU SAID "ANOTHER" MEANS YOU ALREADY HAD A BANK A/C WITH BB! WHICH IS A DIFFERNET SITUATION ALTOGETHER, FOOL! Edited June 5, 2014 by Display Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallGuyJohninBKK Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 As noted to great length in other threads, there seems to be very little consistency in how Thai banks handle the issue of farang account openings, especially for those without work permits. But as noted above, BKK Bank on its website lists its policies toward different categories of visa holders, and is one of the few that specifically states they will open accounts for tourist visa holders. Other than that, a work permit almost always guarantees acceptance. Short of that, a retirement or marriage visa or extension often will work at well, but it's going to vary from branch to branch and bank to banks. That's where the rejections followed by a success somewhere usually comes into play. If don't succeed, try try try again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soihok Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 How about opening a joint account with a Thai spouse? Farang just in Thailand on a 30 visa exempt entry? My wife has an account and we just use that, but there will come a time when I have to meet certain immigration requirements to show funds. Then again, by that time I will either have another Non Imm O or retirement visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 I saw nothing in the opening post of this topic to indicate that the poster's friend is married to a Thai national. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiang mai Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Caution on putting that 800,000 into a fixed deposit account. I'm not sure that immigration will accept that. I think that it has to be in an ordinary account subject to withdrawal at any time. Better check with ubonjoe. Fixed deposits are fine for visa purposes, they can be cancelled at any time and the funds made available straight away but with loss of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Is the OP's friend a US national? It seems that many banks are reluctant to open accounts for them, apparently because of some new requirements imposed by the US government. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallGuyJohninBKK Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 For the record: - account fees - 599 baht - ATM card fee - 100 baht - the above was deducted from my initial 10k baht deposit Glad you got the account you wanted. But FWIW, I've never encountered any mandatory new account opening "account fees" here -- other than the normal first time card issuance and then annual ATM card renewal charges. Usually 100 to 200 baht each. Dunno if this applies in your case, but the Thai banks do like to try to tack on things like life insurance or accident insurance or some variety of medical insurance, and have been known to portray those as required, which they are not. But they are good money makers for the banks and the bank staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degobuy Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script> You are going to get a flood of responses saying how easy it is to open a bank account, when in fact a lot of people have been having difficulty for quite a while now. Not saying it's impossible, but likely that you are going to get a few knockbacks before you strike a bank that's prepared to do it. THX. Yeah, i was one of them who posted just recently how simple it is. Just a few weeks now and things seem to have changed. Never a boring day :-)...Have a nice weekend. MS> Military Coup ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soihok Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) I saw nothing in the opening post of this topic to indicate that the poster's friend is married to a Thai national. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app It is easier to gain a Thai wife than it is a bank account Edited June 6, 2014 by soihok 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericthai Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Is the OP's friend a US national? It seems that many banks are reluctant to open accounts for them, apparently because of some new requirements imposed by the US government. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Maestro, I have heard the same rumors about bank accounts for US citizens. Seems that is all they are is just rumors. I'm from the USA and I opened a bank account with BKK Bank about 3 weeks ago. I asked if there are going to be any problems in the future for US citizens and the girl said no. They have to submit a report to the US which will be done at their main office. She said it will not effect me. When I opened the account I was waiting for them to ask for my work permit but she never did. Just asked for my passport. Seems business as usual. Fee was the standard 200B for the ATM card. No other fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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