Open Bank Account !

[bapoboy]

Hello, I will arrive thailand next week, but I'm not very interested to walk around with lots of cash on me, I have a tourist visa, tend to sojourn in thailand 6 months a year.

What type of account can I open? which bank is recommending?

[Lite Beer]

You can open a savings account.

You might have to try a few branches before being accepted.

[happynthailand]

try SCB they like your money

[Pib]

A question that gets asked quite often. Just type "bank account" or something similar in the ThaiVisa Search block and quite a few threads on the subject will pull up...very recent to old.

Based on posts I've seen on ThaiVisa, seems the majority of farangs have accounts with Bangkok Bank, Kbank, or Siam Commerical Bank (SCB)...but many have accounts with other banks. For me, with the exception of one Krungsri Bank account the rest are with Bangkok Bank.

If one bank branch won't open an account for you, just walk down the soi and try another branch...even a branch which is part of the same bank that may have just rejected you. Seems some branchs are farang-friendly and some are not.

And you do not need to take any insurance such as a pricey debit card that comes with accident insurance to open an account. More and more branches seem to be pushing insurance. If they ask, just say no, you have plenty of insurance, you just want a the basic debit card and no insurance...the basic/regular debit card has approx a Bt200/year fee....more pricier cards that come with stuff most people don't need or could ever use--like accident insurance under just the right accident conditions--may end up costing you three, four, five times or more per year compared to the bank's basic debit card.

Good luck.

[Suradit69]

The major banks like Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn have branches & ATMs everywhere in Thailand, so wherever you are, accessing your money should not be a problem. Bangkok Bank also has branches in places like New York and London. You can't open accounts at a foreign branch, but once you have an account opened at Bangkok Bank in Thailand, you can make deposits/transfers to the foreign branches and have the funds available to you in Thailand within a couple of days.

If you are starting out in Bangkok, try one of the larger branches, especially in areas that appear to have a lot of foreigners present. If you go to smaller branches or branches in rural areas, they probably won't be interested in opening an account for a foreigner on a tourist visa. Even in big cities like Bangkok, you may be turned down by a few branch managers. Just walk a little further up the street and try again, even at another branch of the same bank that just turned you down. Persistence will bring success.

You have to consider from the bank's point of view there isn't much in it for them if they open account for tourists who deposit a relatively small amount of money and who will likely permanently disappear in a couple of months. The time spent by a clerk, the paperwork, ATM card, passbook, etc make it a waste of time & expense for them in most cases unless you will be a long term customer.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Suradit69

[bapoboy]

Thanks for help everybody