Information On How To Open Savings Bank Account On Tourist Visa- Referance Requirements

[F1 Visa Runner]

Information on how to open Savings Bank Account on Tourist Visa- Referance Requirements

To open a savings deposit account on a tourist visa you for sure don’t need a work permit. If these two things should go hand in hand it would make little sense.

The fact though, is that nowadays there is a 99 % chance that the girl behind the desk will speak out “Work Permit!” and as someone said in another thread “ before i had even sat down to start the paper work.”

Wether this is because the words “work permit” is the most easy to speak out instead of explaining the various options you ve got to make it happen,

or if its a way of showing some cooky power over farang I don’t know.

The fact is that the banks have precise guidelines for whats needed when opening a savings deposit account for Tourist Visa holders.

This document it seems you have to DRAG out from the desk yourself when inside of the bank!

The options you ve got is as following;

Account Opening for Tourist Visa Holders- Referance Requirements

Bangkok Bank is pleased to offer a savings account for people who are traveling or staying in Thailand on a tourist visa. The savings account can help to facilitate the receipt of funds transferred from abroad.

If this applies to you and you would like to open an account , please submit a copy of your passport together with a letter of recommendation as follows:

A) A letter of recommendation from an reputable company, an embassy or an international organization located in Thailand.

The letter should clearly confirm your identification document and be signed by authorized officers.

or

B ) A letter of recommendation from your bank abroad. This must be a bank which is acceptable to Bangkok Bank (or the actual bank) and sent to Bangkok Bank`s SWIFT address BKKBTHBK (or the actual bank`s SWIFT ).

The recommendations should read as follows:

Mr./ Mrs. ___________________________ maintains account no. _________ with us and has been conducting banking business with us since ____(date of opening account)____ .

Mr./Mrs. ____________________________ wishes to open a savings account service at______( specify name and branch of Bangkok Bank/ other bank branch where you wish to open your account________________ .

Please extend banking facilities to Mr./ Mrs. _____(name of account holder)_____________

or

C) A letter of recommendation from a person acceptable to Bangkok Bank (or the actual bank) such an existing customer of Bangkok Bank ( or the actual bank).

Please ask for a recommandation form from our branch staff, request the person to fill in the form, attach a copy of proof of identity and sign to certify as true copy and then submit the completed form to any Bangkok Bank (or the actual bank) branch.

Kindly note that Bangkok Bank (or the actual bank) is not obliged to accept the recommendation. This is at our own discretion and we reserve the right not to provide any reason for our decision.

This is the last and correct guidelines to be followed and not some silly words from the woman behind the desk. The new procedures has to do with safety concerns regarding terrorism and all that stuff. In one way its good it has been thightened a bit, but lying about the real guidelines coming from the woman behind the desk is just total crap we should not have to keep up with!

Banks and branches may vary. Some does not follow the above terms strictly as they care less. There also seems to be an issue of how much cash you want to deposit right there when opening it . 500 k and up and they seems to do the dance for you.

Note that even if you are an existing customer of your bank and just want to change the branch they most likely will refuse to open a new account just based on the passport like you did it before.

When opening an account you should also think about where you are opening it. If for example doing some small trade with products and you want to use this account to receive money from customers abroad, a Silom account in the hub itself looks way much better than a Pattaya acount. Thats just the worlds opinion. Might make you able to more easy break barriers with potensial customers regarding payments.

[smartecosse]

or you could goto scb or kasikorn with a passport , 30 day entry stamp and open a savings account

kasikorn now has the e- card and the scb one is a mastercard so u can pay electronically at shops etc

[Maestro]

To open a savings deposit account on a tourist visa you for sure don’t need a work permit. If these two things should go hand in hand it would make little sense.

The fact though, is that nowadays there is a 99 % chance that the girl behind the desk will speak out “Work Permit!” and as someone said in another thread “ before i had even sat down to start the paper work.”

It is also important to use the correct terminology, the one that the bank clerk understands. She knows that her bank offers

– current account

– savings account

– fixed deposit account

Then a farang comes and asks to open a savings deposit account and, not realising that he means “savings account”, she simply says “Sorry, sir. No can do”.

---------------

Maestro

[johnnymoretti]

Some banks in Thailand do require you to have a work permit to open even a simple savings account. I live in Bangkok and am now on a tourist visa (though applying for a Non-Imm) and have sucessfully opened a Saving Account at Bangkok Bank. It was important for me to do it, and I'm glad that I did it at Bangkok Bank since they also have a branch office in New York City. Even CitiBank did not allow me to open an account without a work permit.

Good luck!