I will be applying for my retirement VISA this January.

Will my US Dollar acct. at HSBC in Bangkok qualify me or do I need 800,000 in Thai bht?

I guess I can ask at the Bank.

Asking Immigration would be a better idea.

I doubt you bank will have a clue about such matters.

Skipper, there was a thread on this not long ago and I copied this; it looks like yes they will accept USD. I may do this myself. If I'm reading this correctly your money makes interest here using this method. LDB

Actually you do not need to exchange your money.

I put my "800k" in a pounds sterling account here. The foreign currency accounts pay very well considering we're in Thailand. The rates for various access times including instant access are available in a table in the last page but one of the BKK Post. See BKK bank and Kasikorn bank tables not central bank. When my baht acct gets low I top it up from the GBP acct, getting the Telex Transfer rate on the exchange automatically which is also very fair.

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Immigration requires more than passbook or regular statement, they seem to require a letter from your bank, so that's what I get for a hundred or two hundred baht stating the amount in my sterling acct also stating the equivalent in baht plus any baht one happens to have in baht acct also.

BTW the savings rates for foreign currency I stated are in the last page but one of the BKK Post BUSINESS SECTION I hope that was obvious.

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I would definitely check with the immigration office you will be using before assuming a foreign currency account will be accepted.