Thailand Elite Card is pleased to announce the release of four new membership programs

[TD2312]

Thanks for your fast reply. That was exactly what I was referring to with my question, considering the visa is not fixed into your passport until arrival. If I decide to go that route, I guess that would be something to discuss with TE.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, TD2312 said:

Thanks for your fast reply. That was exactly what I was referring to with my question, considering the visa is not fixed into your passport until arrival. If I decide to go that route, I guess that would be something to discuss with TE.

If you are flying to Thailand on a major airline, I would not be too stressed out about this. If you explain the situation to the airline supervisor, making clear that you are received the TE visa on arrival, you should be allowed to check in. At worst, the airline might want you to sign an indemnity form.

[elviajero]

4 hours ago, TD2312 said:

Thanks for your fast reply. That was exactly what I was referring to with my question, considering the visa is not fixed into your passport until arrival. If I decide to go that route, I guess that would be something to discuss with TE.

The only time an airline should ask for an onward flight is if you travel without a visa, and then the decision is down to the check-in staff. I doubt they’d have a clue about TE or the PE visa so a letter from TE might not help, and signing an indemnity isn’t always an option.

 

If you travel using a Tourist Visa you shouldn’t have any need to prove onward travel. You could try checking in without a visa and if they insist on an onward flight you can get on the internet and book a cheap onward flight to anywhere.

[MartinBKK]

On 6/3/2018 at 8:11 AM, Robert24 said:

I have accounts with both. Fairly similar to be honest. The only difference really is that the Kasikorn ATM card you can use also as a Visa debit card. Whereas Bangkok Bank works with Union Pay which I have never used.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

This is the very reason i am switching to Kasikorn. I prefer a Visa card over UP and BKK Bank are replacing my current Visa card with UP.

[ubonjoe]

11 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

This is the very reason i am switching to Kasikorn. I prefer a Visa card over UP and BKK Bank are replacing my current Visa card with UP.

Your visa card will be valid until it expires (be careful not to lose it) You may not be able to use it at ATM's after they switch over to chip cards in November 2019. It will still be good for online purposes. You can have a 2nd card on an account such as the Union Pay to use at ATM's and merchants that accept it.

Edited June 6, 2018 by ubonjoe
inserted 2019 after Nomember

[eisfeld]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Your visa card will be valid until it expires (be careful not to lose it) You may not be able to use it at ATM's after they switch over to chip cards in November. It will still be good for online purposes. You can have a 2nd card on an account such as the Union Pay to use at ATM's and merchants that accept it. 

I wasn't aware that you can have a second card on an account. That's a neat work-around for the issue. I thought I'm going to keep my Visa card until it expires in 2023 and use another bank for the ATM withdrawels. But still inconvenient to have to carry one more card and I think I am also going to switch away from BKK Bank because they seem to be losing any advantage that they had. Friends found foreign transfers to SCB, Krungsri to be just as fast as to BKK Bank and I just checked the rates are virtually identical between SCB and BKK Bank.

 

BKK Bank according to a TV news article wanted to ditch digital transfer fees in April but I'm still paying 35THB per transfer even for transfers within the same province... another reason to change.

 

On topic: BKK Bank will open a fully-featured account with internet banking for Elite card holders. Not sure if other banks do that apart from Kasikorn now I guess.

[ubonjoe]

30 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

I wasn't aware that you can have a second card on an account. That's a neat work-around for the issue. I thought I'm going to keep my Visa card until it expires in 2023 and use another bank for the ATM withdrawels. But still inconvenient to have to carry one more card

No problem to have 2 cards on the same account. I have not bothered to do it yet since the one I have still works at ATMs. Keep thinking I will do it during the next trip to the bank but have not done it yet. Once I get the 2nd card I will probably just leave the Visa card at home to use for online purchases.

Don't want to get rid of it since I have some debits set up already and don't want to change them.

30 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

BKK Bank according to a TV news article wanted to ditch digital transfer fees in April but I'm still paying 35THB per transfer even for transfers within the same province... another reason to change.

 

I have not paid any transfer fees when using online and mobile banking. They still allow up to 5 out of region transfers per month without a fee. I do have to pay a fee for transfers ta Kasikorn accounts. 

How are you doing the transfers you pay a 35 baht fee for.

[eisfeld]

26 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I have not paid any transfer fees when using online and mobile banking. They still allow up to 5 out of region transfers per month without a fee. I do have to pay a fee for transfers ta Kasikorn accounts. 

How are you doing the transfers you pay a 35 baht fee for.

I used the ATM thinking that those are counted as digital. Maybe not?

[ubonjoe]

22 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

I used the ATM thinking that those are counted as digital. Maybe not?

ATM fees are digital but they do have fees that using online and mobile banking don't have.

[newatthis]

12 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

This is the very reason i am switching to Kasikorn. I prefer a Visa card over UP and BKK Bank are replacing my current Visa card with UP.

I guess that opening a new account with Kasikorn through Elite Visa would have to be done in Bangkok?

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, newatthis said:

I guess that opening a new account with Kasikorn through Elite Visa would have to be done in Bangkok?

I would think it could be done at any branch with proof of Thai Elite membership.

Number one here says all branches.https://www.thailandelite.com/privilege/393?locate=en

[MartinBKK]

Ubonjoe is right. You can open at any branch you just have to tell Thailand Elite which one you prefer. 

 

This was the reply i got from customer services:-

 

Thank you very much for your email. With reference to your inquiries, please be advised that Thailand Elite's members can open both Thai Baht and Foreign Currency Account with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank. 

Kindly inform us the name and full address of the bank branch, type of currency account (THB, USD, EUR, etc.), date and time you would like to visit the bank for opening a bank account. To enable us 

to make an appointment and issue documents accordingly, you are required to inform us at least 3 working days prior the service date. 

 

Please kindly find all required documents for opening bank account as below;

 

1. Your current passport

2. Thailand Elite Visa

3. Thailand Elite Membership Card

4. The official confirmation letter (This will be issued and sent directly to the bank by Thailand Elite)

5. Thai mobile number (Strongly required for online internet banking)

 

***For THB account at Bangkok Bank, minimum 500 baht deposit is required to activate a savings bank account. If you wish to apply for an ATM debit card, the price of card will be available upon your request at the bank.

***For THB and Foreign Currency Account at Kasikorn Bank, minimum 10,000 THB deposit is required for a THB account and 10,000 USD deposit is required for a foreign account. 

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by MartinBKK

[newatthis]

42 minutes ago, MartinBKK said:

Ubonjoe is right. You can open at any branch you just have to tell Thailand Elite which one you prefer. 

 

This was the reply i got from customer services:-

 

Thank you very much for your email. With reference to your inquiries, please be advised that Thailand Elite's members can open both Thai Baht and Foreign Currency Account with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank. 

Kindly inform us the name and full address of the bank branch, type of currency account (THB, USD, EUR, etc.), date and time you would like to visit the bank for opening a bank account. To enable us 

to make an appointment and issue documents accordingly, you are required to inform us at least 3 working days prior the service date. 

 

Please kindly find all required documents for opening bank account as below;

 

1. Your current passport

2. Thailand Elite Visa

3. Thailand Elite Membership Card

4. The official confirmation letter (This will be issued and sent directly to the bank by Thailand Elite)

5. Thai mobile number (Strongly required for online internet banking)

 

***For THB account at Bangkok Bank, minimum 500 baht deposit is required to activate a savings bank account. If you wish to apply for an ATM debit card, the price of card will be available upon your request at the bank.

***For THB and Foreign Currency Account at Kasikorn Bank, minimum 10,000 THB deposit is required for a THB account and 10,000 USD deposit is required for a foreign account. 

 

Thank you very much for this reply.

[4evermaat]

11 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No problem to have 2 cards on the same account. I have not bothered to do it yet since the one I have still works at ATMs. Keep thinking I will do it during the next trip to the bank but have not done it yet. Once I get the 2nd card I will probably just leave the Visa card at home to use for online purchases.

Don't want to get rid of it since I have some debits set up already and don't want to change them.

I have not paid any transfer fees when using online and mobile banking. They still allow up to 5 out of region transfers per month without a fee. I do have to pay a fee for transfers ta Kasikorn accounts. 

How are you doing the transfers you pay a 35 baht fee for.

You must do the transfers online or mobile banking to avoid fees or get the discounted fee.  And now currently you can transfer to different Thai banks (even if they are in a different province from the sender).

 

e.g. send from Kasikorn bank to Bangkok bank and pay 0 fees.   Just set it up online or on mobile banking as a test.  Then at the last page before you submit, it should show fees of 0.  And it is instant transfer.

 

I am not 100% sure if it is only certain thai banks or all of them participating in this promotion, but it is nice.

 

11 hours ago, eisfeld said:

I wasn't aware that you can have a second card on an account. That's a neat work-around for the issue. I thought I'm going to keep my Visa card until it expires in 2023 and use another bank for the ATM withdrawels. But still inconvenient to have to carry one more card and I think I am also going to switch away from BKK Bank because they seem to be losing any advantage that they had. Friends found foreign transfers to SCB, Krungsri to be just as fast as to BKK Bank and I just checked the rates are virtually identical between SCB and BKK Bank.

 

BKK Bank according to a TV news article wanted to ditch digital transfer fees in April but I'm still paying 35THB per transfer even for transfers within the same province... another reason to change.

...........................

 

yes, you can have more than 1 atm card on a single bank acct.  But take special care to mention to the teller that you are adding a new debit card.  Do not delete the old visa debit card.

 

If you don't trust this, just open a new acct with the same bank, or a new acct at a different bank like you originally planned.

 

 

[lkn]

On 6/3/2018 at 9:15 AM, elviajero said:

The only time an airline should ask for an onward flight is if you travel without a visa, and then the decision is down to the check-in staff. I doubt they’d have a clue about TE or the PE visa so a letter from TE might not help, and signing an indemnity isn’t always an option.

The check-in staff are not agents of Thai Immigration so I sincerely doubt they’d prevent you from flying to Thailand just because they *think* that you may not be granted entry, they have no way of knowing this, and they are not liable for passengers who do not get entry.

 

Though as a courtesy/service, they will ask if you have proper VISA to stay in Thailand, etc. Has happened to me many times that they asked about my VISA situation and if I was aware I could not stay more than 60 days on my tourist VISA (before I had a PE) etc.

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, lkn said:

The check-in staff are not agents of Thai Immigration so I sincerely doubt they’d prevent you from flying to Thailand just because they *think* that you may not be granted entry, they have no way of knowing this, and they are not liable for passengers who do not get entry.

The airlines are aware of the requirements by checking the IATA database for entry requirements to Thailand and other countries. A flight out of the country within 30 days of arrival is required by the written rules. It is not a matter of the airline staff thinking you may not be allowed entry.

Airlines are certainly liable if you are denied entry due to not meeting the requirements for entry. Then can be fined and be forced to fly you back to where you came from.

[lkn]

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Airlines are certainly liable if you are denied entry due to not meeting the requirements for entry. Then can be fined and be forced to fly you back to where you came from.

Any such expense will be passed on to the passenger, this is from Thai Airway’s terms:

 

13.3 REFUSAL OF ENTRY 

If you are denied entry into any country, you will be responsible to pay any fine or charge assessed against us by the Government concerned and for the cost of transporting you from that country. The fare collected for carriage to the point of refusal or denied entry will not be refunded by us.

 

I have flown to Thailand on a one-way ticket, on tickets with return dates 6 months in the future (before I had a PE VISA), etc. and I have often been asked by the check-in staff about this, but they have never acted on it. They just wanted to be sure that I was aware of the VISA rules, and that Thai Immigration may deny me entry. But possibly other countries/airlines have different policies (this was always with Thai Airways).

 

For the OP: Maybe check with your airline beforehand what their policy is regarding checking travel documents and potentially rejecting passengers.

[bubba]

On 6/11/2018 at 12:32 PM, lkn said:

The check-in staff are not agents of Thai Immigration so I sincerely doubt they’d prevent you from flying to Thailand just because they *think* that you may not be granted entry, they have no way of knowing this, and they are not liable for passengers who do not get entry.

 

Though as a courtesy/service, they will ask if you have proper VISA to stay in Thailand, etc. Has happened to me many times that they asked about my VISA situation and if I was aware I could not stay more than 60 days on my tourist VISA (before I had a PE) etc.

I would tend to disagree that asking about a visa is a courtesy. With every flight back to Thailand for at least the last five years, each and every airline check-in agent has noticed that I did not have an outbound flight and asked about my visa. I travel a lot and have a passport full of stamps, so they often need help in finding it. I have asked about this several times and they told me no outbound ticket, and no visa = no boarding the flight. Most recently, I have noticed that several agents (Asiana was the last) actually entered my visa details into the record at their terminal.

 

In your case, it appears you did have a visa, so no outbound ticket is required. If you were planning to enter on visa waiver, without a visa, you would be required to have an outbound ticket.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

I almost always fly in on one way tickets.

 

Recently I travelled from SIN to Chiang Mai. One way ticket. My visa details were never asked for or checked. (I do have a valid PE visa). I was surprised not to be questioned but as I understand from known Singaporeans they can fly to Suwanbhumi airport on visa exempts as much as they want without questioning!

ANA/JL staff in Japan have been asking about visas lately, in fact at the automated check in kiosks at NRT airport there is a box to check to acknowledge that if you don’t have a visa you may be denied entry to the Kingdom. Delta airlines and United have never asked me about visas to Thailand. US passport.

 

[BritTim]

On 6/11/2018 at 1:09 PM, lkn said:

Any such expense will be passed on to the passenger, this is from Thai Airway’s terms:

 

13.3 REFUSAL OF ENTRY 

If you are denied entry into any country, you will be responsible to pay any fine or charge assessed against us by the Government concerned and for the cost of transporting you from that country. The fare collected for carriage to the point of refusal or denied entry will not be refunded by us.

As a practical matter, especially if you have not signed an indemnity form, it will be very difficult for them to enforce this (except for any fares already paid). That is why they will be much less reluctant to carry you without a visa if you have a return/onward ticket with the same airline.

[MartinBKK]

I just emailed to book an appointment to open a bank account with Kasikorn and received this very disappointing reply.

 

Greetings from Thailand Elite Member Contact Center.

 

With reference to your request, we regret to inform you that we are currently suspending a contract with Kasikorn Bank at the moment since Kasikorn bank did not meet with our agreements.

 

Therefore, we recommend to open a bank account with Bangkok bank instead. In case that you would like to open an account with Bangkok bank, please inform us about date, time, branch and a currency would you like to open by return email to enable us to arrange the service accordingly.

 

Any further inquiries you may have, please do not hesitate to contact us at your most convenience.

 

Best Regards,

[HampiK]

7 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

With reference to your request, we regret to inform you that we are currently suspending a contract with Kasikorn Bank at the moment since Kasikorn bank did not meet with our agreements.

I would like to know what was the difference in what Kasikorn not meet the agreements? 

[eisfeld]

That they need a contract with a bank in order to facilitate the Visa holders being able to easily open an account shows that the whole PE visa is a bit flawed. They should have just made it a Non-Immigrant visa which most banks have no issue opening an account for. And that would have made it also possible to get a work permit, a 5 year drivers license etc. I also know that some consulates and embassies wont issue address proof letters if you don't hold a Non-Imm visa. Really no idea why they had to shove this into the tourist visa classification, just causes lots of problems for everyone involved.

[kekalot]

23 hours ago, HampiK said:

I would like to know what was the difference in what Kasikorn not meet the agreements? 

 

I got an account with Kasikorn about two weeks ago, was told to bring my elite card, my passport and the answer to a few questions (what kind of account etc)

however when i showed up there they did all the paperwork and asked me for 20,000 baht first deposit which I did not have on me and they wouldn't budge about it. i had to walk back home and borrow money from a friend in a pinch but then told Thai Elite about this, who knows maybe that is the reason why they don't meet their agreement

 

quite useless the first deposit to be honest since i just transferred it back out to my friend the very next day but still, annoying red tape is annoying.

[HampiK]

2 minutes ago, kekalot said:

 

I got an account with Kasikorn about two weeks ago, was told to bring my elite card, my passport and the answer to a few questions (what kind of account etc)

however when i showed up there they did all the paperwork and asked me for 20,000 baht first deposit which I did not have on me and they wouldn't budge about it. i had to walk back home and borrow money from a friend in a pinch but then told Thai Elite about this, who knows maybe that is the reason why they don't meet their agreement

 

quite useless the first deposit to be honest since i just transferred it back out to my friend the very next day but still, annoying red tape is annoying.

Thank you very much for a possible explanation.

If that is the case I hope they can resolve it, as it maybe was only 1 branch problem or a general Kasikorn problem, as I think many would enjoy a Kasikorn account at the moment over a Bangkok bank (Maybe not the account more the ATM Card which is then not an Union pay).

 

On the other side, I have to say that more and more stores are accepting the union pay cards. Even in Europe and US I see some (not a lot yet) which start to accept them. So maybe because of the big amount of Chinese tourists this will become more usable in a few months/years.

[newatthis]

5 minutes ago, kekalot said:

 

I got an account with Kasikorn about two weeks ago, was told to bring my elite card, my passport and the answer to a few questions (what kind of account etc)

however when i showed up there they did all the paperwork and asked me for 20,000 baht first deposit which I did not have on me and they wouldn't budge about it. i had to walk back home and borrow money from a friend in a pinch but then told Thai Elite about this, who knows maybe that is the reason why they don't meet their agreement

 

quite useless the first deposit to be honest since i just transferred it back out to my friend the very next day but still, annoying red tape is annoying.

Yes, the ad by Thai Elite mentioned 10,000 baht to open the account. Shame that! BKK's Union Card is a bit useless for internet purchases.

[likerdup1]

On 8/2/2016 at 6:32 PM, schweizer said:

Actually it says "Disclaimer: Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited reserves the rights to limit, modify, or cancel the Service Provider, Privileges and other benefit without prior notice"

This does not mean the visa is cancelled only privileges associated to the program and provided by third parties

I would expect these associated privileges continually change quality and quantity. When it comes to follow up service on any purchase here in Thailand -- realistically how good is it? Anyone currently have an Elite membership have experience with how good and consistent the associated perks are?

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, newatthis said:

Shame that! BKK's Union Card is a bit useless for internet purchases.

Little known fact (especially by Bangkok Bank staff): before you can use the Union Card for Internet purchases, you need to register at the "Verified by Visa" page (https://ipay.bangkokbank.com/bblenroll/bkkCard.aspx)

[newatthis]

16 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Little known fact (especially by Bangkok Bank staff): before you can use the Union Card for Internet purchases, you need to register at the "Verified by Visa" page (https://ipay.bangkokbank.com/bblenroll/bkkCard.aspx)

Ta. But won't accept union card number.

[GinSkipper]

4 hours ago, newatthis said:

Yes, the ad by Thai Elite mentioned 10,000 baht to open the account. Shame that! BKK's Union Card is a bit useless for internet purchases.

I opened my first ever bank account in Thailand about 4 weeks ago.  I am not a Thai Elite member and was on a 30 day visa exemption, although I do have a pink Thai ID & yellow book. However, I was able to do this with Kasikorn Bank without any issues and only an initial deposit of 10,000 baht. I did this in their Blueport Mall branch in Hua Hin and the staff were very friendly and helpful.