Menu
Expat.com

opening a bank account in Thailand

Last activity 12 February 2024 by kenmacalpin

Post new topic

rbakker

In order to open a bank account you need that visa and a TM30, which you can get when you rent a condo.


You need the bank account in order to deposit the 800K needed for the 1-year extension and this all has to be done as soon as possible because the 800k has to be in your bank account for 2 months before you can apply.


  1. get visa
  2. get condo
  3. open bank account
  4. deposit 800k
  5. wait two months
  6. apply for 1-year extension

martinoo2002

@rbakker


What visa is the 'that visa' you are referring too?

rbakker

I was replying to the previous post which mentioned "Non Immigrant  O visa"

martinoo2002

@rbakker


So how he can get 1. Visa id he does not have the required money in the bank for the required time?

Or is this another visa you are referring too??

rbakker

The visa in 1. refers to the initial visa you get when you apply in your home country. This is the same one that is valid for 90 days upon arrival in Thailand. In those 90 days you have to get through steps 2-6.

martinoo2002

@rbakker


Clear, always good to make references in explanations

rbakker

Agreed

marcson72


    In order to open a bank account you need that visa and a TM30, which you can get when you rent a condo.
You need the bank account in order to deposit the 800K needed for the 1-year extension and this all has to be done as soon as possible because the 800k has to be in your bank account for 2 months before you can apply.


get visa
get condo
open bank account
deposit 800k
wait two months
apply for 1-year extension

   

    -@rbakker

Do not I need  an Health Insurance ? to apply for 1 year extension ?

rbakker

"Do not I need  an Health Insurance ? to apply for 1 year extension ?"


For Non-Immigrant O, you do not.


Then again, I'm going by what I've read online (including this forum), in 10 days I'll know for sure. Maybe someone who has recently extended can confirm.

martinoo2002

@rbakker


Correct.for your extension you do not need a health insurance


I.cannot emphasize.enpugh that everyone, including myself in the 25th year, should pick up the shortlist of what your immigration office wants in doxumentation.


I did so early last month and there were 2 documents I NEVER had submitted before..remember 25 years of visas

marcson72

@rbakker we are talking about 1 year extension visa which is non immigrant OA visa so for this do we need an health insurance or not ? Thank you.

marcson72

@rbakker we are talking about 1 year extension visa which is non immigrant OA visa so for that do we need an health insurance or not ? I know i do not need an health insurance for Non immigrant O visa (90 days) because as i said i got it without the health insurance. but we are talking about OA visa = 1 year extension.  Thank you

martinoo2002

@marcson72

Not needed

martinoo2002

But again.. go to your local immi office well before expiration date and ask for the list of documents.....

They are known to have their own requirements.....

marcson72

@martinoo2002 Thank you so much for your info. do you know what i exactly need to open a bank account ? some say i only need a non immigrant O visa and some say i need proof of residence on top of O visa. some say i need O visa, TM30, Proof of residence, certificate of residence. what do i exactly need nowadays ? Can i open a bank account only with my Non immigrant O visa in Bangkok. i only have  Non immigrant O visa nothing else,  is that possible to open one nowadays ?

martinoo2002

@marcson72


Totally depends on  the bank offcer that you are talking to

. Try a few banks is the motto here.

If you have a  visa you should be able to get a certificate of residence from immigration.

These 2 should more or less guarantee the bank account.

marcson72

@martinoo2002 what if i can not get the certificate ? as i would be staying the hotel for a while ? meaning i do not have my condo rented yet

martinoo2002

@marcson72 staying in a hotel could be a problem. Not sure about that.

Don't have a buddy here that can help you with address temporary??

Un any case the hotel should register you as a foreigner with the TM30

Maybe you can use that print for the bank....

Again not sure

marcson72

@martinoo2002 so if i can get the TM30 from the hotel that i stay can i use that TM30 to open a bank account ? Will the bank accept  the TM30 from hotel ? Thank you Martin

martinoo2002

@marcson72

I guess so. But I think younshould take the tm30 plus visa to immigration to grant you n address conformation.... that should help.

The hotel, in order to register for tm30 has already submitted owner book and ID online.

It all should come together... but than again..TIT... This Is Thailand...things will turn out unexpectedly....

marcson72

@martinoo2002 when you said immigration, does it mean the building in Lak si ? Also suppose i got TM30 from my hotel in Bangkok and go to Pattaya Jomtien immigration and request to get the certificate, is that possible or i am talking rubbish ? Thank you

martinoo2002

@marcson72

Maxi Mari advised the following in another thread. I assume this is on experience

Instead you can open a bank savings account without a lease contract cause you can stay in a monthly condotel for example or in a hotel at low daily cost and they also provide the immigration adress inscription.


On the other hand you cannot open a bank savings account without a NON-IMM O or OA visa so you need such a visa in any case, but the OA obliges you to

also a Health

provide a further extention.....



On which office, I would take the office where the hotel is located and not make things more complicated

rbakker

From this forum (and other sources) I understood that a hotel address is NOT sufficient to get a bank account. I asked at the bank as well and they confirmed that. It has to at least be a condo. It's hard to find a condo that will take a 3-month lease let alone a 1-month one. It's a hassle, especially since you have to find an address as soon as possible after you arrive.

martinoo2002

@rbakker

Airbnb?? Wonder how others do it.

No detailed information from your other sources?

rbakker

Airbnb and hotels are not good enough. That's what I read on the web and here and what the bank confirmed when I arrived.

marcson72

@rbakker I heard that If i use one of those Visa Agent in Thailand They just get the Job done without any hassles.  Their services are like

  • Opening a bank account (All I need is my passport. No TM30, No Proof of residency, No residence certificate. They said they can use their address for the certificate)  4500 Baht
  • Non Immigrant OA retirement Visa (Again All I need is my Passport No Health Insurance, No Bank deposit statement etc...) 12500Baht
  • 90 days reporting 100 Baht
  • etc ...


My question is has anyone used their ( Visa Agent )  services in Thailand ? Are they Legit ?  I was referred to 2 agencies in Pattaya and they have a great reviews. Thank you so much 

rbakker

@marcson72


I can understand why people use Visa Agents, it's a lot less hassle - if they work properly.


For myself, I'd rather save the extra expense but more importantly I like to keep things simple and cut out any additional layers where things can go wrong. In all walks of life in all countries I've encountered too many incompetent people pretending to do a job and failing.  This is one of the reasons I would never use a real estate agent to sell a property but that's getting a bit off-topic....


I'm sure there are some good Visa Agents out there, the trouble is finding them. Hopefully others have had good experiences.

rbakker

Deleted - I was responding to an old post on page 1 of this thread

martinoo2002

@marcson72


An agent for bank services and 90 days is fine, but you can do it yourself for free


For a visa extension it is not a good idea as they will place you where they have their connection with immigration. This will create issues with tour TM30 and TM49 as you will live somewhere else, and this will create an issue on extension in your actual location and address and related immigration office

scbrock

A friend just used an agent for his one year extension,

He was charged 50,000 Baht. I would hate to pay that every

year. I'm sure there is all kinds of price ranges

Bigrad Wolf

We should also factor in that one of possible reasons for confusion talking to bank tellers there is the language barrier.   It's hard enough for an American to communicate with a Thai but factor in non-Americans like British/Aussies with their accents or worse, non-English speaking people like Chinese, Indian, Russian and it becomes very hard. 


I was reminded of the commercial I saw yesterday where Arnold Schwarzenegger can't pronounce "bor" in "neighbor" properly. 


I failed to get through to the bank tellers on my first attempt.  I tried another bank and this time the teller is much better in understanding English so  I succeeded. 

Bigrad Wolf

Re health insurance, the bank required me to buy a new health insurance during the 30-day stay.  They said it was a requirement despite me trying to communicate to the teller that I already have one via my US health insurance which covers up to 6 months of being away on vacation outside US.  I believe it's just language barrier so I folded and just bough a new health insurance the bank was selling on spot. 

rbakker

The Brits speak English, it's the Americans that have the accents!

scbrock

@Bigrad Wolf

I also had that experience with bank of Bangkok. They wanted me to buy x for Health Insurance. The next time I went I took a Thai person and was able to to circumvent that.

martinoo2002

@Bigrad Wolf

For others

They will always offer an insurance on the side, just be persistent in not wanting or needing it

martinoo2002

@marcson72

You will need an address where you stay to open a bank account.  Hotels and other lodging are usually not accepted

kenmacalpin

Good info I will aim to get a Visa at the Thai consulate in HK where I have been living for the past 35 years. If it's a Thai retirement Visa should I apply for the 'O' visa type? I'm already 65 I'm going to look at Chiang Mai in April (1) if I get the visa (2) have a temporary lease condo (3) will this be good enough to open a bank account (4) I see from the threads no need for medical insurance? (I already have travel insurance) (5) I have a small dog very calm I'm looking for a condo pet friendly in Chiang Mai  (6) if after getting the account and visa and temporary lease can I actually BUY a condo or just rent it?

rbakker

Type O is the best one. Temporary lease condo is enough for a bank account. No need for insurance.


Sure, you can buy a condo if you want but that's a whole different story. Get that 1-year extension first.

kenmacalpin

@rbakker


Many Thanks good info.

Articles to help you in your expat project in Thailand

All of Thailand's guide articles