Digital Nomads, Biz owners in Bangkok

[JackAlabama]

Well, pretty straightforward so far. They asked for some details, they answered my questions and now Im waiting on them to get back to me. I havent paid a cent yet, so essentially I can back out still, but meh, its fine so far. A little more communication would be better but they did mention it would take a week or so, so im not expecting anything yet.

-Skenners

Yeah, sounds good. After all they seem to have a very good reputation, so I was wondering about your experience.

 

[RealDude]

Whats your take? Which place do u like the most?

I would alternate between Chiang Mai and Ko Lanta, depending on weather conditions. Unfortunately, the three-hour journey from Krabi airport to Ko Lanta is a bit of a pain.

 

[Skenners]

Shot Siam Legal an email about the status. Apparently it takes 4 weeks to do a background check for the visa, so ill just keep waiting until I crack the shits and cancel it and spend the money on hookers and blackjack.

-Skenners

 

[Skenners]

Well, So much for 4 weeks:

"Dear Mr. Skenners

Warm Greetings from Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd.

We would like to inform you that we have acquired an approval letter from the Thai Immigration Office as attached herewith Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd. banking information."

and from the approval letter:

"Subject: Approval on Application
Congratulations from Thailand Privilege...
We would like to express our deep gratitude for your registration to be Thailand Privilege Member. It is
with great pleasure to inform you that your application form has been approved. We are now unrolling the
red carpet for you with the enjoyment of what are the finest hospitality, recognition, privileges and
benefits at this instant reserved to nobody but you as our Elite Member. " etc


Looks like I owe them 600k THB.

Keep you posted on how long it takes (I can transfer it right meow, but It could still take a couple of days to approve)

-Skenners

And now we present the limitations of Wise.

I have ~26k AUD in there after effing around with transfers, I had the full 600k thb in the thailand account part. Great. Lets transfer.

"Sorry, you cant transfer more than 50k thb to this bank account" ...wtf?

Transfer to the australian dollar bank account. Nope, cant send more than 50k.

"Please change your transfer amount to below 50,000 THB or change the recipient bank. We only support transfer of 50,000 THB and above to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank."

So, now I have to send the money OUT of wise (costing more in transfer fees/conversion fees) and to somewhere else that can send more than 50k thb. Probably back to my main bank account in Australia. Lovely. F*cking wise. Good for small amounts of cash, but not big ones by the looks of it.

-Skenners

cost me 800 bux in fees, but i transferred back to my australian bank account, then send the whole amount through again. What. A. Waste.

But its paid for now and im emailing everyone to tell them its done.

-Skenners

 

[Skenners]

OK, It took forever to get the transfer over into their accounts and for them to acknowledge that they received it.
It also took me two phone calls to confirm the transfers.

SO, on the 8th, I sent through the money, so it would have referred to the 9th as the transfer date (thursday).

By Wednesday (over 72 hours later), I hadnt heard anything, the payment says "PAID" on my bank, meaning it cleared my side but I hadnt got any confirmations, so I emailed them again with another confirmation of payment (I sent one through after I sent it as well). They sent me a "Yes we have recorded you've paid but we havent checked our bank to see if its in" email.. great.. So I waited until yesterday and called them and they confirmed that they have received the payment and Ill get the Welcome email on Monday.

So I SHOULD get the details on monday and am accepted as Thairand ereet!

Theres a bunch more steps involved, but it seems ok, just have to get the passport stamped or something along those lines. I left last week for the night to Malaysia for another 45 days visa on arrival, so im clear for another month and a bit.

-Skenners

 

[KingKing777]

OK, It took forever to get the transfer over into their accounts and for them to acknowledge that they received it.
It also took me two phone calls to confirm the transfers.

SO, on the 8th, I sent through the money, so it would have referred to the 9th as the transfer date (thursday).

By Wednesday (over 72 hours later), I hadnt heard anything, the payment says "PAID" on my bank, meaning it cleared my side but I hadnt got any confirmations, so I emailed them again with another confirmation of payment (I sent one through after I sent it as well). They sent me a "Yes we have recorded you've paid but we havent checked our bank to see if its in" email.. great.. So I waited until yesterday and called them and they confirmed that they have received the payment and Ill get the Welcome email on Monday.

So I SHOULD get the details on monday and am accepted as Thairand ereet!

Theres a bunch more steps involved, but it seems ok, just have to get the passport stamped or something along those lines. I left last week for the night to Malaysia for another 45 days visa on arrival, so im clear for another month and a bit.

-Skenners

Thanks for the update

 

[Skenners]

No worries!

I got the welcome email pack, so im definitely thairand ereet. next step is to get the visa as it isnt automatically given, you have to book it in to get it on your passport which should be the last of the hoop jumping.

-Skenners

 

[Mike Forman]

How about bank accounts? Have you been able to open some? Multicurrency? Easy to move money in /out?

 

[Skenners]

How about bank accounts? Have you been able to open some? Multicurrency? Easy to move money in /out?

havent got that far. ill discuss it over the next couple of months. gotta get my visa first!

-Skenners

 

[zzzzzz]

As far as im aware, you can open normal thai currency accounts, but I dunno how many banks are multicurrency over here. They're the local banks (krungsri? bangkok bank?). Maybe setup a Wise multicurrency account and a local thai account and just transfer between them.

I'm trying to find out the tax implications myself as well as its really unclear. From what I read, with the elite visa you're just a regular resident, but not for tax purposes (i THINK. in some circumstances, you can pay tax apparently)

I'm thinking of getting a consultation next week with these guys Thai Elite Visa (Updated 2022) | Siam Legal International to see if they can answer my questions. I havent done full due diligence, but Ive seen them around for the past 10+ years, so there should be something to that as well.

-Skenners

The way I see it, I think with Thailand you have these categories:
- tourist non-resident (short-term tourist stay)
- tourist residence by investment (up to 1 year tourist stay) ---> Thai Elite visa
- temporary resident (up to 1 year)
- permanent resident / citizen
Residence permit gives you the right to work, start a company, use public services (healthcare, study...), own a property/land, option to become a citizen, open a resident bank account, live continously in a country...
Tourist visas usually don't offer you all that, and the main difference between Thai Elite visa and other tourist visas are longer stays and multi-entry which makes you a tourist resident and that is why you can legally be tax resident and open resident bank account in Thailand. They should just promote it as "tourist residence by investment".

 

[zzzzzz]

@Skenners let us know if the bank wants you to fill a CRS self-certification form when opening bank account in Thailand. If not, then they see you as a local/resident and no CRS message will go anywhere abroad.

 

[Skenners]

@Skenners let us know if the bank wants you to fill a CRS self-certification form when opening bank account in Thailand. If not, then they see you as a local/resident and no CRS message will go anywhere abroad.

on it!

-Skenners

 

[zzzzzz]

on it!

-Skenners

You can see an example at citibank, other banks have similar info and forms:
https://www.citibank.co.th/en/static/common-reporting-standard/index.html

 

[Skenners]

ok, finally got around to getting my PE visa in my passport, essentially it took an hour of waiting around at the immigration office, but the thailand elite agent was great in helping out and doing everything. just had to give a print out of my tm30 screenshot from the site (mine was given to me by my serviced apartment) and my passport and done.
5 years PE visa, reminders to tell them if you move and stamps, stamps, stamps!

Up next is banking, so ill get back to you in the next couple of months

-Skenners

 

[KingKing777]

ok, finally got around to getting my PE visa in my passport, essentially it took an hour of waiting around at the immigration office, but the thailand elite agent was great in helping out and doing everything. just had to give a print out of my tm30 screenshot from the site (mine was given to me by my serviced apartment) and my passport and done.
5 years PE visa, reminders to tell them if you move and stamps, stamps, stamps!

Up next is banking, so ill get back to you in the next couple of months

-Skenners

Thanks for the update

 

[Skenners]

off to bangkok bank on thursday to open an account.

-Skenners

 

[JackAlabama]

off to bangkok bank on thursday to open an account.

-Skenners

good luck

 

[Skenners]

Alrighty!

I went into Bangkok Bank in Sathorn on Thursday to get my bank account setup.
Requirements were:
- Passport with a valid Elite Visa
- Elite Membership Certified letter as attached
- Thai contact no.
- Thai Address
- Certified letter from Thailand Elite (will be sent to you within 1-2 days before the appointment)

I gave them a copy of my residential agreement with my apartment, passport and the two letters they wanted.

You need to call the thailand elite company to get them to send you the certified letter and elite membership certified letter. Its essentially saying "this person is with us, this is their details and give them a bank account". Takes a minimum of 3 days to get the booking, so prepare in advance and you have to go on a given day, but you can pick the day and anytime before 3pm to just show up to the bank and get it done.

The only forms I filled out were basic Thailand information (where I live, who i am, passport) about the bank account I wanted to open and another one which was more of a KYC than a CRC form. It had similar information requests but didnt ask for taxation information (No TFNs) or where Ive been living the past 90-180 days.

The KYC form was asking how much I earned per year, my net worth, where I get my money (country) and how much I get, all in THB. A little invasive but it is what it is. Now keep in mind that im not a US citizen or a European either (NZ Citizen and Passport), so when it asked where I get my money from, I initially put in Australia (remote work) and USA (stocks), but then I changed my mind and crossed out the USA (as my stocks technically go through an australian company) in case I had to fill out a million other forms just for getting money from the US. So there MIGHT be another form, but I doubt it. Australia taxes globally on Permanent Residents or higher, so if they didnt ask anything else for Aus, I doubt they would for anywhere else. It also asked for country of permanent residency. As I have an address I use in Aus, I technically am a tourist in Thailand (thats what the PE visa is anyway) and that I pay taxes in Aus.

So im pretty sure no CRC form was given to me. I had to sign every. effing. form. I specifically chose Bangkok Bank because Wise will allow them, Kasikorn and Siam Commercial to send above 50k THB per send where anywhere else its lower. Bangkok Bank has stupid fees though (15 THB per month) on its chequing/savings accounts and you need to put in a minimum of 500THB into the account on opening (plus another 400THB if you want to get a debit card, total of 900THB. the 400 thb doesnt go onto your account) which goes into your account on opening anyway as an initial deposit.

I hope that helps with decision making if anyone is going to go for a bank account using the Thailand Elite visa.

-Skenners

 

[Mike Forman]

Thanks for the detailed description!
So it is clear that the bank will exchange the information with your country of citizenship since they asked for your permanent address.

Did you try/request to open a usd or other currency account?

Are you able to open a true money account with the elite visa?

 

[Skenners]

Thanks for the detailed description!
So it is clear that the bank will exchange the information with your country of citizenship since they asked for your permanent address.

Did you try/request to open a usd or other currency account?

Are you able to open a true money account with the elite visa?

ahh crap, i knew there was something I needed to do in regards to other currencies. Ill try and look it up, but from what I could see on the papers I was given, it was just a standard bank account in THB.

Ill try and open a true money account later today or tomorrow when I get a chance as I tried once but the app was shoddy and didnt work well.

-Skenners