Hello, i am looking for some help opening a Thai bank account on a tourist visa. I am looking to have a back up account in Thailand just in case since it is close and I can hop over there easily since i am based in Cambodia. If anyone has experience or suggestions it is welcome as i heard it is no longer as easy as it used to be. I will likely fly there in a week or two.
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Thai bank account turist visa
- Thread starter CambodiaPro
- Start date
Just walk into banks and try your luck. UOB will open you an account on a tourist visa if you deposit 20k-50k baht. Bangkok Bank also works, depending on the branch.
If you get an ED visa for a year (it will cost around $700-$900), you can open a bank account in Thailand as a Thai resident, hence your options open up. Once your visa runs out, you can keep the account.
If you get an ED visa for a year (it will cost around $700-$900), you can open a bank account in Thailand as a Thai resident, hence your options open up. Once your visa runs out, you can keep the account.
I am currently in Bangkok on a tourist visa and would like to open a bank account here as well. I have already found an agency that has offered me to open a bank account at Bangkok Bank for 13k THB. However, this seems a bit high to me, so I would like to try my luck myself first.
Does anyone know a branch of Bangkok Bank that allows tourists to open a bank account?
Does anyone know a branch of Bangkok Bank that allows tourists to open a bank account?
Assuming you do everything by the book, for how long do they guarantee the account will remain open after you pay them 13k THB?
Well, 335 euros.
Just keep trying different branches.
I also recommend entering the branches with a good story to tell. For example, that you will stay long term, that you're currently on a tourist visa but you're waiting for the papework of a school to get your ED visa and want to have your bank account as soon as possible, etc.
Also, the more cash you bring in the better. A somewhat believable story together with a deposit of hundreds of thousands of baht will open you more doors than no story to tell along with a dirty 500 baht bill.
We're setting a bad precedent! If we reward, support, compensate, and empower bad & undesirable behavior it becomes a slippery slope! Look at how California "defelonized" shoplifting as long as it is less than $950.
Here are "some" of the recent results:
Today, it's "only" 335 euro, tomorrow it can be 335K euro or our lives. Nothing toxic should be tolerated. It's like pregnancy... either you are or you're not. There are NO gray areas! Of course, YMMV.
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Today, it's "only" 335 euro, tomorrow it can be 335K euro or our life. Nothing toxic should be tolerated. It's like pregnancy... either you are or you're not. There are NO gray areas! Of course, YMMV.
Exactly.
Plus, 13k baht is a lot of money inside Thailand, it's not comparable to 335 EUR.
With 13k baht you can pay the rent of a high quality condo with swimming pool and gym, and still have a few thousand baht left to spare. Or you can pay the salary of your full time barista. Can you do those things with 335 EUR in a Western Europe country? I'd say 13k baht inside of Thailand is equivalent to 1200 EUR or more in Western Europe.
On the other hand, it's always a good idea to get good at things such as how to deal with banks, with people, with different countries and cultures, etc. In the long run you'll save 335 EUR + 335 EUR+ 335 EUR... many times over and over.
100%! I couldn't agree more. You articulated it much better than I ever could! Thanks for sharing!
Walk into SCB with 3,000 GBP/5,000$ and ask to open an account, do it in a touristy area.
Bank account will be opened... they will sell you some worthless insurance (1-2k) and you will be happy to purchase it.
13,000 THB isn't a lot of money... in Thailand... these days...
Sure, 10 yrs ago... (god i feel old).
Today it's 335 EUR, but tomorrow you'll sell your monther
Today it's 335 EUR, but tomorrow he'll sell his country
Today it's 335 EUR, but after tomorrow someone will sell his soul to Kim Jong-un
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
of how a kingdom was lost for a nail.
Hahah I think that your life might have changed. Life tends to get more expensive as you add a wife, children, etc. into the equation
Yeah. It is an average monthly salary of the (lower) middle class. For example shop cashiers of the up scale supermarkets earn 15k a month.
Yah, not much indeed for the high life where a dinner can cost that much easily.
Yet 15k is what a cashier at villa market or at a green shop is earning in a month or entry level jobs at airport security.
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All BKK branches can open a account with just a TR visa and a Certificate of residency document " easy to get "
https://www.bangkokbank.com/-/media...services/international-branches/fcd_expat.pdf
OR i have have a agent sort it for LESS den 5k . . .
Bangkok Bank will open an account for you on a tourist visa, just give them your Hotel address and thats it. Did it myself some yesrs ago. Saving account and only with telephone banking, not netbank ( for that you need a work permit) . But you get a nice mastercard 
Thats changing always.Bangkok Bank will open an account for you on a tourist visa, just give them your Hotel address and thats it. Did it myself some yesrs ago. Saving account and only with telephone banking, not netbank ( for that you need a work permit) . But you get a nice mastercard
Some years ago you could do this with a few ks in HK and SG with nearly every bank there.
I see it similar to you guys. You always have to look at things in relation and for 13,000 THB you still get a lot even today in Thailand.
Since I also came across the advice to do some bank-hopping during further research, I visited a couple of branches of some banks. It really seems to be easiest at the Bangkok Bank. Unfortunately it is still not as easy as some of you had mentioned. I didn’t try to visit a bank with 200,000 THB in cash and ask for a bank account but I consider the chances of success as quite low.
To be able to open a bank account, I am still missing the "Certificate of Residence". Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to figure out how to get this document. I was at Immigration in Chang Watthana and at IT Square but both said they cannot issue this document. I have contacted around 10 visa agency's in Bangkok, hoping they could help me to get this document for small money but unfortunately no one was able to help me with it. I also read I could maybe get it from my embassy in Bangkok but I didnt visit them yet. Do any of you have more detailed information on how I could currently get the document in Bangkok?
@Benzouser You seem quite experienced in this field, could you maybe provide more information about how to get this certificate or share contact information of your agent?
FYI: I’m on tourist visa with validity of 60 days right now.
Since I also came across the advice to do some bank-hopping during further research, I visited a couple of branches of some banks. It really seems to be easiest at the Bangkok Bank. Unfortunately it is still not as easy as some of you had mentioned. I didn’t try to visit a bank with 200,000 THB in cash and ask for a bank account but I consider the chances of success as quite low.
To be able to open a bank account, I am still missing the "Certificate of Residence". Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to figure out how to get this document. I was at Immigration in Chang Watthana and at IT Square but both said they cannot issue this document. I have contacted around 10 visa agency's in Bangkok, hoping they could help me to get this document for small money but unfortunately no one was able to help me with it. I also read I could maybe get it from my embassy in Bangkok but I didnt visit them yet. Do any of you have more detailed information on how I could currently get the document in Bangkok?
@Benzouser You seem quite experienced in this field, could you maybe provide more information about how to get this certificate or share contact information of your agent?
FYI: I’m on tourist visa with validity of 60 days right now.
Whats that obsession anyway of getting a thai bank account?
Imho its completely useless one unless one will spend prolonged and extended time there (many months of every single year) which will raise the question of getting an adequate visa anyway which in turn will make opening an account like a walk in the park.
*The currency is pretty much useless outside of its region, not on an african level but not that much away from it either.
*General transaction amounts are low due to low level of income/wealth of the vast majority.
*No place for offshore banking due to being a somewhat closed currency.
*Inflation incoming in 2024 and thereafter due to certain plans proposed starting early next year.
So what good is it for? Same goes for an account in Cambodia,Malaysia or Laos etc.
Imho its completely useless one unless one will spend prolonged and extended time there (many months of every single year) which will raise the question of getting an adequate visa anyway which in turn will make opening an account like a walk in the park.
*The currency is pretty much useless outside of its region, not on an african level but not that much away from it either.
*General transaction amounts are low due to low level of income/wealth of the vast majority.
*No place for offshore banking due to being a somewhat closed currency.
*Inflation incoming in 2024 and thereafter due to certain plans proposed starting early next year.
So what good is it for? Same goes for an account in Cambodia,Malaysia or Laos etc.
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