Can my Thai wife open a joint bank account with me in Thailand as an expat?

she needn't mention being american. all in thai

Bangkok bank brilliant no problem

Don't worry about the fees as they are around 300 to 400 Baht a year, get one that best suits your needs

my girlfriend and me each had our own account with the SCB. We openend a third account, a joint account. Unfortunately, for this joint account, no online banking was possible. As this originally was our main purpose - to be able to pay bills and other, by online banking - using this joint account, we decided to cancel the account.

Like you, I am an American married to a Thai. It is ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE for you and your wife to have a joint account. I know this because my Thai wife and I had a joint Krung Thai Bank account in the past. I now have my own bank account (for the 800K retirement Visa money verification purposes) and a separate bank account for all of our typical monthly activities/expenses, while my wife now has her own accounts. If you are not planning on using the JOINT account for visa purposes, then it should be fine.

What would be the value to you to have a joint account?

Are you planning on spending more time in Thailand than just a month or 2 a year?

My Thai wife and I spend 6 months a year in Thailand and 6 in the US. Been doing this for 3 years.

I need some advice for my hubby too 🙏🏻☺️

Depends on what you want to use the account for.

You can have a joint account with your wife, but it can be a pain in the backside to use for certain things.

For example if you use it to apply for a visa (and your immigration office allows a joint account) you’ll need double the required funds as they see joint accounts as 50% your money and 50% the other party’s.

Usually way easier to get a separate account for stuff like that.

Absolutely doable! Bangkok Bank are most definitely ‘foreigner friendly’. They like to sell personal accident insurance as the staff get commission. If you have no other form of insurance it’s worth buying at around 5,000 baht. Fees are similar. You pay an annual account maintenance fee and fee for debit card if you request one.