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Do you need a lease copy to open a bank account in Thailand?

Oct 9, 2025
2 months ago
David *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Do you need a copy of a lease for a condo/house to open a bank account. It just seems that despite having 90 days to extend the non o on first arrival, it’s actually under 30 days to sort everything out due to needing to seed the bank account with the 800k for 2 months. So if you need to sort out a lease for bank account opening that means a lot to sort out as soon as you arrive. Or am I misunderstanding?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
To open a bank account in Thailand, having a lease may not always be necessary. Some branches might require a lease of at least a year, while others accept a residence certificate from an embassy or immigration authorities instead. It's essential to gather the required documents as the timeframe for opening a bank account and securing a rental can be limited, so consulting with an agent is advisable for first-time expats.
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Jim *******
@David ******
You got it right. Tight time is 90 days, providing you have everything (documents) right.

But how could you do that? To open a bank account, might take you weeks, months, before you have what they want to see.

Another poster here (just above this post) advised, get an agency for your first time.
Robert *****
Just use an agent for the first time....easy.
Tony **********
Your have a month to do 2 things. 1) find a place to rent out buy. 2) open a bank account. It sounds right, but in reality it's not.
Bob **********
I just opened a new account with a residence certificate
Paul *******
Many peoploe have opened a bank account without having a lease, by using a residence certificate from theri embassy or from Immigration.
Pete *******
Branch specific but when I opened mine they required a year lease.
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