Is a 400,000 baht bank balance necessary for a Thai spouse visa?

@Spencer ******

can get at thai consulate in Savannakhet

@Steve ******

thought so and I don't know anyone that has gone that way tbh either

No....i do 400k....just posted to clarify that 65k is incorrect.

@Michael ******

I am assuming you are American, and that you are moving, or already live here permanently. The financial requirement for a marriage visa, type O Thai wife, is either bt400k in a Thai bank for at least 2 months, OR 12 monthly deposits from overseas of at least bt40k a month, with no month missed.

Now some details you might not be aware of to make this easy to do. Social Security allows direct deposit of your Social Security payment into a Thai bank account, and at the best exchange rate. I do this into one of my Bangkok Bank accounts. It is always there, and I do not have to do anything, like make sure I transfer it from my US bank into my Thai bank each month.

At the end of my visa extension and time to renew, I go to the main Bangkok Bank offices on Silom, and through two steps of requests I get the bundle of deposits, showing the exchange rate used each month, and where they came from. This meets immigration requirements. What makes that branch good is on the second floor at the first offices on the right at the top of the escalator is the section that deals with foreign clients exclusively, and knows exactly what you need. The whole process takes about a week, with two other visits to finish. Apply at immigration for your extension no more than seven days after you get everything from the bank.

Now something else you might not be aware of, and can increase what you get monthly from Social Security. As you should be aware Medicare does not cover any of your medical needs outside of the US. There are a few very extreme exceptions, but they do not relate to anything you might encounter living here. As such there is absolutely no reason to be paying for part B of Medicare. It is easy to cancel, and will give you about bt5000, to bt7000 a month. You still have inpatient coverage with the free part A, if you have to return to the US. You can re-apply for part B, but at a penalty of a 10% increase in premium costs for each year you were not paying for it. If you are planning to stay in Thailand, then no big deal, and more money each month in your pocket, and for Thai standards a significant amount.

Just some details to consider if you are staying here permanently. If you have some remote immigration office not accepting this, then just get ahold of the main offices at Chaeng Wattana and they will set them straight. Chaeng Wattana is great because they've seen the package of documents from Bangkok Bank so many times they don't even go through them checking all the monthly deposits.