Should I sign a one-year lease before obtaining my Non-O retirement visa extension in Thailand?

@Mark ***

I've been with Bangkok Bank many years,and that's where I keep a large part of my money (incl money for immigration).I will never change that. Don't listen to people complaining about this and that.They are very often rookies.I'm with KBank as well,but for daily expenses and bills and stuff.

@Max ************

unfortunately recently much has changed due to the Chinese money laundering scam in Pattaya. Kasikorn rejected me three times. Even though the application was made it was rejected by the system, no reason given. SCB rejected 4 times. On the last occasion the lady did tell us that the previous week there were staff meetings locally where due to the Pattaya issue no accounts where to be given to foreigners unless married to a Thai or had yellow house book. Prior to that meeting they were opening accounts for all non O visas!!

Luckily Krungthai opened an account for me. This was in the Phetchabun/phitsanulok area. Looking at comments though this issue seems widespread. Even some agencies are stated that as of next month they might not offer this service anymore.

@Tony ****

You do realize where you're staying? Even new rules are handled different when it comes to branches in other provinces.Krungthai Bank isn't actually the best choice when it comes to sending money from abroad using for example Wise.

@Max ************

of course I do. I was just giving first hand, recent experience from my area. That being said the lady from SCB stated it was in line from what their head office was handing down. Hopefully with others given their experiences we can get a better, local understanding of trends.

I’ve already checked my Krungthai transactions from wise and they are marked with a code that translates as international transfer. I intend to try in Bangkok for either Kasikorn or SCB but as I was declined by a system generated application the omens aren’t good. It wasn’t a refusal by the branch.

I note you’ve been with your banks for years. As I stated we were informed by bank staff, local branch or not, that these are extremely recent developments

@Tony ****

You can only transfer 50k tops at Wise when banking with Krungthai,which is pocket change. Loads of transfers means many fees.With Bangkok Bank,KBank and SCB the maximum amount is 2 million baht.Fees when sending money with Wise are not linear,meaning the fee is actually lower when sending larger amounts. I don't need to send money on a regular basis, I'm just doing it when the exchange rate is good and that can happen in 6 or 8 months,but I'm always sending large amounts to keep the fees down to a minimum.

@Max ************

Krungthai is 500K. Did it today to satisfy my 800K

To be straight I did t want to go to Krungthai but Bangkok Bank has now presto much stopped Foreign accounts. Kasikorn rejected my application several times and SCB flat out refused to even apply.

I will try again for other banks I just needed an option for my initial 800K to guarantee extension of stay

@Tony ****

Sorry,you're right, it's 500k now. It went up from 50k to 500k.

@Max ************

only recently yesterday but you’re right. It used to be 50k