Hi, after spending 2 months in Thailand, December and January,I tried to get a bank account for my up coming attempt on getting a marriage visa, but 2 months later no bank account, every where I went big city's or small towns they all said no you need a visa, I even showed them the official Thai embassy website saying you need a bank account before you can get a visa and there just looked at me and said no visa no bank, anyway I have heard you can use a HSBC bank account to get a visa, is this true or just more running around catching your tail, thanks sorry if it's a bit long winded but really need advice,

I've just transferred £1000 from UK to Kasikorn, the UK charged just £5 and i sent in pound sterling, because UK always charge more when they exchange it. However Kasikorn has just creamed 3%, no biggy for £1000, but this was a trial to see speed and charges, it will kill me sending 5 or 10 million baht. So my question is, from experience, do any of you know whether different banks charge different amounts, if so which is best, and finally does the amount % get less the more you send?

I just found out that my UK bank (Co-op) only facilitates foreign money transfers by telephone, so possibly time to move my accounts, any expats recommend any particular banks for online transfers? I use Wise for small amounts but I'm thinking of the 800k and monthly 65k, can I use Wise for those?