@Geraldine *************

oops ;-)

@Geraldine *************

Have you considered something like ‘Wise’? Open a Wise account and send money from your USA bank to your Wise account and use Wise to transfer it to Bangkok Bank … unless you’re trying to transfer several hundred thousand dollars it might be more convenient to open a Wise account than set up a Bangkok Bank account using translators (I assume that since you already have a BBK account there’s some limit on that account that precludes just doing a regular wire transfer from your US account?)

@Lucia **************

digital nomad … if you are able to work remotely for a non-Thai company you can check to see if Thailand has implemented a ‘digital nomad’ visa program (I know they were talking about the option a year or two ago, not sure if they actually created that class of visa though.) if not, and you can work remotely, then you can ‘bounce’ around South East Asia (SEA) with ‘tourist’ and/or visa exemptions … most SEA countries are inexpensive enough that a Western couple making decent middle class salaries can probably afford to rent a year round apartment in 2 or 3 cities for the cost of a single ‘studio’ apartment in a major American/Canadian/UK city.

@John **********

my understanding is that these volunteers work for immigration (considered police) and help foreigners at immigration offices navigate the process … whenever I have to go to immigration personally on my own (rare) these are the first people I look for to make sure I am not wasting mine, and other people’s time asking the wrong people stupid questions.

As for Thai police in general, I’ve never had an issue with them … unlike police where I’m from (Canada & the USA) if I see a cop or cop car in Thailand I never give a second’s thought to the potential stress & hassle such an encounter might have in store … in my 4 years living in Chiang Mai, other than the increasingly rare checkpoint (mostly for motorcycle registration checks) I have seen exactly ONE instance where it looked like the police had pulled over a single car for a traffic violation, and it only looked like it might have been for a violation, it could have been a break down and the cop was stopping to help.

And believe me, if Thai police decided they were going to start pulling over drivers for driving violations, a trip to Big-C for groceries would take 4 days & cost 50,000 baht in fines.

Oh, I'm aware 😉 I'm in Chiang Mai where the old US consulate was just replaced with a half a billion dollar complex (not sure if you are aware home much $0.5B USD will buy in terms of land in Chiang Mai (hint: it's more than one building like most large consulates have in Chiang Mai!)... The USA doesn't have that many expats living in Chiang Mai ... but Chiang Mai is the closest large center to Myanmar where I am sure the USA is not instigating any of the violence going on there, and is certainly not using any of that $500,000,000 complex as a monitoring & control center for illegal interference in another country's business ... but this is not a political board, so I only mentioned the 'pointy end of the stick' as it concerns American's looking to open a bank account.

If you're American then add people pointed out there are agents, use them (I think you confirmed you were going to, but for other Americans that may change upon this thread.)

The USA is a 'special' case where the IRS owns you no matter where in the world you go, and for that reason if Thailand banks want to keep in good stead with American banks they need to adhere to American laws converting Americans ... So there's a ton of paperwork (and hassle) needed for a Thai bank to open a bank account for American citizens ... Most Thai banks/branches don't even want to bother ... That's where agents work their (don't ask/don't tell) magic.

@Chris ********

I have been asked once for ‘proof’ of accommodations …I gave the address of where I would be staying (the address of my then girlfriend, now wife, from a ‘ratty hand written’ note I pulled from my wallet in front of the officer.)

My experience is that unless they have a reason to suspect you of some ‘subterfuge’ they are just interested in crossing one or two ‘t’s (they didn’t ask about 20K baht cash so they didn’t seem to worry about dotting any ‘i’s!?)

It’s always best to prepare to show the three proofs, although I admit to often forgetting about the ‘cash’ rule, which I don’t recall ever being asked to show … return flight, and address are the only things I recall explicitly being asked to show, and even then the ‘proof’ required could be ‘created’ by an 8 year old with an inkjet and MS-paint. ;-0

@Doug ********

I'm Canadian, they still provide the letter of income. You have to go there (Canadian embassy/consulate) with documentation (ie. Assessment letter from Canada revenue, which can be downloaded from their CRA website) and/or one page with company letterhead showing your yearly private pension income.

You then sign an affidavit for the embassy/consulate, after which if they are satisfied that your documentation is legitimate, they write you the letter for Thai immigration.

But sure what the real issue is with the embassies that stopped providing the letters, but it's not on the Thai side (the immigration officer I dealt with, through my local agent, said they prefer the letters and in fact suggested I switch from my marriage visa to retirement visa as that would make the annual renewal a near formality with a letter of income from the consulate ... No bank statements needed.

@Brandon ***********

Unless you’re from Canada or certain European countries whose embassies & consulates provide ‘Letters of income’. Then you just need that letter (and the ton of other documents that you need for a marriage visa extention that you don’t need for a retirement visa extention.)

@Kay *****

there will also be toll booths you will need to pay … I forget the price, not a lot, but it’s probably good to have a few 5 & 10 baht coins …