The required documents for opening a Bangkok Bank Savings Account are listed here:



I would suggest you target Bangkok Bank or Krungsri Bank. Other suggestions that might help: get a residency certificate from your Thai immigration office, get an address verification from your embassy/consulate, go to your girlfriend's bank with your girlfriend, go to branches where you have reason to believe they have lots of foreign customers already. Bring a Thai friend who banks at the same branch to serve as a reference.

The more documents you have the better: Thai driver's license, long-term rental agreement, etc. Anything that proves that you are someone who is serious about living long-term in Thailand, not someone who will be here today and gone tomorrow.

I came to live in Phuket at age 48 on a Non-Immigrant Education Visa, and as soon as I reached 50 I applied in Thailand at the immigration office to go from an education extension to a retirement extension. I had to get my Thai language school to write me a letter saying my Thai language studies finished on a certain date and then went to immigration where they changed the reason for my extension of stay from education to retirement. They asked me how much I wanted to pay for this service and I thought 2,000 baht was a fair price (would have cost me a lot more than that to leave Thailand and obtain a Non-O Visa from a neighboring country not to mention the inconvenience). Been here on Retirement Extensions ever since.

It was very clear to me at the time that the Retirement Extension was in every particular a better long-term solution to staying in Thailand than the Education Extension, however, at first, I did not qualify for the Retirement Extension because I was under age 50.

Learning Thai if you are going to live here is a very good idea and the classes were helpful. While I am very far from being able to speak and understand Thai in anything beyond the most basic degree I did manage to learn to read and write a little.

@Tod ********

Point taken.

I would imagine in the admittedly unusual case wherein a Thai child (with Thai citizenship) is adopted by foreign parents and attending school in Thailand that one of the parents would be eligible for a Guardian Extension (even though in that case the Thai child would not have or need to have an ED Extension). Maybe similar reasoning would apply here as regards needing an Education Extension, even though in this case the child is not a Thai citizen. In other words, it may be that the requirement is actually for the child to have permission to be in Thailand, whether that is due to being a non-Thai resident (which seems to be the case for the OP's child), or having (in the more typical case) an Education Extension.

In any case, best discussed with the immigration office at which the OP would be applying.

@Tod ********

That's the best advice, of course. I tend to post the Phuket requirements because the website for that office maintained by the Phuket Immigration Volunteers is usually pretty complete, but what flies in Phuket is not guaranteed to fly in another province. Immigration offices in my experience don't always maintain up-to-date requirements online, but many have a handout of requirements and all should be willing to discuss your case if you go to visit them in person.

@Tod ********

In Phuket, yes. A child attending school in Thailand having an ED Extension includes foreign children. Indeed, I imagine a Thai child attending school would not need an ED Extension (not need any extension at all as a Thai citizen). I'm not sure whether foreign parents having a Thai child would qualify. I just don't know anyone in that particular circumstance.

Perhaps the takeaways from the above are that the child must be attending school on an ED Extension and only one of two possible parents can obtain the Guardian Extension. Also, there is a financial component, minimum 500,000 baht that needs to be shown.

These are the requirements to get a Guardian Extension in Phuket. Each office may differ, but I think this will give you a general idea of what is needed:

It depends on where the marriage took place (Thailand, or outside Thailand) as to what documentation you need to apply for the family visit extension. Inside Thailand is easier. Outside Thailand may require the translation of documents.

@Steve ******

I do not believe so, but you need to make sure the marriage is registered at a local amphur office. Generally, you need the following when you apply for the family visit extension:

Married with Thai national with marriage certificate. (signed by both persons)

( Korror 2 and 3 or Korror 22 and foreign marriage certificate)

Signed wife ID card copy

Signed copy house book (Blue Book)

@Steve ******

I believe the visit family extension is available to those who are married to a Thai regardless of how they entered Thailand (visa-exempt entry, Tourist Visa, etc.). You can, however, apply for only one 60-day extension of stay to visit family per entry to Thailand. I think you get to choose when you apply for the visit family extension. In other words, you can first apply for a regular 30-day extension of stay available from a visa-exempt or a Tourist Visa entry. You can then, if it is still available, apply for a 60-day covid extension. After that, you could apply for a visit family extension (60 days). If you wish to stay for the maximum time the visit family extension should probably be the last extension you apply for as it can be applied for at any time during your entry.