Yes Siam Legal will do it for 5000 baht as they quoted me recently. Which country are you from? If you are a US citizen the notarization should have been when you visited so no wait if you gave them the proper form. You do need to have a permanent address in Thailand and so can rent an apartment on a tourist visa while having all of your bank/long stay visa stuff taken care of.

@VaiAna *********

yeah i am guessing something new?

I tried opening a bank account with BB in Bangkok and at each of the branches I tried they all asked for additional to my long term rental contract a notarized document from a Thai located US Embassy to confirm US information and address. I ended up going with K Bank but have an appointment still with the US Embassy since I want to open an account with BB still as well.

I used Banathai's online course to get started, then accompanied that with the Thai for Beginner's book listed above (along with the app for mobile device helps a lot!!! definitely get it) as well as the audio cds for it, and then supplemented my understanding of the alphabet with a few different resources. One app is called "Write Thai" which is incredible for practicing the alphabet (Apple iOS), then "Thai Reading" (also on the App Store), another called "Thai Alphabet Chart" (iOS). I use Nemo Thai for flashcards and finally watch some helpful YouTube videos when I can. The ones by Stuart Jay Raj are great especially if you can get in to his theory work with the Indic Compass and vowel breakdown. Oh and *phew* finally now enrolled in a class in Bangkok! I love learning Thai... it's a great language which just makes a lot of sense the more it is studied!

@Robert *****

thanks so much. I’ll do that then to hopefully save myself the headache you went through!

@Kool ******

thanks so much. I got my bank account and am in the process of transferring 800,000 baht. It seems straightforward but just worry if there are any last minute requirements like proof of rental agreements inlcyding photos (someone told me the official asked for further proof in this way). Thank you!!

Thank you, everyone for the help here!

@Alex ******

the forms are in English. The BB website reflects this requirement now for US citizens so perhaps this is a new requirement? Some branches do differ of course because.. well.., Thailand!

I just went through this and tried Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn, and Siam. BB is the easiest for tourists but you do need a notarized form from an embassy in country. On the US Consulate website there is a link for the generic bank form. You need to sign up online for an appointment, print the bank form plus the appointment form ahead of time and pay the $50 fee. BB also has their own form which you can fill out and have notarized along with the US one. I ended up going with Kasikorn as they accepted my Thai language course enrollment so I didn't have to go through the additional step BB required. But given these I think BB and K are best for tourists.

@Garrett **********

Oh this sounds very easy and didn't realize it was possible to do at the airport. This page is such an invaluable resource with help like this!