BrightDachshund800 Even retirement visa holders are having their bank accounts locked, sometimes for weeks on end. This isn't purely an issue for DTV or tourist visa holders. You're making assumptions that all is fine and dandy as long as you're some sort of long term "resident" when that means nothing in the case of Thailand.
Thailand views the world through the lens of Thais vs foreigners. As long as you're not a Thai citizen, you have very few rights, regardless of what visa you're on.
Foreigners, regardless of how well they speak Thai, even if they hold permanent residency, still need a work permit to work, still can't own land and will still need to pay 10 times more than locals for entry to national parks.
Anonymous participant 119 More or less but depends on the circumstances. So far, I've not faced any issues but both my Thai bank accounts were opened a long time ago. One on a work permit, the other was upgraded to a work permit because at the time you couldn't get internet banking access without one. Tourists were only given a bank account with debit card but no internet banking access at the time.
Anonymous participant Where are you applying? Anywhere but Laos should be fine to do that but best to submit 6 months worth of statements (some require that) but it doesn't mean you have to hold 500,000 for the entire 6 months.