@David ******

no, you probably misunderstood the agent. If you use your own funds of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, the agent helps you with bank account opening and the application to the 1-year Extension of Stay for 16,500 THB. If the agent has to front the money, you would pay at least something like 32,000 THB. Opening the bank account only would cost something like 5000 to 7000 THB. The fee on Immigration for the application to the Extension, is 1900.-THB. In case you use own funds, then you actually would not even need an agent. You would just use the agent for a seamless account opening, and apply for the 1-year Extension by yourself 60 days after the money was paid into the account

@David ******

16,500 THB, that requires you are using your own funds

@Anna ********

The prerequisite for opening a Thai bank account is usually

*** an entry on a Non-Imm visa class

**** a Thai telephone number

*** and a residence certificate issued by the immigration authorities.

The residence certificate can only be obtained on the Immigration where you are registered as a resident via the TM30

Different banks in different places may ask for different requirements. The above is just the play by the book.

However, since many bank employees are incompetent regarding the handling of an account opening for a foreigner, so they will pull out of their nose random requirements, in order to get rid of you. Along with a “face saving” wide smile

@David ******

there are some agents who do the bank account opening and the application to the 1-year extension of the Stay Permit for you without you using your own funds. You need to search for those. You can expect a price for this service starting at 32,000 THB. But sorry, the agent I recommend for the bank account opening will NOT do the "1-year Extension" application for you if you don't use your own funds.

@David ******

the agent I am talking about is not going to borrow you the needed 800,000 THB. This is on YOUR responsibility. He is only opening a bank account for you - period.

@Max ************

you are not in the position to declare anything "normal" and "not normal". You are not in the position to tell us what to do and how to do it! . . . . . . . In Thailand there are THREE ways to regulate things: the official way, the backdoor way and the money way. I have lived in Thailand long enough to have seen all three ways working.

@Max ************

You are still spreading wrong info, day by day, hour by hour. It is becoming ridiculous eventually.

A Non-Imm visa class is sufficient to get a bank account opened.

It doesn't matter that you THINK it is not a "long term visa".

It actually is the beginning of a "long term stay".

Nobody wants to know your opinion about it, your opinion is totally irrelevant. The only relevance is that a Non-Imm Visa Class is the first KEY to get a bank account opened

What incompetent bank staff is doing, this is a completely different matter. They love to pull out of their noses random requirements, and are grinning from one ear to the other if a foreigner believes them. The famous “face saving smile”

@Max ************

The only change by February 2025 was, that you can't open a bank account any more on a touristic entry.

If you enter on a Non-Imm visa class, have a Thai mobile phone number and a certificate of residence from Immigration, you can get a bank account opened.

The whincing you hear is from people on Non-Imm-visa who try to open a bank account by themselves.

Many bank clerks have no idea what they need to do for a foreigner, and in order to "save face", they pull out of their noses all kinds of reasons why it would be not possible.

You should have employed agents in the first place.

Almost every agent in Pattaya can get a bank account opened for anyone having entered Thailand on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa or on any other Non-Imm visa class.

Exception: not with the Bangkok Bank, but with most of the other Thai banks.

The price in Pattaya is around 5000 THB. The only pre-requisite is to have arrived on a Non-Imm-visa class, having a Thai phone number and holding a "certificate of residence" from Immigration. Almost every agent in Pattaya can do it, and YES, they still can do it

And since everybody seems to be whincing how difficult it is to get the bank account opened, even when somebody has the correct Non-Imm-visa class and the certificate of residence and the Thai mobile phone number, all it takes is to pay 5000 THB to an agent to get a bank account opened on the same day. I know an agent in Pattaya who is opening half a dozen of bank accounts every other day

@David ******

the only change was, that you can't open a bank account any more on a touristic entry. If you enter on a Non-Imm visa class, have a Thai mobile phone number and a certificate of residence from Immigration, you can get a bank account opened. The whincing you hear is from people on Non-Imm-visa who try to open a bank account by themselves. Many bank clerks have no idea what they need to do for a foreigner, and in order to "save face", they pull out of their noses all kinds of reasons why it would be not possible.

You should have employed agents in the first place .

Almost every agent in Pattaya can get a bank account opened for anyone having entered Thailand on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa or on any other Non-Imm visa class.

Exception: not with the Bangkok Bank, but with most of the other Thai banks.

The price in Pattaya is around 5000 THB. The only pre-requisite is to have arrived on a Non-Imm-visa class, having a Thai phone number and holding a "certificate of residence" from Immigration. Almost every agent in Pattaya can do it, and YES, they still can do it

And since everybody seems to be whincing how difficult it is to get the bank account opened, even when somebody has the correct Non-Imm-visa class and the certificate of residence and the Thai mobile phone number, all it takes is to pay 5000 THB to an agent to get a bank account opened on the same day. I know an agent in Pattaya who is opening a dozen of bank accounts every day

@David ******

the 800,000 THB deposit is a requirement from Thai Immigration, it is not a requirement from the banks. This deposit is meant to ensure that a foreigner doesn't fall into an abyys should he require hospital care, it is to ensure a financial security in case of emergency