@Carla ******

don't arrive on a tourist visa. You won't be able to get a bank account opened. Apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Visain your home country, and enter Thailand on it. You will be stamped in for a 90 days stay permit. Enough time to get a bank account openend and transfer 800,000 THB onto it. Then as soon as the funds have sat in the account for the required 2 months, apply for the "1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement"

@Peter ********

then use a Visarun service drive you to Nong Khai, exit Thailand, enter Laos, maybe stay in Vientiane 2 nights and then re-enter Thailand, activating the Non-Imm-O visa and receive a 90-days stay permit. On this stay permit, you can get a bank account opened

@Peter ********

go to Pattaya for a few days. F.S. Consulting Co. costs 5000 THB to open a bank account for you if you entered on a Non-Imm-O Visa

@Daran *********

you normally buy a multiple entry permit for 3800 THB AFTER you have been issued the 1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on being married to a Thai wife. You could theoretically buy a multi re-entry permit for the 90-days stay permit you get stamped in when you enter Thailand, however I do not see any sense in doing so. A re-entry permit is only valid for the duration of the stay permit it has been bought for

@Ant **********

F.S. Consulting Co in Pattaya costs 5000 THB for opening a bank account, if you are on a Non-Imm visa class

@Tony ****

in Pattaya that would be Mot's, Maneerat or F.S. Consulting. In Bangkok that would be Thai Visa Centre. In Hua Hin I would pick Anna Visa

@Tony ****

use an agent, costs something like 5000 THB, they definitely can get a bank account opened for you on a simple single-entry Non-Imm-O visa. It is just those incompetent lazy bank staff they don't know what to do and will pull out of their noses anything they dream up

@Ant **********

that Non-O visa had not been issued yet, when he entered Thailand. So he got in on a visa-exempt entry and got stamped in for 60 days. On this "touristic" entry, you cannot get a bank account opened anymore since February 2025

Peter Roberts . . So, you are on a touristic entry and CAN'T get a bank account opened.

Firstly, you MUST exit Thailand and re-enter using the 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa you got issued.

Stamped in on this Non-Imm-O visa for a 90-days stay permit, you visit Immigration, have them issue a “certificate of residency”, get a Thai mobile SIM card and number, and get the Thai bank account opened in your name.

Then deposit the 800K, and as soon as the money has been sitting in the account for 60 days, get the bank letter that confirms it, and apply for the 1-year extension of the stay permit

@Mikkel ******

Sorry, the first part is correct, but the second part is wrong! "Only way without exiting Thailand, would be to deposit 800K in a Thai bank in an account in your name only, and buy the 90 day non o directly at an immigration office here." . . he is on a touristic entry and CAN'T get a bank account opened. Firstly he MUST exit Thailand and re-enter using the 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa. Only stamped in on this Non-Imm-O visa, he can get the Thai bank account opened, deposit the 800K, and as soon as the money was in the account for 60 days, he can apply for the 1-year extension . . . . . . . he can't buy the 90-days Non-Imm-O visa on Immigration, because for this he first needs the Thai bank account. I don't understand - you described everything correctly in the first part, but with the end part of your reply, you are completely lost