@Jay *****

just wait and see what happens. You are free ask any Immigration Volunteer, they will tell you the same. Be very careful with "online schools" - it is illegal to obtain a Non-Imm-ED visa on online classes

@Jim ******

this guy Max is in the wrong and he is too hard headed to realize it. Forget, you better ignore him. Go visit F.S. Consulting or Mot's, and you will hold a bank account by the next day

@Ron *****

my point was that your drivers licence, your rental contract or your grandmother's birthday HAS TO BE irrelevant to a bank. It is absolutely incompetent from a bank clerk to ask you for these things. What's needed by 99.9% of all Thai banks is your long-term stay permit extension (which can be your Non-Imm Family extension ) or your Non-Imm-visa class (can be your 90-days retirement or marriage visa), a certificate of residency from your Immigration and your Thai mobile number. All other required things are those dreamed up by incompentent clerks

@Jay *****

now you start whincing, as if I don't know this. I have already worked in Thailand, I have been almost EVERYWHERE in Thailand, the odometer of my car reads 580,000 kilometers. I speak and understand Thai. I have been in Thailand since 1996.

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

you are wrong, wrong, wrong . . . . . no, it is not a Catch22 situation. A 90-days Non-Imm-O visaclass, along with acertificate of residence and a Thai mobile phone number, is sufficient to get a bank account opened. It is just incompetence of the banking staff that makes them pull random requirements out of their noses.

@Marek *********

this is absolutely doable. You can prove to the Thai Embassy Warsaw that you leave Thailand within the first 60 days you will get stamped in on a METV. When you return to Thailand coming from Malaysia, nobody wants to see that you are leaving Thailand within the 60 days you will get stamped in on your still valid METV visa

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

a 90-days Non-Imm-O visa is regarded a "long term" visa, as it allows you to change it into a "1-year Extended Stay Permit". You have ALWAYS been able to get a bank account opened on this visa, and it STILL IS POSSIBLE. You need a Thai mobile number and a certificate of residence from Immgration besides the printed out E-Visa

Fact is, you can get a Thai bank account opened on ANY Non-Imm visaclass

However, what we get reported is, most bank staff have no idea what to do if the applicant is a foreigner. They will dream up random requirements so they avoid to tell you they don’t know. It’s all about “face saving”

That’s why I suggest before you try that by yourself, let an agent help you. Moving to a more touristic area also helps -so you should plan to set up residence in Pattaya for a few days

It should cost around 5000 THB to get a bank account opened by an agent, at least that's the price in Pattaya

The most basic requirements from banks are:

*** a printed-out Non-Imm-O Visa Type or the Extension of the Stay permit out of it

*** a Thai mobile phone number with a SIM-card registered in the name of the account applicant (receipt from the phone shop)

*** a certificate of residence from Immigration which you can pick up if you are properly registered per TM30 in your accommodation

You DON’T NEED:

***a yellow housebook

*** a marriage certificate

*** the birth certificate of your grandmother

*** your drivers licence

What you CAN’T DO:

*** there is no bank account opening possible for people on touristic visa (DTV included) or visa-exempt entries

Good Luck, go ahead, book an agent service, and by the evening you will have a Thai bank account

@George ****

5000 U.S. Dollars is a ridiculous price 😄 Just imagine, you could do everything by yourself if you got the required funds (a minimum of equivalent of 800,000 THB). The 90-days visa through the E-Visa online system in your home country costs 80 USD fee, and the 1-year extension on Immigration costs 1900 THB (50 USD) But you need own funds, and you might need an agent in Thailand to help you with opening a bank account, which would cost around 5000 to 7000 THB service fee

@George ****

if you enter Thailand on a Non-Imm-O Retirement visa, you can get an agent help you with the rest of the process (that's opening a bank account and front you with the funds in case you do not use your own 800,000 THB) for around 32,000 THB. That's the going price from agents in Pattaya. But you NEED to arrive with a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa which you got issued in your home country. If you arrive on a tourist visaor visa exempt, most agents cannot open a bank account for you. Without a bank account, you cannot get the 12-months extension of the stay permit