@Pa**

Vietnam issued me a visa without my middle name and then I was denied boarding at the airport. I'd have preferred if they rejected it and I had to do it again.

@Ca***

it's Indonesian, they also have Garuda as their national symbol

The problem is compounded by the instructions saying "Your name must be spelled exactly as it appears in the machine-readable zone (MRZ) at the bottom of the biographic data page of your passport."

The MRZ doesn't include hypens.

@Ro***

I read it as him saying you could save money as in, save up the money and then buy Elite. Not that you pay less for it.

@Ro***

it doesn't save money, it's much more expensive. But it does give you up to 20 years security of tenure, or even 30 years or life if you find a second hand one. Up to individual if they feel it's worth spending what is a lot more money to get that, but you do can over 5 years, that's the point.

@Ar***

to clarify I'm not having a go at you, like I said my preference is to DIY as well even if it does take a bit longer and I'll only use an agent if the trade off is just too much. I didn't use an agent for my own bank account opening, but it was easier a decade ago.

I sort of figure it has got so much more difficult at this stage, if an agent was offering it for a few thousand baht, that's probably not much more than you'd pay anyway between residence cert and the bank possibly pushing insurance on you. And then you get the bank account guaranteed done without spending a lot of time running around trying to find the right branch and then the right documents (which you probably also have to pay for, I did pay for my residence cert).

There's just a point at which it's difficult enough without and easy enough with that using an agent starts to make sense, that's all I meant. And agents here are not crazy expensive either.

@Pa**

work permits aren't issued or necessary for remote work. It's the same with the LTR "work from Thailand professional", no work permit is issued or possible. Digital work permit on LTR is for "highly skilled professionals" working for a local Thai company.

@Ko ******

sure, just saying it's the better option for Americans, which OP seems to be, if you can get it it's the one to have. Some other countries have similar options, like Starling in the UK or ING in Australia. These don't refund the Thai-side fee like Schwab but they are zero ATM fee the home bank side.

@Ko ******

they used to but they stopped issuing cards for Americans, I presume it's some regulatory issue. If you have a card, Wise has its own ATM fee once you go beyond a very low monthly limit of around $200/€200, they charge you a small fixed fee and the percentage I mentioned. Withdrawing 25k would cost about 675B (220B Thai side plus 455B Wise side). This isn't a currency charge, it's an ATM charge and they charge it everywhere, you'll pay it in Europe or the US as well whatever currency you use. Schwab is zero both sides, it's a much better option for Americans. Wise is good for transfers, and spending with the card is free.

@Ar***

agent is a person known to the bank that provides a reference for you. This is a documented option for opening an account, it's not necessarily anything illegal.

It used be a lot easier to open accounts even on a tourist entry, they have definitely tightened up. May not be impossible but it's a lot harder than it was.