Sounds like the bribe you need to pay in order to get a bank account without a long term visa in your hand first. Why else would the visa agent recommend it? They probably had it set up for you like that. Surprised they didn’t give you a heads up on the cost.

I did my OA online last year, it was easy. No agent needed.

I’ve just learned to accept it. It makes things a lot easier.

I got an OA visa before I came here and I have no regrets. People tout the non-O as being the best, with the only difference is you don’t need proof of insurance, but I knew I was going to get insurance anyway so that wasn’t a big deal. I got the OA because I wanted a one year visa when I entered Thailand, instead of the 90 days you get with the non-O. I didn’t want to have to rush around to get a bank account and transfer 800,000 baht in it within one month, so it would be in the account for the required 2 months before doing the extension. I had a lot of other stuff to do like finding a good area to live, securing a condo, and buying everything I needed for it. I didn’t want the added stress of worrying about an extension in 90 days when I arrived. It took a lot of stress off me to not have to worry about it for a whole year. As for insurance, I got it mainly for catastrophic incidents like a motorbike accident or a heart attack or stroke that would leave me in a hospital for many weeks or maybe months. That could bankrupt you. Routine exams and tests along with minor outpatient fees are cheap enough that I don’t get outpatient coverage and just pay that out of pocket. I think it’s foolish not to have catastrophic event coverage, but many of these guys on here will tell you that you don’t need it. I say, up to you. You can get a relatively cheap policy from AXA to cover your visa requirement and get the OA visa. If you email them and ask them they’ll know exactly what you need. That’s what I did. But after I got here I wanted a more comprehensive plan so I now have a policy through Pacific Cross. Anyway, many will pop-poo on the OA visa for the insurance requirement of the OA and will push the non-O, but it worked out great for me and I’d do it the same way if I had to do it over again. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Check out this video, he tells you where you can do it in Hua Hin which isn’t far from Bangkok. He’s used the agent personally.

You should just need your passport and your TM30. You might want to bring your rental agreement and a copy of your visa as well.

OA visa requires health insurance and only from certain companies, so get the non-O that requires no insurance.

I used a wire transfer from my U.S. bank to my Thai bank using the SWIFT code. I did it from my phone while in Thailand but you could do it from your home country as well.

That’s how I understand it, and also the balance can’t drop to below 400,000 baht after that 3 months, and the whole 800,000 baht has to be back in there 3 months prior to your next extension.

@Jesper ******

You can do it in the U.S. My wife and I had a joint account and she had a debit card and so did I and we could both use the app on our phones and do business.