Anonymous participant 790 I think the OP is worried due to recent posts about people having their accounts frozen due to their visa status. Someone recently posted that they switched to the DTV and Bangkok bank froze their account as a result of switching to a visa they do not allow to have an account.

@Brandon ***********

well that sucks and makes no sense, but this is thailand.

@Brandon ***********

what if the money is in your account for 2 months when you request the letter? Will they still freeze it for an additional 4 months, or only 2 additional months for a total of 4 months?

If you don't already, get a Schwab account. They give a decent exchange rate when using an atm, don't charge any fees, and even reimburse the 250 baht fee the Thai bank charges.

@Tony ********

I think you hit the nail on the head there. I had a similar experience in Koh Samui. They reviewed all my documents then gave me an appointment to come back the following week. When I got there they requested a bunch of additional documents, despite me having everything on their list and an officer reviewing it prior. Some were easy to produce, others weren't. They wanted a bunch of documents from my landlord that he said they have never requested in the past. Since he refused to give those documents I had to do a bunch of running around to other government offices trying to get some that he was willing to give and immigration was willing to accept. For the house visit they brought 3 officers and wanted 2 witnesses, despite us just moving to the province and not knowing anyone yet. It's pretty clear all this is intentional to force people to use the Visa agency just outside the door.

@Sean ************

then you move to a new province that requires a bunch of extra, non-standard documents that take weeks to gather.

There is no need to change branches that I've found. I still use an out of province branch. Any branch at my current location can give the necessary paperwork for immigration. The only disadvantage I'm aware of is a small fee for out of province atm withdrawals, but that is waived if you use the cardless atm withdrawal. Also, no fee for scan to pay. There may be some other disadvantage but I haven't ran into any yet.

@Graham *****

why even bother transferring though? I moved provinces about 18 months ago and never transferred. Any branch here will give me any paperwork I need. The only downside is a small transaction fee for atm withdrawals outside the home banks province. Which they don't charge you if you use the card less withdrawal or scan to pay.

@Vitaly *******

I've also done a ton of payments by scanning with Bangkok bank for over 5 years and have not ever had a single issue with even one transaction.

@Heather **************

perhaps thats changed with the current administration, but my wife successfully got a 10 year tourist visa a few years ago.