Once you get an account at a branch then that is your branch. I got my Kasikorn account at a BKK branch. Then I moved outside Bangkok. I couldn’t just move the account to my countryside branch. I even had to come to Bangkok to close the account

My pensioner LTR was a long time ago (2023) but yes, they continued to ask for more documents. In my case they wanted copies of additional pages in my passport. The email back & forth will add a few more days to your wait time.

@Bob *********

OK yes. I have an LTR. If he qualifies for an LTR then we can discuss that.

@Randy ******

Sorry, to get a DTV you have to be earning income outside Thailand. The foreign earned income exclusion only applies to money made outside the US.

The LTR has nothing to do with this.

US citizens also get a $120,000 foreign earned income tax exclusion with the IRS.

@Stuart **********

Mostly what I’ve heard is that they are getting a better rate of return on the $23,700 in their home accounts and that they don’t trust Thai banks. Everyone has their wants and needs.

@Stuart **********

I’ve heard that some people do that. I didn’t do that because I live in Thailand full time. I would never be in the US long enough to complete the OA application process which is a bit of a pain. It’s a peculiar visa and some people benefit from the peculiarities.

It also benefits people that don’t want to open a Thai bank account because you can keep applying using funds in your home country bank.

I did get 18 months on my OA visa because of a trip to Cambodia but I really didn’t care about the extra months. Yearly extensions is where most people want to be.

@Jan *****************

I switched from my OA to a 10 year pensioner LTR IN 2023. In my case my OA insurance could be used for the LTR.

@Susan *******

That is what I did. I kept 800,000฿ in the bank + a couple of 100,000฿ emergency buffer and then topped off the account with my monthly expense money. The buffer keeps you from accidentally dipping into the 800,000฿. This way you can use just one bank account. Often people get a separate bank account for the 800,00฿ to protect it from monthly expense accidents. That’s OK but I sounds like it is a chore to get a bank account these days for new arrivals.

Note that yearly extensions for the O and OA are identical except for the OA insurance requirement. The 800,000฿ deposit is the same for both visas. As I recommended earlier, you might as well get an O and deal with insurance separately.