@Doug *******

Eight years ago I walked into a Kasikorn branch, Phra Khanong, Bangkok, on my first day in Thailand with my Thai girlfriend. I had a new OA visa in my passport. I opened a bank account with no problems. My girlfriend told them to use her address.

Last October I opened a bank account in Bangkok Bank in Sisaket province. This time I had a yellow book and an LTR visa. I opened an account with no problems.

It seems to be much more difficult for newly arrived expats these days.

It is the same advice given for a bad flu season for decades in the past. Stopped being triggered by the term “Covid”. It is 2025 . . . not 2020.

I lived inCalifornia for 40 years. I’ve never heard of this and I’ve been through plenty of earthquakes.

@Toon ********

American International Tax Advisers are based in Bangkok.

Not at all. I have a pensioner LTR.

I hired a tax legal firm this year to do my 2024 US taxes. The firm is familiar with the tax treaty between the US and Thailand. If I was paying taxes in Thailand I would let them handle it.

@Nick ******

This is where talking to a tax attorney makes sense.

One strategy in the first year of living here is to move to Thailand after July 1 and bring the 800,000 in during that final 6 months. Less than 180 days and you are not a tax resident for that year.

Money you earned in 2023 is not taxable so if you could show you had the money then you would be OK for a while.

If you have $80,000/year passive income then look into the pensioner LTR. Money brought in under a pensioner LTR is not taxed.

I had one account for everything

I had an OA visa (2017-2022) and I have insurance from Pacific Cross. I bought the policy in 2018 when I was 62 years old. I have a 40,000 baht deductible to keep the price down and because routine care in Thailand is so affordable I would prefer to pay out of pocket. I have never made a claim so I can’t report on that but I am getting a substantial no claim discount. As a result the price of the policy not changed much in 8 years. I currently have a 10 year pensioner LTR visa and I am using the Pacific Cross policy to qualify for the LTR.

If you intend to keep your money out of Thai banks you are going to have to do a border run at the end of the first year. You will have to return to your home country after 2 years to apply for a new OA visa. If you travel to your home country frequently then that will be manageable but otherwise it sounds like a lot of trouble and expense.