When I use Wise, money transfered regardless of whether either of the banks is open for retail banking business. It usually takes seconds but occasionally takes an hour or 2. Today was 2 hours, but nothing to do with bank opening hours in London or Bangkok

@Vanessa ***************

No. It doesn't have to be a one-year contract. Mine is 6 months. I believe you can also get one if you have a 'long' hotel booking. Best to ask your local Immigration Office what their requirements are

@Wabi *****

yep that's the way to go. Immigration offices differ in their approach. In Jomtien you need your original condo contract and passport, with photocopies for them to keep, and 2 passport size photos. I read recently Bangkok (and others?) require you to have reported your first 90 days before they issue a Residency certificate, but Jomtien/Pattaya does not. Also, I personally found having the certificate cuts through all the negativity you can get from banks who seem unwilling to open an account.

Instead of work permit, you can open a bank account with a certificate of residence, available from Immigration

@David ******

I'll give you another example. Young girls and boys flee Eritrea in equal numbers, to avoid being drafted into the army at 14. The boys are made to fight, while the girls have to provide 'entertainment' to the officers. They run alone or with a small group of friends, leaving their families behind. It's estimated that 50% of the girls don't make it. I met young mothers in Calais, the result of being raped on the way. Some women were promised a safe journey to England by traffickers who raped them, sometimes killed them and dumped them in the French or Belgian countryside. Eritreans are predominantly Christians, by the way.

I'm done with educating you now. I suspect we both know what you really are, and why the truth is so inconvenient for you. I dont know how you reconcile your filthy views with living in Thailand. You don't deserve this privilege.

@David ******

Wring on every count. I worked with many women and families escaping to the UK. Although it's true many of the females died on the way, so maybe they arrive in fewer numbers. I didn't say there are NO economic migrants who destroy their documents. I talked about the vast majority being genuine asylum seekers who do not behave that way. France is not more generous and asylum seekers are NOT safe in France - read some proper news of attacks by French police. I didn't call you a liar, as I offered the reasonable alternative that you may be ignorant and perhaps this is the truth. I'll add a third option, that you are stupid.

@David ******

You're either ignorant or a liar. And it's nothing like Mexico. So for your enlightenment, travel documents often get destroyed when bombs hit houses in several Middle East countries, or when your country arrests you for political reasons, or drive you from your farm so they can steal it and sell it, such as in Sudan. They are sometimes lost when boats are repelled by EU border force between Turkey and Greece, or between Africa Libya and Italy. Sometimes they are stolen by traffickers in lawless Libya. If they get to France with their documents, the French riot police have been known to take them and destroy them, sometimes by just bulldozing camps while people are sleeping. Germany and France have far better welfare benefits than the UK, so they don't come for that. Most leave their home countries' destruction and flee in fear, looking for the best place to try to build a new life in safety. Get out a bit and learn for yourself what the world is really like, instead of swallowing RW propaganda where rich people tell poor people they're poor because of foreigners.

@David ******

Doh! Most new arrivals had good lives but fled with the clothes they were wearing. In the UK, for example, asylum seekers are not allowed to work so have no choice. But as soon as their claim for asylum is accepted, they are keen to work and pay taxes

For as long as you behave like a tourist and don't throw up suspicions of living here or being a smuggler!

@Xjwhudkwhry *******

obvs you have all the expertise of a 👂 banker