21 replies to this topic

[lostchild]

How hard is it to open a Bank Account in thailand, what docs are required ? etc. Planning a long stay 3-4 months late 2012 early 2013 and feel that to transfer funds to local bank and them ATM easier than large sums travellers Chqs or Extremely large ATM currency conversion fees.

[batman4ever]

How hard is it to open a Bank Account in thailand, what docs are required ? etc. Planning a long stay 3-4 months late 2012 early 2013 and feel that to transfer funds to local bank and them ATM easier than large sums travellers Chqs or Extremely large ATM currency conversion fees.

it seems that you just need your passport and then go into kasikorn bank ( the one with the green signs) if you dont succed in the first...just try the next should be quite easy to get an account:-)

[xyzzy]

How hard is it to open a Bank Account in thailand, what docs are required ? etc. Planning a long stay 3-4 months late 2012 early 2013 and feel that to transfer funds to local bank and them ATM easier than large sums travellers Chqs or Extremely large ATM currency conversion fees.

You might want to have a look at the thread linked below. Post #9 in the thread has info on opening an account and the thread also has info on transferring money.

http://lb-69.com/for...ikorn_Bank.html

[Legend]

i opened one this year at kasikorn.
passport, thai telephone number, and an adress where you are staying.
they never send anything by post though.
account up and running straight away, you pay a 400 baht charge for your first ATM card.
they also give you a code to set up internet banking.

too easy. really helpfull staff.
wish id done it years ago.

[sev7en]

i opened one this year at kasikorn.
passport, thai telephone number, and an adress where you are staying.
they never send anything by post though.
account up and running straight away, you pay a 400 baht charge for your first ATM card.
they also give you a code to set up internet banking.

too easy. really helpfull staff.
wish id done it years ago.

If you open a bank account at Kasikorn, they now offer a medical insurance card for tourist visa visitors, ( previously only for persons on retirement visa.) 2500 baht per year. Takes 2 weeks to get. You need a valid post address to where they send the card. Covers up tp 50 k baht medical treatment at all major hospitals. Includes a life insurance ( do not put your thai partner as beneficiary, or you will be joining the balcony jumpers club).

[thailover57]

Anthony and Sev7en,

Thanks for that info. I opened a Bangkok Bank account because they have a branch in NY to make it easy to transfer funds, but the health insurance info is good. Does Kasikorn also supply the ice pick in the back as necessary after the balcony dive? LOL!

[xyzzy]

I opened a Bangkok Bank account because they have a branch in NY to make it easy to transfer funds

I so wanted to get a BKK Bank account so I could transfer funds through the New York branch. But without a work or retirement visa (and whatever visa you have - education?) it seems impossible. I did hear of one guy that somehow opened an account on a tourist visa. But everyone else I heard about had no luck.

If you open a bank account at Kasikorn, they now offer a medical insurance card for tourist visa visitors, ( previously only for persons on retirement visa.) 2500 baht per year. Takes 2 weeks to get. You need a valid post address to where they send the card. Covers up to 50 k baht medical treatment at all major hospitals. Includes a life insurance ( do not put your thai partner as beneficiary, or you will be joining the balcony jumpers club).

50k baht of insurance for 2500B is 20:1. I have $1M health insurance at home. At 20:1 that would be $50k a year premium. But considering the effect government travel warnings might have on travelers insurance it might not be a bad deal. But you can bet the bank is making out well as they always do with falangs.

[Legend]

ive not done it yet, but i know kliome has.
we can transfer money from any uk bank into the kasikorn account.
takes 3-5 days and there is one fixed fee.
i think 11 uk pounds.

so, send all your spends before you go, and no worries.
i noticed also, at the ATM you can withdraw even just 100 baht.!
so, no need to carry much around at all.

one thing though, in the uk you get your card back, and then the money second. it is the opposite in thailand, so after the money is dispensed, its quite easy to walk off without your card.

[thailover57]

On an ED visa and had no problem opening the account. But now I want to transfer from my Retirement account and they rejected it. Waiting to hear their response. Visited the bank at Central Festival and there were five agents there. Would you believe I got 5 different answers? Waiting for an email from the head office. It's from a USA account to the NY Bangkok Bank account - WTF!!!!

[kliome]

A few notes on the above:

I have Kasikorn and Bangkok accounts, the Kasikorn was the simplest to get and I never really use the Bangkok Bank account, but I like having it as a 'just in case' (just in case of what? I don't know..).

Saying that, one benefit of having a BKK Bank Account is that you can transfer money electonically from your home bank and leave it in your Thai bank in it's original currency, then convert when you like, having more say over the exchange rate you get.

I really like Kasikorn.

They have so many branches around Pattaya, with some open until 8pm, and so many ATM machines to boot. The one I most commonly use because of it's late closing is the one in Central Festival Mall (closes 8pm).

I've never had any problems with the service and despite losing my atm card several times already, it's a quick phone call and painless visit to the bank to get the card cancelled and replaced.

Transferring money from my UK bank can be done simply and online, at the click of a button once it's correctly set up, and it often only takes 2 working days to be complete. The fee depends on your UK bank, but my Bank only charges a flat £11 fee per transfer. I send the money in UK£ and let my Thai bank determine the rate.

Kasikorn's online banking also works well for me, very easy to use.

A few things worth doing:

Apply for the virtual visa card. You get a 2nd card number, although not a physical card, you can use it to buy goods and services over the internet. I often use it, mainly to buy Air Asia flights (though some airlines require you to present a physical card at check in).

Link your Thai phone to your account, and for 20 bht a month you will recieved an immediate text message every time a transaction is made on your account, great peace of mind to protect you from fraud.

It also acts as security when using your virtual card, you recieve a unique OTP number via sms needed to complete each online transaction.

Once you have linked your phone you never need to buy fiddly top up scratch cards again, you can top up your phone via kasikorn atms or online, and it goes through instantly, or even set it up for automatic top ups i,e. you top up 100bht every time your balance drops below 20bht.


I was very skeptical about the Kasikorn insurance, there are two levels to it and the 2nd is more expensive (don't have the details with me). They tried to sell it to me a few months ago when it launched, but the fact sheet they gave me seemed to lack a lot of details and the sales woman was easily confused. I was told it was only for Pattaya and Phuket, which confused me a little (are you only covered when in these places???). It's potentially a good deal, you hear horror stories of farang in critical conditions being refused medical attention and moved from hospital to hospital because they are carrying no proof of medical insurance, this card could at least offer some peace of mind regarding that scenario. I will look into it in more details when I'm back there, it's seems to cheap to be true for my liking.


As far as ATM withdrawls go, some machines will let you draw 100, but some will only allow you to take 500 minimum. I always withdraw money 900 bht at a time, to get a nice denomination of notes in my wallet.

[mardhi]

For those guys who are contemplating opening a Thai bank account - you had better hurry up. Thailand just got moved down the international rankings and is now in the same division as Somalia for the anti money laundering folk. That will not be allowed to continue and there will be further tightening up in order to open a bank account. So, moral of the story do it sooner rather than later.

[patrick]

I opened a Bangkok Bank account because they have a branch in NY to make it easy to transfer funds

I so wanted to get a BKK Bank account so I could transfer funds through the New York branch. But without a work or retirement visa (and whatever visa you have - education?) it seems impossible. I did hear of one guy that somehow opened an account on a tourist visa. But everyone else I heard about had no luck.

If you open a bank account at Kasikorn, they now offer a medical insurance card for tourist visa visitors, ( previously only for persons on retirement visa.) 2500 baht per year. Takes 2 weeks to get. You need a valid post address to where they send the card. Covers up to 50 k baht medical treatment at all major hospitals. Includes a life insurance ( do not put your thai partner as beneficiary, or you will be joining the balcony jumpers club).

50k baht of insurance for 2500B is 20:1. I have $1M health insurance at home. At 20:1 that would be $50k a year premium. But considering the effect government travel warnings might have on travelers insurance it might not be a bad deal. But you can bet the bank is making out well as they always do with falangs.

I opened a Bangkok Bank account a few years ago only on a tourist visa. I was introduced to the branch by a Thai who had accounts there, no problem, gave my address as their home address, never had any mail sent that I know of. As Anthony said the big advantage is that you just send all you holiday spends in one transfer,then no fees in Thailand. For me the transfer fee is AUD10.oo no need for a local BKK Bank branch just do via your own bank's internet banking.