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Hi Andrew

First you need to go to Buriram Immigration office which is at the back of the Thunderdome, or Surin's just on the outskirts of town centre, with your wife,  take with you proof of your Thai address & your Marriage certificate, explain to them that you need to open a thai bank account and you need a letter of them for the bank, most of them are very helpful in there, (you will also need a signed letter from a doctor in thailand, most surgeries will do them just stating you are fit and well, only costs between B100 & B250, its just a quick visual,) then take your Immigration letter some proof of your Doctors letter, some ID (Driving Licence) & Passport, your wife will need her ID & House Family book, take it all to the bank I would recommend  Kasikorn Bank thats who I used, allow about 1hr in the bank, A lot of paper work numerous signatures. Kasikorn works well for me as I live just off the 24 in between Prak hon Chai & Prasat and they both have one.

Hope this is a help

Regards

Cliff

Hope this helps

First time I ever heard of needing a letter from a doctor to open a bank account.

@JOHNMELL

Welcome to Thailand 

that is why so many people decided not to retire in Thailand anymore I guess, the bank account alone is such a hassle of corruption and bribes it does not make the honest expats feel safe... not to mention the next 10-15 years dealing with the annual renewal process

@cliffsao

Sorry NO the Doctors letter was for Driving Licence not Bank account, Doh

@cliffsao

Thank you so much for your help. Fortunately I don’t drive…the wife does that. But invaluable information.

i really appreciate it.

andrew

@brerono345

It’s all easy, you can do yourself or hire a legal assistant to do it for you.

Yes I didn’t notice the non immigrant visa I need first. That makes it clearer. Think I will pay someone to do the bank account though.

does anyone have a good contact re Thai tax. I won’t need to take any income post retirement as I have investments I can use, but I do receive a uk pension that I had to take and when I am 67 will receive a uk government pension on top. Thailand doesn’t tax pension income much so I think I could substantially reduce tax by being taxed in Thailand.

i am not great on tax though so need advice.

i know I pay far too much of it in the UK!

any comments or contacts would be much appreciated

andrew

It's funny, but when I was in Thailand last summer, I went to Kasikorn bank in my wife's village, they were only too happy to advise what I have to do for me to open a bank account.  When we go back in January, I will go with my passport and open one.....

I had actually posted a similar thread

/en/forum/asia/tha … visas.html

thank fully I had a bank account from years ago, but I think Thai Immigration made this impossible rules to attract more bribes it is the only explanation that makes sense.... and who wants to begin retirement in a country where the first action is corruption?

@andrewwnbanks

The Thai Embassy website has phone numbers for lawyers to help you complete your tasts

Have your wife open a thai bank account and have her add you to the account. Put the required amount in to the account wait the required amount of days and then do your retirement visa or your marriage visa.  Your thai wife can open a account.

I like k-bank as it was easy and their cellphone app works really well for qr codes paying and getting money out of atm with out the use of a card.

Some guys prefer the marriage visa and others prefer the O retirement visa when they are married to a thai. It's your choice which road you go down.

PS I have never been even been asked or hinted to paying a bribe here in Thailand in all the years I have lived here. I will be getting my new O visa next month and like all the other times it should be easy. You just need to have all the paperwork done and required documents.  Aka bank account statement.

@andrewwnbanks

Hello,

I just posted a similar question.  The visa instructions talk about money in a bank, but the instructions do not specify a Thai bank.  Does that mean a US bank will do?  I live in the US and have money in US banks that will meet the requirement.  I just don't want to appy for a visa without knowing what the requirement is.

If I understand the workings of threads like this, I am the first to respond to your query.  Sorry about that. 

Did you ever get an answer to your question?  Could you please share what you learned?  If I must open a Thai account from the US, I guess I must learn how to do it, if it is possible.

Thank you.

Oh.   I see now that you did get responses.  They are down below.  I'm glad.

@andrewwnbanks

Load on your phone an AI client like ChatGPT from your App Store it will guide you to opening a bank account in Thailand. It will also say which ones are Farang friendly and even say which branch may let you open without a Visa. As you know Thailand is always a bit flexible.

@briangough4

Hello and welcome !

Chatgpt is not accurate ( ) . It can generate misleading information. The best sources are government's website and members' experience.

All the best

Bhavna