Immigration and money - in a nutshell

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fountainhall

Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by fountainhall »

I agree wholeheartedly with GB on this issue. It is, I reckon, not just falling foul of the law of the land which has given them permission to live in retirement. Anyone who has lied to their Embassy about their income in order to obtain verification that they have the means to remit Bt. 65,000 monthly when they do not in fact have such means, has presumably committed some sort of felony re their home country's laws. I have never gone the Bt. 65,000 route. But if I did and had lied to a Consular official to obtain that letter, presumably I would have put the official at some sort of risk.

Like everyone, I'd like to know why the issue has blown up now. In another post, I have given my thought but its guesswork. So I look forward to discovering more.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:But if I did and had lied to a Consular official to obtain that letter, presumably I would have put the official at some sort of risk.
That is probably a moot point now, since the embassies are halting issuing the letters at all.

In an earlier post I said this week someone will be talking to the chief at Pattaya immigration in hopes of finding out what, if anything, immigration will accept as proof of income in lieu of the 800,000 baht. Hopefully we will have an answer of some sort within a week.

But that won't help the people whose actual income is less than 65,000 baht per month. I think if immigration allows a different method of proving monthly income, I think that is what people will have to do - prove it. It's a little difficult to prove an income if you don't have the income.
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Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Gaybutton »

Rather than repeating the posts here, I suggest taking a look at the following and the responses for what appears to be better news about what immigration will accept in lieu of the 800,000 baht:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9338&start=20#p90903
Up2u

Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Up2u »

If you are an American and planning to use 800k in a Thai bank be aware that TMB here in Jomtien refused to open an account when they saw my USA passport. I then showed them my two existing TMB passbooks which I use regularly. Still the answer was Sorry use your current accounts, cannot do for USA. I was inquiring about Fixed Deposit Accounts which pay 1.3%. I then went to BB at Big C Sukumvit where I also have an account. No problem and the interest rate was 1.5%. I strongly recommend expats here have multiple bank accounts with different Thai banks.
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Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Gaybutton »

Up2u wrote:be aware that TMB here in Jomtien refused to open an account when they saw my USA passport.
Did you try a different branch? You know as well as I do that what one branch tells you might be completely different at another branch.

I have had an account with TMB for many years and have never had any problems. As a matter of fact, just last week I went to the branch across from Jomtien Complex to update my passport and give them my latest passport number, which I had not done before. There was no problem of any kind at all.

So, if the branch you are talking about is different from the branch I went to, I'd try the one I went to or another branch before giving up.
Up2u

Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Up2u »

Gaybutton wrote:Did you try a different branch?
I have a history at both the Jomtien (opposite the Complex) and Boyztown branches. If I wanted to open an account as an American I would have to go to the main headquarters in Bangkok (near Chatuchak). Certainly have no intention of doing that. KrungThai is the same, no. Krungsri and K-Bank are different I've been told but I didn't check. As I mentioned earlier, BB no problem.
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Re: Immigration and money - in a nutshell

Post by Gaybutton »

Up2u wrote:Krungsri and K-Bank are different I've been told but I didn't check. As I mentioned earlier, BB no problem.
Apparently the banks are getting more and more strict as time goes on. I don't know why, but I'm guessing it has to do with money laundering or that sort of thing. I can understand that, but most of us are perfectly honest and are not using Thai banks for illicit purposes. I get very annoyed when rules and regulations come into being under an apparent assumption that everyone is a crook. Well, how about before punishing me and finding me guilty, let me first at least commit the crime . . .

For years I have been posting that people even considering retiring in Thailand should open a Thai bank account while it is still relatively easy to do. I have a feeling some out there now regret not having done it.

I have heard that K-Bank (Kasikorn Bank) is still do-able. I don't know how difficult or easy it is to now do at any other Thai banks.

I'm guessing your passport shows a valid retirement visa. If now the Thai banks won't let you open an account even with the visa, that's going to be a real problem for some. If the requirement for obtaining the retirement visa is 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account, how is anyone who doesn't already have a Thai bank account going to do that if they can't even open a Thai bank account at all?

I still love living in Thailand and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. So, don't get me wrong, but if I were not already retired here, considering these new rules, the difficulty of opening a Thai bank account, the requirement for 800,000 baht to be in a Thai bank account for 3 months, along with the downfall of the gay scene to a shadow of what it used to be, along with the gay beach being nothing like it used to be, and along with many other issues, if I had it to do all over again, I'm not so sure I would.
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