Yeah, sounds good. After all they seem to have a very good reputation, so I was wondering about your experience.
Digital Nomads, Biz owners in Bangkok
- Thread starter andrew28fl
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Well, So much for 4 weeks:
"Dear Mr. Skenners
Warm Greetings from Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd.
We would like to inform you that we have acquired an approval letter from the Thai Immigration Office as attached herewith Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd. banking information."
and from the approval letter:
"Subject: Approval on Application
Congratulations from Thailand Privilege...
We would like to express our deep gratitude for your registration to be Thailand Privilege Member. It is
with great pleasure to inform you that your application form has been approved. We are now unrolling the
red carpet for you with the enjoyment of what are the︀ finest hospitality, recognition, privileges and
benefits at this instant reserved to nobody but you as︁ our Elite Member. " etc
Looks like I owe them 600k THB.
Keep you posted︂ on how long it takes (I can transfer it right meow, but It could still︃ take a couple of days to approve)
-Skenners
And now we present the limitations of︄ Wise.
I have ~26k AUD in there after effing around with transfers, I had the︅ full 600k thb in the thailand account part. Great. Lets transfer.
"Sorry, you cant transfer︆ more than 50k thb to this bank account" ...wtf?
Transfer to the australian dollar bank︇ account. Nope, cant send more than 50k.
"Please change your transfer amount to below 50,000︈ THB or change the recipient bank. We only support transfer of 50,000 THB and above︉ to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank."
So, now I have to send︊ the money OUT of wise (costing more in transfer fees/conversion fees) and to somewhere else︋ that can send more than 50k thb. Probably back to my main bank account in︌ Australia. Lovely. F*cking wise. Good for small amounts of cash, but not big ones by︍ the looks of it.
-Skenners
cost me 800 bux in fees, but i transferred back︎ to my australian bank account, then send the whole amount through again. What. A. Waste.️
But its paid for now and im emailing everyone to tell them its done.
-Skenners
"Dear Mr. Skenners
Warm Greetings from Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd.
We would like to inform you that we have acquired an approval letter from the Thai Immigration Office as attached herewith Thailand Privilege Card Co., Ltd. banking information."
and from the approval letter:
"Subject: Approval on Application
Congratulations from Thailand Privilege...
We would like to express our deep gratitude for your registration to be Thailand Privilege Member. It is
with great pleasure to inform you that your application form has been approved. We are now unrolling the
red carpet for you with the enjoyment of what are the︀ finest hospitality, recognition, privileges and
benefits at this instant reserved to nobody but you as︁ our Elite Member. " etc
Looks like I owe them 600k THB.
Keep you posted︂ on how long it takes (I can transfer it right meow, but It could still︃ take a couple of days to approve)
-Skenners
And now we present the limitations of︄ Wise.
I have ~26k AUD in there after effing around with transfers, I had the︅ full 600k thb in the thailand account part. Great. Lets transfer.
"Sorry, you cant transfer︆ more than 50k thb to this bank account" ...wtf?
Transfer to the australian dollar bank︇ account. Nope, cant send more than 50k.
"Please change your transfer amount to below 50,000︈ THB or change the recipient bank. We only support transfer of 50,000 THB and above︉ to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank."
So, now I have to send︊ the money OUT of wise (costing more in transfer fees/conversion fees) and to somewhere else︋ that can send more than 50k thb. Probably back to my main bank account in︌ Australia. Lovely. F*cking wise. Good for small amounts of cash, but not big ones by︍ the looks of it.
-Skenners
cost me 800 bux in fees, but i transferred back︎ to my australian bank account, then send the whole amount through again. What. A. Waste.️
But its paid for now and im emailing everyone to tell them its done.
-Skenners
OK, It took forever to get the transfer over into their accounts and for them to acknowledge that they received it.
It also took me two phone calls to confirm the transfers.
SO, on the 8th, I sent through the money, so it would have referred to the 9th as the transfer date (thursday).
By Wednesday (over 72 hours later), I hadnt heard anything, the payment says "PAID" on my bank, meaning it cleared my side but I hadnt got any confirmations, so I emailed them again with another confirmation of payment (I sent one through after I sent it as well). They sent me︀ a "Yes we have recorded you've paid but we havent checked our bank to see︁ if its in" email.. great.. So I waited until yesterday and called them and they︂ confirmed that they have received the payment and Ill get the Welcome email on Monday.︃
So I SHOULD get the details on monday and am accepted as Thairand ereet!
Theres a bunch more steps involved, but it seems ok, just have to get the passport︄ stamped or something along those lines. I left last week for the night to Malaysia︅ for another 45 days visa on arrival, so im clear for another month and a︆ bit.
-Skenners
It also took me two phone calls to confirm the transfers.
SO, on the 8th, I sent through the money, so it would have referred to the 9th as the transfer date (thursday).
By Wednesday (over 72 hours later), I hadnt heard anything, the payment says "PAID" on my bank, meaning it cleared my side but I hadnt got any confirmations, so I emailed them again with another confirmation of payment (I sent one through after I sent it as well). They sent me︀ a "Yes we have recorded you've paid but we havent checked our bank to see︁ if its in" email.. great.. So I waited until yesterday and called them and they︂ confirmed that they have received the payment and Ill get the Welcome email on Monday.︃
So I SHOULD get the details on monday and am accepted as Thairand ereet!
Theres a bunch more steps involved, but it seems ok, just have to get the passport︄ stamped or something along those lines. I left last week for the night to Malaysia︅ for another 45 days visa on arrival, so im clear for another month and a︆ bit.
-Skenners
How about bank accounts? Have you been able to open some? Multicurrency? Easy to move money in /out?
The way I︃ see it, I think with Thailand you have these categories:
- tourist non-resident (short-term tourist︄ stay)
- tourist residence by investment (up to 1 year tourist stay) ---> Thai Elite︅ visa
- temporary resident (up to 1 year)
- permanent resident / citizen
Residence permit︆ gives you the right to work, start a company, use public services (healthcare, study...), own︇ a property/land, option to become a citizen, open a resident bank account, live continously in︈ a country...
Tourist visas usually don't offer you all that, and the main difference between︉ Thai Elite visa and other tourist visas are longer stays and multi-entry which makes you︊ a tourist resident and that is why you can legally be tax resident and open︋ resident bank account in Thailand. They should just promote it as "tourist residence by investment".︌
- tourist non-resident (short-term tourist︄ stay)
- tourist residence by investment (up to 1 year tourist stay) ---> Thai Elite︅ visa
- temporary resident (up to 1 year)
- permanent resident / citizen
Residence permit︆ gives you the right to work, start a company, use public services (healthcare, study...), own︇ a property/land, option to become a citizen, open a resident bank account, live continously in︈ a country...
Tourist visas usually don't offer you all that, and the main difference between︉ Thai Elite visa and other tourist visas are longer stays and multi-entry which makes you︊ a tourist resident and that is why you can legally be tax resident and open︋ resident bank account in Thailand. They should just promote it as "tourist residence by investment".︌
You can see an example at citibank, other banks have similar info and forms:
https://www.citibank.co.th/en/static/common-reporting-standard/index.html
https://www.citibank.co.th/en/static/common-reporting-standard/index.html
ok, finally got around to getting my PE visa in my passport, essentially it took an hour of waiting around at the immigration office, but the thailand elite agent was great in helping out and doing everything. just had to give a print out of my tm30 screenshot from the site (mine was given to me by my serviced apartment) and my passport and done.
5 years PE visa, reminders to tell them if you move and stamps, stamps, stamps!
Up next is banking, so ill get back to you in the next couple of months
-Skenners
5 years PE visa, reminders to tell them if you move and stamps, stamps, stamps!
Up next is banking, so ill get back to you in the next couple of months
-Skenners
Alrighty!
I went into Bangkok Bank in Sathorn on Thursday to get my bank account setup.
Requirements were:
- Passport with a valid Elite Visa
- Elite Membership Certified letter as attached
- Thai contact no.
- Thai Address
- Certified letter from Thailand Elite (will be sent to you within 1-2 days before the appointment)
I gave them a copy of my residential agreement with my apartment, passport and the two letters they wanted.
You need to call the thailand elite company to get them to send you the certified letter and elite membership certified letter. Its essentially saying "this person is with us,︀ this is their details and give them a bank account". Takes a minimum of 3︁ days to get the booking, so prepare in advance and you have to go on︂ a given day, but you can pick the day and anytime before 3pm to just︃ show up to the bank and get it done.
The only forms I filled out︄ were basic Thailand information (where I live, who i am, passport) about the bank account︅ I wanted to open and another one which was more of a KYC than a︆ CRC form. It had similar information requests but didnt ask for taxation information (No TFNs)︇ or where Ive been living the past 90-180 days.
The KYC form was asking how︈ much I earned per year, my net worth, where I get my money (country) and︉ how much I get, all in THB. A little invasive but it is what it︊ is. Now keep in mind that im not a US citizen or a European either︋ (NZ Citizen and Passport), so when it asked where I get my money from, I︌ initially put in Australia (remote work) and USA (stocks), but then I changed my mind︍ and crossed out the USA (as my stocks technically go through an australian company) in︎ case I had to fill out a million other forms just for getting money from️ the US. So there MIGHT be another form, but I doubt it. Australia taxes globally on Permanent Residents or higher, so if they didnt ask anything else for Aus, I doubt they would for anywhere else. It also asked for country of permanent residency. As I have an address I use in Aus, I technically am a tourist in Thailand (thats what the PE visa is anyway) and that I pay taxes in Aus.
So im pretty sure no CRC form was given to me. I had to sign every. effing. form. I specifically chose Bangkok Bank because Wise will allow them, Kasikorn and Siam Commercial to send above 50k THB per send where anywhere else its lower. Bangkok Bank︀ has stupid fees though (15 THB per month) on its chequing/savings accounts and you need︁ to put in a minimum of 500THB into the account on opening (plus another 400THB︂ if you want to get a debit card, total of 900THB. the 400 thb doesnt︃ go onto your account) which goes into your account on opening anyway as an initial︄ deposit.
I hope that helps with decision making if anyone is going to go for︅ a bank account using the Thailand Elite visa.
-Skenners
I went into Bangkok Bank in Sathorn on Thursday to get my bank account setup.
Requirements were:
- Passport with a valid Elite Visa
- Elite Membership Certified letter as attached
- Thai contact no.
- Thai Address
- Certified letter from Thailand Elite (will be sent to you within 1-2 days before the appointment)
I gave them a copy of my residential agreement with my apartment, passport and the two letters they wanted.
You need to call the thailand elite company to get them to send you the certified letter and elite membership certified letter. Its essentially saying "this person is with us,︀ this is their details and give them a bank account". Takes a minimum of 3︁ days to get the booking, so prepare in advance and you have to go on︂ a given day, but you can pick the day and anytime before 3pm to just︃ show up to the bank and get it done.
The only forms I filled out︄ were basic Thailand information (where I live, who i am, passport) about the bank account︅ I wanted to open and another one which was more of a KYC than a︆ CRC form. It had similar information requests but didnt ask for taxation information (No TFNs)︇ or where Ive been living the past 90-180 days.
The KYC form was asking how︈ much I earned per year, my net worth, where I get my money (country) and︉ how much I get, all in THB. A little invasive but it is what it︊ is. Now keep in mind that im not a US citizen or a European either︋ (NZ Citizen and Passport), so when it asked where I get my money from, I︌ initially put in Australia (remote work) and USA (stocks), but then I changed my mind︍ and crossed out the USA (as my stocks technically go through an australian company) in︎ case I had to fill out a million other forms just for getting money from️ the US. So there MIGHT be another form, but I doubt it. Australia taxes globally on Permanent Residents or higher, so if they didnt ask anything else for Aus, I doubt they would for anywhere else. It also asked for country of permanent residency. As I have an address I use in Aus, I technically am a tourist in Thailand (thats what the PE visa is anyway) and that I pay taxes in Aus.
So im pretty sure no CRC form was given to me. I had to sign every. effing. form. I specifically chose Bangkok Bank because Wise will allow them, Kasikorn and Siam Commercial to send above 50k THB per send where anywhere else its lower. Bangkok Bank︀ has stupid fees though (15 THB per month) on its chequing/savings accounts and you need︁ to put in a minimum of 500THB into the account on opening (plus another 400THB︂ if you want to get a debit card, total of 900THB. the 400 thb doesnt︃ go onto your account) which goes into your account on opening anyway as an initial︄ deposit.
I hope that helps with decision making if anyone is going to go for︅ a bank account using the Thailand Elite visa.
-Skenners
Thanks for the detailed description!
So it is clear that the bank will exchange the information with your country of citizenship since they asked for your permanent address.
Did you try/request to open a usd or other currency account?
Are you able to open a true money account with the elite visa?
So it is clear that the bank will exchange the information with your country of citizenship since they asked for your permanent address.
Did you try/request to open a usd or other currency account?
Are you able to open a true money account with the elite visa?
ahh crap, i knew there was something I needed to do in regards to other currencies. Ill try and look it up, but from what I could see on the papers I was given, it was just a standard bank account in THB.
Ill try and open︀ a true money account later today or tomorrow when I get a chance as I︁ tried once but the app was shoddy and didnt work well.
-Skenners
Ill try and open︀ a true money account later today or tomorrow when I get a chance as I︁ tried once but the app was shoddy and didnt work well.
-Skenners
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