How to open a bank account in Thailand as foreigner with no work permit

An essential thing for your company in Thailand is having a bank account. This facilitates your business here and it will save your company a lot in costs if you will have to transfer from an overseas account. From our 10 years of experience in setting up foreign companies in Thailand, we found that it can be difficult to find the right bank for your business and to open a bank account there. That’s why we put our knowledge on this page. Please note that these are our own experiences and not the official rules.

In this text you will find useful tips to open a company bank account in Thailand. If you would like us to assist you in the process, we would be happy to help. Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see what we can offer you in order to make sure that opening a bank account is no problem at all.

A common problem is that the local banks request a work permit from the foreign directors. If they do not have one, we found that there are still some ways to open a bank account. Not every bank has the same conditions to open an account. One thing they all do have in common is that they want personal contact with their client. This means you cannot send someone to open a bank account on your behalf, you should show up in person.

1. Company account at a local bank

For the following two banks it is possible to open your company’s account without a work permit.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB)
Bank of Ayuthya 

The documents needed are the following:

Note: The evidence for opening of the Bank Account must be original only.

1. Affidavit (updated within a month)
2. Memorandum of Association
3. Shareholder List
4. Tax ID Card of the Company
5. VAT Certificate
6. Certificate (Commercial Registration)
7. Minute of Meeting that mentions to open account with SCB Co., Plc. and Condition of the Signing without “affix the company’s officially seal”
8. National ID Card and House Registration of the Directors who have the power to sign
9. Company’ officially Seal
10. Copies of House Registration and National ID Card of person who holds 20% share in Memorandum of Association.

Note To open the Bank Account, the Bank requests the up to dated affidavit which valid within 1 month (30 days) and also please bring its original for bank officer to check.

1.1 Additional information

SCB (Siam Commercial Bank)
Additional Services that Customer can apply for

1. Real Time Fund Transfer from S/A to C/A
2. SCB. Easy Phone
3. SCB. Business Cash Management
4. Services for paying salary through the Bank
5. The purchasing of Checkbook next time, customers can purchase on their own through 02-777-7777. Then customers can bring the checkbook purchased order with accurate signature to receive the checkbook the next business day (call before order 1 day) 

For more information, you can call to the call center of the bank at 02 777 7777 and press 9

Internet banking
The Siam Commercial Bank has its own ‘Business Net’ that offers a broad scope of services. To register for the service of online banking, please follow the next steps.

• Go to www.scbbusinessnet.com
• Choose ‘download’ in the menu
• Download the application form
• Complete the form and submit it to a branch of SCB together with:

-Copy of your ID card
-Bankbooks of the account(s)
-Company registration document

Bank of Ayudhya

For the current account you need to have a Thai co-director with the power to sign. There is no need for this person to be a shareholder. He or she needs to be present in person when the account will be opened.

For more information, you can call:
KRUNGSRI Call Center 1572 (Overseas call 66-2296-2000 # 1)

Internet banking
The bank has an excellent internet banking system. As a company, it is necessary to register first. For regular persons no documents are needed, however for a company, please follow the steps below.

• Go to www.krungsri.com, and then click "KrungsriOnline".
• Click "Register".
• Click "Individual who does not hold Krungsri VISA Electron or Krungsri ATM card holder" or "Corporate Customer".
• Click "Next" to accept terms and conditions.
• Enter your personal information or company information (for corporate).
• Create your own User ID and Password, Create your secure question and answer.
• Click "Confirm" to go print application page.
• Print and sign the copy of the completed application form, then submit it to any bank branch together with the followings documents;

Documents Required:

Individual :	-	A signed copy of ID Card/Passport.
	-	Bank book of the main account and sub account for signature verification.
Corporate :	-	Signed copy of certificate of business registration (must not be more than 1 month since issuance).
	-	A signed copy of authorized person's ID Card/Passport.
	-	Bank book of the main account and sub account for signature verification.

• The bank will notify you of the accessibility to the service via postal mail or e-mail within 7 - 14 working days.

1.2 Minutes of the meeting example  

(Translation) Minutes of Meeting   time1/2554 of Meeting on at Meeting Place . Participants completed a quorum by ..., president of the meeting, opening the meeting with the agenda as following Agenda 1   The opening of Bank Account The President has noticed to the meeting that for the benefit of running company., the Company received action to open the bank account with (name Bank)  for both S/A and C/A on behalf of the company, with conditions of signing, .concerted sign with person.   Meeting’s Conclusions   Approval to Proceed   Meeting closed at .. ... Meeting’ President ( .)   . Minute of Meeting’s registered ( .. )

1.3 Personal account

To open a personal bank account, it is necessary to take your work permit and your passport at these two banks. However, if you do want to open a personal bank account without a work permit, you can go to Kasikorn Bank. The conditions to open a personal account are following:

1. Thai person who can be your guarantee;
2. Your address in Thailand;
3. Telephone number.

1.4 Minimum deposit

To open an account, whether personal or for your company, all three banks require a minimum deposit.

Bank	C/A company	S/A company	Personal account
Siam Commercial Bank	10,000.00	1,000.00	500.00
Kasikorn Bank	10,000.00	1,000.00	500.00
Bank of Ayudhya	20,000.00	1,000.00	500.00

All prices are in Thai Baht

2. International banks

There are some international banks that have branches in Thailand. Not all will be discussed, but only the ones we have dealt with in our experience. Please note again that these are not the official rules, but a recapitulation of our experiences. A big advantage compared to the Thai banks is that international banks also might have a branch in your country, making it easier to arrange your banking from a different country.

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC)

This bank has a very good reputation in Thailand as it has been here for a very long time. However, to have an account at this bank is not as simple as one might think.
There are some conditions they have for companies who wish to open an account at HSBC.

Remarks for corporate account opening:

1. The monthly minimum average balance requirement is THB 5 million.

2. A monthly service fee THB 1,500 will be levied when the minimum average balance per month falls below THB 5 million.

3. One of our mandatory requirements is that a new company which would like to open an account with us must have a recommendation from HSBC customer.
The recommendation letter can be from any of the following:
1. A Recommendation Letter from HSBC existing CORPORATE customer which has maintained an account with HSBC for at least 6 months - or -
2. A Recommendation Letter from HSBC existing PERSONAL customer who holds position in the company as a DIRECTOR and has maintained PERSONAL account with HSBC for at least 6 months.

4. If the company is overseas registered (not Thai registered company), one of the mandatory requirement is that the company must have existing of HSBC Account via Parent or Related company.

For your information, HSBC in Thailand is open from Monday to Friday from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. Their office address is:
HSBC Thailand
HSBC Building, 968 Rama IV Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 Thailand

The bank can be contacted at:
- bkhccc@hsbc.co.th ; or
- Corporate Customer Centre +66 (0) 2673-7733, from Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 6 pm

Standard Chartered Bank

This bank has branches in over 50 different countries, so probably there will be one in your home country. In order to open a corporate account with this bank, you will need the following documents:

• Copy of Citizen ID / Passport and Work Permit of the authorized person and shareholder over 20%
• Company Affidavit (original certified within 1 month)
• Certificate of Incorporation 
• Certificate of company seal
• Rules and Regulations  
• Shareholder’s List
• Memorandum of Associate 
• Tax ID Card
• Board of Resolution

Should you need further information, you can contact the Standard Chartered Bank ( Thai ) , Sathorn Branch, contact person Khun Khantharot,
Customer Service Officer at telephone number 662 7246334 , working hours are  Monday – Friday, Office hours 8.30 am. - 6:00 pm. or CB Helpdesk.

3. Panwa can help you

We can offer you assistance in setting up your company’s bank account in Thailand. In order to open an account, several documents are required. We can help you arrange all the documents you will need and guide you through the entire process. Our staff has over 10 years experience in setting up foreign companies in Thailand. We can accompany you to the bank to help in the communication process since not all bank employees are capable of speaking English.

Furthermore, it is possible for you to open the bank account under the name of Panwa Group. This way, we handle all the formalities, all the documents and will execute payments in your name. There would not even be a need for the director to come to Thailand or to go to the bank personally. All you have to do is provide the fund and assign us when to pay which invoices on your behalf.

Panwa will solely act on your instructions, the evidence will be recorded in a report and this will be handed over to you monthly or on your demand. All transactions will be done through use of a cheque book, making sure that every transaction is recorded and the record will be saved. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us at: mgr@panwa.co.th

IInformation summrized by

Mr.Mr. Richard Van Der Put
Assitant to Incorporated Adivisor

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For more information, please feel free to contact us:
Phone Nos.: +66 2 933 6121, +66 2 933 6122, +66 2 933 5601
(for call inside Thailand use 0 instead of +66)
Fax: +66 2 933 6120
Email: mgr@panwa.co.th
Please CC: to our alternate email: panwagroup@gmail.com

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