800k in bank for retirement extension - Pattaya

[scubascuba3]

Anyone moved the 800k to another bank mid year and it caused problems with Immigration processing it? 

 

Assuming it settles the same day I can show it coming out of one account and into the other

[david555]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Anyone moved the 800k to another bank mid year and it caused problems with Immigration processing it? 

 

Assuming it settles the same day I can show it coming out of one account and into the other

If i was you i would contact my IO. first before to hear his opinion , before make a move on that  

[Upnotover]

As you only need to maintain 400k mid-year you could move it in 2 chunks a few days/weeks apart.  That might help (or confuse them further ????).

[scubascuba3]

6 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

As you only need to maintain 400k mid-year you could move it in 2 chunks a few days/weeks apart.  That might help (or confuse them further ????).

Smart idea that, problem is I'd need to wait a couple months to get into the 400k period

[Jingthing]

Yes its a great idea to not let either account go below 400K even for one day. Also as I reckon you already know, it shouldn't be done during either of the seasoning periods -- two months before and three months after. Otherwise, I don't see how this could be a problem and if I was doing it I wouldn't bother asking immigration first as the question would probably confuse them. 

[ubonjoe]

It should not be a problem to move it to another bank account. A most banks a online transfer is done immediately.

You will need to be is sure it is shown in both bank books and a statement for your old account.

Only during the 2 months before your next extension would it be a problem.

[scubascuba3]

12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

if I was doing it I wouldn't bother asking immigration first as the question would probably confuse them. 

I agree I don't think I'd get a straight answer from them because they are always looking for the agent route

[scubascuba3]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It should not be a problem to move it to another bank account. A most banks a online transfer is done immediately.

You will need to be is sure it is shown in both bank books and a statement for your old account.

Only during the 2 months before your next extension would it be a problem.

how about during the first 3 months? 

[Jingthing]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

how about during the first 3 months? 

Jomtien immigration unusually requires the three months after extension bank account check. I think you know the answer. Don't do it during the first three months!

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

how about during the first 3 months? 

It would be allowed as long as both bank books show the 800k baht on the same day. It is not the same as the 2 months before.

[Jingthing]

Why even take a chance at a complication if you don't NEED to do it during a seasoning period? 

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Why even take a chance at a complication if you don't NEED to do it during a seasoning period? 

The 800k baht after is not a "seasoning period". Only the 2 months before is one.

[Phulublub]

12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Jomtien immigration unusually requires the three months after extension bank account check. I think you know the answer. Don't do it during the first three months!

Jomtien immigration unusually sometimes requires the three months after extension bank account check. I think you know the answer. Don't do it during the first three months!

 

Last year I was not asked to return in three onths.

 

PH

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, Phulublub said:

Jomtien immigration unusually sometimes requires the three months after extension bank account check. I think you know the answer. Don't do it during the first three months!

 

Last year I was not asked to return in three onths.

 

PH

Probably an oversight. My impression is that most people are being required. Anyway, so far I have been required two times already. 

[Jingthing]

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The 800k baht after is not a "seasoning period". Only the 2 months before is one.

This is a technical matter of semantics. In my view, it is a seasoning period except that it's afterwards rather than the usual before. We can assume it comes from the same motivation (before AND after) -- to prevent people from getting short term loans to meet the financial requirements (in lieu of using a dodgy agent where such issues become moot).

 

Do you have a better word for it? 

 

I will now suggest -- post extension seasoning. Unfortunately not one word. 

[bluemoon58]

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It would be allowed as long as both bank books show the 800k baht on the same day. It is not the same as the 2 months before.

This is correct. Both "her indoors" and myself have moved bank accounts mid renewal period with no probs whatsoever. As long as they can see it out of one account and into the other, they're happy. 

[ubonjoe]

21 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Do you have a better word for it? 

The same as the immigration order 2 months prior the date of application and 3 months after.

For the 3 months after they are not as concerned about as the 2 months before. Just a updated bank book or it could be banks books that show it it never went below 800k baht.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, bluemoon58 said:

This is correct. Both "her indoors" and myself have moved bank accounts mid renewal period with no probs whatsoever. As long as they can see it out of one account and into the other, they're happy. 

Jomtien? 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The same as the immigration order 2 months prior the date of application and 3 months after.

For the 3 months after they are not as concerned about as the 2 months before. Just a updated bank book or it could be banks books that show it it never went below 800k baht.

No point in arguing about this (especially with you). But I continue to think the word seasoning can be legitimately be used for both before and after an application as long as people understand the context.

 

But your above post interests me for a much more important reason. When you say that "they are not as concerned" with the three months after, what exactly do you mean? Might you be suggesting that there wouldn't be serious consequences if a person shows up for a three month money check and fails it or applies for next years extension showing that they actually didn't meet the requirement? I don't recall even one post since this annoying show the money after rule came into effect reporting about how immigration reacted to not being in compliance. I'm assuming that you probably don't mean that, but just checking. 

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Might you be suggesting that there wouldn't be serious consequences if a person shows up for a three month money check and fails it or applies for next years extension showing that they actually didn't meet the requirement?

I was only referring to changing bank accounts. The 2 months prior to the extension is a requirement to apply for a new extension so they can be a bit more pickey about it.

There have already been cases of them denying a new extension if a person failed to keep the money in the bank as required.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I was only referring to changing bank accounts. The 2 months prior to the extension is a requirement to apply for a new extension so they can be a bit more pickey about it.

There have already been cases of them denying a new extension if a person failed to keep the money in the bank as required.

Thanks very much for that. 

Either I missed those reports or I forgot about them.

I assumed they were serious about the after extension rule but was still wondering if they might show more flexibility on that than the before rule. 

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I assumed they were serious about the after extension rule but was still wondering if they might show more flexibility on that than the before rule. 

The ones recall were not a small infraction of the requirement. It was a account almost emptied in at least one case. The problem has been that people were not aware of the new requirements due their office not informing them about them when they applied for their previous extension.

[Jingthing]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The ones recall were not a small infraction of the requirement. It was a account almost emptied in at least one case. The problem has been that people were not aware of the new requirements due their office not informing them about them when they applied for their previous extension.

OK, so that sounds to me that we don't really know if there are more minor cases where they might be able to show some mercy with the after extension part of the money rule. 

[Seeall]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Jomtien? 

as long as..... theres a light on ... and they not looking for problems...  whoever just does whatever they feel like...

[Postmaster]

Scubascuba3  Interesting topic.  You want to move because of the low interest rate is applied now that your 800 K has matured and the general extension rate is applied to your investment ?  Is that correct ?  I am in the same boat with Bangkok Bank and I wondered if you had sourced a better deal than the 0.5 % being offered by Bangkok Bank.  I would take the chance of moving it on the same day during the seasoning period and keep both bank books because of Ubonjoe's contribution to the topic.

[fulhamster]

On 1/15/2021 at 3:31 PM, Jingthing said:

Jomtien immigration unusually requires the three months after extension bank account check. I think you know the answer. Don't do it during the first three months!

I renewed my extension in November and wasn't  given the 3 month bank form

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, fulhamster said:

I renewed my extension in November and wasn't  given the 3 month bank form

So I guess you got lucky. I assume you used the 800k method, correct?

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, Postmaster said:

Scubascuba3  Interesting topic.  You want to move because of the low interest rate is applied now that your 800 K has matured and the general extension rate is applied to your investment ?  Is that correct ?  I am in the same boat with Bangkok Bank and I wondered if you had sourced a better deal than the 0.5 % being offered by Bangkok Bank.  I would take the chance of moving it on the same day during the seasoning period and keep both bank books because of Ubonjoe's contribution to the topic.

I have 3 different bank accounts already, I didn't really want to set up another so I checked the best rates available at those banks, Krungsri was the best at 1% (MTD account), Bangkok Bank 0.5%, Kasikorn 0.45%

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I don't recall even one post since this annoying show the money after rule came into effect reporting about how immigration reacted to not being in compliance.

My thought was that it is not actually a written rule to do the check and was also only required in a handful of immigration offices, sadly one being Jomtien. I missed doing it last year, but no issue whatsoever as I showed a full year of compliance at extension renewal.

[Kerryd]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I have 3 different bank accounts already, I didn't really want to set up another so I checked the best rates available at those banks, Krungsri was the best at 1% (MTD account), Bangkok Bank 0.5%, Kasikorn 0.45%

Yeah, interest rates suck at the moment. Looking at Bangkok Bank's best rates (Fixed Term of 24+ months) it's only 1.5%. (I've looked at rates of banks in other countries and they are pretty close to the same level for the major banks.

Some small " boutique"  banks may offer slightly higher rates to try and attract more business but those places are also more likely to fail.
(Don't believe it ? Take a wild guess at how many banks in the USA have failed in the last 11 years. Take a really wild guess. Now double that. Double it again. Are you close to 511 ? That's how many banks the FDIC says have failed in that period.)

Some people like to quote RRSP and Mutual Fund "quoted" rates of return and pretend those as the same as a "Savings Account". Note that Funds will often quote an anticipated rate of return to lure investment while the actual rate of return may be substantially lower. I learned that lesson the hard way back in the 90's. Financial Advisers apparently don't like it when you show them the actual rates of return compared to whatever BS they try to feed you about the same funds.)

I keep my money in a Fixed Term account that renews automatically every year. The interest is a little better than a Savings Account and the money is more secure (no one can access that account with an ATM card or through online access). (I think the interest is something like 1.25% per annum. I don't have my bank books handy so I can't confirm it.)

Not sure about other banks but Bangkok Bank also usually has short term Fixed Term offers, usually for periods of 7 or 11 months, that offer slightly better rates but they are a pain in the @55 because when the period ends (and your interest is paid) the interest rate automatically drops to the standard Savings Account rate. But you can't just renew the deposit for another 7/11 month term.

No, that would be too easy. You have to start a new account for whichever offer you want (7 or 11 months), then transfer the money from the old account, then close the old account.
(I have stacks of old bank books that have exactly 3 entries in each. The initial deposit. The interest paid at the end of the period. The transfer of the money to a different account.)

A lot of people don't understand the interest rate drop that happens with those short term accounts, mostly because all they see is "1.75% Interest" and ignore the "7 month term" and the "rate will drop at end of period" parts of the offer (then they come to ThaiVisa and whine about being ripped off).

The interest rate on the annual Fixed Term account isn't great but it is more than enough (after tax) to cover the cost of my annual Extension and Multi Re-entry permit renewals with enough left over to pay the utility bills for the month or have a night out on the town.

And it makes the Extension renewal so easy. The day before I go to Immigration I get my letter from the bank and update the book and that's it. No need to make some paltry deposit or withdrawal to show the account is active or show a year's worth of "deposits".

(I usually leave the interest in the Fixed Term account and let it roll over but you can have it deposited into your Savings Account if you prefer.)


If, for some reason, I needed to change banks, I'd make sure I waited until after the 3 month "bank book check" (regardless if you were given the notice, or forgot to do it or decided that you shouldn't have to do it for whatever reason). 
I'd also make sure I had the account in the new bank open before I closed the old account (for those who decide to take out the funds in cash instead of doing an electronic transfer).

I'd also make sure that I did the transfer at least 2 weeks before the next "seasoning" period starts (so 10 weeks or so before your next Extension). A lot of people, for whatever reason, wait until the last second to put their money in the account and, for whatever reason, take it out again the very second it's been there long enough to meet the requirement.

And then find out that they forgot about things like weekends and holidays and they miss their timings. I recall one year when my 90 Day date fell on a Saturday. Friday was a holiday so I decided I'd go on the Monday. However, Tuesday was also a holiday so Immigration decided to close on the Monday and give their staff a 5 day weekend. (Huge lines on Wednesday morning when they opened again.)

That was just a 90 day report so being a couple days late wasn't an issue but if you needed to get a Residency Certificate to open a new bank account and had to wait 5 days longer than planned, it could result in you missing your "seasoning" period.
(I'm sure you've heard about people who've been denied an Extension for missing their "seasoning" date by as little as a day.)

Lastly, I'd make sure that you take the old and new bankbooks with you, which ideally will show the transfer out and deposit in happening on the same day (as well as the regular photocopies of each bank book of course).
(I can imagine the person checking your paperwork may ask why you changed banks, but as long as all the paperwork is in order they may not care.)

Personally I wouldn't screw around or "assume" anything when it comes to my Extension of Stay. If it's denied for any reason, it would be a major annoyance to get it sorted out and back on track. I'd make sure I had all my "t's" crossed and "i's" dotted well ahead of time for peace of mind if nothing else.