On opening, as a foreigner, a Thai Bank account.

On opening, as a foreigner, a Thai Bank account.  Realize, this all has to to with the international mandated practice on "know your customer".  A financial institution, anywhere, has a regulatory rule to at least screen new bank accounts; this in order to prevent rogue/money laundering practices. Less to do with the "mood of the bank employee of the branch",  however yes, its desirable to make a good first impression or to have an introduction.  Its always up to the individual bank branches in evaluating this on a case by case basis. I don't think there are "dozens of banks in Thailand" as somebody recently wrote.  I do agree that Bangkok Bank seems the best overall choice, but their foreign branches are likely institutional branches, not open for retail banking. Thai banks issue savings passbook accounts which can be updated at any branch as well as ATM cards which can be used to withdraw funds at ATM machines, just about worldwide. On-line banking works very well, but there are preset limits, same with ATM cards which can be increased on demand.  Thai credit cards are more difficult to obtain and likely require a work permit? And surely a deposit/guarantee.  Interest paid on Thai bank savings accounts are around 0.5% with some smaller banks offering a token more.  These are not likely to increase in any significant way for some time, in my view.  On longer term, say 2 year locked, one can get around 1.25 to 1.5%.