Before you start

Passport with a valid long-stay visa or extension stamp
A certificate of residence from Phuket Immigration or your embassy, or a work permit — increasingly requested
A Thai mobile number, which the banking app needs for one-time passwords
A small opening cash deposit

Step-by-step

1
Get a certificate of residence first if you can
Most Phuket branches now ask for proof that you live here. A certificate of residence from Phuket Immigration is free but takes time; your embassy can usually issue one faster for a fee. A work permit substitutes where you have one. Some branches accept a registered lease plus the TM30 receipt instead — worth asking the specific branch by phone before you make the trip.
In personWho: YouSame day at an embassy; days to weeks through ImmigrationFree through Immigration or an embassy fee
2
Pick a bank and, more importantly, a branch
Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank are the three most used by foreigners. Branch managers have wide discretion, so requirements are applied unevenly — people are routinely refused at one branch and approved at another the same day. Larger branches in Phuket Town and the big malls handle foreign applicants as routine work. If you are turned away, thank them and try another rather than concluding you are ineligible.
In personWho: YouSame dayFree
3
Open the account and take the debit card
Take a queue ticket, present your documents, and expect to be asked the purpose of the account. Fund a small opening deposit and choose a debit card, which carries a modest annual fee. A passbook is often issued immediately; the card either on the spot or by post. Politeness and patience genuinely change outcomes if the first officer hesitates.
In personWho: You30 to 60 minutesSmall opening deposit plus an annual debit card fee
4
Register PromptPay and set up the app
PromptPay is Thailand's instant transfer system and is what makes daily life cashless — market stalls, restaurants, rent, splitting a bill. Register it against your account and install the bank's app, which needs your Thai SIM for the one-time password. This is the step that turns a bank account into something you actually use.
Mobile appWho: You15 to 30 minutesFree
5
If you will buy a condominium, understand the foreign-currency requirement now
A foreigner buying inside a condominium's foreign quota must bring the purchase funds into Thailand in foreign currency and have the receiving Thai bank record the inward remittance and its purpose. The bank's documentation of that transfer is required at the Land Department for the transfer of title. Sending baht, or moving money in piecemeal from a Thai account, can leave you unable to register the purchase. Talk to the bank about this before the money moves, not after.
In personWho: You, with your bank and your own lawyerArrange before transferring purchase fundsBank charges on the inward remittance

Documents you’ll need

Passport with current visa page and entry stamp
Long-stay visa or extension, or a work permit
Certificate of residence, or a lease plus TM30 receipt where the branch accepts it
Thai mobile number for app activation
Opening cash deposit

Things most newcomers don’t know

If you intend to buy a condominium, the money must arrive in foreign currency and the bank must document it.

The Condominium Act route for foreign ownership requires the purchase funds to be remitted into Thailand in foreign currency and converted here, with the receiving bank issuing the record of that inward transfer stating the purpose. That document is what the Land Department wants at registration. People who move money into a Thai account over years and then buy from that balance, or who send baht from abroad, discover the problem at the transfer office when it is very hard to fix. Speak to the bank before the first transfer.

Source: Condominium Act B.E. 2522 foreign ownership requirements; Bank of Thailand inward remittance documentation

Branch discretion is the whole story, and Phuket branches have seen everything.

Thai banks give branch managers wide latitude, so identical applicants get different answers at different counters on the same day. Phuket's branches deal with foreigners constantly, which makes the experienced ones efficient — and also means they are quicker than most to decline an applicant on a tourist stamp or with a hazy address. Turn up with a certificate of residence and a genuine long-stay visa and the process is short. Turn up without either and no amount of persistence will help.

Source: Thai retail banking practice; expatriate reporting

PromptPay, not a card, is how Thailand actually moves money.

Instant bank-to-bank transfer by phone number or ID is universal — landlords expect rent that way, restaurants and markets take it, and splitting a bill by card is unusual. A foreign card works at hotels and supermarkets and nowhere much else. Registering PromptPay is the step that changes your daily life from awkward to normal, and it needs the Thai SIM to be working first.

Source: Bank of Thailand PromptPay; Thai retail practice

A Thai account is not a way around the foreign-income remittance rules.

Since 1 January 2024, foreign-sourced income earned while you are a Thai tax resident is assessable when you bring it into Thailand, whenever you bring it — the old practice of parking money offshore for a year and remitting it tax-free is gone. Holding a Thai account does not change that, and moving money in gradually does not obscure it. Keep dated records of when income was earned versus when it was transferred; income earned before 2024 is outside the rule and your records are what prove it.

Source: Revenue Department orders Por. 161/2566 and Por. 162/2566

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting to open an account on a visa-exempt or tourist stamp, which most branches now decline outright
Turning up without a certificate of residence when the branch requires one
Not having a Thai SIM yet, which blocks app activation and PromptPay entirely
Transferring condominium purchase funds in baht, or from an existing Thai balance, and being unable to register the title
Letting the account go dormant while you are out of the country and finding it frozen on return

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.