With Pattaya sweetie in tow to serve translator duty, I went out today to try and open a Kasikorn bank account.
First stop was the branch on Soi Buakhao near the little Tesco, market, and R-Con entrance. The nice lady said that the "package" was ATM card for 800 baht, 2500 for insurance, minimum 10000 baht deposit, and a verification of Thai address I needed to obtain from some office in Jomtien. Strike one.
Second stop was the branch not too far away on Pattaya Klang between Second road and Beach road. The nice assistant at the door first asked to see my passport to see what sort of visa I have. I have only ever gotten the standard 30 days on arrival visa since I've never been able to spend more that a month at a time in LOS. I was told that I need a non-immigrant visa, and that that was the new law. No further discussion as to what the account would cost to open if I had the correct visa. Strike two.
So, it appears that things have tightened up recently and the branches are all on basically the same page now?