Spent 4 months trying to get a bank account sorted while traveling through Southeast Asia

I landed in Chiang Mai last February thinking I could just use my digital bank from back home for everything. Nope. Three weeks in my card got declined at an ATM and my transfer from a client got stuck in limbo for 12 days. I tried opening a local account at three different banks in Thailand. Each one wanted a work permit, a lease agreement signed for at least 6 months, and a letter from my embassy. Took me four months total bouncing between Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Kuala Lumpur before I found a bank in Malaysia that let me open an account with just my passport and a local SIM card. Has anyone else wasted that much time on banking stuff while on the road?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_beth20d ago

Skip the tourist traps and go straight to wise.com or similar. Their borderless accounts work way better than local banks in most of SEA. Four months is rough though, I feel your pain.

charles_coleman20d ago

Applies to so much more than banking at this point. You need like seven different documents just to rent a scooter in some spots now, which makes you wonder when things got this complicated. @the_beth has the right idea with Wise but even that took me a solid week and a half to fully set up for my region, nothing is quick anymore.