how241

Bitcoin was at a low of $15K  in January of this year.  Now close to $28K.  Almost 100% gain in a few months.  Not bad, even with rising interest rates.  Now we can wait for the haters to remind us that BTC  was $67K  before. 

32 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

I also opened an account with coins.co.th and transferred some bitcoin to it and have converted to THB and transferred to my Thai bank several times with no issues.

Yes, coins.so.th  has worked well for years.  Fast payouts directly to your Thai bank.  I think they are starting to trade other coins besides BTC. 

On 3/16/2023 at 10:22 PM, JimmyJ said:

One of the main stablecoins just lost its peg to the USD, didn't it?

I saw it yesterday trading at 0.9993,  so it has mostly recovered.  The depegging was caused by lost confidence in the US bank that was holding USDC money.

Good info,  thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the info.

1 hour ago, lkn said:

Generally countries that offer high interests are countries with weak currencies that are only getting weaker, and when it comes to developing countries that underperform compared to more developed countries, you should not expect the exchange rate to “get back” to where it was, when you exchanged the money.

Thanks,  you have made some good points.  

1 hour ago, nigelforbes said:

Inflation is the killer in Vietnam, banks are offering 5% for 3 months but the rate of inflation easily exceeds that, which means your savings are losing money by going backwards.

Thanks !!!    Good info,  certainly something to think about.  I wonder how that relates to Thailand savings rates,  probably also going backwards.

12 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

Exchange rate risk and inflation risk can reach unacceptable levels historically in Vietnam 

The exchange rate can either be good or bad for you depending on what it is compared to when you made your deposit. You can either make extra money or lose some but it won't really matter if you decide to roll over your fixed account into another term deposit.  As long as you don't have an immediate need for your money you can usually wait for the exchange rate to be in your favor.  As with most any investments,  there is always risk.

I won't mind just keeping my money in Thailand 'if' they would raise up the rates to at least 3%.  I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

I am not resident, so I don't use those banks.

But I did a bit of research on Cambodia a while back.

Some of the banks are owned by foreign banks. 

ABA Bank, for instance, seems to be owned by a major North American bank with 300 billion dollars in assets.

https://www.ababank.com

 

Thanks.  Good info.  Some of the larger banks in Vietnam also seem very safe.

7 hours ago, jphasia said:

But: you need to be "resident" in Vietnam. By "resident" I mean having a TRC (Temp Residence Card) that you obtain only if you have a work permit or married to local.

I don 't have either of whose so I guess Vietnam won't work for me.  I wonder if the bank managers can 'rubber stamp'  the paperwork so you can get around these requirements ?

It looks like no one has tried any of these banks. 

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

Will they give you that rate on a USD or THB account? 

Cambodia bank -rates on USD

https://www.cab.com.kh/home_detail?page=en&product_id=1c383cd30b7c298ab50293adfecb7b18

22 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Bank failure notwithstanding, there is also risk with currency fluctuation. 

 

My interest earning immigration account was a lot more attractive before the Baht went south and I started getting 3% in the US. 

I think the largest banks are relatively safe.  Vietnam has good growth potential.  I liked the idea of having a Thai baht account,  thus avoiding the exchange rate drama.  In the US,  getting 3-4.5% is common but I like to keep some money closer to where I live.  I have lived in Thailand for 12 years but Vietnam might be another place to try out. 

I have recently seen interest rates of 7.4%-8.5%  at major Vietnam banks and 6%-7% at Cambodia Banks for 8-12 month accounts.  As a foreigner, has anyone recently opened any accounts with them ?   What was your experience?  Do you think it is risky ?  I was reading that they offer accounts in US dollars and Thai baht, along with their own currency.  What do you think ???

5 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Will they give you that rate on a USD or THB account? 

I just did a 'quick' read on the banks website so I am not sure.  It looks like the Vietnam banks don't pay interest on dollar accounts but I could be wrong.  It looked like the Cambodia banks paid interest on THB.   Again, I am not sure as I only did a quick read at one banks website.  That's why I am hoping to get recent info from people that have actually made accounts with them.

I have recently seen interest rates of 7.4%-8.5%  at major Vietnam banks and 6%-7% at Cambodia Banks for 8-12 month accounts.  As a foreigner, has anyone recently opened any accounts with them ?   What was your experience?  Do you think it is risky ?  I was reading that they offer accounts in US dollars and Thai baht, along with their own currency.  What do you think ???

On 2/23/2023 at 6:29 PM, Don Chance said:

You could invest the money and get 10% return per year.  So really it is costing you $2300 USD a year for a retirement visa. Minus -2% then it is down to $1850 a year.

You are correct.  With the low rates that the Thai banks are paying ,  keeping the 800K does cost some lost interest(lost money).  It is certainly not a free visa.  I know that some people use agents to avoid keeping the 800K in the bank but even that will cost 12K-15K  and I am not comfortable with the legality of it.  No free ride.  On a non-related issue, I don't know why immigration doesn't charge a small fee for the 90 day report. It would give them a large additional income stream.  Most things done at any Gov't offices will require a fee.  I won't be making this suggestion to them...hahaha

9 hours ago, Henryford said:

"invest" in a crypto haha. Is it run by Sam Bankman-Fried?

Nexo has had no involvement or losses with any of the cryptos that recently have gone bankrupt or had similar issues.  I don't want to hijack this thread into a crypto thread.  End of crypto posts. 

https://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/_layouts/application/interest_rate/in_rate.aspx

Maybe they have not updated their rates as I am not seeing some of these higher rates yet.  Also this site might not show promotional rates or offers. 

Thanks for the updates.  Nice to see some better Thai rates.  I have seen banks in the USA offering 5% for a 1 year CD(fixed account).  Hopefully,  after the next Fed meeting, Thailand will push up the rates a little more. I don't expect to see 5%  anytime here. 

5 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Well my wife is smiling today, as we sold our house last year and put all the proceeds into BTC, DOT, and BNB. 

Bought BTC as it went under 19k, buying most at $16,800.

 

Good move !!!   I would recommend selling some BTC at this price and lock in a nice profit.  Sell some more BTC around $29K.  BNB  should move much higher, in my opinion.  I might sell some BNB at 348  and again at 398.  Good Luck.

4 hours ago, fdsa said:

just force the banks question every person-to-person transaction over 10k THB and voila, crypto is dead.

It would cost the banks a LOT of money to even try to do that and why would banks care about crypto ??   

Thanks to all recent posters for their updates.  Hopefully,  rates of 3% will soon be available in Thailand but I kind of doubt it.