Hi guys,
EU citizen here employed in Thailand with work permit and family (with Thai wife and 3 years old daughter child). I invest monthly in index ETFs for retirement purpose and am currently with XTB platform. Initially I opened my account with IBKR but depositing the funds is a nightmare as every time I would like to deposit I must go to the bank in person, provide documents and it costs minimum 1100 THB per deposit transaction. That's why I am with XTB now.
However, I still look for another trading platform as XTB in Thailand is registered in Belize, there is no minimum security of the funds invested like in the EU, US etc. I discovered that some potential trading platforms are Saxo Bank and Schwab international accounts. I know that for an international Saxo account $10K and for Schwab account $25K deposit is required which is not an issue.
On their websites I tried to find out how depositing funds from Thai bank account works and everything looks smooth but all looked smooth with IBKR, too and when I wanted to fund the account, I realized I had to take the documents and pay 1100 THB to Kasikorn / Bangkok bank.
What I fear from is that I will open the account with Saxo or with Schwab and when wanting to deposit, I will find out the same thing so I would like to ask if anyone knows how it goes when depositing Thai bath from Thai bank account to these trading platforms (or if there is a better trading platform company that I should have a look into)?
For your information, funding XTB platform is easy and with QR code instantly and the currency exchange rate from THB to US$ is pretty fair.