aurelius

Card with chip is much safer for debit transactions at shops.

Anyone selling insurance is getting commission. Ask for the IRR for each product you consider and make your own judgement (its a legal requirement that they disclose the IRR). shorter terms generally have lower IRR's.

You can buy them from internet banking; select the 'investment' menu tab.

It's possible to make 2nd and subsequent transfers without the SMS, but to register the 3rd party account into your payee list the SMS is required, and also for the first transfer. This phone number is the one that you would have indicated when first applying for iBanking at the branch.

So I expect that means for the first two years you need to make the required minimum amount of deposit and then you can stop monthly deposits and let the money just continue to grow interest until the account matures in 2, 3, 4, or 5 yrs and then you would probably want to roll it over into another fixed account/start another Kids Account to get the best interest being offered at the time.

No, in fact deposits are required every month of the full term of each account.

It could be that only the shorter maturity products are being promoted now days; however rates for the longer term accts still have to be quoted as customers are still operating them even if new accts are not being supported.

If you pay more they reduce the principal outstanding which reduces the term of the loan. This benefits the customer by reducing the total interest paid over the life of the loan.

Way to go Ianguygil !!

The LTF's don't pay out anything until the end (5 years). They are designed to be long term enforced investments. There is no guaranteed return, but over that period of time returns are usually ok. In addition to the capital appreciation is the tax saving which is significant in its own right. It you're earning heaps then it may also be worth buying RMF as well (max 500,000 BT each).

But I'd say none if this is related to a condo purchase in 2 years - totally different time horizon, and if you got LFT you wouldn't be able to withdraw without nasty penalties like paying back the tax refund.

BLTF75 has a 75% equity exposure as described by the name.

Easiest to go with the banks that are closely linked to the asset mgmt companies as its much easier to buy and sell via internet banking.

The type of account you are describing is a monthly saving plan which can be opened for 2, 3 or 5 year terms. Make a monthly deposit of a fixed amount into this account and you'll get 'better than saving act' rates of interest, us a waiver on withholding tax. If you just want a simple saving discipline and can be quite sure to make the monthly deposit, then thus is a good reliable option. If you use Bangkok bank, then the monthly deposits can be transferred online via internet banking. You can open the acct in your own name and just label it with your kids name in iBanking. The thai name for this acct type is Sinmattaya fixed account. Search for it online. One account per person only. The 5 year term has the best rates in general.

Bangkok Bank has a contract with the US Social security office to be a paying bank, which includes on obligation on Bangkok Bank to check that beneficiaries are still alive, hence the requirement to pick up payments in person. There is also an obligation on the bank to pay back any funds which are inadvertently dispersed to accounts of people subsequently found to be deceased - hence the reluctance to waive the 'no electronic' access terms.

Thai accounts can receive the original credit, but the Thai cards cannot initiate the transfer. Ibanking, atm, branches - there are no points which allow the transaction to be conducted, except for a retail point of sale reversal (which is not what you are referring to). Reason it hasn't been launched is because of the fee structure (mainly regarding domestic transfers) and the fx/aml issues for international transfers.

Amazon no longer ships to Thailand.

http://www.amazon.co...537734

Since when? I received stuff about 2 weeks ago.

......

perhaps someone from Bangkok bank can comment, but i don't remember having problems at the CDM machine. But ATM/internet instant transfers may be disabled during maintenance period, which appears to be 8 hours 22:00-06:00. Not sure if you can schedule internet transfer for the next day.

at the atm, you would need to withdraw and then deposit the money into the CDM. Maybe test with a small amount first to make sure CDM is operational?

As I understand it, CDM and Internet banking transactions between banks are switched and settled by two different entities. One supports 24 hr transactions, the other doesn't.

Recently, I found I could not do an ATM transfer between my own (Bkk Bank) accounts late at night.(Can't remember the exact time) I just got a very general message saying there was something wrong with the amount or the action I had requested. I reduced the amount but could not get satisfaction until the next day. It seems the time restriction applies within (at least some) banks as well as interbank.

Edit:

Internet international transfers I have done, seem to be restricted to the working hours of the sending Bank. I have assumed that anti laundering regulations require human supervision.

Its currency risk they are concerned about, not money laundering.

Is the land dept info considered publicly available / for a fee? i.e. relatively easy to get

I suppose another approach might be to put everything you have into a single savings account and watch as the interest is paid (usually monthly) and then switch the account to another account or bank before you reach the 20K limit. The most effective solution though is to do what you're doing presently, you've got the benefit of the higher rate, it's fixed for a defined period, plus, you get your tax back, that's a win win scenario with only a slight inconvenience of having to deal with the tax folks.

Most savings a/c are paying 6-monthly interest, no?

The underlying concept for the different treatment for fixed and saving is that its assumed that only wealthy people have fixed accounts - therefore tax all, and let the energetic folks go claim the deduction.

There is also a little known catch - all though in reality I'm not sure how many banks actually follow the rules, - that says - if you have a standing order between your accounts, e.g. an automated instruction that regularly passes an amount from your saving a/c to your fixed a/c., then the tax will be charged on the saving acct (the source of funds a/c) from the beginning - the 20k allowance doesn't apply.

So the best thing to do to minimize tax and optimize returns is to open a daily trading money market fund and keep any surplus liquidity in there; and keep the minimum balance in your saving a/c.

No benefit really, unless you need to pay sums of money across banks that don't fit within the standard transfer limits. But if you are receiving payments from payers who are not reliable it is good to get a posted dated cheque upfront to somewhat guarantee the payment.

Ironic that the BOT is implementing an advanced cheque scanning system with scanners in all bank branches when the usage of cheques is and should be declining. Waste of money in my view.

Make sure you take the regular Be1st card (NOT the one with the chip on it) - as most US ATM's are NOT chip enabled.

Loan amounts over 10MB can only be for 70% of the value; under that and they can go higher, so probably your CIMB info is accurate.

When setting up a new third party account to receive a funds transfer, BKK Bank requires a One Time Password via SMS to confirm the 3rd party account; and also another OTP for the first transfer to that account. Thereafter, no OTP's are required for transfers to that account. So, the OP can set up using Bangkok Bank, but make at least one transfer in TH before leaving if you don't want to take the TH mobile phone with you. However, as other posters have noted, if you have intl roaming on your TH mobile phone, then you can receive your SMS messages anywhere in the world.

Interest paid each month is based on the principle outstanding; anything paid over the interested is deducated from the principle. You can pay down the loan at any time, but cannot pay it off completely until usually 3 years (or pay a 3% penalty fee)

Actually there is no penalty at any time for early repayment if you are paying with your own money; the penalty applies in the case of re-financing only.

Yes it is.

Use a copy of the sale agreement instead of the tt3. The banks can assume that the tt3 was used for the purchase of the property, the sales agmt is ok for evidence of source of funds in the case of sale & repatriation.

If you were the parental guardian for your son on the account (this is quite common), that role would pass on to whomever becomes legally responsible for your son.

I agree, as Daveroc said, that a bank will not allow a 3 year to have operating authority over an account in the first instance, i.e. not a "joint account" as such.

If you are solely the owner of the funds in the account, then they can be directed by a will. In the absence of a will, Thai law prevails - equal splits to surviving wife and children.