Sterling Account - Couple of questions

[NotWhatItWasnt]

Is it still possible to open a sterling account at Bangkok Bank?

 

If not at Bangkok Bank do any other banks do this type of account?

 

And if so, can sterling be paid in whilst in Thailand?

 

I'm presently not in Thailand, other wise I'd go to the bank and ask in person.

 

TIA 

 

[Jip99]

Yes.

 

Yes... all the big ones

 

Yes....

 

 

Bangkok is the best FCD in my opinion.

[KittenKong]

All the main banks I know of here do accounts in the main foreign currencies, including GBP. However these are not designed for cash transactions and if they allow cash movements at all they will probably impose some sort of penalty on them.

 

They are designed to allow the easy import/export of foreign currency by telegraphic means without having to exchange into Baht.

 

Bangkok Bank rarely offers the best deals so I wonder why people use them, but a quick glance at the various banks' websites will show the availability and cost of foreign currency accounts.

[NotWhatItWasnt]

Just now, Jip99 said:

Thanks for the reply Jip99 

I've had a couple of accounts at Bangkok Bank for a number of years now, would the opening of a Sterling account be straight forward?

 

 

[Jip99]

33 minutes ago, NotWhatItWasnt said:

 

 

 

Luck of the draw I am afraid. 

 

It it partly depends on the quality of the staff in the branch you choose...

 

 

Major towns and cities should have trained staff......but, not all offices service FCD's - my local branch didn't and I had to go to Buriram main branch.

[observer90210]

Agree...a bit like immigration....you have all those laws and rules..... but ultimately one is solely under the mercy and the mood of the immigration officer behind the counter  and how well his mia noi did the job the previous night !

[NotWhatItWasnt]

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply

[RBOP]

When went to enquire about opening a foreign currency account they wanted a work permit.

[Johnmeldrum]

I had 3 accounts with Bangkok bank between them well over 10 million baht for about 4 years transferred money from UK and Malaysia regularly. Want to open dollar and and sterling account so I could change money when exchange rate was good . They want me to go to embassy great all kinds of forms . After looking around krungsri bank opened both of them for me no messing around I have transferred all my accounts there now they are always very helpful all my direct debts go out no problem maybe I am lucky but young lady always looks after me and I have never found a person in any bank so helpful .

[patrick kennedy]

The Bangkok branch in the night bazzar have a good vacility there for your sterling account,no problem opening one just the usual id.

[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, Johnmeldrum said:

After looking around krungsri bank opened both of them for me no messing around I have transferred all my accounts there now they are always very helpful all my direct debts go out no problem maybe I am lucky but young lady always looks after me and I have never found a person in any bank so helpful .

 

I dont have a foreign account with them but I do have a couple of savings accounts and a debit card of theirs. I find them to be the most efficient of the Thai banks I have dealt with. Also their English website is fairly complete.

[jgarbo]

19 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Agree...a bit like immigration....you have all those laws and rules..... but ultimately one is solely under the mercy and the mood of the immigration officer behind the counter  and how well his mia noi did the job the previous night !

Impertinence is not the right approach. You're not back home.

[ResandePohm]

22 hours ago, NotWhatItWasnt said:

Is it still possible to open a sterling account at Bangkok Bank?

 

If not at Bangkok Bank do any other banks do this type of account?

 

And if so, can sterling be paid in whilst in Thailand?

 

I'm presently not in Thailand, other wise I'd go to the bank and ask in person.

 

TIA 

 

Why on earth do you want a sterling account? The way the pound is plumeting you must be keen to lose money. I recommend you try a more stable currency

[OJAS]

5 hours ago, ResandePohm said:

Why on earth do you want a sterling account? The way the pound is plumeting you must be keen to lose money. I recommend you try a more stable currency

 

If, like me, the OP is British, I'm not sure that an Outer Mongolian Rouble FCD account would be of much use to him.

 

On a serious note, though, he needs to be aware that he runs the risk of being hit with hefty charges for transfers from the UK. When I was briefly the proud holder of a BBL GBP account several years ago, a £1,000 transfer from my UK account ended up with only £960 being credited to the BBL account.

 

And if he is in receipt of a UK pension, he needs to check whether the provider would be willing to pay his pension into a BBL GBP account. I only discovered after I had opened my account that my provider wasn't.

 

After a few months I concluded that my BBL GBP account really wasn't worth having, so closed it. 

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by OJAS

[Jip99]

14 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

If, like me, the OP is British, I'm not sure that an Outer Mongolian Rouble FCD account would be of much use to him.

 

On a serious note, though, he needs to be aware that he runs the risk of being hit with hefty charges for transfers from the UK. When I was briefly the proud holder of a BBL GBP account several years ago, a £1,000 transfer from my UK account ended up with only £960 being credited to the BBL account.

 

And if he is in receipt of a UK pension, he needs to check whether the provider would be willing to pay his pension into a BBL GBP account. I only discovered after I had opened my account that my provider wasn't.

 

After a few months I concluded that my BBL GBP account really wasn't worth having, so closed it. 

 

 

 

Absolutely not not the case with BKB FCD charges.

 

As I recall, the charge is 0.25% with a maximum of 500 Baht. My transfers (usually £1000 to £10000] have never been more than £11.86

 

If a pension provider will not play ball, I wonder if it possible to get payments into the FCD account via Sterling payments routed through BKB London

[observer90210]

7 hours ago, jgarbo said:

Impertinence is not the right approach. You're not back home.

Realistic would have been a nicer comment

[jacko45k]

10 hours ago, ResandePohm said:

Why on earth do you want a sterling account? The way the pound is plumeting you must be keen to lose money. I recommend you try a more stable currency

Strange question.... perhaps a person who originates from the UK and still has connections to the UK.

Opening a Sterling account suggests one already has that currency and wishes to remain in it.... changing out of sterling just after this huge plummeting you talk of would not be wise. Sterling recovered slightly in the last month, and some may think it has upward potential after the BofE hinted at interest rate increase. Let us hope so.

 

As to the Op, I saw a recent presentation by Bangkok Bank and they were still promoting their FCDAs. I use the Bank and my only complaint is that many of the documents on their website are Thai language only.

Edited October 2, 2017 by jacko45k

[OJAS]

On 10/2/2017 at 11:56 PM, Jip99 said:

Absolutely not not the case with BKB FCD charges.

 

As I recall, the charge is 0.25% with a maximum of 500 Baht. My transfers (usually £1000 to £10000] have never been more than £11.86

 

If a pension provider will not play ball, I wonder if it possible to get payments into the FCD account via Sterling payments routed through BKB London

 

You're probably right when it comes to the BKKB, but don't forget that the originating UK bank may hit you with both their and agents' fees as well.

 

I did enquire of BKKB's London branch whether it would be possible to arrange transfers from my UK account to my FCD account via them, but was informed that this would involve a convoluted process on account of the FCD account number being 1 digit too long for an arrangement to be set up automatically via my UK bank's Pay Bills facility.

[Jip99]

3 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

You're probably right when it comes to the BKKB, but don't forget that the originating UK bank may hit you with both their and agents' fees as well.

 

I did enquire of BKKB's London branch whether it would be possible to arrange transfers from my UK account to my FCD account via them, but was informed that this would involve a convoluted process on account of the FCD account number being 1 digit too long for an arrangement to be set up automatically via my UK bank's Pay Bills facility.

 

 

 

I feared that would be the case with BKB, London. Their Sterling to Thai bank  transfer is a useful by-pass of pension providers etc who will not remit to overseas account.

 

 

If transferring from the UK, the transfer costs should be significantly lower than the £40 mentioned earlier. For example HSBC charge  £4 for online payments, and no agent is involved if remitting Sterling to Bangkok Bank Thai Baht account.

 

Not sure if the likes of Transferwise do GBP to a Sterling account in Thailand.

[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, Jip99 said:

If transferring from the UK, the transfer costs should be significantly lower than the £40 mentioned earlier. For example HSBC charge  £4 for online payments, and no agent is involved if remitting Sterling to Bangkok Bank Thai Baht account.

 

Most UK banks have reduced their international charges over the last few years. At one time it was quite hard to find one that didnt charge GBP30 for a transfer, but these days many do it for GBP15 or less, sometimes much less as you mention. One of my banks makes no outgoing charge at all, so all I pay is the 0.25% percent here and even that is capped at 500B.

[ResandePohm]

On 10/3/2017 at 4:42 AM, jacko45k said:

Strange question.... perhaps a person who originates from the UK and still has connections to the UK.

Opening a Sterling account suggests one already has that currency and wishes to remain in it.... changing out of sterling just after this huge plummeting you talk of would not be wise. Sterling recovered slightly in the last month, and some may think it has upward potential after the BofE hinted at interest rate increase. Let us hope so.

 

As to the Op, I saw a recent presentation by Bangkok Bank and they were still promoting their FCDAs. I use the Bank and my only complaint is that many of the documents on their website are Thai language only.

I am perplexed that you find my question strange. I am a Brit and still have many conections in the UK.However that is no reason to keep my money in sterling. Sterling is currently very unstable and it will remain so until the whole Brexit thing is sorted out. Yes I still have an account in the UK into which all my British pensions are placed and they will remain there until the Pound becomes stable and this magical recovery you talk about takes place. This money can continue to hibernate in the UK and there is no need to open a sterling account in Thailand. My foreign pensions never see a sterling account and never will until sterling is stable again, if that ever happens.

 

It is irresponible to advise people to invest in unstable currencies. As for exchange rates don't you know you get a better exchange rate buying sterling, when needed, in a Thai Bank. This has been the case for many years and any statement by the B of E is irrelevant

[Jip99]

On 10/2/2017 at 5:48 PM, ResandePohm said:

Why on earth do you want a sterling account? The way the pound is plumeting you must be keen to lose money. I recommend you try a more stable currency

 

 

 

A clueless question.

 

Any advice is for the benefit of those with Sterling capital (or income) it may be sensible to look at maintaining those funds in a Thai bank in an FCD.

 

1. Funds can be used for annual extension of permission to stay.

 

2. Maximum 500 Bht charge for transferring Sterling in, no charges for transferring to Baht savings account and FULL T/T rate is applied.

 

3. The ability to react more swiftly to exchange Sterling when the rate is favourable.

 

 

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, ResandePohm said:

I am perplexed that you find my question strange. I am a Brit and still have many conections in the UK.However that is no reason to keep my money in sterling. Sterling is currently very unstable and it will remain so until the whole Brexit thing is sorted out. Yes I still have an account in the UK into which all my British pensions are placed and they will remain there until the Pound becomes stable and this magical recovery you talk about takes place. This money can continue to hibernate in the UK and there is no need to open a sterling account in Thailand. My foreign pensions never see a sterling account and never will until sterling is stable again, if that ever happens.

 

It is irresponible to advise people to invest in unstable currencies. As for exchange rates don't you know you get a better exchange rate buying sterling, when needed, in a Thai Bank. This has been the case for many years and any statement by the B of E is irrelevant

Maintaining a UK based bank account while living in Thailand can be difficult, I am trying to resolve one myself right now. You yourself have elected to keep money in Sterling, so why do you not grasp others wanting to do it, but in the country they live.  Don't misrepresent my words that I am recommending people invest in any currency, the issue simply being when to change currency. Of course I know to transfer sterling to Thailand, I have been doing it for over a decade. Statements by the BofE  can hardly be classified as irrelevant when they affect the currency and exchange rate by 3-4 percentage points!

 

I haven't opened a local sterling account as I thought the rates, terms etc were not very good. But I might well feel Thai banks were more secure than where my money is now, and certainly the bank would be easier to personally attend. Changing it to Thai baht may limit my future choices.

Edited October 5, 2017 by jacko45k

[JaseTheBass]

In a similar vein, I have a UK Stirling cheque that I want to cash/pay into my Thai Baht bank account. Does anyone know if this is possible?

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