How secure are Thai bank accounts?

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Earning anything worthwhile or just as a reservoir?

In income terms, no, it's a paltry 1.7% in fixed accounts plus a variable x% in LTF's....BUT, I have zero problems with immigration and I don't have to watch exchange rates and worry about whether I can stay or not.

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, Rod the Sod said:

<deleted>. Safe as houses!

How would you know, minimum account opening require a deposit of at least 5,000 baht!

[moogradod]

9 minutes ago, Rod the Sod said:

Boll**ks. Safe as houses!

I do not hope you are right. Would never stay in a house and then leave the premises unattended (example: holiday).

 

But where do all these Thai Citizens deposit their money ? Some of them are real rich. Dont tell me they do not have cash in the banks - how could the banks survive depending only on accounts with under 1 Mio in it.

Edited October 20, 2018 by moogradod

[marcusarelus]

48 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

As secure as a ladyboy's bottom.

Always going to be there.  Sometime works hard sometimes not so hard.  Ya I can see that.

[simoh1490]

29 minutes ago, moogradod said:

I do not hope you are right. Would never stay in a house and then leave the premises unattended (example: holiday).

 

But where do all these Thai Citizens deposit their money ? Some of them are real rich. Dont tell me they do not have cash in the banks - how could the banks survive depending only on accounts with under 1 Mio in it.

Mutual funds, bank accounts, something like less than 3% of the population has deposits greater than 3 mill.

 

But Thai's don't hold onto cash like us dumb farangs, they buy stuff, land, property, stuff!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, trd said:

Banks don't just steal money out of accounts. That's laughable.

 

I can point you in the direction of a fair number of Thai bank clients who aren't laughing:

 

This was a prior thread on ThaiVisa that now seems to have been purged:

 

Quote

BANGKOK- July 5, 2012 [PDN]; At 3 p.m. the Crime Suppression Division, Mr. Phongsit Chaichatpornsuk, assistant manager of SCB bank, went to see Pol. Col. Prasopchok Prommul, Deputy Commissioner, to give information to the investigating officer.

The case involved a Ms. Uermboon Jansama, age 60, who notified the police to assist in investigating the fact that her deposited money in a SCB bank account, Praram 4 branch, had apparently lost more than 107 million THB in the last several years. She let the manager of this bank deposit money for her and had believed he took reliable care of her account. Mr. Phongsit said that after the incident occurred, the bank also worried about this matter and set up the committee to investigate and also ordered the manager to stop working.

After inspecting the manager’s account, it was discovered that this manager had more liabilities than assets from doing business. However, for the amount of lost money that the victim first claimed for 150 million THB, he confirmed that the victim informed the bank that she lost only 107 million THB.
But bank inspectors found that she was also cheated for 1 million THB, which the bank had already notified to police at the Klongtan police station.

 

And this:

 

 

And this:

 

Quote

 

Bank manager sued for fraudulent dealings
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Some 20 individuals yesterday filed a lawsuit against a former Government Savings Bank manager, accusing her of fraud and allegedly cheating them and many others out of Bt200 million.

Kankanit Sriwiset, a nurse who led the group, said former bank manager Uengkaew Samphao had convinced her to invest in a loan project that allegedly offered an interest of 10 per cent. She said that after she earned a profit as promised, Uengkaew then encouraged her to get her friends and relatives to invest in the scheme. However, the Crime Suppression Division police was not told if the investment was a legitimate one and also officially offered to other members of the public.

Kankanit said her friend and relatives alone gave Bt28.5 million to the manager, who also allegedly took money from her colleagues at the bank's branch in Kham Khuan Kaeo district in Yasothon. Uengkaew was later investigated for her dealings and suspended before eventually being sacked.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Bank-manager-sued-for-fraudulent-dealings-30238915.html

-- The Nation 2014-07-19

 

 

And this... I could go on... but you should be getting the idea by now:

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/service-smile-bank-officer-paid-gold-partying-customers-stolen-credit-cards/

 

 

Quote

 

A customer service agent at a Bang Kapi district bank was arrested last night after it was discovered he’d been stealing customers’ credit cards for one year.
 

Waranyu Ratisuthornkul, 33, a bank customer service agent was arrested at The Mall Ramkhamhaeng in Bang Kapi district last night after one credit card owner went to the police about expenses appearing on credit card statement, a card he’d assumed had been lost in the mail.
 

While it might be helpful for potential victims to be aware of which bank it was, authorities have withheld that information. Normally credit cards are meant to be sent directly to customers, but Waranyu found a way to get his hands on them first.

Authorities obtained a CCTV footage from a department store and arrested Waranyu during his shopping spree. Waranyu confessed that he had been stealing credit cards for one year and would swipe them for gold, unpaid bills and nightclubs, Sanook reported.

 

 

[simoh1490]

2012....

Edited October 20, 2018 by simoh1490

[marcusarelus]

Sure we can list bank fraud cases all over the world.  Bottom line is financial organizations like Moody's and Forbes rank Thai Banks very highly.  There will always be dishonest bankers see financial crisis google 2008 financial crisis.

 

Limit withdrawals to whatever number you are comfortable with and register for SMS and you only risk a few thousand baht.

 

The rest is just the typical anti Thai bs.

Edited October 20, 2018 by marcusarelus

[simoh1490]

Punch into your browsers....fraudulent bank tellers stories USA....happy reading!

[trd]

 

Do you honestly think that isolated incidents like this don't happen in every country of the world? That's a lot different to saying that there is something inherently wrong with the Thai Banking system because money is being stolen on a routine basis. That is just not the case.

[trd]

 

Why don't you report on the numerous cases I read about where people have had their cards skimmed at ATM machines and the money has been paid back to them by the bank. Are you one of those funny foreigners who thinks that everywhere but their own country is dodgy?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, trd said:

Why don't you report on the numerous cases I read about where people have had their cards skimmed at ATM machines and the money has been paid back to them by the bank. Are you one of those funny foreigners who thinks that everywhere but their own country is dodgy?

 

No, I just know that here, the number of people who have their accounts or cards compromised by fraud either by bank staff or just plain 3rd party criminals and DO NOT get paid back probably outnumbers those who do.

 

You'll note in all the articles I posted above, AFAIK, not one mention about any reimbursement having been made, or even anyone from the banks involved promising reimbursement to the victims.

 

BTW, the Thai government's untested deposit insurance scheme specifically does NOT cover criminal fraud by either bank staff or outside parties. It ONLY covers situations where the entire bank fails financially. So these kinds of victims are at the mercy of the banks involved and the Thai police -- which is really NOT where you want to be.

 

BTW, in my country, there are national laws and as a result policies by both VISA and MC as a result that very strongly limit any financial liability either a debit card or credit card holder has in the event of any kind of fraud. Thailand, not surprisingly, has no such laws to protect bank card customers from fraud liability, NONE!

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

56 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

The rest is just the typical anti Thai bs.

 

No, the rest is Thailand having a lack of meaningful banking consumer protection laws that are often found in developed countries, but simply don't exist here. Not to mention having a dubious law enforcement and courts system that typically isn't exactly responsive or easily accessed by farang victims.

 

[marcusarelus]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

No, the rest is Thailand having a lack of meaningful banking consumer protection laws that are often found in developed countries, but simply don't exist here. Not to mention having a dubious law enforcement and courts system that typically isn't exactly responsive or easily accessed by farang victims.

 

After the USA and UK financial crisis of 2008 you are bringing up banking protection laws and dubious law enforcement?  You have to be kidding me.  How much money did the banks in the USA and UK steal from taxpayers to fund their bad decisions? 

 

The scale of the support currently provided to UK banks has fallen from a peak of £955bn to £512bn, but the amount of cash currently borrowed by the government to support banks has risen by £7bn [to a total of £124bn] since December 2009.  NAO also concluded that costs would continue for years to come

Google Reality check: how much did the banking crisis cost taxpayers.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

After the USA and UK financial crisis of 2008 you are bringing up banking protection laws and dubious law enforcement?  You have to be kidding me.  How much money did the banks in the USA and UK steal from taxpayers to fund their bad decisions? 

 

 

You don't know what you're talking about re the U.S. and banking.

 

Yes, big U.S. financial entities engaged in fraud. But for the consumer banking customer who had their deposits within the legal limits in regular FDIC insured banks or similar credit unions, none of those people lost a dime. Because the U.S. FDIC did what it has always done without exception in its long history and honored its deposit insurance obligations.  That's the part relating to bank accounts.

 

As for U.S. debit and credit cards, both VISA and MC for U.S. issued bank card have "zero fraud liability" policies for their U.S. cardholders, because there's a longstanding federal law that very much limits any liability by the cardholder. And it's up to the banks to prove fraud if they suspect it, not the reverse as in Thailand, where the cardholder often has the burden of proof that they were not in the wrong.

 

And, needless to say, the Thai banks that issue VISA and MC cards, whether debit or credit, have no such "zero fraud liability" policy. Those are the facts, and you trying to muddy the field with the causes and circumstances of the Great Recession doesn't change those facts at the consumer level.

 

Thai bank customers and bank card holders would be LUCKY if they had anything close to the kind of card holder protections and national government deposit insurance systems as exist in the U.S.  Sadly, they don't.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[MyFriend You]

17 hours ago, Chivas said:

My view is that the main thai banks are "secure" as regards collapsing and deposit coverage applies but what doesnt apply is random amounts disappearing from accounts (invariably ATM theft) and the highly likely not interested response from the bank concerned

As such I would never keep more than 50,000 in any thai bank no matter what the circumstances. I certainly would never in a million years keep 800,000 in one for visa purposes either. You gotta be certified if you do that

I have had as much as 6,000,000 baht in my Bank Account for long term, even while I was out of country for months - I have never lost a single Baht in 18 years...........I think your post is moronic.

[simoh1490]

For those people who want to compare aspects of the US banking system to that of Thailand and find the latter lacking as a result, I say, get a life.......yes, the US has lots of great stuff and frequently that stuff is regarded as best in class, that doesn't mean that the Thai equivalents are not fit for purpose nor are they considered to be worse than many others in their class. If having the best possible consumer protection available on the planet is your objective then don't bank in Thailand, get your money and all your financial affairs based into the US. But please, for those of us who don't feel that's a must have, absolutely necessary aspect of our lives, don't try and deride any system that is less good than the one in the US, all that shows is that you have a very narrow view of life and we wonder what the heck you're doing here in the first place with views like that.

[Aussieroaming]

Keep the account open. It's getting increasingly onerous to open bank accounts, not just in Thailand but everywhere as governments tighten their grip on money laundering crime etc. If you have the account now then why go through the grief of providing documentation to re-establish as account further down the track.

[chicowoodduck]

13 hours ago, peterb17 said:

Gosh 

Do you have shares in the tin foil hat companies? 

What a load of nonsense 

 

Thai banks are safer that most - and just who exactly caused the world wide crash with toxic debt -oh the lovely Americans - God Bless Them 

I have a few shares, and that is why I never leave more than a few baht in my Thai bank account.....lol.....????????

[elgenon]

15 hours ago, peterb17 said:

Gosh 

Do you have shares in the tin foil hat companies? 

What a load of nonsense 

 

Thai banks are safer that most - and just who exactly caused the world wide crash with toxic debt -oh the lovely Americans - God Bless Them 

So you personally know of people who lost money from their bank accounts? This is what the post is about.

[marcusarelus]

13 minutes ago, elgenon said:

So you personally know of people who lost money from their bank accounts? This is what the post is about.

In Thailand or the West?  In the West every taxpayer has lost money in Thailand I don't think they have needed to rescue any banks lately. 

[simoh1490]

7 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

In Thailand or the West?  In the West every taxpayer has lost money in Thailand I don't think they have needed to rescue any banks lately. 

Hmm, be careful with that one! Whilst it's true there have been around 500 (yes, five hundred) bank failures in the US since the turn of the century the impact of them was minimal as a result of the FDIC.  

 

In Thailand however such things aren't known as failures, instead, they become a rebadging exercise. Such was the case of one major finance house whose offshore loans almost single-handedly caused the crash of '97, now known as a well-respected bank.

[melvinmelvin]

On 10/20/2018 at 3:25 AM, CharlieH said:

Roaming costs nothing if you dont use it to make calls./data. Leaving it on to receive sms etc costs nothing.

???

depends on the operator, I pay significant amounts for roaming

 

[marcusarelus]

10 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Hmm, be careful with that one! Whilst it's true there have been around 500 (yes, five hundred) bank failures in the US since the turn of the century the impact of them was minimal as a result of the FDIC.  

 

In Thailand however such things aren't known as failures, instead, they become a rebadging exercise. Such was the case of one major finance house whose offshore loans almost single-handedly caused the crash of '97, now known as a well-respected bank.

Minimal?  According to the report, entitled "Cost of the Crisis", the financial and economic crisis cost Americans $12.8 trillion.  I thought the crash of 97 was caused by floating the Baht. 

[simoh1490]

16 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Minimal?  According to the report, entitled "Cost of the Crisis", the financial and economic crisis cost Americans $12.8 trillion.  I thought the crash of 97 was caused by floating the Baht. 

Yes it was, or to put it more accurately, releasing the Dollar peg. But that meant that loans that had been issued based on USD doubled in value overnight and that made the debt unsustainable. That meant the company who took out the loan couldn't service it and the lender who had issued the loan went bust...mostly finance houses I might add. http://tcap.listedcompany.com/misc/presentation/Presentation07-01n.pdf

Edited October 21, 2018 by simoh1490

[johnnysunshine]

Secure banks is an oxymoron!    When the SHTF it will be a little late to consider!

[wildwildbill]

Wow, my post has mushroomed! Thanks for all the comments.

 

I will probably keep the account open, but with a minimum amount of money. I am a little wary of Thai banks after a friend had his ATM card cloned and someone emptied his month's salary just after he got paid. Instead of guaranteeing the money (like a UK bank would) the staff in the bank suggested his girlfriend might have withdrew the money and washed their hands of all responsibility. 

 

Personally, I have never had any problems with Thai banks (in terms of fraudulent withdraws at least) but curious to know other's experiences. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, wildwildbill said:

 I am a little wary of Thai banks after a friend had his ATM card cloned and someone emptied his month's salary just after he got paid. Instead of guaranteeing the money (like a UK bank would) the staff in the bank suggested his girlfriend might have withdrew the money and washed their hands of all responsibility.

 

The basic policy of Thai banks when it comes to bank card fraud is, the customer is responsible for ANY CHARGES that happen up until the moment you report a card lost or stolen or compromised to the bank. Meaning they'll lock or disable the card at that point. But you're typically on the hook for anything and all that occurs before that point.

 

A few years ago, I was on the BTS and someone lifted my wallet, which I discovered a few minutes later when I went to exit the BTS and found my pass (and wallet) were gone. In the approx one hour that it took me to get home and call my U.S. banks, the thief(s) had run up approx $1000 U.S. on one of my debit cards -- obviously without anyone checking IDs or signatures on my card when the thief was using it.

 

Because it was a U.S. debit card and because I had promptly reported the theft (meaning within 2 days of discovering it), after getting a copy of a police report, the entire $1000 was returned to my checking account by my card issuing bank, as per their customer "no fraud liability" policy for U.S. VISA and MC and the U.S. federal law that enforces that.

 

Had that stolen debit card been a Thai bank issued debit card, in all likelihood, as Wild Bill's friend experienced, the Thai bank would have told me sorry, your problem, and I would have been out the $1000.

 

That's the difference between a U.S. and a Thai bank card. And while the rules regarding bank accounts are different than those per se for bank cards, the same basic kinds of differences apply.  The story Wild Bill recounted above with his friend has been repeatedly endlessly here over the years with Thai banks. It often the case that their first and only response will be to blame the victim.

 

The only test of how to meaningfully measure the Thai banks when it comes to consumer protection is not to simply say I've lived her for X years and never had any problem. But instead, to ask, what happens to customers when they DO have a problem and become victims of fraud, and how are they treated by the Thai banks then. And in many cases, from my experience, it won't be a pretty picture. And the sad fact is, there are no Thai national laws that require the banks to do any better.

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[watcharacters]

On 10/20/2018 at 11:16 AM, Chivas said:

the highly likely not interested response from the bank concerned

 

Truer words were NEVER spoken!!

[watcharacters]

On 10/20/2018 at 1:59 PM, trd said:

On 10/20/2018 at 11:16 AM, Chivas said:

My view is that the main thai banks are "secure" as regards collapsing and deposit coverage applies but what doesnt apply is random amounts disappearing from accounts (invariably ATM theft) and the highly likely not interested response from the bank concerned
As such I would never keep more than 50,000 in any thai bank no matter what the circumstances. I certainly would never in a million years keep 800,000 in one for visa purposes either. You gotta be certified if you do that

You don't know what you're talking about.

 

You are totally wrong,  trd.