mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Hi, I'd appreciate suggestions for online international brokers where my criteria are: - simple account opening process (do I need to show proof of official residency in Thailand? or will utility bills suffice?) - ease of funds transfer, ideally just a domestic transfer thus avoiding the hassle of transferring funds outside of Thailand - low account/brokerage fees Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaifish Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) Its called Transferwise. You need to open a bank account in your name unless you really really really trust someone. Transferwise fees are minimal compared to other options apart from cash. To open an account the rule varies from Bank to Bank location to location. Good luck with that. Having a Thai National help works wonders. Edited May 9, 2020 by Thaifish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Thanks. I'm familiar with Transferwise. So that is mean of bypassing Thai strict regulations on delivering funds overseas. My original question was: is there an internaitonal broker which I can transfer funds to domestically? Say, Bangkok bank (my account)->TMB (broker's domestic account - just as an example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaifish Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Errrmmm... You can transfer funds between banks easy within the Kingdom... You are saying Domestically... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Domestically as in Thailand-domestic, i.e. transfer from my Thai bank account to the broker's Thai bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcab Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 20 minutes ago, mike111 said: So that is mean of bypassing Thai strict regulations on delivering funds overseas. Please be careful where this discussion leads to. Discussion of legal companies such as TransferWise or Dee Money is encouraged, but please do not discuss anything which illegally bypasses Bank of Thailand regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 What's illegal here? I'm asking about transferring funds between two Thai bank accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topt Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 29 minutes ago, mike111 said: What's illegal here? I'm asking about transferring funds between two Thai bank accounts. So I don't understand what the issue is. I transfer from SCB to Kasikorn regularly. 1 hour ago, mike111 said: I'd appreciate suggestions for online international brokers where my criteria are: This is a very different question. By brokers do you mean to buy stocks/shares - since you mention low brokerage fees I am guessing that? There have been a couple of threads about local based brokers but no idea if they service international assets. if you are aware of Transferwise then you should know that they cannot send money out of Thailand. Dee Money can do that to a limited no. of countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) There are a number of Thai brokers that will facilitate international trading accounts; Asia Plus, I have used myself, in the past, reputable company who use J P Morgan as the international custodian ; ie pretty safe. But, there are others. As with all accounts of this type basic checks are required, passports, proof of address etc. Edited May 9, 2020 by wordchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 however, it should be noted that , if you are a Thai resident/national, these type of accounts cannot be used to transfer funds permanently outside of Thailand.. ie you are free to invest in overseas markets however when you want to take cash out of the account , then it must be remitted back into Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 The Bank of Thailand has created rules to prevent these brokerage accounts from being used as vehicles for Thais to take money out of country, without going through the correct channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) If you are a non national (or non PR ) then there are less restrictions. However the standard Know your client checks and Anti Money Laundering procedures will apply Edited May 9, 2020 by wordchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Just search International Equity trading with a Thai broker. start there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 However, despite what I said above, if you can get your capital outside of Thailand, then, in my opinion, for the long term, maybe better to do that first. move your funds to a neutral country, where you don’t reside, eg Singapore, Luxembourg: and then look for a broker there. Plenty of choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Thanks, I do prefer dealing with an international established broker than with a Thai one. What I'm trying to understand if any have a Thai bank account to which I transfer funds to top-up a brokerage investment account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 6 minutes ago, mike111 said: Thanks, I do prefer dealing with an international established broker than with a Thai one. What I'm trying to understand if any have a Thai bank account to which I transfer funds to top-up a brokerage investment account. Not as far as I am aware, unless it was a locally regulated broker, then this would run contrary to the Bank of Thailand current rules. However you can open an international investment account with a Thai broker and fund that account from local funds. You could even remit cash from that account to an overseas bank, assuming that you are a non Thai National. There are some good Thai brokers and some of them have tied up with high quality international brokers, as I mentioned above. However, from what you have said, my thinking is that you should first get your money out of Thailand, (to a less restrictive jurisdiction) and then after you have done that, start to think about brokerage services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike111 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Thanks. But if I open an investment account with an international broker doesn't the account "physically" reside overseas, e.g. US or Europe?. The funds transfer is just from my Thai account to the broker's Thai account (if it exists), but once the funds are with broker they just increase my investment account balance, as I understand. Isn't this so?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) 23 hours ago, mike111 said: Thanks. But if I open an investment account with an international broker doesn't the account "physically" reside overseas, e.g. US or Europe?. The funds transfer is just from my Thai account to the broker's Thai account (if it exists), but once the funds are with broker they just increase my investment account balance, as I understand. Isn't this so?. By international broker do you mean a Thai based broker that has Bank of Thailand (and Thailand’s SEC) permission to operate international share accounts for customers? If that is what you mean, then your understanding is correct, you invest Thai Baht with the broker who then invests internationally, according to your instructions. Your funds are then effectively held offshore via a global custodian eg Citi or J P Morgan However your (Thai) broker is still subject to Bank of Thailand (and SEC) regulation, including over your international investments. Because they originated via a Thai regulated broker. If you are non Thai, and your funds originated, by presumption, from outside Thailand, then you can instruct the broker (and custodian) to transfer the assets and have them held by a non-Thai broker, and so close off any jurisdiction that the Bank of Thailand ( SEC) might have over your assets. It is not a means of escaping international money laundering restrictions however. I still think, from what you have said, the easiest, and most straightforward thing to do is to move the funds to eg Singapore and then open a securities trading account there. If you went down that route then you would need to actually make the transfer out of country to ,say Singapore. I don’t think there is any way that you could directly link a Thai bank account with an offshore trading account of a non Thai broker. You basically have to instruct the transfer of funds outside Thailand yourself. Edited May 10, 2020 by wordchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordchild Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 i have had Thai brokerage accounts , myself, in the past, and have used them for mainly local but also international investing. I have also had (for many years) brokerage accounts in other jurisdictions eg Sing , HK. Some years ago i decided it was just not worth maintaining the Thai accounts , minimal benefits and some increased bureaucracy and risks (military coups etc) . So i transferred all the assets in those accounts out of Thailand. Now , even for local investing in Thailand, i use an offshore account and have closed my Thai accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand J Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) Open a US based international account with Charles Schwab. You can use your Thai phone number and address to manage the account. Thai driver license is acceptable as prove of address, they will do the free translation. That plus another form of prove of address, I am not sure what at this point. The account comes with a US bank account with Bank of NY Mellon, you can tranfer money into the brokerage account using BNY Mellon ABA number via Deemoney. Interactive brokers brokerage account comes with a UMB (United Missuori Bank) account which is not on Deemoney's list. Edited May 11, 2020 by Thailand J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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