Bangkok Bank - Unbelievable!

[popshirt]

Huh! Not only in Thailand.......I've been trying for over six weeks to "unlock" the internet banking transfer section of my account at the huge Bank of America in the US. I have a hefty balance there also. I don't know how many emails and telephone calls I have made at this point trying to correct the problem. And I have been a customer there for almost 40 years.

I am also a customer at Citibank. When I visited their offices here in Sathorn I found out that while they hoist the Citibank sign and logo on the outside of the building, they are really not part of the Citibank network except in a very vague way. They accounted for their "independence" by blaming Thai law and the Bank of Thailand regulations.

I am exploring the ING banking system which several expats living here have said is very good. At least they have the internet part of it up to standard. But this doesn't solve the problem of immigration wanting to see regular deposits in a Thai bank account when retirement visas are up for renewal.

I try not to think too much.

[Florin]

The only plausible explanation I can think of is that with no money in the account, whatever 100 Baht/year maintenance fee they have must have been left unpaid and thus I might have been stuck with essentially a "-" balance...but if this was the case, can't they call, e-mail, send a <deleted> letter?? And why withhold the ENTIRE amount I had just deposited?

This was the case after all...I still don't understand how a much inferior bank like Ayudhya can just SUBTRACT the tax from the latest deposit and these guys couldn't...ah well, all's well that ends well (even if it does end with a delayed departure, time & money wasted )

[Flow]

Well monty, it seems you hit it right on the head...I still don't have an official explanation (after going to the Mall Ramkhamhaeng branch today) and I guess I have no choice but to wait until Monday - and take my business elsewhere.

This is an extremely messed up policy...putting unused accounts on hold I understand, but allowing deposits which then just sit there is WRONG.

Wise decision. I was a customer of theirs for years. They pissed me off. Now, I am with Kasikorn. So far so good.

[jbowman1993]

Deposits done by atm usually take a day to process, in my experience.

[blizzard]

god bless the op.

becoz of this thread i tried again to get a thai bank account wo work permit.

i got one...........lol.

[MartinBKK]

I have been a customer with Bangkok Bank for 2 years and had numerous problems. Setting up or cancelling a simple standing order can take the whole afternoon sometimes.

I would never keep a large amount of money in a Thai bank - i have seen how things operate here and it's like Europe more than 50 years ago.

[Carmine6]

My experience in the states was that anything I deposited in night deposit (for our business, used seldom) or at an ATM, which I RARELY did, was held AT LEAST one day for clearance. Their policy was that the time was necessary to verify the tranaction amount in cash and/or the lockbox processing of checks in the deposit.

I have a business here in CM and wouldn't DREAM of depositing cash in a machine, just too paranoid, the nightmare scenario of a lengthy, futile discussion at the bank seems so vivid, since I've lived a variety of similar scenarios with government and banking paperwork already.

I always thought they would wait to check what you had really deposited?

Exactly my point.

I have to agree with this. A deposit to a low activity zero balance account that's immediately transfered out is very suspicious. There'd be nothing to stop someone from depositing an empty envelope and then transferring the "funds" somewhere else.

[Florin]

Guys, this was NOT one of those "envelope drop-off" deposits...it was a cash deposit machine, which counted my bills, told me the (correct) total amount and gave me a bill for that amount! This is normally an instant procedure...

[cosmont]

Beware of Thai Bank Accounts.

Many farangs open savings accounts with a passbook and an ATM card, yet are unaware that these accounts attract an annual fee of approximately 100-300 baht. These accounts can be 'frozen' if there is no account activity in 90 days and if a balance of less than 500/1000 baht is dormant for 90 days plus, then this balance is seized by the bank and the account closed.

Also, and reports on this forum will show. ATM cards can be issued to 'bent' bank employees and the account emptied of all funds. Some farangs have lost their 'life savings' in such scams.

Advice to all:

By all means hold a Thai bank account, but ensure that no ATM card is issued on the account, avoid Krung Thai Bank (No interest paid to farangs) and hold only what you can afford to lose.

Correct and it is applicable to the limited company as well.

My company opened a current and saving account at BBL head office under company name.

We made a deposit of 1.000B on the saving account and did not use it for few months.

Without informed us (mail or phone call), coz the account was inactive, they started to debit fees and blocked the account (even we had an active current account) then it was impossible to print balance on the book bank at machine.

When the balance was less than 200B, they sent a mail to inform us that they will debit 50B every months and requested to credit the account.

What a hel_l !

So, after nearly one year, the SAVING account gone to 0 and was closed.

Saving account should give interest... actually, we gave 1.000B to BBL, that's all

[The Skipper]

Bangkok Bank, Sukhumvit-Soi 10 has a bunch of rotten people working in there.

Lazy and good for nothing. The worst customer service in the entire Country.

I even called the head office to file a complaint...never returned my call....

HSBC get my business now.

[cosmont]

Bangkok Bank, Sukhumvit-Soi 10 has a bunch of rotten people working in there.

Lazy and good for nothing. The worst customer service in the entire Country.

I even called the head office to file a complaint...never returned my call....

HSBC get my business now.

Dear Skipper,

My staff contacted HSBC few months ago, They requested 2 millions Baht deposit on Current account for open account with them...

[IMA_FARANG]

I honestly am not generally the type to go nuts when receiving bad service and my experience with Bangkok Bank so far has been excellent, which is why this recent turn of events is extremely annoying.

I have a simple savings account with them, which for the past 3-4 months has not been used (and didn't have any money in it)...since last evening my regular bank's cash deposit machine was out of order, I decided to go to the nearest other one, which happened to be Bangkok Bank's Ramkhamhaeng branch. I deposited the money at their machine, got a receipt confirming that, so far so good...I then wanted to immediately transfer the money to my regular account (at Kasikorn Bank). Using the adjacent Bangkok Bank ATM yielded a failed transfer...I then checked the balance, which showed the correct amount of money in the Ledger Balance field, but showed precisely 0 in the Available Balance field. This has never happened before, normally if I deposit money using the machine (including previous experience with this particular Bangkok Bank branch), the money is immediately accesible, no matter at what hour of day or night the cash was deposited.

I called Customer Support and received confirmation that the deposit transaction did take place, but that the bank had put my account "on hold"...the operator could/would not tell me why, just that I need to contact the branch at which I opened the account (the same Huamark branch) on Monday. This is no good, I NEED that money in an accesible account tomorrow...why did the bloody machine take it in the first place?? If my account was on hold, it should have just denied the transaction...I'm very puzzled and very pissed off by this turn of events and will go in the morning to their Mall Ramkhamhaeng branch, which is open, hopefully to get some sense out of these people.

The only plausible explanation I can think of is that with no money in the account, whatever 100 Baht/year maintenance fee they have must have been left unpaid and thus I might have been stuck with essentially a "-" balance...but if this was the case, can't they call, e-mail, send a <deleted> letter?? And why withhold the ENTIRE amount I had just deposited?

You've been "red-flagged" due to an unusual transfer and you're desire to transfer the money immediately from one bank to another. You may not agree with the acessment but look at it from BBKs viewpoint:

1. Your account has been inactive for some time.

2. Suddenly a deposit is made to your account.

3. You immeaditely attempt to transfer that money to another bank.

The alarm bells go off and it says SCAM to the security program.

You will have to try to resolve this, hopefully at your BBK branch (but it might take going to the main BKK bank headquarters). Have all the details and the ATM reciept with you. Take your passport or verifiable I.D. Be patient, and explain carefully what happened. Good luck.

It's just that there is a lot of bank scam/fraud in Thailand. Do you expect BBK to happily cover the costs of the money they lose on that sort of thing? They are a business run for profit, not a charity.

Sorry, but try to remember TITS (This is Thailand, Stupid).

[Gary A]

I use Siam Commercial and have been satisfied with them. I had some dealings with a farang friend of mine and tried to deposit money in his Siam Commercial account. The deposit was refused for some reason. I told him and went to the bank with him. His account had been inactive for quite some time and had been closed. Apparently he had very little money in the account and told me that it had not been used for quite some time. He wasn't upset at all so I doubt there was much money in the account.

I have used a number of different Thai banks and I think the best one was Krung Thai. The only one I had problems with was Thai Farmers, now Kasikorn. I changed to Siam because of their branch locations.

[The Skipper]

Bangkok Bank, Sukhumvit-Soi 10 has a bunch of rotten people working in there.

Lazy and good for nothing. The worst customer service in the entire Country.

I even called the head office to file a complaint...never returned my call....

HSBC get my business now.

Dear Skipper,

My staff contacted HSBC few months ago, They requested 2 millions Baht deposit on Current account for open account with them...

HSBC may have raised the minimums...not sure. I got in for less..keep my retirement VISA funds there.

I get the impression, the staff at Bangkok Bank feels they are doing me a favor when I need some service beyond a general deposit.

I needed the wire transfer service occasionally... O geez....not again was the message...grudginly, casually doing the paperwork..... when finished it is always a mystery.....never a "thank you" or "you can go now" or "we are done"...they just let you sit there...........................................then I ask..can I leave?......are we done?..... then maybe a grunt or a wave off..

I can't imagine them treating a Thai customer that way. Racist I think.