Foreign Currency Deposit accounts to hold foreign currency in Thai Bank - for 800,000 Baht requirement

[aussienam]

Hello, 

 

I recently received an informative message from a savvy Thai Visa (ASEANNOW) poster.  

 

I am retired and am currently on an NON-IMM O-A (multi entry).  Border runs are out and renewing my visa back in Australia is out too (both options extremely expensive and stressful with requirements to come back).  

 

I have been informed of a way to transfer money from my country to what is named a Foreign Currency Deposit (FCD) account, in several Thai Banks.  That way I can keep my money in my origin currency (AUD) without the lower exchange rate risks.  

 

There are some issues of course, such as one bank not providing a passbook for the account (the OP mentioned to me) - a problem with immigration requirements. 

 

I have queried with my bank (Krung Thai Bank) and they do issue a passbook, which therefore satisfied the immigration's need to view that.  KTB will also issue a letter accompanying the passbook per year to verify that the foreign currency amount in the passbook (in my case AUD) is equal to or more than the minimum 800,000 THB requirement to satisfy extension of stay.  

Downside is that, from reading the website information,  KTB charge a 1% deposit fee (that's 8,000 Baht for 800,000) and a 1% withdrawal fee.  Upside is that your money can be kept in a foreign currency savings or fixed term deposit account, that receives interest (albeit likely very little).  

 

Bangkok Bank appear to charge a 0.25% deposit fee, that would be 4 x times less than KTB fees.  But, Bangkok Bank have what seems to be stricter requirements to be applicable to open the account.  Not sure either if they offer interest earning account in FCD accounts.  

 

Usually, I would make the trip back to Australia and re-apply for the Non-Imm O-A there as I preferred having my money in certain better interest generating investments there.  I am adverse to transferring 800,000 THB equivalent from AUD via a FOREX into my Thai Bank, due to the high amount and the exchange rate risk.  I want to keep my money in AUD.  Some use agents to do all the visa management for them at 12-14,000 Baht per year.  The FCD account seems the best option long term.  

 

Does anyone use the FCD account setup for their 800,000 THB equivalent Visa requirement each year?  Any recommended banks that have low fees, issue passbooks and provide interest bearing FCD accounts as well as easy application process?  

 

Thanks.  

 

 

[yeahbutif]

When I had mine . putting the 800.000 in was no charge fee if don't but transfer From your Bank..but when you have to update book for immigration.you have to make a deposit . and the deposit has to be in your currency.. and a minimum deposit fee is charged .eg..I put £20 note in cost me £12 in fees.   Just to update book..

[Chris.B]

You are okay when the Thai Baht rate is falling but when it is rising you would have to watch your account everyday to check if it falls below the 800,000 baht requirement.

 

[aussienam]

7 hours ago, Chris.B said:

You are okay when the Thai Baht rate is falling but when it is rising you would have to watch your account everyday to check if it falls below the 800,000 baht requirement.

 

Good point.  I have watched the THB against the AUD for several years.  It generally ranges between 1 AUD = 20 to 25 THB.  That equates to $32,000 to $40,000 AUD.  So was planning to have a buffer amount.  

If exchange rate is favorably high for me then I'd convert to THB and keep it.  But right now I want to hold AUD.

[SooKee]

Will Immigration accept a foreign currency FD for an Extension?  I always assumed, and have never bothered to check, that 800K baht meant 800K IN baht, not another currency equivalent of?  

 

I've not had a foreign currency account here but did in Malaysia, it was only a holding account though, there was no way to withdraw from it directly without first transferring it to the local currency (Ringgit) account and, being a foreign currency exchange, you could only do that Mon-Fri, so you couldn't draw directly from the foreign currency account on a weekend.  Would that be acceptable by Immigration?  I thought the funds had to be instantly accessible.

[Mickeymaus]

I have FCD accounts at Krungsri and Bangkok Bank. If you are above the minimum balance there is no fee. At Krungsri you only get a plastic card. At Bangkok Bank a book. With both versions I never had problems at the immigration - but this can change. The last year I only used my Baht account with 800.000 for the Immigration. They are happy if you make it easier for them and have only 1 book. At Krungsri you can ask for an account statement since you don't have a book.

 

Withdrawal - just change directly to Thai Baht. You will get the better TT rate. At the Bangkok Bank I do this online. From my FCD account to my Thai Baht account there. Not sure if this works at Krungsri too. The withdrawal fee I would pay only if I withdraw in foreign currency. 

 

There is no deposit insurance for FCD accounts. 

 

Interest earnings - no problem for my USD and EUR. But sadly not at the moment... I still get a very small amount for my USD at the Bangkok Bank. 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Mickeymaus

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Will Immigration accept a foreign currency FD for an Extension?  I always assumed, and have never bothered to check, that 800K baht meant 800K IN baht, not another currency equivalent of?  

Most immigration offices will accept a foreign currency account.

The amount in the account must be equal to or greater than 800k baht using the exchange rate on the day the letter from bank is done. It is a special letter that mentions the exchange rate used to confirm the balance in baht.

29 minutes ago, SooKee said:

I've not had a foreign currency account here but did in Malaysia, it was only a holding account though, there was no way to withdraw from it directly without first transferring it to the local currency (Ringgit) account and, being a foreign currency exchange, you could only do that Mon-Fri, so you couldn't draw directly from the foreign

Accounts here are different from the one you mentioned. You would have to open an account here that allows withdrawals at any time.

[SooKee]

@ubonjoe  Interesting, thanks.  I might add that to the list of considerations given the baht is still slowly dropping, then convert it when it bottoms out or before it starts to rise again.  I'll give it some thought, might be adding another variable though, especially if there's a hefty fee for making a deposit.  

 

The account in in Malaysia was a standard GBP savings account, no different to other foreign currency accounts I've held in other countries, but it required Forex trading to be open as you could not draw from it into local currency directly.  I'll have to explore which, if any, of the foreign currency accounts at my Thai banks offer a way to withdraw direct in THB so they would qualify as instant access.

[Khabib]

15 minutes ago, SooKee said:

@ubonjoe  Interesting, thanks.  I might add that to the list of considerations given the baht is still slowly dropping, then convert it when it bottoms out or before it starts to rise again.  I'll give it some thought, might be adding another variable though, especially if there's a hefty fee for making a deposit.  

 

The account in in Malaysia was a standard GBP savings account, no different to other foreign currency accounts I've held in other countries, but it required Forex trading to be open as you could not draw from it into local currency directly.  I'll have to explore which, if any, of the foreign currency accounts at my Thai banks offer a way to withdraw direct in THB so they would qualify as instant access.

Krungsri allow withdrawal over the weekend with the fcd account. You get the weekend rate. But I was disappointed with them and closed that account. The thing is I had approx 4 million baht in the account, but they refused to open me a baht account, meaning I had to send the money to a different bank (Bangkok bank) to have money in local baht. The difficulty arose, when I said send to my bangkok bank account then, if you won't open baht account for me. They said no problem, but the exchange rate was less than their ATM outside was offering me. So I had to withdraw 100,000 pounds GBP from atm in cash, 2000 pounds at a time, (50 withdrawals). Obviously a lot of cash, mostly went in gold, which has since served me well.

[moana]

On 7/30/2021 at 6:09 PM, aussienam said:

KTB charge a 1% deposit fee (that's 8,000 Baht for 800,000) and a 1% withdrawal fee

Those fees are for CASH (paper notes) deposits and withdrawals. Wiring funds only incurs the incoming/outgoing wire fees (฿200 min/฿500 max for incoming). No other fees as long as you meet the account minimums.

 

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

Interest earnings - no problem for my USD and EUR. But sadly not at the moment... I still get a very small amount for my USD at the Bangkok Bank. 

Sounds like you're using an FCD Savings account. The interest rate is ridiculous (to the tune of 0.01% IIRC). Switch to an FCD Fixed account and it will still be ridiculous but much better (USD was 0.9% last year, and 0.6% this year at BBL, EUR is a big fat 0% of course, just be thankful you're not getting EU-style negative rates).

 

Re bank book woes - I'm using an account that doesn't have a bank book and had no problems applying for extensions with it. The bank is able to issue the usual immigration certificate of funds, and that along with a current account statement seems to be enough for my immigration office.

 

Btw, whenever I suspect the exchange rate won't be high enough to meet the minimum required at the time of application I simply use another THB savings account to make sure I will meet the requirement with both accounts combined, and proceed to submit documents for both accounts. One particularly bad year I was only ~400 baht over the minimum using both accounts ???? - the IO did not appreciate that but still stamped it through.

[SooKee]

1 hour ago, Khabib said:

Krungsri allow withdrawal over the weekend with the fcd account. You get the weekend rate. But I was disappointed with them and closed that account. The thing is I had approx 4 million baht in the account, but they refused to open me a baht account, meaning I had to send the money to a different bank (Bangkok bank) to have money in local baht. The difficulty arose, when I said send to my bangkok bank account then, if you won't open baht account for me. They said no problem, but the exchange rate was less than their ATM outside was offering me. So I had to withdraw 100,000 pounds GBP from atm in cash, 2000 pounds at a time, (50 withdrawals). Obviously a lot of cash, mostly went in gold, which has since served me well.

Yeah that would annoy me too.  The hassle you have to go through to open a new account at a branch is bad enough, I really can't understand what the problem is in opening a different account type when a person already has an account with the branch though, just TIT stupidity to the max.

 

Think I'll stick stick to the Mee Tae Dai account IF I can open one, the less admin hassle the better.

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by SooKee

[aussienam]

1 hour ago, moana said:

Those fees are for CASH (paper notes) deposits and withdrawals. Wiring funds only incurs the incoming/outgoing wire fees (฿200 min/฿500 max for incoming). No other fees as long as you meet the account minimums.

 

Sounds like you're using an FCD Savings account. The interest rate is ridiculous (to the tune of 0.01% IIRC). Switch to an FCD Fixed account and it will still be ridiculous but much better (USD was 0.9% last year, and 0.6% this year at BBL, EUR is a big fat 0% of course, just be thankful you're not getting EU-style negative rates).

 

Re bank book woes - I'm using an account that doesn't have a bank book and had no problems applying for extensions with it. The bank is able to issue the usual immigration certificate of funds, and that along with a current account statement seems to be enough for my immigration office.

 

Btw, whenever I suspect the exchange rate won't be high enough to meet the minimum required at the time of application I simply use another THB savings account to make sure I will meet the requirement with both accounts combined, and proceed to submit documents for both accounts. One particularly bad year I was only ~400 baht over the minimum using both accounts ???? - the IO did not appreciate that but still stamped it through.

Great info. Thanks for clarifying the deposit fee issue with KTB.  

[aussienam]

1 hour ago, moana said:

Btw, whenever I suspect the exchange rate won't be high enough to meet the minimum required at the time of application I simply use another THB savings account to make sure I will meet the requirement with both accounts combined, and proceed to submit documents for both accounts. One particularly bad year I was only ~400 baht over the minimum using both accounts ???? - the IO did not appreciate that but still stamped it through.

 

19 hours ago, Chris.B said:

You are okay when the Thai Baht rate is falling but when it is rising you would have to watch your account everyday to check if it falls below the 800,000 baht requirement.

 

I am assuming from moana's   experience, that immigration don't backtrack the year's exchange rate fluctuations to see if at any time the FCD account deposit fell below the 800,000 THB amount?

 

I am assuming (?) they are only interested in the exchange rate given for the date specified on the letter provided by the bank, that you submit with your renewal application?

 

Otherwise the bank would need to provide information in the letter to certify that at no point in the two months preceeding and three months after visa renewal, did the FCD account foreign currency amount, fall below the 800,000 THB exchange rate.

The bank would have to spend time checking historical daily exchange rate data over the specified periods.  

 

Can this be clarified?

Edited August 1, 2021 by aussienam

[oldcpu]

I have foreign currency accounts at Bangkok Bank and Krungsri. 

 

Neither give interest on Euro accounts. 

 

Bangkok Bank does not give interest on Canadian $ accounts.

 

Bangkok Bank did give interest on US$ accounts, but I have not checked recently (as now adays the situation is very dynamic). 

 

My guess < not certain > is that Bangkok Bank only give interest on Thai Baht or US$.

 

In any case, the interest amount is trivial.

 

However for my retirement visa, I maintain 800K Thai baht in a fixed account, and don't mess with foreign currency trading/gambling with it comes to my 'permission to stay' financial requirements.