Credit Card

[Robin]

What is the best  Card for general use in Thailand.  I have been using my UK MasterCard, mainly for on-line purchased of air tickets to UK, but I am now told my card has been hacked and suspicious transactions showing.  Mastercard has blocked my car and want o send new card to my UK address.  Not a lot of use as I am trapped in Thailand by Covid restrictions.  I am thinking that I should get a local Card, but which one is best.  I have Card from my Kasikorn bank account but more or less useless.  Very low transaction limit and won't work on-line.  Kasikorn will not improve on this and appear to regard and credit card user as a potential criminal, not to be trusted to spend any money..  My account always has >1Milion Baht, for retirement visa, but they will not even give me 100K transaction limit..  Are there any other banks that behave more sensibly?

I am now stuck;  can't travel to Bangkok or UK to et new card and can't get new card unless I am in UK.

In more sensible times I would ravel to Bangkok and buy ticket from airline or travel agent with cash, go to UK and sort all this out, but logically I need to finish with UK cards and get local issue, but which bank is best?

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Banking

[jaideedave]

If you have a Paypal account you may be able to get a Mastercard pre paid..check it out.

 

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, jaideedave said:

If you have a Paypal account you may be able to get a Mastercard pre paid..check it out.

 

Similar can be done with Wise ( transferwise).

[CharlieH]

OP, are you not aware of the "virtual" card available to you via Kasikorn ? Set your own limit on that transaction, switch on and off, perfect for online use.Money taken from savings your account, no interest etc and spend equal to balance.

 

https://kasikornbank.com/en/personal/Debit-Card/Pages/web-card.aspx

[phetphet]

Kasikorn virtual shopping card.

Or maybe open a separate bank account and only keep a certain amount of funds in there to cover use of a debit card. Bangkok Bank does a Debit card Mastercard.

[theoldgit]

I use the Kasikorn Virtual Card, but you need to be aware that some carriers specifically say that they cannot be used to purchase flight tickets, whilst others insist on sight of the card that was used to purchase the ticket at check-in.

 

Did your credit card provider know you were in Thailand, if not could the suspicious activity be its use here?

 

Most UK Credit Card providers will not send replacements cards here, do you have a friend or relative who could receive the replacement card and send it here?

 

A number of Thai banks will not issue credit cards to those with extensions based on retirement, but a number will if you lock up part of your funds on deposit as a guarantee for a credit limit.

 

Travelling to the UK simply to retrieve your card seems a bit cumbersome, but even in these difficult times, it's perfectly possible.  

[Robin]

Thanks for advice.   For some reason Mastercard have now re-instated my card with fraudulent transactions removed from statement.   Guess that this is at my own risk, which I will accept.  Hated the idea of being stuck in Thailand with no means of getting a ticket out in an emergency. I will have to arrange o have a new card sent to my UK address and then a friend pick it up and send to me via DHL or someway.  Normally, pre Covid, I would be visiting UK about now and no trouble getting new cards.

[Pootegg]

Sorry but when I first read the headline I thought hmm kidney doner card. But seriously worth talking with the UK bank to try and get a card sent to you .. other expats I know seem to have them sent over.. depends on the bank I suppose .  Because of the hassle with Credit cards in Thailand as effectively they are preloaded in most cases with your money.I stuck with the principles of a debit card which is also easier to obtain  and less hassle . In Thailand I decided not to be caught again so went pretty much the whole hog for  debit card types and got a visa card from CIMB and a MasterCard from Bangkok Bank and a Union Credit from Bangkok Bank as I was planning a trip to China before covid. I also have a debit card from Tisco which is not useful so avoid them . ( Standard chartered sold all their retail business to them a fee years ago so automatically issued ).

 Like you I wanted to make sure everything worked. My co-op bank in the UK debit card AND credit card works fine

 and First Direct  debut works ok in Thailand but sometimes I found I have to have my UK phone for the odd text verification .  Good luck 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Pootegg
Additional comment relevance

[scubascuba3]

On 8/3/2021 at 2:16 PM, Robin said:

Thanks for advice.   For some reason Mastercard have now re-instated my card with fraudulent transactions removed from statement.   Guess that this is at my own risk, which I will accept.  Hated the idea of being stuck in Thailand with no means of getting a ticket out in an emergency. I will have to arrange o have a new card sent to my UK address and then a friend pick it up and send to me via DHL or someway.  Normally, pre Covid, I would be visiting UK about now and no trouble getting new cards.

Just get someone to photograph the front and back of the new card and email/message you, that's what I do, fine for online purchases. Ask them to scratch off the 3 digit security number for extra security, it can be posted to you then if required, personally I don't bother

[natway09]

Try KTC

[kingstonkid]

Canadian banks send the cards directly tome here.  for the renewal card they send it to my Cdn address and daughter sends it to me.

[scubascuba3]

On 8/2/2021 at 10:22 AM, CharlieH said:

OP, are you not aware of the "virtual" card available to you via Kasikorn ? Set your own limit on that transaction, switch on and off, perfect for online use.Money taken from savings your account, no interest etc and spend equal to balance.

 

https://kasikornbank.com/en/personal/Debit-Card/Pages/web-card.aspx

What's the protected password on every payment?

Edited August 4, 2021 by scubascuba3

[tweedledee2]

On 8/3/2021 at 2:16 AM, Robin said:

I will have to arrange o have a new card sent to my UK address and then a friend pick it up and send to me via DHL or someway. 

   If you only use a credit card for online purchases, you don't need to have the physical card mailed to Thailand. Have your friend email you a picture of each side of the card or for an expired card all you need is the new expiration date and the 3 digit number on the back. With this information, you can activate the new card online. This is what I have been doing over the 7+ years I've lived in Thailand. 

  I now see I'm not the only suggesting this. 

Edited August 4, 2021 by tweedledee2
added text

[rwill]

My SCB account I can set/change the limits for the debit card on line.   When I first got the card I had to go to a different link to get it to work for on line purchases.  They didn't tell me that at the branch, only when I called their number for customer service.

 

This one for SCB:  https://vbv.scb.co.th/debit/activate

 

Maybe call the 4 digit service number for your bank and ask them if they have something similar.

[treetops]

11 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

If you only use a credit card for online purchases, you don't need to have the physical card mailed to Thailand.

Some airlines may ask you to produce the credit used for an online purchase at check in, otherwise I agree.  I had a card "compromised" last year but used the numbers sent to me by a friend for 6 or 8 months before eventually getting the replacement card.

[earlinclaifornia]

Pretty pathetic of you to feel this way.

[earlinclaifornia]

posted on wrong source