Bangkok Bank no New Accounts

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/2/2022 at 5:35 PM, mtls2005 said:

On 1/2/2022 at 5:29 PM, JoseThailand said:

Sometimes they don't let you in?

Me personally? No.

 

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2020/12/24/expat-says-bank-denied-him-entry-due-to-covid-19/

Why didn't you highlight this rather relevant part of the old link that you appear to have posted just to have a dig at Krungsri?...

 

"The Bank of Ayudhya’s call center said that the company does not have any policy to bar foreigners from using its services.

“We don’t have any policy that discriminates against customers. It could have been a misunderstanding since he does not speak Thai,” the operator said, adding that the headquarters will look into the matter.

Zimenkov said he has not left Thailand since Dec. 2019. Since he does not speak Thai, the expat said it was possible that a miscommunication had transpired".

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

On 1/2/2022 at 11:18 PM, NanaSomchai said:

On 1/1/2022 at 9:03 AM, chuang said:

Show them the MONEY..

This. Experienced this from SCB in 2010 at a local branch in South Pattaya.

 

Me: I would like to open an account here.

SCB: No sorry sir, we don't open accounts to foreigners at this time.

Me: So you're saying I can't open an account and xfer 16 Million baht here?

SCB (her eyes wide opened, she blinked): Sorry? How much you said, sir?

Me (repeating very slowly on purpose): Sixteen million baht.

SCB: One moment sir.

 

She rushed to the back spoke with the branch manager on duty on time for a minute or two, every 15 seconds or so they kept glancing in my direction presumably to make sure I didn't leave their premises. 

 

30 minutes later my account was opened at that SCB branch.

 

4 days later the money was wired into that account.

So nothing to do with the money, then.  The account was opened for you without any transfer, never mind "B16m".  

[khunjeff]

On 1/3/2022 at 12:10 AM, Chris.B said:

Yes, but you haven't added in the charges using a credit card, why not? Foreign transaction charges and interest payments. So how does Wise charges look now?

 

Secondly, I doubt very much if there is any foreign debit card that will let you change money free of charge. Name one and I will check it?

 

Just checked Barclays....
https://www.barclays.co.uk/help/cards/using-cards/charges-abroad/

 

2.99% foreign transaction charge!  Whoaa! No mention of this either by yourself or @khunjeff

I didn't mention the Barclays transaction charge because I don't use their cards and know nothing about their fees or policies. But you knew that already.

 

There are plenty of US-issued debit and credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees, and several US debit cards that also refund all ATM fees. (Interest is irrelevant - it doesn't apply to debit cards at all, and only applies to credit cards if you choose to run a balance, which I don't.) 

 

As for your comment "I doubt very much if there is any foreign debit card that will let you change money free of charge", I'm not sure what you're referring to. Each time you use any foreign debit card in an ATM here, you're effectively changing money from the currency of the original account to THB. (In that respect, Visa and Mastercard run some of the largest money transfer systems in the world, far larger than Wise.) As noted elsewhere, Charles Schwab and Fidelity in the US both issue cards that allow you to do that "exchange" with no fees whatsoever, other than the approximately 0.33% markup over the midrate incorporated into the Visa exchange rate. (And no, Wise does not give the midrate either once fees have been accounted for.)

[TropicalGuy]

 

On 1/5/2022 at 7:35 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

He didn't say that a bank wouldn't want to know where the applicant lives, there are other ways to show that information that do not require a residence certificate from immigration.

Yellow House Book is one. Utility Bill another ( but never accepted unlike UK). Blue Book Possession ? Vehicle Reg Book (unacceptable).

[Chris.B]

2 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Charles Schwab and Fidelity in the US both issue cards that allow you to do that "exchange" with no fees whatsoever, other than the approximately 0.33% markup over the midrate incorporated into the Visa exchange rate. (And no, Wise does not give the midrate either once fees have been accounted for.)

Before you said they were free transfers, now you are admitting there is a 0.33% mark up!! ☹️

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Chris.B

[khunjeff]

On 1/5/2022 at 5:45 PM, Chris.B said:

Before you said they were free transfers, now you are admitting there is a 0.33% mark up!! ☹️

 

The transfer is free, in that there are no fees involved - unlike your Barclays example, which would charge 3.99% for the exchange and cost 220 baht in unreimbursed ATM fees, this one costs zero.

 

Visa makes a small amount of money by charging a slight premium over the midrate, as do all exchange services - that's how they make their money. There is NO transfer or exchange service that truly offers the midrate, unless they're doing so as some kind of courtesy to very large institutional customers. The closest you can get is exchanging USD100 notes at the green Super Rich headquarters across from Central World in Bangkok, where the spread is sometimes as low as three satang. But keeping large amounts of foreign cash is not very practical.

 

And to reiterate to those who constantly claim that Wise offers the midrate, it absolutely does not. It tells you what the midrate is for informational purposes (actually the rate they quote is often even higher than the published midrate), but you can't actually get that rate, and you can't even approach it due to the fees that are taken out. Those fees aren't unreasonable, but they do mean that the reference rate is not an accurate reflection of what ends up in your wallet. 

 

I could say that I'll give you a rate of 40 baht to the dollar but charge a 25% fee, or tell you that I offer 30 baht to the dollar with no fee. As long as the fees are proportional to the amount being transferred/exchanged (as they are with Wise), rather than fixed (as they are with SWIFT), those two offers are equivalent, and my incredible offer of 40:1 is meaningless.

 

Have a great day.

[pagallim]

I check rates on Wise regularly, and this afternoon this message appeared.    I've actually started a different thread with this information, though thought to add it here also.   Couuld possibly influence bank choices for some.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

...

Edited January 6, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/1/2022 at 7:22 PM, DrJoy said:

I can confirm - Kasikorn Bank Headquarters at Phaholyothin Road can open a savings a/c without a Work Permit.

 

What kind of status / visa / documentation did Kasikorn HQ require from you in order to open a new savings account?

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/2/2022 at 9:12 AM, Oracle2022 said:

As a rule of thumb......any foreigner married to a Thai should have a Yellow House Book, just to make life simpler and avoid headaches.  This means you are registered to live in the "marital" home and you have a permanent address in Thailand.

Re the Yellow Book, I know that works if you're the owner of a property... But does it also work, and if so how does it work, if you're only the renter of the home where you reside?

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:57 AM, lopburi3 said:

No longer an option - New York will return any ACH done in normal domestic format and that is all US banks use for personal accounts.  It must be in International Format for sending on to Thailand (which is done by US Government payment systems).

 

There's an alternate route/method that still works with having the BKKB NY branch serve as a routing agent for funds transfers from the U.S. to BKKB in Thailand.

 

Yes, the old ACH transfer method to BKKB NY no longer works because of the recent IAT requirement. But BKKB NY will still accept incoming domestic wire transfers from U.S. bank accounts and forward them onto the designated BKKB account in Thailand.

 

Some U.S. banks offer free or very low fee domestic wire transfers. So using those in conjunction with BKKB NY's transfer service to Thailand can be a very cost efficient means of moving money from the U.S. to Thailand.

 

[DrJoy]

29 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Re the Yellow Book, I know that works if you're the owner of a property... But does it also work, and if so how does it work, if you're only the renter of the home where you reside?

 

NO. The house owner and you must attend the amphur.

If the house owner signs for you , you will get YB

 

Docs required -

Original blue book of the house

Your PP photo page translated to Thai with certification from CW

 

There is no charge for the Yellow Book and you will get Pink ID card for foreigners as well.

 

[DrJoy]

51 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

What kind of status / visa / documentation did Kasikorn HQ require from you in order to open a new savings account?

 

HQ is aware abt the Retirement visa now. Your original PP with a Retirement visa in it, is all that is required.

 

All other visas require W.P.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

NO. The house owner and you must attend the amphur.

Thanks...Yes, that's what I vaguely recalled from past inquiries, given that the home where the Thai wife and I live is a rental.

 

I considered pursuing it, the wife and I discussed it, and in the end, decided against asking our landlord (with whom we're on very good terms) to trek down to local khet office in BKK and spend half a day doing the processing for this.

 

I've lived here more than a decade thus far, and the lack of a Yellow Book hasn't been a big impediment to anything that I can think of along the way.

 

[Chris.B]

1 hour ago, khunjeff said:

 

The transfer is free, in that there are no fees involved - unlike your Barclays example, which would charge 3.99% for the exchange and cost 220 baht in unreimbursed ATM fees, this one costs zero.

 

Mai bpen rai... 

 

Okay, you have convinced me. You are lucky to have two banks which provide foreign exchange and transfer services absolutely free! We have nothing similar in the UK so Wise is preferred. ????

 

[DrJoy]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thanks...Yes, that's what I vaguely recalled from past inquiries, given that the home where the Thai wife and I live is a rental.

 

I considered pursuing it, the wife and I discussed it, and in the end, decided against asking our landlord (with whom we're on very good terms) to trek down to local khet office in BKK and spend half a day doing the processing for this.

 

I've lived here more than a decade thus far, and the lack of a Yellow Book hasn't been a big impediment to anything that I can think of along the way.

 

Your Wife can get you a Yellow Book + Pink card, if she has her own house any where in Thailand.

 

Pink card benefits , what I experienced -

 

1. Can book EMS at Thailand post ( never gave them my PP)

2. Local fee for national parks and museums 

3. Can open bank account with YB + Pink card (no Immigration letter required)