How can I get a Thai Credit card or do I need it?

[lopburi3]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Credit is repaid during interest free period.

Only if you did not pay more to use CC - which in Thailand has often been the case.  Obviously if using for business it can make sense even if paying more as clear receipts/path.  But for most homebodies not worth the month or so free interest at risk of paying more; and the interest hit if forget to pay on time.  As with most such things - it fits some better than others.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Only if you did not pay more to use CC - which in Thailand has often been the case.  Obviously if using for business it can make sense even if paying more as clear receipts/path.  But for most homebodies not worth the month or so free interest at risk of paying more; and the interest hit if forget to pay on time.  As with most such things - it fits some better than others.

I'd need to check but I think the yearly fee's are similar to my debit account.

Balance is zero'd during the 45 day interest free period.

Not keen to have a large amount of cash in my wallet.... cash is better kept offshore in high interest accounts and/or investments.

CC works for me, but agree may not for others.

[richard_smith237]

21 hours ago, FaltuMora said:

My next question is how do I get a Thai credit card?

Are you married ??

If so, does your Wife qualify for a Credit Card ??

 

IF so, by far the simplest solution is to become a second card holder on your Wife's credit card account.

 

(obviously, this may not be applicable to you if you are not married, but it may be useful to someone - I've been a second card holder on my Wife's credit cards for well over 10 years... the points have come in useful for flights & discounts etc).

[FaltuMora]

33 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Are you married ??

No, I am not. 

[FaltuMora]

11 hours ago, KhunLA said:

People paying monthly for unsecured credit is a banker's dream. 

I don't need to explain the benefits of using CC. I accumulate close to one thousand in cash back. I have more than 100+ cards with credit limits close to  a million US dollars. I have bought cars in the US using credit cards for cash back. I borrow 100K from various cards as cash advance at 3% for one year and invest the 100K USD to get at least 10K returns. There are lots of benefits using CC if one has substantial number of cards and can leverage bank's money and pay them off when due. 

[FaltuMora]

11 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

1.  AliExpress - do you even need?  I stopped using years ago when same items became available on Lazada at reasonable price (at first they were higher).

2.  Able to us US debit cards on Lazada.

3.  As pointed out above most Thai debit cards can be used if set up for such - credit cards much harder to obtain unless working here.

For Lazada I use cash because I prefer COD for Lazada. They are forced to hand me over the package instead of leaving the package in my condo's office. I did not see any COD for AliExpress. 

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, FaltuMora said:

I don't need to explain the benefits of using CC. I accumulate close to one thousand in cash back. I have more than 100+ cards with credit limits close to  a million US dollars. I have bought cars in the US using credit cards for cash back. I borrow 100K from various cards as cash advance at 3% for one year and invest the 100K USD to get at least 10K returns. There are lots of benefits using CC if one has substantial number of cards and can leverage bank's money and pay them off when due. 

Except for back up/emergency, that's what I used them for.  Bought a car to resell from GSA/DEA repo auction.  But drove it too much & liked it.  Dumb A$$ ... ended up giving it to GF, moving out of state, as she needed a dependable car.

 

Another time, a house, OK, fixer upper, but a little sweat equity, quick loan to pay off CC, and rented, then finally sold it.

[FaltuMora]

10 hours ago, riclag said:

I have a AAVANTAGE AVIATOR CARD

from Barclays usa !

No foreign transaction fees and i use it on AliExpress as well!

Ive accumulated enough mile points to fly round trip to the states from here several times over a 10 years span.

I keep a residential address in the states for this and other cards otherwise barclays would disqualify me for using the card

I will try to use it and see it it works or not. I have every USA bank's cards (more than 100 with close to one million USD in available credits), except CUs and local banks. 

[FaltuMora]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Credit cost additional money. Got enough cash.

It does not cost me anything. In fact, I get at least $1,000 a year in cash back. 10K USD for investment at 3% interest and also sometimes I sell tradelines that net me a few thousand USD in a year. If you know how to use credit cards, have 100+ credit cards and close to one million USD in available credit, you can make some good money for free. 

[THEN]

I guess it depends if you travel outside Thailand a lot or not?
I use a cc from Kasikorn because I travel a lot, I know it comes with a cost of 2-3% which annoys me, but the past 2 years of usage was 185k miles to my ThaiAirways account = our next trip to EU on business will cost us ECO ticket price.

 

I was annoyed by the 2-3% but if a person travels a lot (lots of flights and hotels outside of Thailand) then it makes sense if you also remember to use the points earned at the end of the day.

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, FaltuMora said:

have 100+ credit cards and close to one million USD in available credit,

 

1 hour ago, FaltuMora said:

more than 100 with close to one million USD in available credits

 

1 hour ago, FaltuMora said:

more than 100+ cards with credit limits close to  a million US dollars.

Guess you might actually believe it if repeated enough?  ????

[gamb00ler]

7 hours ago, realfunster said:

What about the foreign exchange rate your CCs offer on these transactions.. 

You can check for yourself.  MasterCard and Visa both set their exchange rate each business day early in the morning in Thai time zone.  Their rates are published on publicly accessible web pages.  I only have checked the Visa/MasterCard rates for the US$/TH.  Their rates are normally within 10 satang per $ of the Thai bank's rates.

 

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html?amount=1000&fee=0.0&utcConvertedDate=&exchangedate=01%2F03%2F2022&fromCurr=USD&toCurr=THB&submitButton=

 

[NE1]

I have a 100,000 baht secured CC from BKK bank.

As I don't travel anymore I decided to close the account or at least reduce the amount secured.

I went in to our local BKK bank , 25 klms away last Thirsday 3rd. 

I asked if I could reduce the secured bit to 20,000 baht , no problem .

Copy Bank Book , Passport main and visa page , signed 7 individual forms / photo copies .

It will take 10 working days.

Yesterday Monday 7th. Wife gets a phone call , " cannot reduce secured amount to 20.000 baht".

Okay will close the account , " you will have to come in to the branch to sign some forms ".

Another 50 klm round trip.

Arrive at the bank and one of the tellers was asked to deal with it.

Copy Passport and Visa page ,copy Bank Book , she telephoned BKK bank in I presume Bangkok and a English speaking lady , wanted to know my name , date of birth and the last time I used the card.

Sit down for 30 mins and meet the original lady from last week.

Copies Passport and Visa page and Bank Book .

Sign another 5 pages docs and copies.

When will this be cleared I ask , " 10 working days " okay . when it clears can I transfer the 100,000 baht into my other account .

"No , you have to come in and collect the money and then you can put it into your other account yourself".

So 3 x 50 klm round trip just to close an account.

What happened to computerization ?

 

[FaltuMora]

6 hours ago, NE1 said:

What happened to computerization ?

Thai banking is still in a primitive age. At least one can do everything through emails and phone calls for Indian banking system.

[FaltuMora]

21 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Guess you might actually believe it if repeated enough?  ????

Want to see proof? I wanted to emphasize it for people not to post unsolicited advise about the evil of using credit cards. I generate 15K USD/year using credit cards only using cash back, borrowed investment and selling tradelines. That is 50% of many people's pension in Thailand. 

[FaltuMora]

On 8/7/2023 at 12:37 AM, KhunLA said:

Why would anyone need a Thai CC, or any CC for that matter.  I haven't had one for over 30 yrs.

 

People paying monthly for unsecured credit is a banker's dream.   If it doesn't appreciate, you should be paying cash.  If you can't pay cash, you can't afford to buy it.

 

Economics 101 ... you don't borrow money to buy crap that depreciates.

 

Debit card fills the need for any CC, or has in the past 30+ years.  CC is only good for emergencies, if you don't have an oops fund.

Old school thoughts. Do you know you can leverage CCs to earn money? I generate 15K USD per year using my 100+ cards. 

[KhunLA]

9 minutes ago, FaltuMora said:

Old school thoughts. Do you know you can leverage CCs to earn money? I generate 15K USD per year using my 100+ cards. 

Way too much hassle for me ... 

... how much ?

... here you go, thank you

 

If I wanted more money, I'd start trading again, or ride around and peek at land to buy while riding around taken photos of birds & critters.

 

Already posted about, I've used CC (other people's money) for investing in the past.

 

I'm retired, and no need to generate more money than I can spend.

 

[ericthai]

On 8/6/2023 at 8:37 PM, KhunLA said:

Why would anyone need a Thai CC, or any CC for that matter.  I haven't had one for over 30 yrs.

 

People paying monthly for unsecured credit is a banker's dream.   If it doesn't appreciate, you should be paying cash.  If you can't pay cash, you can't afford to buy it.

 

Economics 101 ... you don't borrow money to buy crap that depreciates.

 

Debit card fills the need for any CC, or has in the past 30+ years.  CC is only good for emergencies, if you don't have an oops fund.

I use a credit card all the time. I pay it off monthly so no fees and I get cash back. I also have protection against fraud with my credit card. Using a debit card online is risky if it get compromised.

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, ericthai said:

I use a credit card all the time. I pay it off monthly so no fees and I get cash back. I also have protection against fraud with my credit card. Using a debit card online is risky if it get compromised.

Use cash for 99.99% of purchases.  Debit cardm only comes out to use ATM to access USA account (no fees).  Really can't remember last time I used it for anything else.

 

 

[FritsSikkink]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:55 PM, FaltuMora said:

I don't need to explain the benefits of using CC. I accumulate close to one thousand in cash back. I have more than 100+ cards with credit limits close to  a million US dollars. I have bought cars in the US using credit cards for cash back. I borrow 100K from various cards as cash advance at 3% for one year and invest the 100K USD to get at least 10K returns. There are lots of benefits using CC if one has substantial number of cards and can leverage bank's money and pay them off when due. 

3% a year for a credit card? Wonder how they can afford those big offices.