Where to park the 800,000 THB?

[Expat68]

17 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Bank statement will suffice.

Don't count on it, each immigration office is different, every year they go through mine thoroughly 

Edited January 6 by Expat68
Mistake

[marcho]

14 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Please do not give advice unless you know for sure what you are talking about. I’ve been going my extension every year for the past 15 years using my locked FD.

Me too, and the rate is not too bad at the moment with Bangkok Bank.

[Russ McD]

I park mine in a Krungsri Mai Te Dai account... OK, only 0.9% interest, which is taxed, but it comes with a bank book, and because every month there is an automated Interest entry, Chiang Mai Immigration don't need a statement, just the book, & a letter confirming current balance when I apply for the extension.

You can withdraw at any time, so if the proverbial hit the fan for any reason (medical etc), you can use it and replenish later, which I guess is not true of a Fixed Bond.

Edited January 6 by Russ McD

[brianthainess]

1% after tax is about the best you'll get  in a Thai bank. TTBOMK

[Henryford]

I use the Krungsri Mai Tai Dee acoount. Only pays 0.9% but acceptable to immigration, you get a normal savings account with debit card and bank book etc. Used to be a good rate when it was 0.1% back home.

[quake]

Funny how so many posters , still think all immigration offices act in the same way.

with regards to paperwork and bank paperwork required.

Amazing Asean Now posters. 

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by quake

[Gweiloman]

The regulations state very clearly that you should have the required funds in your account, in Thailand, properly seasoned and all. Using an agent to subvert this might be working for now but why take such risks for the little extra money that you might earn from a slightly higher interest rate elsewhere?

 

 I can understand it for those folks who don’t have 800k to lock away in a FD but have sufficient income every month for their living expenses. But that’s living dangerously in my view. For those folks that have the money, surely the few extra thousand baht does not make a difference in your lifestyle. If there’s a crackdown (unlikely but not impossible), you might be expelled from Thailand at a moment’s notice. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

[J Branche]

If 800,000 baht is allowed to be kept in foreign fixed rate bank account You would need to monitor the Foreign Currency? To Baht conversion rate possibly dropping 1 or 2 percent

This is fixed deposit and if you are changing the amount The Months Immigration allows If you setup Baht currency alerts for when it rises or drops you can better transfer money at Higher Exchange rates and earn some interest while it is sitting in the Thai Bank.    To clarify you would have two or three months safety net money in your Thai account to live off until Hopefully the conversion rate is favorable.

[Brick Top]

The best place to put tge money us in a Krungsri Mai Thai Dee account it pays just 1%.

If you listen to the other posters in here that tell you to use a SCB EZ account then its bad advice.

The EZ account does pay 1.5%  , i used it 2 years ago and my Visa extension was not renewed and caused me to have to leave the country and enter again snd restart the process.

The reason being , the SCB EZ account does not come with a bank book which Immagration insisted on me giving them copys of . I went backward and forward to the bank and immigration several times but could not sort out this issue.  Also the with SCB EZ account , you can not get a printout of a combined 12 month bank statement . The statements are issued month by month so i had to print out 12 seperate monthly statement which  Imagration again rejected. 

[Yellowtail]

I have the Krunsri Mai Thai Dee account also. Not great, but better than a sharp stick...

 

If the 800K represents the bulk of one's savings, it's probably better to keep it in the home country bank and do the monthly transfer. 

[Brick Top]

21 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Bank statement will suffice.

Not for me it didnt , read my post   immigration insisted on seeing copys of every page of my bank book and my EZ savings account did not have a bankbook amongst other problems ie no yearly bank statement only monthly 

[Gweiloman]

23 minutes ago, Brick Top said:

Not for me it didnt , read my post   immigration insisted on seeing copys of every page of my bank book and my EZ savings account did not have a bankbook amongst other problems ie no yearly bank statement only monthly 

Which immigration office was this?

[thecyclist]

22 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Once you start exchanging currency the actual interest rate is of minimal concern. 

 

If you had transferred US$ for 800,000 baht 3 months ago, you would have effectively earned 6.2% in 3 months as that is how much the $US has dropped by since then

 

That ,of courses, can go the other way too.Currency markets, nowadays are very volatile. 

[prakhonchai nick]

Not involved with extensions, but it seems clear to me that if you can get a minimum 2..5% interest (which you can in the UK and somewhat more)  and have access to the money for the full 12 months then it is by far cheaper to use an agent or a corrupt IO to process your extension for a fee of 15/20,000baht

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, thecyclist said:

That ,of courses, can go the other way too.Currency markets, nowadays are very volatile. 

And it does, but I look at it as something of a hedge, and it's easy. 

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, prakhonchai nick said:

Not involved with extensions, but it seems clear to me that if you can get a minimum 2..5% interest (which you can in the UK and somewhat more)  and have access to the money for the full 12 months then it is by far cheaper to use an agent or a corrupt IO to process your extension for a fee of 15/20,000baht

Easy to get ~1 % here, so if you get 2.5% in the UK the net is 1.5% or 12,000 on 800K

 

 

 

 

[noobexpat]

I keep +1m baht in my account here for a bit of a living costs and any emergency medical needs. Not sure i even get interest at bangkok bank. I know they take 300b for the card i never use! (mobile ATM withdrawal).

 

Not on a retirement visa either.

'Lost' interest on this amount is of no interest - pun intended 

[baz 79]

My 800,000 thb is parked in FD at SCB., has been for two years now. Previously had to use the Savings account route which necessitated providing CW with a certificate/statement showing minimum 800,000 dated that day and supported by a passbook showing exactly the same amount, last transaction also dated that day. Familiar process for many retirees, involving adding and subtracting a small sum in order to align the two crucial documents. My question is this: you're not able to align the passbook and statement in the same way with FD accounts, unless I'm missing something, due to the complexities of tax and interest with FD. This had me bothered last Friday Jan 5 when I paid CW my annual visit. So, my statement, dated Jan 5, showed my FD savings up to Jan 4, last full working day. My passbook showed the same amount, last entry June 10. This process would not have been accepted with a Savings account. But CW accepted it, but it was then 6pm on a Friday. Can anybody tell me if I can now count on this format in future years, for though this tale is unforgivably anal and tedious, such details determine the health of our nervous systems in their annual joust with the mandarins of CW. Thanks.

[Yellowtail]

12 minutes ago, baz 79 said:

My 800,000 thb is parked in FD at SCB., has been for two years now. Previously had to use the Savings account route which necessitated providing CW with a certificate/statement showing minimum 800,000 dated that day and supported by a passbook showing exactly the same amount, last transaction also dated that day. Familiar process for many retirees, involving adding and subtracting a small sum in order to align the two crucial documents. My question is this: you're not able to align the passbook and statement in the same way with FD accounts, unless I'm missing something, due to the complexities of tax and interest with FD. This had me bothered last Friday Jan 5 when I paid CW my annual visit. So, my statement, dated Jan 5, showed my FD savings up to Jan 4, last full working day. My passbook showed the same amount, last entry June 10. This process would not have been accepted with a Savings account. But CW accepted it, but it was then 6pm on a Friday. Can anybody tell me if I can now count on this format in future years, for though this tale is unforgivably anal and tedious, such details determine the health of our nervous systems in their annual joust with the mandarins of CW. Thanks.

At CW, in the morning I just online transfer the previous year's interest from the Krunsri Mai Thai Dee account to another account, which rounds it down to 999,999.99. I then update the book, go in and request the letter, and take the book down to get to the copy shop for the copies. The letter is ready by the time I get back from the copy shop. Easy peasey and the "lucky" balance always gets a smile. 

[khunPer]

On 1/5/2024 at 8:43 AM, Hanaguma said:

Apologies if this is the upteenth time this question has come up....

 

What options pay the best return on the money that I need to deposit for an O visa for retirement? I accept that I will take a haircut on what I can get in the market or on GICs.  

Also, does my wife also have to make a deposit, or can she piggyback on mine? (we are both over 50, both non Thai).

Thanks all!

12 month fixed bank account, pays at the moment about 1.6 percent per annum. I cash the interest every year – after 15% withholding tax – and leaves a clean 800k baht in the account for extension of stay purpose.

[SpaceKadet]

On 1/5/2024 at 6:24 PM, Alldar said:

Well, I didn't ask at the branch. But it is stated on their website:

"The 7-Month, 10-Month and 14-Month Fixed Deposit Account are available for Thai individuals, corporates, government agencies.."

 

Only Thai individuals or companies.

Are you sure you're looking at the correct website.

I have only seen 6-month and 12-month (maybe 24) in the bank. They even have it displayed on the table with exchange rates.

[SpaceKadet]

On 1/5/2024 at 6:24 PM, Alldar said:

Well, I didn't ask at the branch. But it is stated on their website:

"The 7-Month, 10-Month and 14-Month Fixed Deposit Account are available for Thai individuals, corporates, government agencies.."

 

Only Thai individuals or companies.

The BLL webpage is as convoluted as any Thai webpage, so couldn't even find the fixed deposit page.

But here's BLL deposit rates.

DepositRates_7Dec2023.pdf

Look at number 9. Prakwan Bua Luang. 

Several of the people I know have parked the money in Bangkok Bank fixed deposit for the immigration extension purpose.

You also get a bankbook. Immigration is very happy and never gave me problems over it.

 

If you want fixed deposit at BLL, just go to your branch and tell them you want an FD.

[SpaceKadet]

5 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

The BLL webpage is as convoluted as any Thai webpage, so couldn't even find the fixed deposit page.

But here's BLL deposit rates.

DepositRates_7Dec2023.pdf 1.13 MB · 0 downloads

Look at number 9. Prakwan Bua Luang. 

Several of the people I know have parked the money in Bangkok Bank fixed deposit for the immigration extension purpose.

You also get a bankbook. Immigration is very happy and never gave me problems over it.

 

If you want fixed deposit at BLL, just go to your branch and tell them you want an FD.

Or call 1333. They are very helpful and have English line. 

[Paris333]

Check out if the accounts are cover with Deposit Insurance Scheme. In Europe not every bank account fixed or variable interest rates covered by Deposit Insurance Scheme because they invest your money in mutual founds or CDS (Credit Default Swap) or in ETF.In Thailand Deposit Insurance Scheme cover €26,000 -€27,000......I sincerely wish you a comfortable and nice stay in Thailand!

 

[OldAjahn]

There's a new option, interest bearing foreign currency deposit (FCD). Bangkok Bank (from last year) and SCB (just announced), I'm not sure of the other banks, offer 5 plus percent on US dollar deposits. Last year I used a US$ FCD deposited at BAY (non-interest) in lieu of my 800,000 baht, and CW accepted it, though the IO was not quite pleased with the extra work to calculate the FX. I haven't read the offering details yet, but it seems to me these new accounts should solve the opportunity cost problem. Only special point is the need to monitor the exchange rate and deposit extra dollars when the baht rises, to avoid being short the 800,000 or the 400,000.

[keithsimmonds]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:29 PM, Brick Top said:

The best place to put tge money us in a Krungsri Mai Thai Dee account it pays just 1%.

If you listen to the other posters in here that tell you to use a SCB EZ account then its bad advice.

The EZ account does pay 1.5%  , i used it 2 years ago and my Visa extension was not renewed and caused me to have to leave the country and enter again snd restart the process.

The reason being , the SCB EZ account does not come with a bank book which Immagration insisted on me giving them copys of . I went backward and forward to the bank and immigration several times but could not sort out this issue.  Also the with SCB EZ account , you can not get a printout of a combined 12 month bank statement . The statements are issued month by month so i had to print out 12 seperate monthly statement which  Imagration again rejected. 

Mine has been in the EZ account paying 1.5% interest with no tax deducted and i have used that account for my last 2 retirement extensions at Jomtien immigration and SCB print off a 1 year statement.

If you are the same Brick Top as in "Snatch"...then i could see a problem..and no ...i don't wont my "Jacobs" cut off.

Edited January 10 by keithsimmonds

[OldAjahn]

Sorry to report, the details of the 5.1% FCD deposit accounts at Bangkok Bank, SCB, and also BAY, are not listed on their websites. Needs a call. But did learn the main catch; for all three banks, the customer must be in the "exclusive" category, meaning total deposits of either 3 or 5 million baht and an application to that status. I think for the right investor, the details would be highly interesting to learn. For me, not so much.

[noobexpat]

I got about 2,500b interest at bangkok bank - what a nice surprise, thailand is wonderful 

 

Some withholding tax too, but i ignored that.

[gamb00ler]

On 1/5/2024 at 3:30 PM, lom said:

So what do you tell immigration when they ask for "copy of bankbook, show last 12 month" when oing the yearly extension of stay?

 

On 1/5/2024 at 3:42 PM, Gweiloman said:

Bank statement will suffice.

Same for me as it was for @Gweiloman... an official (stamped and initialed) bank statement covering the preceding 12 months was acceptable to CM Immigration for my retirement extension.

[gamb00ler]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:29 PM, Brick Top said:

The best place to put tge money us in a Krungsri Mai Thai Dee account it pays just 1%.

If you listen to the other posters in here that tell you to use a SCB EZ account then its bad advice.

The EZ account does pay 1.5%  , i used it 2 years ago and my Visa extension was not renewed and caused me to have to leave the country and enter again snd restart the process.

The reason being , the SCB EZ account does not come with a bank book which Immagration insisted on me giving them copys of . I went backward and forward to the bank and immigration several times but could not sort out this issue.  Also the with SCB EZ account , you can not get a printout of a combined 12 month bank statement . The statements are issued month by month so i had to print out 12 seperate monthly statement which  Imagration again rejected. 

My experience with SCB EZ account does not at all resemble your experience.

 

SCB gave me (for 1-200 ฿!) a statement covering all the months required for the retirement extension.  I do request a free monthly statement (via the phone app) as well but that's just for my own records.  CM Immigration gave me the extension but it did seem I waited longer than the others in the Imm. office that day.