Should I close my Thai bank accounts?

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Liquorice said:

I once tried to open an account with Krungsri bank. It was obvious they were giving me the run around.

I walked across the road to a Kasikorn branch, with Passport and Yellow Tabien Baan in hand, and they opened a Savings account without requesting anything else.

Years ago, clearly.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Isn't there a minimum balance required to be kept in a bank account at Krungsri or Kasiborn and if there are no transactions within a certain short period of time, it becomes a dormant bank account plus then you get charged monthly fees until all your money is wiped out?

As long as the account has activity there is no minimum balance to be maintained.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

be wary if it drops below 2,000 baht you will find that will disappear.

Not if there is activity on the account, however small. A couple of my accounts never have more than B900 in them, unless I need them to have for a specific transaction, and none of it ever "disappears".

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

I dont buy the banks being cost burdened by toursts abandoning accounts with a few hundred baht left insufficient to cover debit card fees.

You're right, what (of any significance) would there be for the banks to "be burdened with"?   If there isn't enough balance to cover the ATM card, the card is cancelled, there are no overdrafts on savings accounts here.

[retarius]

A personal opinion here. I would keep them open in the event that I needed them in the future. The only downside would be reporting the accounts to the IRS in your FBA in the event that the value of the balance is more than $10,000. The other downside is that things change here eg they stop enforcing the tax law, or more likely your home country where your credit/debit cards are issued stops accepting your home address because you live in Thailand. 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

In the direction authorities are going accounts will likely eventually linked to a record of visa or extension and as soon as that passes Alien held accounts will be frozen.

You have any evidence for that scaremongering nonsense?

[jerrymahoney]

8 hours ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

Since 2024, I have stopped bringing money directly into my Thai bank. Instead, I use my ATM and credit cards for all transactions, including 7/11.

Sure. No need for those bank accounts if all your money as above is non-traceable. Below the radar is the way to go.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Nemises said:

Clearly you are out of touch with technology by criticising the suggestion of using a phone for all debit card functions…………

Clearly, you are out of touch with the fact that not every transaction can be made by phone, as a substitution for cash, many businesses do not offer that facility yet.

[Liverpool Lou]

46 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

 Its exactly the same with banks, with their ridiculous procedures and rules for foreigners, often in the guise  of anti money laundering   measures, that real money launderers simply avoid whilst laughing at them, we are not allowed credit ok that's fair enough   yet to still claim we represent any form of threat simply for keeping money in a savings account is insulting to ones intelligence.

"...to still claim we represent any form of threat simply for keeping money in a savings account is insulting to ones intelligence".

Which banks have claimed that?

[Freddy42OZ]

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

If you have a debit card, annual card fees apply.

 

 

 

 

If annual card fees are what drives him into the poor house then he's got bigger problems.

[Toby1947]

Can't you make a decision yourself. Absolutely pathetic grow up 

[Nemises]

16 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Clearly, you are out of touch with the fact that not every transaction can be made by phone, as a substitution for cash, many businesses do not offer that facility yet.

Clearly, you do not know what you are talking about. 

[Patanawet]

Sorry to drag this thread off topic a tad but, SCB has now stopped the SCBEASY app for P.Cs.
So, now I have to do my banking using smart phone only -- not so easy with my fattening fingers.
Is there any other bank that is unlikely to follow suit with P.C. app. for internet banking?
I did go into my local Kasikorn branch and asked the door-person what the situation is --- she assured me that all will stay the same but I'm not 100% that she understood my question (my fault, not hers).

[Bday Prang]

17 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"...to still claim we represent any form of threat simply for keeping money in a savings account is insulting to ones intelligence".

Which banks have claimed that?

I don't know, I was responding to the member who commented as I have pasted below, he didn't specify which bank  

 

 

"Speaking with my bank manager as to why it's now so difficult, particularly for regular tourists, to open a bank account, he stated because they leave not allowing sufficient funds to cover card fees.
The banks will automatically close the account, but from their prospective are owed millions in unpaid charges."

[Liquorice]

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

If a customer was not here for a year or two and did not use their debit card the banks should be refunding the fee .

The card fees weren't collectable in the first instance.
It's not the bank's fault they weren't used.

[Raindancer]

4 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Per depositor, per bank, excluding certain account types.

 

https://www.dpa.or.th/site/index

But not in the case of the GSB.  They have railed against this and provide 100% limitless protection.

[Liquorice]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

Surely they could have sent £10 via Wise lol to cover the Debit Card annual fee !

Well, you'd think so, but some mothers do ave em.

[Mike Lister]

8 minutes ago, Raindancer said:

But not in the case of the GSB.  They have railed against this and provide 100% limitless protection.

Interesting that they would do that, presumably its a ploy to attract funds, the question is, who underwrites that policy? We know in the case of the other banks and the deposit protection scheme that all members pay a premium to the insurer which is underwritten by BOT. But who insures GSB funds, what's their policy on payout and who underwrites it? 

[Liquorice]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Years ago, clearly.

3 months ago, actually.

[Bday Prang]

21 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

The card fees weren't collectable in the first instance.
It's not the bank's fault they weren't used.

You are correct, but I have an irrational yet  intense dislike of banks 

[Liquorice]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

But the question is, which foreigners don't pay the hospital bills?

The tourists?

The people living in Thailand?

Both.

[Raindancer]

28 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Interesting that they would do that, presumably its a ploy to attract funds, the question is, who underwrites that policy? We know in the case of the other banks and the deposit protection scheme that all members pay a premium to the insurer which is underwritten by BOT. But who insures GSB funds, what's their policy on payout and who underwrites it? 

The purpose of my post was to inform others reading your statement and link,

 that this bank has different policies.

 

I do not really wish to get into the questions you now pose above.

[Moonlover]

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Ask their requirements.

 

I once tried to open an account with Krungsri bank. It was obvious they were giving me the run around.

I walked across the road to a Kasikorn branch, with Passport and Yellow Tabien Baan in hand, and they opened a Savings account without requesting anything else.

And I had exactly the opposite experience. Krungsri was the 3rd bank that I tried and I had an account within the hour. 10 years on and I'm still with them.

[Mike Lister]

3 minutes ago, Raindancer said:

The purpose of my post was to inform others reading your statement and link,

 that this bank has different policies.

 

I do not really wish to get into the questions you now pose above.

Fair enough,  I was just curious.  It looks like GSB has assets of 1.77 trillion which means they have deposits at a similar level and the MOF is the owner. The DPA guarantees payout within 30 days, my guess is that it would be very hard to liquidate 1.77 trill, of assets that quickly. I presume they are subject to the same Basel III rules as the other banks so the first 18% will be fairly liquid but after that, who knows.

[Bday Prang]

31 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

Both.

and are the amounts alleged to be outstanding, based on normal prices or the inflated prices that westerners are charged ?  I assume for dramatic shock horror headlines the inflated figures are used .  Which kind of puts a whole different spin on how much they have actually been left out of pocket.  if at all    

 

 

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

9 hours ago, Liquorice said:

If you have a debit card, annual card fees apply.

 

 

However you can cancel the debit card. SWMBO has accounts with 4 banks and no debt cards with any.

[LikeItHot]

Bank accounts not so easy to get.  If it was me I would keep it alive.  No one knows what policies will come down next. You may be glad to have options.  KTB insisted on opening a new account for me when I moved and told me to let the other die but I didn't. I use one for all my main banking and the other for my annual visa extension so the statement has only the most basic immigration deposit requirements and is only one.page long.  They don't need to know about how I spend all my money. 

[Kinok Farang]

I closed my Kasikorn account over extremely bad service.I regret it now.Keep it.

[AgMech Cowboy]

Sell it to the mafia.

[rwill]

10 hours ago, Liquorice said:

The banks will automatically close the account, but from their prospective are owed millions in unpaid charges.

I was looking at SCB's website yesterday and they had an article stating they made 54+billion baht in profit for 2023.