Leaving money in Thai bank accounts while not living in Thailand

[garet]

Are their any rules/laws about leaving money in Thai bank accounts when leaving Thailand after work permit/visa expires?

 

I might be moving back home later this year, but I intend on coming to Thailand for a 1-3 months per year and I thought I'd leave 100k in my bank account here for when I come back?

 

Does anyone here do that? Are there any risks involved?

[Mike Lister]

That shouldn't be a problem but you might want to check what your banks rules are regarding dormancy and no transactions. 

[BlueScouse]

I have accounts with 3 banks.I was away from Thailand for over 2 years during covid. No problems when I returned, except one of the ATM cards had expired.

 

[impulse]

I left a wad of money in a K-Bank account the whole time I was a Covid refugee in the USA.  No problem.  Also occasionally used the K-Bank debit card in the USA to get cash and to buy stuff at retail.  No problems, until the date on the card expired.  After about 3 years' absence, came back to Thailand with my new passport and had the account info updated to reflect the new PP number and some KYC stuff for Uncle Sam.  No problems.  Then I got a new K-Bank debit card.  No problems.  Just to be clear, it was only a few thousand USD worth.

 

I would suggest moving a few bucks every couple of months.  Also, get a fresh debit card in case you don't make it back and/or need some activity.  And the newer it is, the longer it'll be valid.  You never know when Disease X will cripple international movement, like Covid did.

 

[scorecard]

45 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

That shouldn't be a problem but you might want to check what your banks rules are regarding dormancy and no transactions. 

 

Agree some Thai banks automatically charge an 'account maintenance fee' if there's no transactions.

 

And, as mentioned just above, debit / credit cards usually have an expiry date, which could produce card cancellations. 

Edited February 13 by scorecard

[NoDisplayName]

Do you have more than one account?  Best to have two accounts with online banking.  Then you can log on every couple of months and move some money from one account to the other to show activity.  Otherwise you could send $100 by Wise every few months.

[purplesage]

According to previous threads on this topic, maintaining a balance of 2,000 baht is enough to prevent closure of an account.

[scubascuba3]

No problem with leaving that amount of money in the account unless you give your ATM card to the girlfriend 

[Celsius]

8 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

That shouldn't be a problem but you might want to check what your banks rules are regarding dormancy and no transactions. 

 

he could just transfer 1000b to me every month. Free service I offer to expats

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, purplesage said:

According to previous threads on this topic, maintaining a balance of 2,000 baht is enough to prevent closure of an account.

I believe that is correct.

[scorecard]

6 hours ago, purplesage said:

According to previous threads on this topic, maintaining a balance of 2,000 baht is enough to prevent closure of an account.

 

Is that every Thai and foreign bank in Thailand?

 

Any evidence of that?

 

[scorecard]

Another option could be to open the account as a joint savings account, you and a local Thai friend:

- Either party can sing withdrawals, no limits. or

- Maximum withdrawal one time is 100Baht

- Second signatory holds say 6 withdrawals slip all pre-signed by the first signatory (person who started the account.)  Perhaps different amount: 100Baht, 150Baht, 200Baht, 120Baht, 180Baht, 90Baht. Plus also written on the withdrawal form on the amount line (this withdrawal amount cannot be changed by anybody).

- Check you online banking every 60 days to see if any withdrawals have been made. If not speak to the second signatory person and request that person urgently make a withdrawal using of the the pre-signed withdrawal slips. 

[Mike Lister]

49 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Is that every Thai and foreign bank in Thailand?

 

Any evidence of that?

 

No, it varies from bank to bank. UOB for example has a minimum of 5k on certain account types, others will also be different.

[UKresonant]

On 2/14/2024 at 6:46 AM, scorecard said:

 

Is that every Thai and foreign bank in Thailand?

 

Any evidence of that?

 

 

2000 baht is the threshold that the will start to erode the balance with fees until closure if you are not using it  for over a year (Thinking of one bank in particular).

 

Have to add the fee for your active debit card on the account 

 

So perhaps 4 or 5000 may be safer. 

 

Better with a transaction in every 11 months to keep it active

 

FCD can be a minimum of $1000, depending which bank you are with.

[david555]

I left Thailand 1 Sept 2022 , kept KK account alive with 20 000 baht , and check online (login) regular , load my AIS from it , al seems still working , card go expire June .

So activity is on it by AIS loading from account .

 

Only my K+ not working anymore because my to KK connected Smartphone has only Android 8, and K+ plus is now needing Android 9 because update ....

 

But by Laptop /Tablet still working ,

[Tropicalevo]

On 2/13/2024 at 9:45 PM, scorecard said:

Agree some Thai banks automatically charge an 'account maintenance fee' if there's no transactions.

Krungsri 'suspend' the account if there are no transactions for 12 months. 1,000 baht to get it going again.

Just make sure that you can check your balance on-line.

[rwill]

On 2/14/2024 at 12:23 AM, purplesage said:

According to previous threads on this topic, maintaining a balance of 2,000 baht is enough to prevent closure of an account.

Yes if you leave at least 2,000 baht in the account they will not charge fees for inactivity.  If less than 2,000 baht after a year they will start taking 50 baht a month until the money is all gone.

[sikishrory]

On 2/15/2024 at 10:45 PM, UKresonant said:

 

2000 baht is the threshold that the will start to erode the balance with fees until closure if you are not using it  for over a year (Thinking of one bank in particular).

 

Have to add the fee for your active debit card on the account 

 

So perhaps 4 or 5000 may be safer. 

 

Better with a transaction in every 11 months to keep it active

 

FCD can be a minimum of $1000, depending which bank you are with.

yeh this happened to me with kasikorn. From memory they don't close it but it goes into a inactive status and can't be used until you fix it. To fix it you basically have to do the same thing as opening an account. Res cert, work permit, little piece of your soul etc etc.

[Jumbo1968]

My Krungsri Bank Account was locked as I hadn’t made any transactions in 12 months, there was ฿5000 in it. They told me if there was no transactions in 2 years the account would be closed and the money would be passed onto the Thai government. 

[Mike Lister]

46 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

My Krungsri Bank Account was locked as I hadn’t made any transactions in 12 months, there was ฿5000 in it. They told me if there was no transactions in 2 years the account would be closed and the money would be passed onto the Thai government. 

Dormant accounts are deposited at the Finance Ministry or BOT, for a period of 10 years as I recall, thereafter, if not claimed, they become the property of the state. In the meantime, banks can make monthly charges.

 

There's a Bangkok Post article on this entitled, "Dormant account law details emerge", dated 18 Jan 2018.

 

 

[Jaxxper]

We spent 3 years in the US and Indonesia, and left our accounts open in Thailand. No problem except an ATM card expired.

[john donson]

what if, no more non-o visa and coming back after a few years visa exempt ?

 

my life is always more complicated then it should... all my money is in thailand but thinking of leaving after divorce and now kids ghosting me after their uni was paid...

 

Kasikorn is pretending their systems can only check for 10 years max... I swift-ed millions to thailand 15 years ago to my kasikorn FCD account, but converted to THB 13 years ago...

 

cannot even buy a condo now that I need to move thanks to it, so considering leaving and as they cannot/will not give me credit advice , or how you call that.... cannot send money back either, except convert thb to euro and fly with the max allowed in... 

[DrJoy]

On 2/13/2024 at 8:56 PM, garet said:

Thai bank accounts

Each bank has its own rules, be specific of the bank

 

I bank with Kasikorn and can speak for them, here are the rules -

 

Account maintenance - Savings:

 

Baht 50 per month for an account inactive for more than one year, with outstanding balance of less than Baht 2,000

 

 

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/rate/fee/ChargesDoc/Servicingfeesfordeposits-andotherservicecharges-en.pdf

[JimMorris]

As long as you keep a 2,000 Baht balance you will be fine as many have already said.

 

The only possible issue is that some Thai banks will automatically lock the account as being "dormant" if there are no deposits or withdrawals on the account for a consecutive 12 month period.
 

If an account goes into dormant status then it might require a visit to the bank in person to get the account unlocked before you can use the account again or get access to your money. 
 

Best to do any small transaction in the account at least once every 6 months and you'll avoid any of these possible problems. 

Edited February 19 by JimMorris

[Mike Lister]

A presumed trolling post has been removed, the banks will not take your money after one year, if you don't operate it!

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 2/13/2024 at 8:56 PM, garet said:

Are their any rules/laws about leaving money in Thai bank accounts when leaving Thailand

Just to be on the safe side you better put it in my account. 😮

 

[cracker1]

I would suggest you set up "Internet Banking" so you can access and view the account regularly and if your bank insists on transactions, say every 3 months, then just top up a sim card from the account.

[thecyclist]

No problem  at all ,as long as there's enough money in your account to pay the bank fees. The banks don't whether you are in or outside of Thailand. 

[JimMorris]

5 hours ago, cracker1 said:

I would suggest you set up "Internet Banking" so you can access and view the account regularly and if your bank insists on transactions, say every 3 months, then just top up a sim card from the account.

Great suggestion. You can do SIM card top ups for as little as 20 Baht. 

[Chivas]

No idea where this suggested leaving 2000 Baht in account to avoid issues

 

For 3 years I kept (during Covid) little more than 500 in SCB knowing the annual card fee of 200 Baht would come out

 

When it did I sent £10 via Wise to top account up