Krungthai Bank now doing FATCA/CRS ?

[anrcaccount]

55 minutes ago, markwhite said:

 

Went to the local KrungThai bank on this basis. Southern Thailand here with not many foreigners locally so was unsure if they'd know about this, but got a competent cashier who knew I was referring to the CRS form. Took passport and bank book and nothing else (retired). The form was on the computer and after a few minutes fiddling about, it was printed, filled in name and address, ticked the "TIN exempt" box and signed it.

 

Dead easy. As anrcaccount said 🙂

Great report. Glad to be of service!

No one should be worried about these forms, nor should they disclose any more information than they're comfortable with.

In this case - you've given the bank nothing more than they had already. 

[RayC]

KrungThai phoned me back and told me to complete the formalities by 11 APRIL.

 

Other than that it's exactly what Mark and Anrcaccount stated i.e.  present myself with my passport and bank book at a branch.

[persimmon]

I`ve been in the UK for 18 months now , won`t be back in Thailand until Nov. KTB don`t have any way of contacting me . Do I need to worry my account could be closed  ?

Sent some money from the UK a few months ago and checked via ATM

and it seemed ok .

[Zaphod Priest]

Yesterday I received a letter by EMS from Krungthai concerning CRS/FATCA telling me to go into a branch.

I tried to close my Krungthai accounts many years ago.  Was told that it wasn't possible, and I should reduce the balance to zero (which I did) and wait for them to be automatically closed.  I guess they haven't been closed yet.

[Presnock]

20 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Same for me.

when I heard that Bangkkok Bank was doing the same, but that I wasn't contacted so I checked witht the bank.  They informed  me that they were doing this at this time for new accounts but that they would check my account to see if the information was there - in response to that, the next day they called and said that when I changed from a joint acct to a sole account as required by immigration, that I signed those documents at that time so all is good right now.

[JimHuaHin]

Received SMS early yesterday morning.

 

Went to local KrungThai branch at 1055 - very long line, of mostly Thais, waiting.

 

Back to bank at midday - slightly shorter line, but with about a dozen farangs waiting.

 

Will try again next week.

 

 

[Presnock]

21 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Wouldn't you need a bank account to show the 800 000 Baht in the bank (for a retirement visa?)

not all retirees use the money in the bank 800/400k, but I used the monthly income but still needed info letters from the Bank so MUST have an open account in my  opinion

[RayC]

11 hours ago, persimmon said:

I`ve been in the UK for 18 months now , won`t be back in Thailand until Nov. KTB don`t have any way of contacting me . Do I need to worry my account could be closed  ?

Sent some money from the UK a few months ago and checked via ATM

and it seemed ok .

 

The short answer is that, "Yes, it is a possibility that your account could be closed" (see attached link and page down to the relevant section).

 

Whether this is likely is impossible to say, not least because you don't know whether you have been sent a notification.

 

In your position, I would contact KTB and explain the situation to them. You can contact KTB through their NEXT app. I have done so in the past and they replied very quickly.

 

 https://www.expattaxthailand.com/thai-banks-crs-fatca-compliance/

[Peciacake]

Went to our local branch to complete CRS requirements and found this little gem when about to sign off, "...and provide consent for KTB and/or Relevant Company to debit fund in my account,"  The Thai language version of this clause has no mention of consent according to SWMBO.

[Somrak]

On 2/28/2025 at 11:23 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

I will certainly be complying since that is where my 800,000 baht for my extension is.

I think This IS only for US sitizens

 

 

[Somrak]

1 minute ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Why?

Think CRS IS only for the US. Writing in the TOP. ?

[garygooner]

19 minutes ago, Somrak said:

Think CRS IS only for the US. Writing in the TOP. ?

FATCA is for US citizens.

CRS is for non US citizens. 

It's possible that you're a tax resident of Thailand and have no TIN, and you're not a tax resident of your home country anymore. The KBank form wanted you to  give a reason why you don't have a Thai TIN, such as no income & savings prior to 2024. 

[Mutt Daeng]

On 2/28/2025 at 6:27 PM, RayC said:

KrungThai phoned me back and told me to complete the formalities by 11 APRIL.

 

Other than that it's exactly what Mark and Anrcaccount stated i.e.  present myself with my passport and bank book at a branch.

I presented myself to my bank today. I gave them a print out of the SMS that I received, my passport and bank book. After waiting in line for an hour till my number was called, the assistant (who speaks good English) didn't have a clue what to do. She said she would contact head office and ring me back. Waiting.....

[RayC]

4 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

I presented myself to my bank today. I gave them a print out of the SMS that I received, my passport and bank book. After waiting in line for an hour till my number was called, the assistant (who speaks good English) didn't have a clue what to do. She said she would contact head office and ring me back. Waiting.....

 

Annoying for you but tbh not altogether surprising. I'm sure that you know as well as me that the level of competence varies greatly by branch.

 

I hope that this is not tempting fate but the Khao San Road branch of KTB are usually on the ball. However, the branch on Thanon Phra Sumen less than 800m away is effectively useless: I once made the mistake of going into the branch on Thanon Samsen (+/-1km away). Once the staff had recovered from the shock of seeing a farang enter their branch, they all dived for cover!😁

[Mutt Daeng]

3 hours ago, RayC said:

 

Annoying for you but tbh not altogether surprising. I'm sure that you know as well as me that the level of competence varies greatly by branch.

 

I hope that this is not tempting fate but the Khao San Road branch of KTB are usually on the ball. However, the branch on Thanon Phra Sumen less than 800m away is effectively useless: I once made the mistake of going into the branch on Thanon Samsen (+/-1km away). Once the staff had recovered from the shock of seeing a farang enter their branch, they all dived for cover!😁

Yes, not surprising at all really. I live in Buriram province and to be fair to the bank staff who are normally spot on, it's not their fault that they have been given no education/training and I sympathise with them. As a side note, I have also sent an email to the Krungthai contact centre, explaining the situation and asking if there is a form I can complete to satisfy their requirements and thus take my local office out of the equation. This was the case recently when the Kasikorn bank sent forms for customers to complete re: FATCA/CRS

[Mutt Daeng]

14 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Yes, not surprising at all really. I live in Buriram province and to be fair to the bank staff who are normally spot on, it's not their fault that they have been given no education/training and I sympathise with them. As a side note, I have also sent an email to the Krungthai contact centre, explaining the situation and asking if there is a form I can complete to satisfy their requirements and thus take my local office out of the equation. This was the case recently when the Kasikorn bank sent forms for customers to complete re: FATCA/CRS

UPDATE: I got a call from the bank assistant who I spoke to yesterday, informing me that she now knew what to do and could I come to the bank to speak to her. I went to the bank and took a queue number but as soon as the assistant was free, she called me over to her desk. I (as a non-us citizen) basically had to complete a form (similar to the one I was sent by the Kasikorn bank earlier this year) to provide information about my tax residencies and TINs if applicable. Easy, peasy all done in less than 10 mins.

[garygooner]

People were apparently filling the forms in differently regards KBank a while ago.

Some were living in Thailand more than 180 days, but because they had no Thai TIN they were just saying they're a tax resident of their home country and giving a tax number. NI no in the case of some UK citizens. 

[RayC]

On 3/5/2025 at 11:19 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

UPDATE: I got a call from the bank assistant who I spoke to yesterday, informing me that she now knew what to do and could I come to the bank to speak to her. I went to the bank and took a queue number but as soon as the assistant was free, she called me over to her desk. I (as a non-us citizen) basically had to complete a form (similar to the one I was sent by the Kasikorn bank earlier this year) to provide information about my tax residencies and TINs if applicable. Easy, peasy all done in less than 10 mins.

 

UPDATE (and background): Similar experience to you, Mutt.

 

My branch is in Minburi but we now live in Pra Nakorn, so I use the Khao San Road branch.

 

Anyway, turned up at the branch and was told that I had signed the relevant documentation in 2018, so no action required. Great .... however, because we are going back to the UK next week for the European summer, and it would be extremely difficult to rectify anything from there, I asked for written confirmation. Of course, no one was willing to put their name to anything, so I was told that they would double-check with Head Office and get back to me. Lo and behold, I get a call the next day saying that I do, in fact, need to complete a document!

 

TBF my situation is unusual. I don't use the branch where my account is held and the Khao San branch can only see a limited amount of data (why this is the case is another matter?). As you said previously, I get the impression that this initiative has been rolled out by KTB Head Office without much warning or training being given to the local branch staff. 

 

Morale of the story: If you are a KTB customer, go to your branch asap. The process may take longer than a day to compete: I was told that the deadline for completion of the forms is 9 April. I have no idea what the consequences might be if this deadline is missed but best not to have to find out for yourself.

 

(PS: In case anyone is wondering why I don't transfer my account to the Khao San Road branch, the short answer is I can't for reasons I don't fully understand. Nor can I simply close my Minburi account and open a new one at the Khao San branch as I don't have a work permit (I'm here on a DTV which, apparently, doesn't allow you to open a new account🤷).

[persimmon]

I`ve been back in the UK for a few months , so I contacted ( email ) KTB and asked if I needed to do anything . They sent me the FATCA / CRS forms and I printed them off and filled them in before photoing and sending back . Got a reply next day . All very efficient , I`m impressed .

[NoDisplayName]

On 2/28/2025 at 10:44 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

Got this message earlier this morning. Looks like a visit to the Krungthai Bank is needed.

 

They're just updating records to ensure all are FATCAT/CRS compliant.  All the foreigners are getting texted.

 

I got the same message, went to the bank to deposit my tax refund, and then tried to fill out the forms.

 

Teller knew nothing, manager on duty knew nothing, told me to come back next day.  I did not.

 

A week later got another SMS telling me my records were in order and to disregard the previous SMS.

[JackGats]

What I'm wondering about is what happens if a Western bank sends the CRS statements based on your Thai TIN  to  Thailand, and you happen not to have lived in Thailand for the required 180 days. Does Thailand send a feedback saying "this guy is not a tax resident here". If the foreign bank receives such a feedback from Thailand, the foreign bank would be tempted to cancel your account immediately because you provided it with a fake tax residence. That's where the <deleted> could hit the fan. Any ideas whether Thailand is that advanced in its handling of CRS?

[topt]

16 minutes ago, JackGats said:

What I'm wondering about is what happens if a Western bank sends the CRS statements based on your Thai TIN  to  Thailand, and you happen not to have lived in Thailand for the required 180 days. Does Thailand send a feedback saying "this guy is not a tax resident here". If the foreign bank receives such a feedback from Thailand, the foreign bank would be tempted to cancel your account immediately because you provided it with a fake tax residence. That's where the <deleted> could hit the fan. Any ideas whether Thailand is that advanced in its handling of CRS?

It doesn't work like that. The banks send to the Central Bank/RD who then may forward to another country's central bank/RD. There is no individual bank to bank exchange of information above what they have to send under CRS.

Have a look at this and see if it helps - file:///C:/Users/gpt1/Documents/Finance/Tax/Thailand/Thailand_CRS_Guidance_280823.pdf

 

 

[JackGats]

16 hours ago, topt said:

It doesn't work like that. The banks send to the Central Bank/RD who then may forward to another country's central bank/RD. There is no individual bank to bank exchange of information above what they have to send under CRS.

Have a look at this and see if it helps - file:///C:/Users/gpt1/Documents/Finance/Tax/Thailand/Thailand_CRS_Guidance_280823.pdf

 

 

Ok thanks, so any detrimental feedback would be one step removed from my foreign bank, thank God.

 

P.S. I just had a chat with ChatGPT about this and this is ChatGPT's conclusion in the case of the foreign bank account being a German one:

 

• Officially, CRS does not include an automatic feedback mechanism where a receiving country (Thailand) directly informs the sending country (Germany) that a person is not actually tax resident.

• However, tax authorities may conduct further inquiries or bilateral exchanges.

• If Thailand finds your residency status questionable, they could raise the issue through spontaneous exchange of information (EOI) or upon request by Germany.

So my question would then become "would Thailand embark upon a spontaneous EOI ?". The question is rather rethorical at this stage of course, especially since Thailand already have their work cut out for them with their recent taxation shake-up.