Bangkok Banks closing accounts of some non long stay visa holders

[scubascuba3]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LTXzYr7K5/

 

 

[Everyman]

I’ve been expecting that this would happen, eventually. 

 

That said, the rumors that it will affect other nationalities are just rumors at this point. Until they aren’t.  😟 

 

Since there is speculation in the article, I speculate that all foreigners will have to show up at a branch and show one of those three types of documents, as a once off, or have their accounts closed.

 

That will affect me since I opened my BBL account with a work permit in 2005, but I no longer have it and I am still too young for a retirement visa, am not married and don’t own a condo. 

 

Edit: Maybe I will get lucky and they will only close accounts opened in the last few years or something. 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Everyman said:

I’ve been expecting that this would happen, eventually. 

 

That said, the rumors that it will affect other nationalities are just rumors at this point. Until they aren’t.  😟 

 

Since there is speculation in the article, I speculate that all foreigners will have to show up at a branch and show one of those three types of documents, as a once off, or have their accounts closed.

 

That will affect me since I opened my BBL account with a work permit in 2005, but I no longer have it and I am still too young for a retirement visa, am not married and don’t own a condo. 

 

Edit: Maybe I will get lucky and they will only close accounts opened in the last few years or something. 

So far I've seen nothing from Bangkok Bank about tax info, or anything whereas Kasikorn and Krungsri wanted info

[K2938]

How would they contact you if they want to close down your account?  I do not think that any of my addresses with them are current and they have also never wrote to me there?

[BritManToo]

27 minutes ago, K2938 said:

How would they contact you if they want to close down your account?  I do not think that any of my addresses with them are current and they have also never wrote to me there?

Phone app, email, phone call .....

 

[Halfaboy]

Thay will Just freeze and you will have to contact the bank....

[novacova]

5! Such a pity the Ruskies are getting iced out first…oh well.

[K2938]

12 minutes ago, novacova said:

5! Such a pity the Ruskies are getting iced out first…oh well.

Seriously - I wonder why because Thailand has no political position against Russia and a lot of Russians have invested big money in Thailand condos, especially in places like Phuket

[JackGats]

Two months ago I went to my Bangkok Bank branch in order to fill in the CRS/FACTA form (I'd filled it with my broker (Bualuang) but not with the bank proper). At Bankgok Bank they left me wait for ages on a chair in front of an unmanned desk. Eventually I managed to catch someone's attention and showed them a scan of the CRS form on my smartphone. They went "are you a US citizen?". I said "no" and left, thinking it was better to leave things as they were.

 

Note that if the bank has an up-to-date copy of your passport, they'll know what type of visa you have (or don't have). If you have a long term visa, it could be a good idea to update your passport copy with the bank.

 

The thing with the Russians may have to do with OCDE, sanctions against Russia etc.

 

It is depressing to see that soon we'll risk having both our accounts "back home" and our accounts in TH terminated.

[scubascuba3]

Everyone should have accounts with 3+ banks as a precaution, costs nothing 

[Porthos]

This is related to the Pattaya mule account case. Regulations will change.

 

“After this, the BOT will have to look into the entire system, especially the security and criteria for opening a bank account for foreigners, such as raising the level of knowing customers, the form of deposit transfers, etc. It is raising the level of the entire system.”
https://www.prachachat.net/finance/news-1815533

 

"In addition, customers must be grouped by risk level (Customer Profiling) and risk management measures appropriate for the group must be implemented, such as limiting the amount of transactions per day appropriately and reducing the ceiling of the amount that requires face scanning for new accounts, etc. The revised regulations are expected to be effective this June."
https://www.prachachat.net/finance/news-1816096

 

Pattaya mule account case
https://aseannow.com/topic/1361265-police-operation-at-pattaya-bank-linked-to-chinese-call-centre-scam/

 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, K2938 said:

How would they contact you if they want to close down your account?  I do not think that any of my addresses with them are current and they have also never wrote to me there?

You've missed all the news about ensuring your bank accounts are linked to your mobile number? 

[jayboy]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

So far I've seen nothing from Bangkok Bank about tax info, or anything whereas Kasikorn and Krungsri wanted info

 

What evidence did Krungsri want and when did they ask for it? I've heard nothing.

 

Many thanks

[K2938]

17 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Two months ago I went to my Bangkok Bank branch in order to fill in the CRS/FACTA form

They asked you for this or the initiative for this came from you?

[K2938]

8 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You've missed all the news about ensuring your bank accounts are linked to your mobile number? !

My bank account IS linked to my mobile number!

[JackGats]

12 minutes ago, K2938 said:

They asked you for this or the initiative for this came from you?

My own initiative as I wanted to get this out of the way before I'd be out of TH for a few months.

[DrJack54]

"....financial institution in Southeast Asia, has reportedly begun freezing accounts and blocking bank cards of Russian nationals who do not meet new eligibility criteria a move that started around May 25" 

 

The above is cut/paste from article. 

Note Russian. 

 

[K2938]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

"....financial institution in Southeast Asia, has reportedly begun freezing accounts and blocking bank cards of Russian nationals who do not meet new eligibility criteria a move that started around May 25" 

 

The above is cut/paste from article. 

Note Russian. 

 

Yes, and you will also see in the article that this could later apply to all nationalities...

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, K2938 said:

Yes, and you will also see in the article that this could later apply to all nationalities...

Yes, but I doubt that in the extreme. 

 

At a guess it's down to bunch of folk (Russian according to article) that obtained BBL accounts via agents in places such as Phuket. 

 

[scubascuba3]

43 minutes ago, jayboy said:

 

What evidence did Krungsri want and when did they ask for it? I've heard nothing.

 

Many thanks

They sent me an sms and called me, they wanted tax info type questions 

[scubascuba3]

40 minutes ago, K2938 said:

My bank account IS linked to my mobile number!

Obviously if they want to contact you they will use that

[K2938]

31 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

They sent me an sms and called me, they wanted tax info type questions 

Like where you are taxable, in your home country or Thailand, and what your tax ID number is?

[bamnutsak]

27 May, 19:56

 

Bangkok Bank stops allowing foreign tourists to open accounts since start of year

"An account with the Bangkok Bank can be opened by foreigners present in the country under retirement or non-immigration visas," the spokesperson stressed
BANGKOK, May 27. /TASS/. Bangkok Bank stopped allowing foreign tourists to open accounts with them at the beginning of this year, regardless of where they are from, a spokesperson for the largest commercial bank in Thailand told TASS.

 

 

https://tass.com/economy/1964177

[lisaflisa]

So anyone here gotten their BKK Bank account closed so far?

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, lisaflisa said:

So anyone here gotten their BKK Bank account closed so far?

Nope, none of us are Russians.

You did read the op, right?

[lisaflisa]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Nope, none of us are Russians.

You did read the op, right?

Yep, I did read the op.

[jayboy]

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

They sent me an sms and called me, they wanted tax info type questions 

 

Can you be a bit more specific? Were the questions related to you in particular or were they the kind that might be asked of any foreign customer?

 

The reason I ask is that I know several Krungsri customers and nobody has received such an inquiry.

[K2938]

4 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

"An account with the Bangkok Bank can be opened by foreigners present in the country under retirement or non-immigration visas," the spokesperson stressed
BANGKOK, May 27. /TASS/. Bangkok Bank stopped allowing foreign tourists to open accounts with them at the beginning of this year, regardless of where they are from, a spokesperson for the largest commercial bank in Thailand told TASS.

Yes, but so far this is only for Russians and TASS is a Russian news agency

 

 

[K2938]

4 minutes ago, jayboy said:

The reason I ask is that I know several Krungsri customers and nobody has received such an inquiry.

So far only (1) Bkk Bank customerers who are (2) Russian

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

 

Can you be a bit more specific? Were the questions related to you in particular or were they the kind that might be asked of any foreign customer?

 

The reason I ask is that I know several Krungsri customers and nobody has received such an inquiry.

General tax type questions, same anyone, she said it was because I opened my account several years ago and was missing that info, not a quick job to contact everyone applicable. Don't worry about it unless they contact you