Why anyone still keeps money in the banks here, other than what is needed for immigration status, starts to get beyond me.

 

Kasikorn limited my daily transfer from 5 million to 500.000, and a request to increase is still pending after 8 days. So I emptied my accounts with them, and left just the amount for the secured credit card.

I'm a Kasikorn customer for the best part of 30 years.

 

Yesterday I bought a new phone, and tried to move the banking apps.

Bangkok bank needed a face scan to activate on the new phone, which obviously didn't work, as has been reported several times on this forum already. So emptied my account on the old phone.

Krungsri, asked that I go to the nearest branch to update the facial scan. Tried to empty account on the old phone, but doing a face scan, which usually worked well in the past, now got the message, scan result is below average threshold. Tried maybe 10 times, always same message. So will visit branch to empty account.

CIMB, get the message that I have to contact call centre to get an activation code. Made the call, gave them all the personal details, then got told have to visit branch, with nearest branch 25km away.

Tried to empty account, but got told, suddenly my phone number is not registered in my name. It obviously is as i updated it 6 months ago for all banks. So again, will have to visit branch to close account.

Krungthai, I didn't even bother with, as there is only 2 baht in the account, and I know that it will be a pain in the arse.

 

This is really getting silly now. My foreign banks no problem at all to move app to new phone, just ask some details, and I can transfer millions in one go without being asked for a face scan.

So with interests paid about 1% or less, and all those restrictions to access your OWN funds, it is beyond me why anyone would still keep money in a Thai bank.

 

Since the end of January I have moved funds from matured fixed accounts into gold bars, and that will only be sped up now. In fact I will empty all savings accounts from now on, and just leave in there what is needed for my immigration status, the amount needed to secure the credit card, and what I need to live for about 6 months. All the rest will go into gold bars, which can traded at any given moment, without all the silly rules.

 

Rant over.

 

 

I feel your rage brother. I simply detest the hold these institutions have over us these days. This is why I am so into crypto, if I could live without these gatekeepers to our financial freedoms I would in an instant. It's getting worse and all those who comment that they don't see anything wrong with the direction this is all heading astounds me. 

 

I've so far avoided using any Thailand bank mobile apps. I use an ATM card and cash and buy Gold too. Not sure how long I will be able to hold out [cashless society insanity] but I'll try my best. I pretty much view all banks, home and abroad with the same distain, but Thai banks are really out of control with all this face scan malarkey  Bought a new iPad recently and transferred my home country online banking to the new device virtually instantly and without drama. No idea why it is all so difficult here and I sometime wonder if it is intentional. You know conditioning the plebs to accept ever greater control. Make sense not keeping large deposits in them these days too, what with there only being only 1 million baht max insurance against default. It used to be 5 million, if that doesn't also tell you something then I don't know what will. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Conno said:

One question though, how are you going to live on a day to day bases emptying all your local bank accounts? Aren't you going to retain just one for essentials? 

 

Like I said in the OP, I keep the 800.000 in an account for my immigration status.

In my Kasikorn account I keep the amount needed for my secured CC. 

I also keep in an account an amount of what I expect I will need for 6 month living expenses.

Gold bars are available in 1 and 5 baht sizes, and can be exchanged for money instantly, by only showing your passport.

There is still funds in 4 banks not mentioned in the OP, but they are 2 fixed term accounts, and they will be emptied when they mature, and the other 2 will be kept at levels needed for 6 month living expenses.

54 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

Like I said in the OP, I keep the 800.000 in an account for my immigration status.

In my Kasikorn account I keep the amount needed for my secured CC. 

I also keep in an account an amount of what I expect I will need for 6 month living expenses.

Gold bars are available in 1 and 5 baht sizes, and can be exchanged for money instantly, by only showing your passport.

There is still funds in 4 banks not mentioned in the OP, but they are 2 fixed term accounts, and they will be emptied when they mature, and the other 2 will be kept at levels needed for 6 month living expenses.

Yea I edit/removed my question from my reply as you'd already explained as much in your original post after rereading. 

 

Do they take details from your passport when you sell baht bars? I've only ever bought so never encountered that. Do they do that with locals too I wonder?  They have asked for my phone number before when buying, I refuse explaining I already get enough scammers calling me so I only share my number with family and friends.

50 minutes ago, Conno said:

Yea I edit/removed my question from my reply as you'd already explained as much in your original post after rereading. 

 

Do they take details from your passport when you sell baht bars? I've only ever bought so never encountered that. Do they do that with locals too I wonder?  They have asked for my phone number before when buying, I refuse explaining I already get enough scammers calling me so I only share my number with family and friends.

 

I buy at Hua Seng Heng, and when buying they want a copy of your passport or pink ID card.

I haven't sold any yet, so don't know if they will ask for it, but I assume they will.

You can almost hear the cheers echoing through Kasikorn headquarters as they finally wave goodbye to thirty years of customer service agony from enduring one of their most persistent nuisance customers. Now the man’s waged war against apps, face scans, and call centers instead, only to emerge convinced that the answer lies in hoarding shiny gold bars like a confused beetle. Meanwhile, somewhere, a bank manager is hanging his photo on the wall under the caption “Reason for the new app transfer limits.”

34 minutes ago, short-Timer said:

You can almost hear the cheers echoing through Kasikorn headquarters as they finally wave goodbye to thirty years of customer service agony from enduring one of their most persistent nuisance customers. Now the man’s waged war against apps, face scans, and call centers instead, only to emerge convinced that the answer lies in hoarding shiny gold bars like a confused beetle. Meanwhile, somewhere, a bank manager is hanging his photo on the wall under the caption “Reason for the new app transfer limits.”

 

You sound like an idiot, with nothing to his name. Transfer limits and face scans of course don't apply to skint people, which you obviously are

3 hours ago, CallumWK said:

but doing a face scan, which usually worked well in the past, now got the message, scan result is below average threshold.

 

Something wrong with your face. When the app scans my face it says "You ring my bell, can we go on a date" and it goes through without problems.

 

I guess people with above average looks really do have it easier.

3 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

Something wrong with your face. When the app scans my face it says "You ring my bell, can we go on a date" and it goes through without problems.

 

I guess people with above average looks really do have it easier.

 

I had to do a face scan on a crypto platform and it failed multiple times.

I had my suspicions as to why - so I had a shave - then it worked on the first try.

I was clean shaven when I did the original scan and in my passport photo - had gone 5 days without a shave when I tried the login about a week ago. I look very different and much older when unshaven.

 

 

Just now, ukrules said:

 

I had to do a face scan on a crypto platform and it failed multiple times.

I had my suspicions as to why - so I had a shave - then it worked on the first try.

I was clean shaven when I did the original scan and in my passport photo - had gone 5 days without a shave when I tried the login about a week ago. I look very different and much older when unshaven.

 

 

 

Ah, that could be it. I'm always clean shaven.

 

Makes sense.

2 hours ago, CallumWK said:

 

Like I said in the OP, I keep the 800.000 in an account for my immigration status.

In my Kasikorn account I keep the amount needed for my secured CC. 

I also keep in an account an amount of what I expect I will need for 6 month living expenses.

Gold bars are available in 1 and 5 baht sizes, and can be exchanged for money instantly, by only showing your passport.

There is still funds in 4 banks not mentioned in the OP, but they are 2 fixed term accounts, and they will be emptied when they mature, and the other 2 will be kept at levels needed for 6 month living expenses.

just curious, why on earth do u have so many accounts an what i assume is a sizable amount in them?
I keep never more than 20,000 baht in ONE account ( NO bank app, only an atm card) and its been that way for over 30 years.
the rest is in high earning accounts in the states and CASH

Much prefer to use an agent to get my extensions than leave 800,000 at .75% in a thai bank  🙂

The banking is a bit of a pain but I would not want to keep 500K or more of gold in my home. I just deal with the difficulties of the banking here and keep most of my money overseas.

 

I do fear my overseas banks at some point may decide they no longer want to keep me as a customer since I do not have a real home address in the country and close my accounts.

 

My home country credit card got canceled due to fraud which the credit card company caught but they would not issue a replacement without a local ID and the company would not accept a passport as ID so had to get a Thai credit card. Overseas bank are not always easy to deal with either. I have been asked for A Medallion Signature Guarantee by an investment company to make some changes to the account and was never able to figure out how to do this without being in the country.

 

 

2 hours ago, zzzzz said:

just curious, why on earth do u have so many accounts an what i assume is a sizable amount in them?

 

Well, different strokes for different folks I guess. I still have bank accounts in my home country as well, but I permanently live here.

Some of my long time accounts in my country have been closed, because I live here, and you can't just open new ones any more.

In the future I suspect that the accounts I still have, also will be closed for the same reason.

Also in Europe are the state coffers also empty, and they now start inventing all new charges. Bank accounts aren't free any more in Europe, and my country just invented a new wealth tax.

 

1 hour ago, biervoormij said:

The banking is a bit of a pain but I would not want to keep 500K or more of gold in my home.

 

Where did I say I keep the gold in my home?

I started buying gold end of January, and as of today the "interest" on that is 37%. In the bank I would have got 1%.

Of course, I know I will not get that kind of profit on my gold holdings every year, but I'm pretty sure I will beat the 1% the bank pays hands down.

On top of that, I beat inflation and have no risk that the bank goes tits up. As another poster mentioned already, the only 1 million bank guarantee, and all the current restrictions, are clear signs on the wall.

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

I had to do a face scan on a crypto platform and it failed multiple times.

I had my suspicions as to why - so I had a shave - then it worked on the first try.

 

That was not the reason why my face scan failed.

I just went to the bank and they told me head office had informed that face scan in the app had issues yesterday. 

Just another reason why I'm tired of all those silly rules that most of the time don't work.

What is wrong with a finger print, coupled with a pin code and maybe an OTP?

Why the banks have to tell me how much of my OWN money I can spend a day?

Fascinates me, frustrates me....and actually angers me in some way, why the average Thai account-holder in Thai banks show a kind of deference to the tellers behind the desks/counters. 

 

To so many, these staff possess god-like authority over them & their deposits.  

 

Forgetting these account holders....like you and I......grant them the singular reason they have their job in the first freakin' place! 

 

(Caveat: Seen it other countries too. Weird.)

 

 

1 hour ago, Toolong said:

Fascinates me, frustrates me....and actually angers me in some way, why the average Thai account-holder in Thai banks show a kind of deference to the tellers behind the desks/counters. 

 

To so many, these staff possess god-like authority over them & their deposits.  

 

Forgetting these account holders....like you and I......grant them the singular reason they have their job in the first freakin' place! 

 

(Caveat: Seen it other countries too. Weird.)

 

 

 

It's no mystery: many/most Thais - and, indeed most of the world's population today - have a poor education.

 

 

10 hours ago, CallumWK said:

Gold bars are available in 1 and 5 baht sizes, and can be exchanged for money instantly, by only showing your passport.

There is still funds in 4 banks not mentioned in the OP, but they are 2 fixed term accounts, and they will be emptied when they mature, and the other 2 will be kept at levels needed for 6 month living expenses.

 

You'll earn a bodacious percentage of 1% on the funds in your fixed accounts.

 

What is the opportunity cost of leaving them to maturity vs. taking the money out now, losing a percentage of 1%, and investing elsewhere?

8 hours ago, CallumWK said:

You sound like an idiot

 

No way I’d ever dream of stealing your well-deserved title. Please do keep us updated on your gold-hoarding adventures and your dedication to the noble art of under-the-mattress banking. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep enjoying my incredibly convenient life with a few Thai bank apps that let me pay bills without having to crawl under the bed for a few Baht every time another water bill comes due.

4 hours ago, short-Timer said:

Thai bank apps that let me pay bills without having to crawl under the bed for a few Baht every time another water bill comes due.

Of course, your 300 baht electricity ad water bill doesn't require face scan.

From your post history, it is obvious that 90% of your posts are about talking down, and insulting, other members of this forum.

How about getting a life? You ever considered that?

41 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Of course, your 300 baht electricity ad water bill doesn't require face scan.

From your post history, it is obvious that 90% of your posts are about talking down, and insulting, other members of this forum.

How about getting a life? You ever considered that?

You started out accusing the Thai banks of being really silly, but of course your last post is not like that at all. 
 

Yes, you are correct that water bills do not need a face scan, but my million baht transfers do. The getting a life remark is original though. Your life must be spectacular the way you find something to constantly complain about on a daily. I could only hope to reach that level of dedication. And naturally you never talk down to or insult anyone as you accused me of, except you called me an idiot. If only I could be half as hypocritical as you.

 

But the real point in all this is that you are whining like a pig now because not everyone shares the conniptions you are having about normal banking security checks and daily transfer limits. Many financial institutions require revalidation when moving apps to a new mobile device as well as impose limits for online and card transactions. Get over it. If you need to move a large sum, you can still go to a branch and do a counter transfer for any amount. They are not preventing you from accessing your money, you are simply overdramatizing the minor inconvenience.
 

Then nobody forced you to withdraw every baht or to treat routine security steps as personal slights. You took standard safety measures and spun them into a grand conspiracy against your convenience. Then, in a dramatic flounce, you declared war on every Thai bank and crowned yourself a gold bar revolutionary. 

13 hours ago, Cameroni said:

 

Ah, that could be it. I'm always clean shaven.

 

Makes sense.

Yes it does make sense that you don't have to shave.

15 hours ago, CallumWK said:

Why the banks have to tell me how much of my OWN money I can spend a day?

Helping you for your own good.