New Bank Account

[Highwayman]

I am looking at opening another bank account and was after some suggestions as to which bank l should use.

Currently l have a Bangkok Bank account which has its good and bad points.

The good being that if l've ever needed to transfer money from overseas (Australia) the money has been credited to Thailand in less than an hour without any errors and the service at the provincial branch where the account was set up has always been excellent.

Now to the bad points.

Because it's a provincial account, withdrawing and even depositing money attracts a service fee when banking in Bangkok which is now where 99% of my transactions are made, however l do not want to transfer this account to Bangkok.

Every BB branch l've ever used in Bangkok is always overrun with customers. The branch at the local shopping centre often has a line halfway down the mall meaning a simple transaction takes 15 minutes minimum. Using the shorter lines for the ATMs is no better as half the customers don't seem to be able to use an ATM and take forever to complete whatever it is they need to do.

While l am happy using online banking for my overseas accounts l have heard very mixed reports on the Bangkok Bank version.

So l guess you could say l am looking for a bank that is reliable, has a decent network of branches in Bangkok, an account that l can pay some bills like True, UBC etc. from, a Thailand wide ATM network and above all, branches that aren't so packed with customers that when you pass them it seems as if there is a run on the bank. l would add that my experience with Bank of Asia branches is that they have a similar problem.

One bank that seems to have lower numbers of customers is Bank of Ayuttaya (yellow logo?). I live on the Ayuttaya side of Bangkok so maybe that's why there seem to be a number of smaller branches in my area. Can anyone suggest from personal experience, banks other than Bangkok Bank or Bank of Asia that may fill all or most of my requirements. Anything to be wary of with these smaller banks?

*I have a Non-Imm "O" visa btw.

[lopburi3]

Have no user information on Bank of Ayutthaya but they do not seem to try and attract foreign depositors.

One thing you may not know is that you can use any ATM POOL three times before you start to get charged for transactions in Bangkok with a local account at any member bank. And believe charge is only 3 baht anyhow. So use the ATM without the line regardless of your bank.

Bangkok Bank has a very effective phone payment service using atm card/pin that should limit the number of trips you need to make. I make one visit a year to actual bank - for account letter. But do update passbook by machine at shopping centers occasionally.

I have not applied for internet bank as don't see any need for it yet (and would require a trip to bank) but from what I have seen written it is the best local version for this type of service.

[Gleen_tea]

I use Bangkok Bank as well and my experience is the same, always very crowded. I did some banking on behalf of a farang friend of mine in the past and he's got an account with Bank of Ayuttaya. I've been to their branches on the Thonburi side, on Sathorn, on Charoenkrung, on Ramkhamaeng and each and every time I could just go straight up to the window, there was no line at all! Every time I pass the Sathorn (suanplu) branch, it looks empty.

[mbkudu]

Bank of Asia is very good and no frills. They do wire transfers overseas without a hitch and never give me any crap about anything I want to do. They are a smaller bank so less crowded at peak times.

[caughtintheact]

I've been using Kasikorn Bank for many years now, and online banking with them for about 2 years. No complaints of any major consequence. Their online services allow for bill payment, crewating beneficiaries so you cxaqn transfer money to others, etc.

You can always pay bills at 7-11 or postal facilities, including those in the shopping malls as an alternative.