Banking In Thailand

[FalangLao]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

[Soutpeel]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

My personal opinion, getting paid in Thailand is a mistake, I actually work in Thailand and get paid outside Thailand and bring my day to day cash back in via ATM card/account which attracts no withdrawal fees, with the exception of getting hit with the THB 20.00 withdrawal fee from the Thai bank.

Suggest you look at a bank in Hong Kong or Singapore, and provided you get the correct account, you will be paying no banking fees on that end. If you need to do big transfers, yes you can do, but of course you will get hit for a transfer fee...

[FalangLao]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

My personal opinion, getting paid in Thailand is a mistake, I actually work in Thailand and get paid outside Thailand and bring my day to day cash back in via ATM card/account which attracts no withdrawal fees, with the exception of getting hit with the THB 20.00 withdrawal fee from the Thai bank.

Suggest you look at a bank in Hong Kong or Singapore, and provided you get the correct account, you will be paying no banking fees on that end. If you need to do big transfers, yes you can do, but of course you will get hit for a transfer fee...

With LLoyds TSB I was paying from $2.00 to $4.00 per ATM withdrawl and was getting a lower exchange rate. I will look into HSBC in Singapore. Is there a minimum deposit required to open the accound and do you have to open the account in person or can you do it via mail.

[Soutpeel]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

My personal opinion, getting paid in Thailand is a mistake, I actually work in Thailand and get paid outside Thailand and bring my day to day cash back in via ATM card/account which attracts no withdrawal fees, with the exception of getting hit with the THB 20.00 withdrawal fee from the Thai bank.

Suggest you look at a bank in Hong Kong or Singapore, and provided you get the correct account, you will be paying no banking fees on that end. If you need to do big transfers, yes you can do, but of course you will get hit for a transfer fee...

With LLoyds TSB I was paying from $2.00 to $4.00 per ATM withdrawl and was getting a lower exchange rate. I will look into HSBC in Singapore. Is there a minimum deposit required to open the accound and do you have to open the account in person or can you do it via mail.

Personally, I wouldnt touch HSBC with a bargepole, was with them for many years and had nothing but hassle with them, if looking in Singapore, go look at Citibank International Personal banking, minimum balance used to be US$ 20,000 and no bank charges, customer service is excellent.

[sgunn65]

Open a HSBC Account in your home country, pay £20 per month (unless you have £50K) for Premier then open an offshore account and a Bangkok account. The Bangkok account will give you a debit card which you can withdraw up to 100K a day on from any ATM. The UK or offshore will give you a credit card.

Transfers between the accounts are free so one transfer a month pays for your fees. You also get free travel insurance and lots of other benifits including telephone and internet banking.

I live and work in Thailand but get paid my fees from all over the world so telephone and internet banking are all i need.

Edited December 11, 2008 by sgunn65

[saorsa]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

[Soutpeel]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

You are working on the assumption that the OP is allowed to open an account in UK ??

[syd barrett]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

My personal opinion, getting paid in Thailand is a mistake, I actually work in Thailand and get paid outside Thailand and bring my day to day cash back in via ATM card/account which attracts no withdrawal fees, with the exception of getting hit with the THB 20.00 withdrawal fee from the Thai bank.

Suggest you look at a bank in Hong Kong or Singapore, and provided you get the correct account, you will be paying no banking fees on that end. If you need to do big transfers, yes you can do, but of course you will get hit for a transfer fee...

With LLoyds TSB I was paying from $2.00 to $4.00 per ATM withdrawl and was getting a lower exchange rate. I will look into HSBC in Singapore. Is there a minimum deposit required to open the accound and do you have to open the account in person or can you do it via mail.

I suggest that you re-open your Lloyds TSB Offshore account and when you require cash send it from Lloyds to your Siam Commercial Bank. You will get the exact exchange rate and the Lloyds international moneymover fee is 13 GBP.

[dudemeister]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

[Soutpeel]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

Put it in Singapore or Hong Kong...

[kiakaha]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

legally speaking you are a tourist, regardless of how you wish to embellish your "thai residency" situation.

therefore your thai banking options are extremely limited, compared to those who legally work in thailand or have permanent residency etc...

i'd look for an overseas debit or credit card that has zero or very low transaction fees.

[Soutpeel]

legally speaking you are a tourist, regardless of how you wish to embellish your "thai residency" situation.

therefore your thai banking options are extremely limited, compared to those who legally work in thailand or have permanent residency etc...

i'd look for an overseas debit or credit card that has zero or very low transaction fees.

Where in his question was he embellishing his Thai residency situation ??

Unless a person has PR or citizenship we are all "tourists" in some shape or form, irrespective of the visa or work permit held or how the pedestal certain TV posters put themselves on over so-called "tourists"

The guy was asking a legimate question

[syd barrett]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

You can open an offshore bank account in Isle of Man or Jersey by mail. Dead easy.

[Chaimai]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

You are working on the assumption that the OP is allowed to open an account in UK ??

The OP can open an account in the UK if he can satisfy Money Laundering Rules i.e. identification and address verification. IF he has a UK address he can purport to be a UK resident and qualify for a Nationwide Flex account. However, any interest received on accounts is subject to deduction of tax. If you declare that you are resident overseas you will be steered towards Nationwide International who do not offer Flexaccount.

Flexaccount enjoys far better exchange rates than HSBC, LLoydsTSB etc with no UK bank fees. You will only pick up a 20 Baht ATM charge at Siam Commercial Bank.

However, this also assumes that the OP is paid in Sterling so the exchange rates are neutral as far as UK Bank/Thai bank argument is concerned.

In summary - Open a Nationwide account if you can satisfy the above MLR requirements. You can withdraw up to £300 equivalent per day. The online banking is good and you can switch money from esavings to Flex account easily. If you have wife/GF you can open a number 2 Flex account and give her the card - fund the account by online transfers as/if you need to. Keep the Siam Commercial Bank account. It may be useful if you want a larger transfers in - there are posts about going into a Siam Commercial branch with the Nationwide card and 'Switching' large sums, cheaper tham £23/25 for a SWIFT transfer. I have not done personally done it but the staff in my SCB say you can i.e. take out £2,000 over the counter in cash with the card and pay in cash to the SCB account.

[Chaimai]

Edited December 11, 2008 by Chaimai

[torrenova]

Citibank multi currency account and / or HSBC Premier (don't pay fees). I use all around the world for donkey's years and always on form or will sort out if they screw up.

Keep a couple of accounts in Thailand. I predominantly use SCB, Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank, largely for their web based credit card in THB.

[Maizefarmer]

I am 32 years old and have been living in Thailand and working overseas for the past 3 years. I have recently changed banks from Lloyds TSB offshore to the Siam Comercial Bank. I found that with my international account it cost me too much money in transaction fees. What are the best options for a guy in my situation? Is getting paid into Thailand a mistake.

Split it (?)- a lot of ex-pats working for multi-nationals in Thailand (especially USA and Uk co's) get part of their salary paid locally (and therefore taxed locally), and the balance paid by their head-office (where ever it may be in the world) into an off-shore account.

That of course is a very simplistic way of replying, because things like reciprocal tax obligations/agreements that Thailand has with other countries, what one earns, employment contract, time they spend in Thailand and a whole bunch of other factors make each persons ideal banking set-up not neccassily the same as it would be for someone else.

Unlike another members' comment, my personal experiance with HSBC has been very positive - where ever I have been in the world, I have always been able to access funds through a local branch on the basis of my account in Thailand. The problem with foreign banks that operate in Thailand is that the Thai banking rules/regs restrict their operations to one physical location or office - meaning in practise, if there is every a problem you have only one branch you can go to, to sort the problem out or see someone. - and HSBC is a foreign bank.

[mrtoad]

I wouldn't touch HSBC with a barge pole (IMO), but there are a number of other options that you should look at.

See what's on offer in Singapore, Hong Kong or Jersey, depending on where you live.

[saorsa]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

You are working on the assumption that the OP is allowed to open an account in UK ??

Yes, I made that assumption because the OP mentioned he had a LloydsTSB account already which is a UK based bank.

[Soutpeel]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

You are working on the assumption that the OP is allowed to open an account in UK ??

Yes, I made that assumption because the OP mentioned he had a LloydsTSB account already which is a UK based bank.

Yes...but the account is a Lloyds TSB offshore account...IOM or Jersey, as somebody else has pointed out if he is not resident in UK (UK address) he cant get the Nationwide account which is free..

[saorsa]

Check out Nationwide since they dont charge for taking out money from overseas ATMs. I work offshore and am paid in UK but live in thailand and I have just sent off the forms for opening an account with them.

You are working on the assumption that the OP is allowed to open an account in UK ??

Yes, I made that assumption because the OP mentioned he had a LloydsTSB account already which is a UK based bank.

Yes...but the account is a Lloyds TSB offshore account...IOM or Jersey, as somebody else has pointed out if he is not resident in UK (UK address) he cant get the Nationwide account which is free..

Deleted my post because i was being pedantic...

Edited December 12, 2008 by saorsa

[simon43]

Anyone have experience of UOB? I think they are a Singapore bank but have many branches in Thailand.

Simon

[dudemeister]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

Put it in Singapore or Hong Kong...

So i can jump on a plane and turn up in Singapore or Hong Kong and open a suitable bank account there? What about residency problems?

[Soutpeel]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

Put it in Singapore or Hong Kong...

So i can jump on a plane and turn up in Singapore or Hong Kong and open a suitable bank account there? What about residency problems?

I can only talk about Citibank IBP in Singapore but you dont need to jump on a plane, you can apply on line and send them a certifed copy of your passport and get your ATM card by return courier, If you want the account open quickly ie two hours or less, you need to get on a plane and do it in person, For Singapore and HK, you dont need residency to open and offshore account, with the international banks...some of the local Singapore banks have a residency requirement in their T&C's

[dudemeister]

I too work abroad, but visit Thailand during my time off.

So whats the best move, if you dont (cant be ar$ed) going all the way home to open a bank account? (in my case UK)

Put it in Singapore or Hong Kong...

So i can jump on a plane and turn up in Singapore or Hong Kong and open a suitable bank account there? What about residency problems?

I can only talk about Citibank IBP in Singapore but you dont need to jump on a plane, you can apply on line and send them a certifed copy of your passport and get your ATM card by return courier, If you want the account open quickly ie two hours or less, you need to get on a plane and do it in person, For Singapore and HK, you dont need residency to open and offshore account, with the international banks...some of the local Singapore banks have a residency requirement in their T&C's

Thanks for that Soutpeel.