Largest Amount Of Thb You Would Keep In A Thai Bank?

[khunjake]

Because the banks in the uk will refund any money that has been stolen out of your account. As under the British law they will have to investigate and will refund your money. There is no law in Thailand to force a Thai bank to refund or investigate if someone steals your money out of your account.

regards

Scotsman

This is a great point. I'm not so much fearful for the banks' viability and capitalization, but rather the fact the overall account security is called into question. I have heard that little to no recourse can be obtained should funds be stolen or magically removed from an account here. Whereas in the US, Europe or elsewhere, the banks generally have more credibility at stake so they ensure the safety of deposits from outright theft.

[syd barrett]

Personally after reading so many horror stories about ATM card scams. Bank accounts being emptied (even accounts where no ATM card is held), phantom ATM withdrawals, etc. etc. I might point out that many of the victims being Thai then I have lost confidence in Thai banks.

I used to keep 500,000 in each of my accounts but have reduced that to 100,000, so my maximum total sum is only 200,000 at any one time split between two Thai banks. These days even slow-wired money from offshore arrives in three days.

Plus although I receive 0.75% interest less tax here, I have a feeling that the Thai baht can only devalue in the next five years.

[Time Traveller]

I would feel "comfortable" holding as much money here as I would in any other country. If you personally know of a single person who has lost money because of a Thai bank collapsing, I'd be flabbergasted.

Maybe you might like to read up on the Bangkok Bank of Commerce collapse in the 1990's. Many many have lost money that was loaned to thai banks during that time. Granted things are a little different now.

Banks' Creditors losing money and individuals losing money they keep in a bank account are two entirely different things. I would still like to hear from anyone who has lost money they put in a Thai bank account, owing to the collapse of that bank. I had a good google and as far as I can see the BOT took over the Bangkok Bank of Commerce and there is no mention of any depositors losing money. Given the huge losses that corporate creditors have had forced on them in the West over the last year or so and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, I still fail to see why anyone thinks their money is less safe here.

Ok, I'll accept you're most likely correct in this case and also I agree nowdays as far as bank accounts in thailand go no one should be worried about your deposit up to the limit of the government guarantee.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Time Traveller

[Time Traveller]

Because the banks in the uk will refund any money that has been stolen out of your account. As under the British law they will have to investigate and will refund your money. There is no law in Thailand to force a Thai bank to refund or investigate if someone steals your money out of your account.

regards

Scotsman

This is a great point. I'm not so much fearful for the banks' viability and capitalization, but rather the fact the overall account security is called into question. I have heard that little to no recourse can be obtained should funds be stolen or magically removed from an account here. Whereas in the US, Europe or elsewhere, the banks generally have more credibility at stake so they ensure the safety of deposits from outright theft.

I think you'd find that if that truly was the case then Thai banks would be losing their banking license. After the last 12months are there really such naive people that still think banks in US or Europe are models of integrity and honesty, while accusing Thai banks of fraud. I'd like to challenge you to highlight one case, where the money was not returned, that was the fault of a Thai banks for theft of depositer's funds. And card skiming doesn't count since it's obviously outside of a banks control

[scotsman]

There are many people out there that have had there money removed from there accounts with no reason found but the police & the banks will not investigate this is just one example there must be a lot more just Google and you will find more.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000008078

Regards

Scotsman

[SurfRider]

How soon we forget . . .

"On July 2, 1997, Thailand decided to switch to a flexible exchange rate regime. The Thai Baht was depreciated by more than 50% by the end of that year; the Thais had experienced a collapse of their economy for the first time."

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thai/html/financial97_98.html

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[Topprofile]

How easy is it to send money out of the country, I thought there were certain restrictions and a lot of paperwork required to do it??

In my experience, pretty easy to do and 1 form...

Hm, I spent 2 hours at Siam Commercial Bank yesterday trying to wire 900.000thb out of Thailand.. I had been informed by the bank earlier that amounts under US 20.000 would be "no problem" but this was not so..

After several phone calls to head office I was allowed to transfer out 350.000thb and that would cover my "quota" for this year based on transfering out a certain percentage of my salary and looking at my accounts to see what I had transferred into Thailand this year..

I asked why they stated that there should be "no problem" with transferring out maximum of US 20.000 when in fact I couldn't. The reply was that it was on a case to case basis.. what a joke...

[khunjake]

Hm, I spent 2 hours at Siam Commercial Bank yesterday trying to wire 900.000thb out of Thailand.. I had been informed by the bank earlier that amounts under US 20.000 would be "no problem" but this was not so..

After several phone calls to head office I was allowed to transfer out 350.000thb and that would cover my "quota" for this year based on transfering out a certain percentage of my salary and looking at my accounts to see what I had transferred into Thailand this year..

I asked why they stated that there should be "no problem" with transferring out maximum of US 20.000 when in fact I couldn't. The reply was that it was on a case to case basis.. what a joke...

The way I look at is if someone did have a large amount on deposit, then the only viable way to get it out of the country would be to change it back into USD, EUR, GBP or other FX and then carry it out. Trying to wire out a larger amount of THB is very difficult.

[Topprofile]

Are there any regulations regarding carrying out GOLD?

Or would I be able to go to the bank to buy a check in USD or EUR? or where would I go to change THB into USD without being questioned for the reason..?

[henryalleman]

I basically clear out my Thai bank account once a year and transfer the funds to a financial institute overseas where I can earn a bit of interest.

It's the not the insurablility of the money that concerns me. It's the fact that I'm not going to leave a substantial amount of money in a bank where they can use to generate income but refuse to give me anything in return. I've tried to get even 2% from SCB, but they refuse, so once a year I generally clean out my account.

Weird that they don't give you interest. I am with SCB and get interest on all my accounts with them.

Ya, I've heard many times of foreigners getting interest on their accounts at SCB but I've given up trying. Every time, they would say, "Only Thai people", so it's easier to just send the money out of the country. I'm not talking about a lot of money -- only a few million baht, so I guess they figure this is a measly amount that isn't worth trying to work out a way of giving me some interest and keeping it in their bank.

I'm guessing that one needs about 10 million baht or more in a Thai bank to start getting some interest. Is that right?

Up to them!

Kasikorn put every 6 months the interest of my savings accounts punctually. besides that I only transfer for about 3 months living costs in my Thai Bank account, simply because the Thai Bath is fluctuate too much. But when it become 52 Baht= 1 Euro I will change my mind LOL.