Us Dollar Account In Thailand

[hackerthai]

HI

Is there a bank that I can open an account at which will let me wire in US dollars and hold US Dollars in the Thai bank.

I then would exchange some of the dollars into Baht when I am ready.

I thought this was possible at K-Bank (green one).

Any ideas?

Thank you.,

[TheItaliann]

don't see the advantage in doing this unless u think usd is headed up in value???

[Pawpcorn]

Yes, I recently had a sum transfered (via swift code) from America to here... at Bangkok Bank.

When the lady called me to confirm the details, she asked me if I wanted to convert it today, or hold off, meaning convert it at a later date.

I hadn't expected to have this option(!) so I asked her what it would take, to HOLD it and not convert it, and she said I would be required to write a letter to them, stating that intention.

But since the American Dollar has be in a constant free-fall, in relation to the Thai Baht (EVEN WITH THE RED SHIRT MADNESS!!!) I figured it would be a bad gamble to hold the money in US dollars, so I converted it, same day.

I suppose, as some here have "supposed", that there will be a day of reckoning, when the Baht's value DROPS in relation to the US Dollar... but... You got a crystal ball??

I don't.

Take care,

Pawpcorn

[maxman71]

don't see the advantage in doing this unless u think usd is headed up in value???

B of A and Citicorp have branches in BKK. They probably also offer USD accounts. But don't know for sure.

[jazzbo]

from BofA Bangkok branch website http://www.bankofamerica.com/th/about_us.cfm :

"... clients which includes local, American, European and multinational corporations as well as local institutions and government agencies."

You can make a non-SWIFT ACH transfer from many domestic USA banks to Bangkok Bank in NYC -- the only Thai bank AFAIK that can do.

Edited April 4, 2010 by jazzbo

[powderpuff]

Just opened one at BKK Bank.

Need US$ 1000 to open & min balance $250.00

You can withdraw in dollars or baht - your choice. I used the BangNa Complex branch.

[phetaroi]

I have a THB account and a USD account at HSBC.

[ianguygil]

Bangkok Bank has the widest range of foreign currency accounts, including USD.

The big advantage (besides the branch network) is that you can access these on the Internet. And you can transfer from foreign currency to THB online using iBanking. This means you can manage and check your accounts from wherever you may be. Foreign currency transfers actually execute during banking hours, although you can arrange one for the next business day (or other future dates) should you want to do so outside Thai normal banking hours.

I would definitely say that BBL is the way to go with this.

Good luck

[hackerthai]

Great to hear online banking is available here.

Siam Bank allows me to check balance online but that is all.

To powderpuff or others: do i just need only my passport and address or do I need a work permit to open an account at bangkok bank?

thank you

[ianguygil]

Here you are, please see this link. You do not need a work permit but you do need some other supporting documentation.

If you have any problem, please send me a PM

Good luck.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...es/Default.aspx

Free! 300 Baht Starbucks Card

Apply for Bangkok Bank's online International Funds Transfer service or

a Foreign Currency Deposit Account and receive a FREE Bt 300 Starbucks

Card after making your first transaction via Bualuang iBanking by

31 July 2010.

ServiceDeposit account which can be opened in any of these 13 major foreign currencies

• US Dollar (USD)
  
• Euro (EUR)
  
• British Pound (GBP)
  
• Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
  
• Singapore Dollar (SGD)
  
• Swiss Franc (CHF)
  
• Australian Dollar (AUD)
  
• Canadian Dollar (CAD)
  
• Japanese Yen (JPY)
  
• Danish Krone (DKK)
  
• Norwegian Krone (NOK)
  
• Swedish Krone (SEK)
  
• New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
  

Details of Foreign Currency Deposit Account

1. Foreign Currency Deposit Account for Thai Individuals or Foreigners with Permanent Residence in Thailand
   - Foreign Currency Deposit Account (Domestic Fund)
   - Foreign Currency Deposit Account (Overseas Fund)
   
2. Foreign Currency Deposit Account for Non-residents
   

Documents Required for Opening a Foreign Currency Deposit AccountThai Individuals

• ID Card or Government Official ID Card
  

Foreigners with Permanent Residence in Thailand

• Alien Certificate
  
• A Copy of House Registration
  

Non-residents (Foreign Tourists or Foreigners working in Thailand temporarily)

• Passport
  
• Work Permit
  If you do not have a work permit, please submit a copy of your passport together with a letter of recommendation as follows:
  - A letter of recommendation from a person acceptable to Bangkok Bank such as a Bangkok Bank staff member, a respected customer of Bangkok Bank, a respected university teacher, a respected company director or senior executive. This must be on the form provided by Bangkok Bank (this can be obtained from any Bangkok Bank branch which provides a foreign currency deposit account service) and it must be accompanied by a certified true copy of the identification document e.g. ID card or government official ID card of the person making the recommendation; or
  - A letter of recommendation from a reputable organization located in Thailand such as an embassy or an international organization; or
  - A letter of recommendation from your bank abroad, acceptable to Bangkok Bank, sent to Bangkok Bank via SWIFT
  

For more information, please call Bualuang Phone on 1333 or (66) 0-2645-5555

Edited April 5, 2010 by ianguygil

[OxfordWill]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Usd-Account-...nk-t351379.html

[raro]

forget about it, it is daylight robbery! We just opened a USD account with bank of America in Singapore. No minimum deposits, low fees and internet banking.

We checked with various banks in Thailand and the fees were ridiculous, HSCB taking the cake.

[tigerbalm]

A friend of mine opened up a Dollar account recently with the Bangkok bank went to draw out $2000 and was old he had to convert the $2000 in to Thai Baht (Commission) and then convert the Thai Baht back in to US Dollars, again with commission so that's two lots of commission.

Any body have the same experience ? if so what is the point or the benifits of having a Dollar account.

[Naam]

forget about it, it is daylight robbery! We just opened a USD account with bank of America in Singapore. No minimum deposits, low fees and internet banking.

We checked with various banks in Thailand and the fees were ridiculous, HSCB taking the cake.

all said, case closed

[raro]

forget about it, it is daylight robbery! We just opened a USD account with bank of America in Singapore. No minimum deposits, low fees and internet banking.

We checked with various banks in Thailand and the fees were ridiculous, HSCB taking the cake.

all said, case closed

we can agree on something? weewww

[Naam]

forget about it, it is daylight robbery! We just opened a USD account with bank of America in Singapore. No minimum deposits, low fees and internet banking.

We checked with various banks in Thailand and the fees were ridiculous, HSCB taking the cake.

all said, case closed

we can agree on something? weewww

to the best of my knowledge there's only one topic on which we don't agree and that is bicycle riding morons... sorry, i mean of course all those "beati pauperi spiritu" who give our "hometown" Pattaya a bad name.

[Naam]

A friend of mine opened up a Dollar account recently with the Bangkok bank went to draw out $2000 and was old he had to convert the $2000 in to Thai Baht (Commission) and then convert the Thai Baht back in to US Dollars, again with commission so that's two lots of commission.

Any body have the same experience ? if so what is the point or the benifits of having a Dollar account.

a dollar account has been perfect for masochists who liked to suffer watching their Dollars lose value vs. Thai Baht for the last five years. it is not our business to judge their personal preferences

[tigerbalm]

A friend of mine opened up a Dollar account recently with the Bangkok bank went to draw out $2000 and was old he had to convert the $2000 in to Thai Baht (Commission) and then convert the Thai Baht back in to US Dollars, again with commission so that's two lots of commission.

Any body have the same experience ? if so what is the point or the benifits of having a Dollar account.

a dollar account has been perfect for masochists who liked to suffer watching their Dollars lose value vs. Thai Baht for the last five years. it is not our business to judge their personal preferences

Don't realy know what this has to do with the question but in essence i would agree 100%.

The question still stands

[ianguygil]

Your friend must have misunderstood what happens.

All Thai banks have a charge (normally about .25%) which is made in lieu of FX fees when a customer wants to withdraw funds from a Foreign Currency account in the currency of the account (i.e. not transferring it into THB).

Instead of withdrawing the funds from the account in the currency of the account (i.e. USD from a USD account) if he withdrew GBP from a USD account he would be charged 2 "spreads". First USD to THB, then the THB to GPB. As he is dealing with domestic consumer banking in Thailand. Were he a business, or dealing with large amounts, he could negotiate a cross currency deal which did not involve 2 transactions. But dealing with a small amount like $2,000 he is going to be just a consumer (retail) transaction.

Hope this makes sense.

Good luck.

[fletchsmile]

Most banks do them. Because foreign currency deposits for retail investors are a relatively new product in Thailand, the charges and fees etc can be high compared to other countries, + the interest rates received can be low compared to other countries. There are also still controls in many ways around foreign currency flows in Thailand, and the volume for banks just isn't there compared to somewhere like Singapore, so the banks natural go for higher margins on their lower volumes.

You really have to ask yourself what you are trying to acheive. For expats in particular, in many cases there will be better options around to acheive what you're aiming for.

[OxfordWill]

Kasikorn-

It cost me $20 to receive in USD to my USD deposit account. (the max is $20 on any sum).

Today I transferred some of it into baht and the XC was 32.3 (surprised since this is rather exact what I had checked in the morning).

It cost me $20 again to transfer the money from my Kbank USD to my Kbank THB.

Given that $20 is the maximum fee.. incoming or outgoing.. well, I am happy with that. It cost me alot less than it has been costing me to do the same with English Banks. Alot less!

Namm- can you educate me as to why I should not be holding USD in Thailand (or at all?)? If I have to receive USD, are you saying it's wiser to change it into THB immediately and if so can you explain in laymans terms for me why please? Thanks.

Edited April 7, 2010 by OxfordWill

[davee58]

Surely Citibank is worth a try?

[jfchandler]

To the comment above about Bank of America having an office in BKK...they do...but....they do absolutely nothing here in the way of personal/retail banking....

No local accounts, no ATMs, no teller service.... no currency exchange.. nothing for the individual account holder, even if you have regular BofA accounts back in the States....

I do remember one report from a TV member about getting some help with a replacement ATM card being conveyed... But that's about it...

Re HSBC, I remember talking with them at their BKK office about this when I first moved here.... Such an account was possible, but they were crazy with fees for everything under the sun.... The only reasonable solution with them, AFAIK, is if you plunk down $75,000 to $100,000 with them (the amount varies by home country) and gain Premier status with them, which includes international, online banking capabilities and a minimum of fees.

[Naam]

Kasikorn-

It cost me $20 to receive in USD to my USD deposit account. (the max is $20 on any sum).

Today I transferred some of it into baht and the XC was 32.3 (surprised since this is rather exact what I had checked in the morning).

It cost me $20 again to transfer the money from my Kbank USD to my Kbank THB.

Given that $20 is the maximum fee.. incoming or outgoing.. well, I am happy with that. It cost me alot less than it has been costing me to do the same with English Banks. Alot less!

Namm- can you educate me as to why I should not be holding USD in Thailand (or at all?)? If I have to receive USD, are you saying it's wiser to change it into THB immediately and if so can you explain in laymans terms for me why please? Thanks.

Will, history does not necessarily provide a clue what the future holds. but take a look at the graph (US-Dollar / Thai Baht). it speaks for itself.

[tigerbalm]

Your friend must have misunderstood what happens.

All Thai banks have a charge (normally about .25%) which is made in lieu of FX fees when a customer wants to withdraw funds from a Foreign Currency account in the currency of the account (i.e. not transferring it into THB).

Instead of withdrawing the funds from the account in the currency of the account (i.e. USD from a USD account) if he withdrew GBP from a USD account he would be charged 2 "spreads". First USD to THB, then the THB to GPB. As he is dealing with domestic consumer banking in Thailand. Were he a business, or dealing with large amounts, he could negotiate a cross currency deal which did not involve 2 transactions. But dealing with a small amount like $2,000 he is going to be just a consumer (retail) transaction.

Hope this makes sense.

Good luck.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

But....

Forgive me if i have this wrong but this is exactly what he wanted to do withdraw his USD from his USD account (With out having first to convert it to Baht and then converting it back to USD and subsequently paying two charges whether it being currency conversion or commission charges.

I suppose he thought he could go in to the Bank and withdraw $2000 in Dollars from his USD account. (which quite honestly i would expect to be able to do, if not then what is the benefit or advantages of having this type of account, especially if one takes in to the account like Namm has shown us by the Graph he attached showing the rather less then favorable performance of the USD against the Thai Baht.

(The reason he opened up a USD account was he often goes back to the Philippines and commented he would like to take USD with him instead of Baht, we said to him why did you not just open up a USD account in the Philippines,he raised his hands in the air and just said i don't know.)

Regards

TB

[ianguygil]

And what I explained is what he experienced

His funds were not moved USD-THB-USD.

They were withdrawn in USD and a charge was made in lieu of FX revenue.

This is made clear to everybody when they open an FC account in a Thai bank. And it is standard practice.

The movements of various currencies are obviously his issue, not the Bank. Banks just provide accounts in many different currencies (at least BBL does) and customers can choose which one they want to use to maintain their funds. Everybody has different opinions on where various currencies will go and I definitely won't get into my opinions on that here. But he made his choice to deposit in USD (for the reasons you mentioned).

[ianguygil]

Please check here for details. The table will not paste properly or I would have pasted it here instead of just a link.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...FCD%20Fees.aspx

[tigerbalm]

Please check here for details. The table will not paste properly or I would have pasted it here instead of just a link.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...FCD%20Fees.aspx

Yes you are quite correct and many thanks for the link i shall pass it on to him, i think the key issue here is that he never read the terms and conditions so to speak, or even was aware of them.

Many thanks for your time

TB

[hyperdimension]

I wrote the following in the Opening A New Bank Account In Thailand thread a few days ago but it seems that nobody reads sticky threads, so I'm now posting here so that I can get some response.

I need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with a bank here in Bangkok. From what I've gathered, it seems the easiest is with Bank of Ayudhya, who only require a passport: http://www.krungsri.com/en/ourservice-excl...ist.aspx?cid=40

Bangkok Bank requires:

* Passport

* Work Permit

If you do not have a work permit, please submit a copy of your passport together with a letter of recommendation as follows:

- A letter of recommendation from a person acceptable to Bangkok Bank such as a Bangkok Bank staff member, a respected customer of Bangkok Bank, a respected university teacher, a respected company director or senior executive. This must be on the form provided by Bangkok Bank (this can be obtained from any Bangkok Bank branch which provides a foreign currency deposit account service) and it must be accompanied by a certified true copy of the identification document e.g. ID card or government official ID card of the person making the recommendation; or

- A letter of recommendation from a reputable organization located in Thailand such as an embassy or an international organization; or

- A letter of recommendation from your bank abroad, acceptable to Bangkok Bank, sent to Bangkok Bank via SWIFT

(source: http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...s/Default.aspx)

Siam Commercial Bank also offers Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts: http://www.scb.co.th/en/pnb/pnb_dps_fcd.shtml

But their web site does not specify requirements. Does anyone know what documents are required?

Kasikorn Bank also offers Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts: http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/Personal/Ba...entAccount.aspx

But it seems they require a Temporary Work Permit. Also, a minimum balance of 5000 USD must be maintained otherwise a 10 USD monthly charge is applied.

So if any of you have opened a Foreign Currency Deposit Account in Thailand, what documents did you need to show?

Which other banks offer Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts?

I may go ahead with the Bank of Ayudhya account if that appears to be the easiest one to open.

Upon further research here it seems Bangkok Bank might be better because I could then use the New York branch of Bangkok Bank to transfer money into Thailand cheaply. Has anyone had any success of opening an account using passport + a letter of recommendation? Their web site states that the letter can be from "a Bangkok Bank staff member", so maybe I could get the person from whom I am requesting a new account to fill out the Letter of Recommendation form for me (even though I had only known him or her for a few minutes!)... I'd even be happy to pay him or her a bit of cash if it would help.

Edited April 17, 2010 by hyperdimension

[hyperdimension]

Also, is physical cash required in order to make the initial deposit? Does the initial deposit need to be made at the moment of opening the account?

If so then I would exchange THB to USD notes somewhere else (where there is a better exchange rate) beforehand.