Basic Banking Advice, Please

[newworks]

i am moving to thailand in september. have some savings that i want to get out of japan in order to keep it away from the tax-man. i am considering moving it to a citibank account in thailand, or maybe to a bank in hkg.

my questions are:

1) what do i need (documentation, etc.) to open a bank account in thailand?

2) are there any downsides to citibank in thailand (or the hkg. option) that i am not aware of?

any advice or pearls of wisdom are appreciated!

[buadhai]

There are lots of posts on banking in this forum. Try the red "search" button in the menu at the top of the page.

You might want to consider moving your money to some place where you can actually earn some interest.

I am a US citizen living in Thailand. I have my cash in interest bearing accounts in the US. I do have a bank account here, but I keep little money in it and have it mainly for convenience and emergencies (in case the US ATM card fails....)

[newworks]

thanks! will have a look around...

[OldAsiaHand]

Use Hong Kong. You will find that dealing with local banks in Thailand is difficult, even when they are branches of respected international banks. The Reserve Bank's crazy quilt of local regulations that are inconsistently enforced makes ordinary international transactions sourced out of Thailand at best an adventure and at worst totally impossible. Put your primary account in Hong Kong and keep only what you need for immediate expenses in Thailand.

[Harmonica]

i am moving to thailand in september. have some savings that i want to get out of japan in order to keep it away from the tax-man. i am considering moving it to a citibank account in thailand, or maybe to a bank in hkg.

my questions are:

1) what do i need (documentation, etc.) to open a bank account in thailand?

2) are there any downsides to citibank in thailand (or the hkg. option) that i am not aware of?

any advice or pearls of wisdom are appreciated!

Passport.

Siam commercial Bank in Thailand. That is your best bet. But if I were in your shoes I'd have 2 -- one in Thailand and the other outside -- Singapore is the better choice. Get online capability for both and transfer at will when necessary.

[newworks]

i am moving to thailand in september. have some savings that i want to get out of japan in order to keep it away from the tax-man. i am considering moving it to a citibank account in thailand, or maybe to a bank in hkg.

my questions are:

1) what do i need (documentation, etc.) to open a bank account in thailand?

2) are there any downsides to citibank in thailand (or the hkg. option) that i am not aware of?

any advice or pearls of wisdom are appreciated!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Passport.

Siam commercial Bank in Thailand. That is your best bet. But if I were in your shoes I'd have 2 -- one in Thailand and the other outside -- Singapore is the better choice. Get online capability for both and transfer at will when necessary.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks all for the advice. so. hkg or s`pore are good bets for the non-thai acct. gotcha. next (stupid) question: i don`t actually have to go to hkg. or s`pore to open accts., right? can i open offshore accts. with banks in those places in bkk, or is it better to try to do it from where i am now, tokyo?

sorry for all the newbie questions! :-)

-n-

[Harmonica]

i am moving to thailand in september. have some savings that i want to get out of japan in order to keep it away from the tax-man. i am considering moving it to a citibank account in thailand, or maybe to a bank in hkg.

my questions are:

1) what do i need (documentation, etc.) to open a bank account in thailand?

2) are there any downsides to citibank in thailand (or the hkg. option) that i am not aware of?

any advice or pearls of wisdom are appreciated!

Passport.

Siam commercial Bank in Thailand. That is your best bet. But if I were in your shoes I'd have 2 -- one in Thailand and the other outside -- Singapore is the better choice. Get online capability for both and transfer at will when necessary.

thanks all for the advice. so. hkg or s`pore are good bets for the non-thai acct. gotcha. next (stupid) question: i don`t actually have to go to hkg. or s`pore to open accts., right? can i open offshore accts. with banks in those places in bkk, or is it better to try to do it from where i am now, tokyo?

sorry for all the newbie questions! :-)

-n-

Nothin wrong with being a newbie -- even great men were born little children.

Yes, you can open accounts in Singapore and HK by courier. Pick a bank, go to their website, download the forms, fill them out, make copies of passport & other rel docs and send by FedEx, DHL or whatever! Goodluck!

[OldAsiaHand]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Singapore is the better choice. Get online capability for both and transfer at will when necessary.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, but there's a major problem with doing international banking through Singapore.

In Hong Kong banks charge a fixed fee for international transfers, anywhere from USD20 to about USD50. In Singapore, most banks charge for transfers based on a minimum fee of about USD25 plus a tiny percentage of the amount of the transfer. If you ever move any substantial amount of money around, you can easily find yourself stung with a fee of several hunderd dollars or more (unless, of course, you're important enough to the bank to negotiate that downward) and that can come as a very nasty surprise indeed.

[newworks]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Singapore is the better choice. Get online capability for both and transfer at will when necessary.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, but there's a major problem with doing international banking through Singapore.

In Hong Kong banks charge a fixed fee for international transfers, anywhere from USD20 to about USD50. In Singapore, most banks charge for transfers based on a minimum fee of about USD25 plus a tiny percentage of the amount of the transfer. If you ever move any substantial amount of money around, you can easily find yourself stung with a fee of several hunderd dollars or more (unless, of course, you're important enough to the bank to negotiate that downward) and that can come as a very nasty surprise indeed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks guys for more sage advice! so, i am thinking that HSBC is the best choice. large, reputable, and they have good intgernet banking, it seems. any thoughts?

[thaistick]

i am moving to thailand in september. have some savings that i want to get out of japan in order to keep it away from the tax-man. i am considering moving it to a citibank account in thailand, or maybe to a bank in hkg.

my questions are:

1) what do i need (documentation, etc.) to open a bank account in thailand?

2) are there any downsides to citibank in thailand (or the hkg. option) that i am not aware of?

any advice or pearls of wisdom are appreciated!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you a Japanese citizen?No matter what country you are a citizen of,especially

America,all money electronically moved around international banks are tracked and traceable.Post 9/11 has made it even harder for US citizens to hide or offshore money.The USA IRS or the Japanese equivalent will know how much you have moved out of the country and what banks you use and the account numbers.

Terrorism and drug money are the excuses they use to keep tabs on their citizens money.

If you truly want to keep foreign accounts away from your government's prying eyes,fly to the countries with less than $10,000 in cash and open accounts there with cash.In Singapore I would go with a Singapore bank like UOB instead of the larger international British HSBC and especially the American Citibank due to more privacy.

[Captain Chaos]

I bank with HSBC Thailand for my local stuff. Service is OK but nothing spectacular. Having other HSBC accounts outside Thailand has not provided me with any substantial advantages when dealing with HSBC in Thailand. Internet banking is rudimentary. So far as I know for any transfers out of Thailand, you have to fax an instruction to them (ie. the net banking does not have this capability).

So no particular complaints, but with hindsight I might well have tried a Thai bank. SCB do seem to be getting a lot of favourable press these days (but I've never used them so don't take my word for it).

I think certain Singaporean banks took stakes in (possibly control of) some of the privatised Thai banks in the last 18 months or so? Can't remember which ones but I would be tempted to investigate these - especially if you're considering having your offshore account in Singapore.

[trajan]

I bank with HSBC Thailand for my local stuff. Service is OK but nothing spectacular. Having other HSBC accounts outside Thailand has not provided me with any substantial advantages when dealing with HSBC in Thailand. Internet banking is rudimentary. So far as I know for any transfers out of Thailand, you have to fax an instruction to them (ie. the net banking does not have this capability).

So no particular complaints, but with hindsight I might well have tried a Thai bank. SCB do seem to be getting a lot of favourable press these days (but I've never used them so don't take my word for it).

I think certain Singaporean banks took stakes in (possibly control of) some of the privatised Thai banks in the last 18 months or so? Can't remember which ones but I would be tempted to investigate these - especially if you're considering having your offshore account in Singapore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

HSBC Premier banking in Thailand (which is easy to get if you get a condo mortgage or otherwise deposit a certain amount of funds) is really good with service because they assign a personal banking assistant who takes care of things ...also the higher level banking with Citibank (Citigold?) and Standard Chartered Nakornthon Bank might provide better service for you (eliminating hassles as far as possible).....

The Singaporean banks are only:

a. DBS Bank (which used to have a majority stake in DBS Thai Danu Bank, but they recently merged that bank into TMB Bank and now DBS Singapore only holds a minority stake in TMB Bank--Thai government holding a majority stake); and

b. UOB Bank holds majority controlling stakes in UOB Ratanasin Bank and in Bank of Asia...its been reported that later UOB Ratanasin Bank and Bank of Asia will merge into one bank called "UOB Thailand". I've always had good experiences with Bank of Asia (when they were under Dutch ABN AMRO management and later when under Singaporean UOB Bank management).....they seem to be a bit more customer-oriented (and just a bit less bureaucratic) than purely "Thai" banks....

Edited August 8, 2005 by trajan

[Hikage]

It's one thing bringing money into Thailand, it's another thing taking it out. Beware!!!!