I am carrying more Baht than I expected to. It is in a savings account.

All the banks offer fixed term deposit accounts. For 12 months a/c's, SCB offer 1.6% for deposits of less than 5 million. I'm thinking about 100,000 for now.

Can this rate be beaten by other banks? A friend suggested GSB but the rates are not displayed on their website.

Check this link: interest rates Thai banks

Sophon

Do banks automatically withold tax on the interest earned?

Check this link: interest rates Thai banks

This link, whilst useful, only gives rates for the basic types of account. There are other "fancy" accounts that may pay more, for example the 14 month account that pays some 2.6% for a headline 4.25% rate. I know of no site that lists these for comparison.

Do banks automatically withold tax on the interest earned?

yes

Bills of Exchange offer slightly higher rates (not covered by deposit insurance scheme), and some of the fixed income mutual funds will most likely have higher returns (relatively low risk as they are not an equity investment) - the latter are also tax free.

i tell ya what. Lend it to me and i will give ya 6% per year paid monthly over 2 years. So beating the local rates. Good deal for you, Good deal for me.. OK

OK I opened a "dai gap dai!" (get with get!) a/c with SCB. It's a fixed term of 15 months.

Month 1-5 1.25%

Month 6-10 2.25%

Month 11-15 4.25%

Average interest rate 2.58%

The interest is not compounded but paid out every 5 months to a regular SCB savings a/c. I had one of those already.

Interestingly, nowhere on the blurb are the key words 'per annum' either in Thai or in English. I'm wondering if it's a trick and the interest rates quoted are over 15 months and not APR rates.

Assuming it's not a trick

100,000 Baht x 1.25 (15 months) @ 2.58% = 3225 Baht less 15% witholding tax = 2741.25 Baht. In 15 months I'll let you know.

thaicbr: sorry, mate

I don't trust bank staff. SCB tried to sell me an "investment" which actually lost value over time, assuming 3% inflation. If you can accept some risk, buy some gold. It's going down some now so I'm waiting until end March or so to buy.

If you are not risk averse, you may try to invest in relatively safe large cap equities spread out over different sectors on the SET. With the index now around 990, there is a good chance you can earn well over 10% tax free in the long term (read 15-20 months). Or lessen your risk and invest in mutual funds like K-Lifestyle of Kasikornbank. Even this will fetch you high returns over long time. Depends on your risk profile.