What Is Best Bank To Bank With ?

[scorpio]

me and my wife are going today to deposit 600,000 into an account a joint account, we had previously seperate accounts but since we are goin g back to uk to save and work we will be sending money to thai bank every 2 months or so, i work offshore and will need to send my wages via internet banking to a thai bank , we plan to live off my wifes earnings whilst in uk and will send all my wages to our joint thai account. i also have about 1.4 million baht in my uk bank account at present and will send that via swift transfer when i get back to uk. we were thinking of krungsi bank as they seem to allways have the best exchange rates but then again im no expert. reason why we are sending everything to thailand is because my wife does not want to stay in uk, she gets very depressed with weather etc and she really wants to return to thailand , basically she wants to open a smal business here in pattaya as we have a house bought here allready and we are thinking of something to just keep us ticking over for the future ( not to make a fortune !! )

so best bank please ?

thanks in advance

[CharlieH]

I would suggest Bangkok Bank, they have a branch in London, easy to transfer money online from UK account into BkB London and they pass it to your Thai account.

Internet Banking is easy and they have in my experience always provided a good service.

If you are moving a large sum you can negotiate a better rate than published with them too.

[lonewolf99]

Krungsri have a foreign currency account you can pay UK pounds directly into - You get no interest but when in Thailand you get a better exchange rate when you pull money out of a Yellow ATM.

They also have a deposit account that pays a better interest rate if you make only 2 or less withdrawals in a calendar month. Which you you wont be doing if you are in the UK.

[nong38]

I use Krungsri as well ( Bank of Ayudhya) I find them very good and importantly for me and for you, how many English speakers in the branch you choose? I have at least 4 ( Kosi Road- Nakhon Sawan). The headoffice phone callers are also perfect English callers. When I sent over a large sum, I rang their compliance dept and asked why the money had not shown up in the account yet? Swift should not take long. The girl I spoke to said "today the rate is 49.5 that is a good rate I will put it in for you now" Maybe just lucky?

Get excellent service and a cup of tea everytime I go in.

I was going to with Kasikorn, they were ok with emails but when I went into the branch, did not want to know, probably no English speakers.

They ( Krungsri) helped with purchase of the house, explained it all to me and no charge.

So on that basis I have no hesitation in pointing you in that direction.

Good luck and dont stay away too long

[Paul888]

I use Kasikorn and Krungsri, both are very good and have good internet banking and security although I would probably put Krungsri slightly ahead on the internet side in that you can wire overseas from online.

[KHR1010]

I am not sure what the total sum of your deposits will be. However, if over the time you are staying in the UK you are going to be depositing over 50 Mil. THB. I would highly recommend you look at HSBC linked to a BVI account. The HSBC Branch on Thonglor is great and can answer any questions for you. Going this route you will have access in the UK to your account and the account will be multi-currency. Some of the best internet service/security and a rock solid bank should there be any issues with Thai political/infrastructure stability in the future.

[scorpio]

thanks for your help guys ;-)

[Nisa]

I am not sure what the total sum of your deposits will be. However, if over the time you are staying in the UK you are going to be depositing over 50 Mil. THB. I would highly recommend you look at HSBC linked to a BVI account. The HSBC Branch on Thonglor is great and can answer any questions for you. Going this route you will have access in the UK to your account and the account will be multi-currency. Some of the best internet service/security and a rock solid bank should there be any issues with Thai political/infrastructure stability in the future.

If you have a UK or US HSBC account, can you withdraw money in Thailand at the counter without any fees or at least significantly less fees than a transfer from a US/UK bank to another Thailand bank?

[garrfeild]

Don't use Bangkok Bank in the UK to transfer money even if you keep it in sterling for conversion in Thailand. Bank Ayudhya Pay the best bank exchange rate. If your bank in the UK allow you to transfer international payments send it as sterling don't convert in the UK. if you swift it again do so in sterling. the only way you will get a good interest rate will be a timed deposit, krung sri offer 3.5% interest. not sure of the maturity date. Or open an account with HSBC offshore They will pay interest but only the base rate of the currency you hold. That way you can transfer it or convert it into Thai baht when you want.

I would also think twice about sending it over in one go unless you are happy with the exchange rate. I think you will get a better exchange rate in a few months time. When the thai baht is weaker.

It did reach 31 baht to the dollar on Friday, if it goes to 33 or higher you could get more than 50 Baht to 1 sterling or better.

[PattayaParent]

Open an account in IOM to receive your salary and only transfer the money to Thailand when you are actually ready to move here.

Plans may change in the meantime and you wouldn't want your money stuck in Thailand and unable to access it.

[fletchsmile]

For many years I worked on the principle of keeping 1/3 my money where I came from (UK for you), 1/3 offshore and 1/3 in Thailand. I've changed my stance a bit and the %s for several reasons, tax being an important one, and life decisions another.

However, the principal still makes sense to me, as you don't put all your eggs in one basket in terms of things like bank safety, and exchange rate movements, plus life is uncertain and your views on "home" and where you prefer to live can and do change. As mentioned, Thailand isn't necessarily the easiest place to deal with while being overseas, and from time to time they have a habit of imposing transaction restrictions on moving money.

Given the amounts you're talking of a couple of a million baht, you might want to skip the offshore option, and it may not be worth your while, so do 50/50. I like Singapore though, for its ease of use, and proximity to Thailand, also having SGD as a third currency which is more stable than baht and still Asian, without all the USD/EUR/GBP hassles. Isle of Man and Jersey etc are also OK but still linked to GBP.

In terms of banks here, I would pick 2 out of Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayuddyha, SCB, and Kasikorn. Why 2 banks? many reasons but the most important:

- The govt guarantee will drop to THB 1mio per person per bank in your time frame, so again spreading your risk

- When something goes wrong, as it often does in Thailand you have a backup and are not stuck. Things like transferring online from one bank to another, or using the second banks card, while your first one is locked or blocked or whatever are useful

In my view, these are the best 4 local banks in Thailand. All have internet banking.

HSBC could also be one of your choices, if you also have money elsewhere with them and qualify for Premium Banking (total 3 mio up in Thailand OR a premium customer in another location). Advantages: safety, i.e credit rating, and parental bank support for hassles as well as financial / moral support should the local bank get into difficulties. Below THB 3mio though they hit you badly for fees in Thailand. By the time you come back they will also have more branches.

[PattayaParent]

^you can get offshore accounts in IOM in GBP, USD, AUD, EUR and ZAR with low deposit requirements.

But the OP only seems to be intersted in GBP (if that's his salary base) converted to THB.