Thai Bank Accounts Safe? Is My Money Protected

[scorpio]

we send money to my wifes account at krunsi every few months, at present we have 2m thb in account, by 2013 we plan to have around 3m thb or more, is this money safe? also will my 2 year old daughter get this money if god forbid anything happened to my wife. My name is not on the account as yet but plan to put my name onto account as soon as we go back to los in june 2012.

Should we maybe spread this money into different accounts, say break it up and open accounts with scb and kasikorn?

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[CharlieH]

I dont think its ever a good idea to have "all your eggs in one basket", I would have atleast two accounts.

Helps with accessability to funds etc if one should have an issue at any time.

Edited January 14, 2012 by CharlieH

[ludditeman]

In the near future only 1m will be 'safe'

Why not open accounts in some other banks and spread the cash around a bit in different 'term' deposits.

[GreenSnapper]

The big banks shall be considerably safe. They do not gamble high risk as so common in Europe or USA.

But being this Thailand, you can never know for sure. You can also never know if the "government guarantee" has an value for a farang. How do you enforce this law, if your bank goes bankrupt? No way....

So the general rule applies here as well: don't bring anything into the country you cannot afford to lose.

The only money I keep here is the amount I need for visa renewal / about one year living expenses.

Keep everything else in Singapore. SG is a very safe financial place, and the law is taken seriously there. Absolutely no comparision to Thailand's "mai pen rai" attitude.

[Pib]

Come Aug 12 only 1M baht per person per bank will be covered so if you have all money in one Thai bank you will only be covered for 1M baht. Put 1 million in bank ABC, 1 million in bank DEF, and 1 million in bank GHI and you are covered for 3M baht.

Also, consumer protection laws in Thailand basically don't exist...in the financial sector you are at the mercy of the bank's polices...this lack of consumer protection is really important if money is fraudulently removed--like someone gets your debit card/internet banking User ID & Password and then empties your account...highly doubtful the bank will reimburse you and since it not a bank failure the govt insurance is not in play.

Is your money safe in Thailand: yes, kinda...up to a point...key a close watch on your money.

[Pib]

Here's a Thailand Law Forum link that gives detailed info on the Deposit Insurance Program. Link

[nong38]

After the 800,000bts retirement requirement does not leave a lot spare does it? Means I will have to look for other Banks with English speakers which is a bit thin on the ground in this neck of the woods, Nakhon Sawan.

[smiling mantis]

Of course, the other consideration is whether your money is any safer in a bank back at home.

And also, do you have to go back home to retrieve it should it all hit the fan? General predictions of riots, mayhem, collapsing this, collapsing that, etc. If your money is here, you get to ride all of that out. If your money isn't here, and there's no way for you to get at it, then what?

The Thais aren't stupid. If they start confiscating assets, the flow of money stops, and the herd moves on.

[Gone]

1) If your name is NOT on the account then no it is NOT safe (for you anyways)

2) If something (god forbid) happened to your wife then there is no way of you getting 1 cetang

3) If something did happen to your wife as of now then her family (or your daughter if she is Thai) can get the money out by presenting a death certificate.

[kennalder]

If you want to test if your money is safe try this. Tell your wife and her family something has gone wrong with your money supply and you will need to withdraw 100,000 baht a month for at least the next year. Then start doing it immediately. I know, not exactly the danger you were talking about and I doubt you will try this experiment, but I would venture to guess this is the most likely way of losing your money. Better to lose 2mill than 3.