At what age can a Thai 'child' in Thailand open and operate their own bank account?

By 'operate', I mean everything : atm's, savings, cheque accounts, pay bills, and in the case of my child, even send money to their bank account overseas (UK) for holiday spending money.

Children are limited to what they can do in terms of having the full suite of banking products, and I think it's often 18 to be able to do everything you mention.

The solution I set up was to open savings accounts in the "child's name by father's name" and "child's name by mother's name", then set them up with internet banking, so you simply transfer money from their account to yours and then can do anything. We did the same for making investments in mutual funds. Useful to have 2 a/cs so that mum is a signatory on one and dad on the other. Of course with internet banking anyone can log on with the ID and password to do transfers, pay bills, open internet saving accounts etc. Was a bit of a pain to set up. For the youngest we did this not long after birth.

Cheers

Fletch

We got my son an account at BKK bank last year at age 14. They won't let him have an ATM card until he turns 15.

Got my Thai Niece a bank account with debit card to take to China for her intensive Chinese study porgram to use to withdraw money from ATM.

She is only 15. Absolutely no problem. Account in her name only. She took the card, I keep the passbook to deposit money.

Took about 15 minutes from start to finish once waited on by customer service.

Edited April 26, 201214 yr by Lifer

Yes 15 for ATM.

BTW Did either of you get a cheque book? Can't recall specifics but I recall some banking products also needing to be 18...

Got my Thai Niece a bank account with debit card to take to China for her intensive Chinese study porgram to use to withdraw money from ATM.

She is only 15. Absolutely no problem. Account in her name only. She took the card, I keep the passbook to deposit money.

Took about 15 minutes from start to finish once waited on by customer service.

We got my son an account at BKK bank last year at age 14. They won't let him have an ATM card until he turns 15.

The age of majority in thailand is 15 for the majority of legal things, so this sounds right. This "should" include checking accounts also? But perhaps doing things internationally may require 18 years for consent.

I wonder if a foreigner could open an account at 15? That would be interesting.

I like the fact that you could before 15, but no ATM card. I do have a question. Was the 14 year old able to open the account by themselves completely (no parent or adult co-signature)?

Edited April 26, 201214 yr by 4evermaat

On 4/24/2012 at 2:44 PM, seaeagle said:

At what age can a Thai 'child' in Thailand open and operate their own bank account?

By 'operate', I mean everything : atm's, savings, cheque accounts, pay bills, and in the case of my child, even send money to their bank account overseas (UK) for holiday spending money.

My daughter  was allowed to open a Kasikorn  account aged 13 and they will open one for children aged from 12 years old.

They can open a bank accoutn at the same age they get ID card. At 7 years of age.

17 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

My daughter  was allowed to open a Kasikorn  account aged 13 and they will open one for children aged from 12 years old.

 

seaeagle hasn't logged on for 8 years so may not be able to use your valuable advice.  Hopefully others can, even if it's accuracy has already been questioned.

1 hour ago, treetops said:

it's accuracy has already been questioned.

Like everything in Thailand when asking a question, you'll get half a dozen replies and we still won't get a definite conclusion as to which is the correct answer. As of 5 months ago, when my daughter opened her account, the age was 12 at Kasikorn Bank.