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Interest rates in Thailand are much higher than my offshore bank in the UK Channel Islands pays, and if I convert my money into THB it would protect me against future currency exchange movements. This is important to to me as I have substantial savings but no income at all except what I can earn in interest. Protection of capital is paramount, but I have no reason to question the safety of funds on account at Bangkok Bank - or do I? However, in case that, for some unforeseen reason, I would need to remove the money and transfer it to another country I am concerned this may be difficult, or even impossible.

I have heard of something called a foreign exchange certificate, issued when money in foreign currency is brought into Thailand from overseas. I know not how to acquire one of these, nor if it would protect me from the nightmare situation of having to leave Thailand for some reason, but being unable to take my money with me. Can anyone explain the specifics of this, or provide any other details or links which might help me to decide whether I should bring the money here, or not.

Finally, if invested in a Thai bank and earning interest, would the interest be subject to taxation? I am a retired person with no income except for this potential bank interest. It seems unfair to have to pay tax on such a tiny income.

The FET or Foreign Exchange Transaction form can be isssued on any amount of incoming foreign currency, there is no minimum. The form itself is rarely issued these days unless the customer specifically requests it, instead, the less formal currency exchange receipt will suffice for most purposes - as long as you have either of those two documents you can easily transfer your funds out of Thailand again.

The difficulty with transferring funds out is that it's difficult for most people to transfer funds out unless you are physically present in the branch where your account is held and you have the passbook, in the west we are used to electronic online account transfers and management but that is quite difficult to achieve here. I keep 50% of my assets here, typically on fixed rate deposits, the best scenario I have managed to achieve is that the bank will automatically roll over any maturing deposit into the best corresponding fixed rate deal on offer at the time, that ensures that if I'm not in country when a deal matures, at least the funds are not sat idling and not working, it doesn't avoid the fact however that I would need to return if I want to transfer the funds..

Finally, I think it's prudent risk management these days to spread your funds. In my case I'm split three ways geographically, split eight ways by banks and four ways by currency, doing that ensures that if one component of my holdings hits a brick wall, I'm not left in difficulty.

Finally finally! Deposits in Thailand are taxed at source at 15%, this may be reclaimed as the first THB 150k per year of income is tax free.

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Thanks very much for the three replies so far. I am from the UK, but I do not get a pension as I left there in the 1970's after only a few years of tax-paying employment and have not a sufficient record of contributions to qualify for a pension. I have worked most of my career as a contractor on a daily rate. I expected to be able to retire and live comfortably on the 6-8% interest on my savings, which seemed at the time to be the least I could expect. Obviously that plan did not work out too well!

A few years ago I put the majority of my funds in the hands of an investment manager, with a discretionary account. He did OK at first, but for the last 12 months the return to me has been little more than 1%, but he still takes his own fat fee out of the principal. I cannot live like this and want to invest at fixed interest, so I know where I stand, with maximum safety of capital and minumum foreign exchange risk. Plus I want to fire the manager for his poor performance and stop paying him for his worthless service.

One of the Thai banks I am considering pays 3% on a 2 year fixed deposit. If i were to invest the sum I am thinking of, that would give me enough income on which to live frugally. I could pay for my food, shelter and clothing, and have a little left over for entertainment. But the interest would exceed the figure of 150K per year mentioned, and if i had to pay tax at 15% this would reduce my net return to below this survival threshold. My offshore bank pays only 2.3% for a 5 year fixed deposit, and I do not wish to fix for so long, as interest rates will have to begin to improve soon. I would be happy with 2 years, but not more. And the bank pays only 1.7% for 3 years, which will never meet my expenses. Plus, I believe that the debt-based UK economy is heading for further problems and that the baht is undervalued right now, so i think now is the time to switch. I would still keep some amount offshore as an emergency reserve, but the bulk of my capital would be in baht. This is the only way I can see to make enough to survive. But the tax would be a killer. I would need to find some way to work around that.

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Whilst this thread is intended to be about interest rates I can't help but feel that your story is not too dissimilar to many others who read this forum, retirement plans gone off the rails as interest rates have fallen and everyone is in search of yield. Certainly the return on savings here in Thailand is better than anything that's on offer (at the same risk level) in the UK currently but it's still not enough for most people t live comfortably. The answer for some people who can't increase their income is to reduce their expenses, many have done this by being more frugal or by eliminating rent payments and buying somewhere to live.

Personally I agree that THB is undervalued and that GBP is overvalued, it therefore makes sense to me at least to make that switch but it still doesn't answer the yield problem vs the tax aspect. Perhaps it's worth understanding the Thai tax bands and taking a hit of 5% tax instead of 15%, for me that's better than nothing.

0-150,000 Exempt %

more than 150,000 but less than 300,000 5

more than 300,000 but less than 500,000 10

more than 500,000 but less than 750,000 15

more than 750,000 but less than 1,000,000 20

more than 1,000,000 but less than 2,000,000 25

more than 2,000,000 but less than 4,000,000 30

Over 4,000,000 35

Edited by chiang mai
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One of the Thai banks I am considering pays 3% on a 2 year fixed deposit. If i were to invest the sum I am thinking of, that would give me enough income on which to live frugally. I could pay for my food, shelter and clothing, and have a little left over for entertainment. But the interest would exceed the figure of 150K per year mentioned, and if i had to pay tax at 15% this would reduce my net return to below this survival threshold.

Have you considered inflation? Modest inflation of perhaps 3% over 15-20 years will halve the value of your capital unless you reinvest your interest (which you wont be doing), or you invest in something that will (hopefully) appreciate in value. And assuming that interest rates stay the same your fixed interest payments will buy you less and less every year, as prices rise. And what about medical bills if you have the misfortune to fall ill? These could make a big dent in your savings too.

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A tax hit of 5% by this table would mean I receive less than 300,000 per year, or 25,000 per month. I cannot live on so little. But anyway if the bank withholds 15% I would probably never get anything back, as the paperwork would be incomprehensible due to my very limited knowledge of the Thai language. I have certainly considered inflation, but what can I do about it? I have never had any luck buying shares or mutual funds; I have always lost money on things like that. The only way not to actually lose money for me is to keep it in the bank, and hope the bank stays solvent. If I cannot get more than 3%, then I will have to accept that as the best i can do and hope I don't get sick. But if I must lose 15% in tax that means only a net return of 2.55% and that is simply not enough to live on. I will have to spend some of my savings, which in turn will reduce my income so I must spend more and more as inflation takes its toll and before long I shall be left with nothing. I know all this, and it woriies me dreadfully, but there seems to be no solution to this problem. I just have to hope that interest rates will begin to rise again soon.

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A tax hit of 5% by this table would mean I receive less than 300,000 per year, or 25,000 per month. I cannot live on so little. But anyway if the bank withholds 15% I would probably never get anything back, as the paperwork would be incomprehensible due to my very limited knowledge of the Thai language. I have certainly considered inflation, but what can I do about it? I have never had any luck buying shares or mutual funds; I have always lost money on things like that. The only way not to actually lose money for me is to keep it in the bank, and hope the bank stays solvent. If I cannot get more than 3%, then I will have to accept that as the best i can do and hope I don't get sick. But if I must lose 15% in tax that means only a net return of 2.55% and that is simply not enough to live on. I will have to spend some of my savings, which in turn will reduce my income so I must spend more and more as inflation takes its toll and before long I shall be left with nothing. I know all this, and it woriies me dreadfully, but there seems to be no solution to this problem. I just have to hope that interest rates will begin to rise again soon.

Can I ask that we wrap up this aspect of the thread, others members are quite rightly becoming concerned that it is way off topic, members come here looking for interest rates at banks specifically?

Perhaps you could start a new thread that discusses just this issue and I think you would find much support for that and would likely get some useful input.

In the meantime I will PM you on the tax side of things which are far less onerous than you think.

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A tax hit of 5% by this table would mean I receive less than 300,000 per year, or 25,000 per month. I cannot live on so little. But anyway if the bank withholds 15% I would probably never get anything back, as the paperwork would be incomprehensible due to my very limited knowledge of the Thai language. I have certainly considered inflation, but what can I do about it? I have never had any luck buying shares or mutual funds; I have always lost money on things like that. The only way not to actually lose money for me is to keep it in the bank, and hope the bank stays solvent. If I cannot get more than 3%, then I will have to accept that as the best i can do and hope I don't get sick. But if I must lose 15% in tax that means only a net return of 2.55% and that is simply not enough to live on. I will have to spend some of my savings, which in turn will reduce my income so I must spend more and more as inflation takes its toll and before long I shall be left with nothing. I know all this, and it woriies me dreadfully, but there seems to be no solution to this problem. I just have to hope that interest rates will begin to rise again soon.

Can I ask that we wrap up this aspect of the thread, others members are quite rightly becoming concerned that it is way off topic, members come here looking for interest rates at banks specifically?

Perhaps you could start a new thread that discusses just this issue and I think you would find much support for that and would likely get some useful input.

In the meantime I will PM you on the tax side of things which are far less onerous than you think.

I agree with cm.on Roberta's problem,if its moved to a more suitable forum as its taking up to much info [that he needs] as this is about bank interest rates,so he can follow these as well,there is aways an up to date report.

roberta you need a lot more info on finances than you think.so please start another topic as we are here to help you.

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Just to hopefully clarify a bit about Thai bank tax withholding:

Not all Thai bank accounts are required to have taxes withheld at the source.

This is not my particular area of expertise. But from what I've read here over time, it's fixed-term accounts (two year, three year, etc) that tend to have automatic tax withholding from the start.

On the other hand, supposedly, regular deposit accounts only get into tax withholding once the interest earned on that particular account reaches 20,000 baht for the calendar year. As long as the accrued interest for a regular deposit account remains under 20K for the calendar year, there shouldn't be any tax withholding.

So, using some rough math, a deposit of 800,000 baht at 2.5% APY would earn about 20,000b in interest during the year, and actually a bit more with compounding assuming the interest was not withdrawn along the way. So as long as you stay under the 20K threshhold for non-fixed deposit accounts, you should be fine. And no process involved of trying to reclaim taxed interest from the Thai Revenue Department.

But as always, the tax treatment is one amount various important details to check with the Thai bank as part of the account opening process, since these days, there are many flavors of different kinds of accounts offered.

One other detail that others here have emphasized on this subject in the past is to stress that the 20K limit applies per regular deposit account -- and NOT per bank or accountholder. So, supposedly, the same person could open multiple accounts at the same bank or different accounts at different banks, and as long as each remained under the 20K interest per calendar year threshhold, each would have no interest deducted.

Lastly, in the same vein, the Thai government's deposit insurance protection is still scheduled to fall to 1 million baht per bank, per accountholder starting in August 2016, unless they back out as they did the last time the limit was set to be drastically reduced from its current 50 million baht amount. So that's another looming argument for dividing up one's Thai bank deposits among multiple banks, if possible.

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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Bank of Ayudhya

8-months Step Up Time Deposit Account
Account opening from 11 Jun 2014 onwards
Month 1 st - 3 rd 2.30 %
Month 4 th - 6 th 2.70 %
Month 7 th - 8 th 3.50 %
(Average Rate = 2.75%)

#23 on page 4 of this pdf

Interest_884Deposit_15July2014.pdf

Also their no hassle Savings Mee Tae Dai Deposit Account

which I have a few of is at 2.3% now (#7 page 1 of same pdf )

Edited by mania
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Try a different branch and/or show them a long stay visa and a Thai drivers license and they'll say OK, L&H Bank are real sh*ts about that sort of nonsense, they simply don't understand the visa situation.

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I have a fixed acc.with them,no mention of a work permit,mind you I have,passport showing visa status,tax id.drivers licence.proof of residence.

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Try a different branch and/or show them a long stay visa and a Thai drivers license and they'll say OK, L&H Bank are real sh*ts about that sort of nonsense, they simply don't understand the visa situation.

I have a fixed acc.with them,no mention of a work permit,[retired so don't have] but I did take my passport showing visa status,drivers licence and tax id.card.

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Try a different branch and/or show them a long stay visa and a Thai drivers license and they'll say OK, L&H Bank are real sh*ts about that sort of nonsense, they simply don't understand the visa situation.

I have a fixed acc.with them,no mention of a work permit,[retired so don't have] but I did take my passport showing visa status,drivers licence and tax id.card.

well Roberta there is me bragging up LH,what CM.says read again,because me and mrs.meat went to LH BANK to open savings accounts for both of us.staff said ok.passport please,tax id.and drivers licence,do you have a WORK PERMIT no if you look at my visa status you will see retirement long term,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.30mins filling in the forms she then went out the back room she then came back sorry this acc.not for farangs.so up I gets told the wife grab you id.card and they can rip up your application.

mrs.meat wont lay down that easy[never did] so we get home and she's on the phone to head office,they only asked did I show my passport and tax id.when the wife gave them my name and the 13digit tax.no.no problem mrs meat you go in any time and open them.as the saying goes IF AT FIRST YOU DONT SUCCEED TRY,TRY,AND TRY AGAIN.

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having been a horse racing freak,there has been an objection by the local branch of korat to the customer services at their head office of land and houses bank to give me a savings account.after replay and replay that took 5hrs. the objection has been sustained.it seemed the stewards at their main centre have came to the decision that foreigners are not allowed to have any sort of savings account where it is tax free.but they did tell mrs.meat they are sorry about it but she can go in any time she likes to open one of these accounts.mrs.meat wished they could understand a few choice words not in the English dictionary.

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Then I stand no chance. I have a passport with a non-O and retirement extension. That is all. No tax ID, no driver license, no work permit. For a driver license, I believe a residence certificate is required. I read about the ways to get one of those, and do not think any of them would work for me.

Bangkok Bank (where I already have an account) is offering 2.8% for 11 months, which is quite close to 3%. When I opened my account there I found them very foreigner-friendly so perhaps I will go for that when I get back to BKK (I'm out of the country right now).

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LH Bank, 4.1% p.a., tax exempted, 36 month savings, monthly savings plan

http://www.lhbank.co.th/Product/submenu/81103

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

In the run up to interest rate increases globally we're going to see lots of these, all with long durations. They may seem attractive now because rates have been low for so long, the problem is that in twelve or eighteen months time when fixed deposit rates are up around say 4% and headed higher, they wont seem like such a good deal and you'll be stuck with it. Having said that 4.1% tax free is equivalent to 4.71% so it's pretty attractive I must admit. The limit however is THB 600k and this must be deposited in equal amounts over the life of the deposit so it's more of a savings plan than a fixed rate product, it may suit some.

Edited by chiang mai
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LH Bank, 4.1% p.a., tax exempted, 36 month savings, monthly savings plan

http://www.lhbank.co.th/Product/submenu/81103

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

for Thai's ONLY see my posts yesterday.

hi cm.could you maybe find out what I have been told is true or is it some face saving.

fri.1st.10.30am me and the wife go to land and house bank to open an.account each over 36months the onehighlighted above.the staff says ok.can I see your passport,shows her my long term retirement extension,then my drivers licence and tax id.registration card,so she then continues to open my acc.someone else does the wifes,after 30minutes she then says I cant have one.

so being pissed off waiting we leave after they ripped up the wifes application.

so when we get home the wife phones customer services at head quarters and she asked them was this the case that my husband cannot open this savings acc.after giving her all my details she then asked about my tax id.does it have a 13digit no.yes after awhile she said certainaly he can open it,staff replied it seems like the bank [korat] were entering the 10 digit no.so she says she will speak to lh.at korat branch and tell them its ok.and they will phone us back.

3hrs.nothing so the wife phones [korat] the wife is told they will ring back,well they did with after 2hrs.WE ARE SO SORRY BUT THIS ACC.IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR FOREIGNERS.so it takes LH.staff 7hrs.to come to this decision when they should have known a simple YES OR NO takes 2seconds.incompetance,stupidity or we don't like the look of you.

this is the same type of savings acc.that is available to FOREIGNERS at Bangkok bank.

so with your contacts and knowledge would you be able to confirm the above for me.

thank you MEATBOY. ps.i have checked their websight and knowhere does it say I cant.

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hi cm.could you maybe find out what I have been told is true or is it some face saving.

fri.1st.10.30am me and the wife go to land and house bank to open an.account each over 36months the onehighlighted above.the staff says ok.can I see your passport,shows her my long term retirement extension,then my drivers licence and tax id.registration card,so she then continues to open my acc.someone else does the wifes,after 30minutes she then says I cant have one.

so being pissed off waiting we leave after they ripped up the wifes application.

so when we get home the wife phones customer services at head quarters and she asked them was this the case that my husband cannot open this savings acc.after giving her all my details she then asked about my tax id.does it have a 13digit no.yes after awhile she said certainaly he can open it,staff replied it seems like the bank [korat] were entering the 10 digit no.so she says she will speak to lh.at korat branch and tell them its ok.and they will phone us back.

3hrs.nothing so the wife phones [korat] the wife is told they will ring back,well they did with after 2hrs.WE ARE SO SORRY BUT THIS ACC.IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR FOREIGNERS.so it takes LH.staff 7hrs.to come to this decision when they should have known a simple YES OR NO takes 2seconds.incompetance,stupidity or we don't like the look of you.

this is the same type of savings acc.that is available to FOREIGNERS at Bangkok bank.

so with your contacts and knowledge would you be able to confirm the above for me.

thank you MEATBOY. ps.i have checked their websight and knowhere does it say I cant.

I'm afraid I already know the answer to this one and it's not just L&H Bank, it's also CIMB and probably others also.

I tried opening accounts at L&H Bank a couple of years ago and they were enthusiastic until they realized I didn't have a work permit, I pushed the point with them and the bottom line was, after they ran out of excuses, that it's up to each bank as to what products they offer and to whom.

CIMB though really annoys me, they have a couple of 3.25% products which, despite me being a preferred customer, they refuse to sell to me saying it's for Thai's only. The difference with CIMB though is when I try to push the point all I get in return is that silent smiling face, blank, nobody home smiles and no words!

Two branches of TMB in Chiang Mai are similar to the above, they both refuse to open accounts for me telling me that I must have a work permit, the manager at the chanklan branch craps himself when he sees me walk in because he knows we're going to go through the same routine and he clearly doesn't doesn't enjoy it, but I regard this as my once a month entertainment and I live in hope that one day he may change his mind or retire and be replaced.

I know from this thread that all the above banks have opened accounts for foreigners with long stay visa's so it's just a case of trying different branches and different employees, the same is true of the account you want to open at L&H Bank I reckon. As you say, it doesn't take several hours to determine whether a person is eligible of not so my best guess is that the branch faked it and defaulted to the standard easy answer of, "no can do".

I'll check further at L&H Bank today and get back to you to confirm.

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thanks cm.i do think there's a certain amount of I work here if you don't like tough.smiles and sorry not enough for me but I have to wait till next april to put the smile on my facebiggrin.png when me and mrs meat walk out with 200k.interest and 7big ones and take it somewhere else.

thai gov.savings bank did the same but one call from head office to the manager solved it straight away,now he's my friend,calls me mr.

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some one might be able to answer this,the same account is offered by Bangkok bank.SINMATHAYA SUBTHAWEE.

these are their conditions to open this savings acc. over 24months-60months but the maximum must not exceed 600k.bht[term]

you must have a citizens id.card,or other incl.your photo.

passport and work permit.

expat tax id.card.

the question is does the work permit have your personel 13digit tax no.on it.because lh.at services hq.asked the same question.

do your husband have a work permit.[no] but a tax id.card,then she asked does it have a 13digit personel no.[yes] no problem.

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