Living In Thailand: Use A Thai Bank?

[Naut.Sirius]

Hi,

I'm going to be moving from the US to Thailand this summer and I plan to live in Thailand for a year or more. As I don't know yet what I'll do for living I'm coming over with enough savings to live off of for at least a year.

My questions:

Would it be wiser to keep my money in my US bank account or open an account with a Thai bank and keep my money there?

How complicated/ difficult would it be for me to use a Thai bank? Are there risks or legal issues?

[Gary A]

To keep things simple I would suggest that you look around for a US bank that offers free or at least low fee international ATM transactions. Fees vary greatly. When I first came over I used Citibank because they gave my five free international transactions per month. They now charge $1.50 plus one percent per transaction. Using a US ATM card would make it easier to go back home if things don't work out. Citibank does have a very good Internet banking system and a free bill pay for settling up your affairs in the US.

[Naut.Sirius]

Hey thank you for the advice!

I'm going to talk with my bank about this (US Bank) and see how they handle overseas issues and check with several other banks (including Citibank as per your post). One thing that I have to be certain of is that I'll be able to resolve issues and close the acount if I so wish from Thailand as I'll hardly be able to afford to fly back just to fix a problem with my account.

To keep things simple I would suggest that you look around for a US bank that offers free or at least low fee international ATM transactions. Fees vary greatly. When I first came over I used Citibank because they gave my five free international transactions per month. They now charge $1.50 plus one percent per transaction. Using a US ATM card would make it easier to go back home if things don't work out. Citibank does have a very good Internet banking system and a free bill pay for settling up your affairs in the US.