Interest On Thai Bank Accounts

[stevehaigh]

i'm sure this has come up before but i can't find it. do any thai banks pay interest on deposits and at what rate? i'm asking because for marriage and retirement visas you need 400k and 800k in a thai bank, it would be a shame not to get a return on that kind of money.

thanks, steve

[fisherd3]

i'm sure this has come up before but i can't find it. do any thai banks pay interest on deposits and at what rate? i'm asking because for marriage and retirement visas you need 400k and 800k in a thai bank, it would be a shame not to get a return on that kind of money.

thanks, steve

Bangkok Bang Pattaya has a big board up in English and Thai offering about 5% for a term deposit of about a year, I guess its available to Farang because it is in English as well as Thai..

[stevehaigh]

i'm sure this has come up before but i can't find it. do any thai banks pay interest on deposits and at what rate? i'm asking because for marriage and retirement visas you need 400k and 800k in a thai bank, it would be a shame not to get a return on that kind of money.

thanks, steve

Bangkok Bang Pattaya has a big board up in English and Thai offering about 5% for a term deposit of about a year, I guess its available to Farang because it is in English as well as Thai..

i'll check it out, we have a bangkok bank here but i don;t like term deposits particularly.

thx steve

[monty]

Very low rates on regular accounts... Don't know exactly but I guess it's less then inflation

Bangkok bank did have the 5.125% for a 10 month fixed deposit, but this offer ended last month...

Also take into account the 15% witholding tax they automatically deduct, so 5.125% is actually only

4.6125%...

[topfield]

YES THAT IS A VERY IMPORTANT POINT MOST FOREIGNERS DONT REALISE. There is a fiteen percent witholding tax in Thailand and there is NO way of getting out of paying. There used to be a rule that anything under ten thousand baht and you didnt pay, also the gov. savings bank was exempted.

So if you have large amounts of BAHT to place on deposit without tax and want a decent interest rate , you have three options. Place the baht in a bank in Singapore, H.Kong or Cambodia and you will pay ZERO tax on the interest.

[JimGant]

Bangkok Bank savings accounts (which are fluid, i.e., you can pay your utilities direct from them, have an ATM card attached, etc) pay about .75% annually. Whether or not 15% tax comes out of this, I don't know, as it doesn't reflect in the passbook. But 15% of nothing is, well, nothing.....

But these accounts are handy and can be linked together with a Bangkok Bank internet banking account, plus to named third party accounts (handy for, say, paying your maid via the Internet when you find yourself out of the country on pay day).

Yeah, it's a shame, at those interest rates, to park 800k (or 400k) to meet Immigration's requirement, even if you begin to draw down immediately after your annual extension of stay renewal. Don't know if Immigration would accept an equivalent amount in a Thai CD or similar account, with daily living needs being accomodated with a much less robust savings account. Can't imagine why they wouldn't accept such a banking package, as it would be easy to show them all the paperwork for your Thai financial package............... Ah, the operative word above is "easy," so probably no can do.

[cmsally]

I checked out this one today:

Government Savings Bank

For over 100K you get 5.35% (fixed 12 months)

A bit difficult to get any more details from them. The website has about the most details.

Would someone PLEASE explain why there is interest for Gon nah and Pajuban (2 diferent figures)

This acct can only be opened before end of this month apparently.

[Firefan]

Only guessing but interest rate could vary depending on whether you get monthly interest payments (lowest) or only when the CD/time deposit expire(after 12 months). Cheers!

I checked out this one today:

Government Savings Bank

For over 100K you get 5.35% (fixed 12 months)

A bit difficult to get any more details from them. The website has about the most details.

Would someone PLEASE explain why there is interest for Gon nah and Pajuban (2 diferent figures)

This acct can only be opened before end of this month apparently.

[libya 115]

This is slightly off-topic BUT why worry about interest rates on Thai Baht; which are anything from zero to 4.6%.

The Thai Baht fluctuates against your home currency; for example by as much as 15%. If that is the case (I am talking USD, GBP, CHF here) then unless you never intend to return to your home country, you are playing Russian roulette anyway.

If you have to deposit 800K Thai Baht; it is not so bad; you might win!

[stevehaigh]

This is slightly off-topic BUT why worry about interest rates on Thai Baht; which are anything from zero to 4.6%.

The Thai Baht fluctuates against your home currency; for example by as much as 15%. If that is the case (I am talking USD, GBP, CHF here) then unless you never intend to return to your home country, you are playing Russian roulette anyway.

If you have to deposit 800K Thai Baht; it is not so bad; you might win!

if you could get 5% on 800,000 baht that's 40,000 baht/year, about a $1000. not bad for doing nothing. ok, with the 15% tax and say you spend that down you will not see that much, but at least its money

[cmsally]

Would someone PLEASE explain why there is interest for Gon nah and Pajuban (2 diferent figures)

Apparently 5.35% is the rate for over 100,000 Bt

No one in the bank seems to know what the Gon nah rate is but it seems to be something comparing with old rates

Seems to be the best deal at the moment . Forgot to ask if they are still exempt from withholding tax.

[Guest endure]

Very low rates on regular accounts... Don't know exactly but I guess it's less then inflation

Bangkok bank did have the 5.125% for a 10 month fixed deposit, but this offer ended last month...

Also take into account the 15% witholding tax they automatically deduct, so 5.125% is actually only

4.6125%...

If you pay more than 10,000bt a year in interest and you are a farang you can claim the witholding tax back at the end of the tax year. My friend's been claiming, and getting, a refund for years.

Edited May 30, 2006 by endure

[Chang_paarp]

Why worry about the with holding tax? You are told about it, you fill in a tax return at the end of the year and you claim it as paid tax.

If you are entitled to a refund you will get a refund. Same as many countries.

This might offend wingers like topfield, but for the rest of you who are mature enough to look past the next 30 seconds it should not cause you any concern.

It is not a worry if you are legal.

Try opening an account in Australia without quoting a Tax File Number, the with holding tax is 49%.