Today I went into my local TMB to get a chashier cheque. Everything went ok except I was persuaded that there was a better alternative to my current savings account. If I switched to a "No Fee Savings" account I would no longer have to pay 20 baht at other banks' ATMs. I asked what the snag, was as banks never give you anything without taking something back. This was met with incomprehension and I was assured the switch could be done there, then and finished in 5 minutes. Ok, so we went ahead, the switch was made and then I was told that the account balance should never be allowed to fall below 20,000 baht. <deleted>?? I immediately pointed out that his would not work for me and if I had been told that at the start I would have said ,"no thanks". I cannot afford to let 20,000 baht sit there, untouchable. "Too late" I was told. "You will have to come back tomorrow and ask to switch it back". Well, tomorrow is Maha Bucha day so not then, and we don't open weekends, so it will have to be next Monday. That will be another hour at least sat in the bank; and no doubt there will be numerous reasons why I can't switch back without moving heaven and earth. Nice one, TMB ! It will take me 1,000 trips to the ATM to save the equivalent of the money that is now inaccessible.

You should have known there was a snag, nothing's free from a bank. They hooked you up and reeled you in. At least the teller got her commission for the account. Som nom na!

20k baht is nothing ? Whats the issue, seems like a good deal, no atm or cross border fees for keeping balance above 20k each month, probably based on average salary going in monthly.

If you cant leave 20k baht for a month you got bigger issues.

Upon being told no can swap back I would immediatley set to task to open new account then tell em transfer the full balance and close the account.

You should have known there was a snag, nothing's free from a bank. They hooked you up and reeled you in. At least the teller got her commission for the account. Som nom na!

Get the same problem but i hawe to pay a fee of 150b ewerytime i go to atm and take out my money shi--".How to make it whith no fee?

"Upon being told no can swap back I would immediately set to task to open new account then tell em transfer the full balance and close the account."

I agree with Spoonman.

You can even do that on the weekend at one of the shopping center banks..

The only problem with that is if you need a bank letter from immigration and the bank you currently use is the only place you can get it at.

I think you can get letters at CW.

One day i had to change a quite big amount of foreign money. Checked the Thai exchange rates by internet and saw the best rate at TMB which was close to me. Went there 20 minutes later and the rate was much lower. Checked internet again and showed them but they said: solly sil. Won't go back there.

Do you speak Thai fluently ?

I guess that you know that they don't speak English fluently

So it is easy to know what is the real problem !

20k baht is nothing ? Whats the issue, seems like a good deal, no atm or cross border fees for keeping balance above 20k each month, probably based on average salary going in monthly.

If you cant leave 20k baht for a month you got bigger issues.

Fair comment, except that I go back to England for 2 or 3 months twice a year and run the account down to about 3 or 4,000 baht, then re-stock it when I come back.

I decided to check the full conditions online and the problem sort of half went away. the English conditions said, "For a balance of less than baht 20,000 for more than three consecutive days, a fee of 50 Baht per month will apply". (I was really afraid that if the account got down to 20,000 any further withdrawals would actually be blocked) Ok problem solved; I can pay that. Then I checked the Thai version and that said 200 Baht per month ( got the GF to confirm this). Now I'm really confused. So, it's back to the bank on Monday to try and clarify the conditions, and ask to swap back if need be.

But as inzman said, "You should have known there was a snag, Nothing's free from a bank". Yes, I did but my Thai's not good enough to get them to acknowledge the question and tell me what it was. Som nam naa!

The normal TMB savings account has no charge for ATM withdrawals at any ATM in Thailand.

No account minimums, they do charge 10bht/month for SMS of every transaction.

You just got the wrong account.

Why would anyone in Thailand trust any organization with the words "Thai Military" in the name!

Edited February 14, 201412 yr by OMGImInPattaya

20k baht is nothing ? Whats the issue, seems like a good deal, no atm or cross border fees for keeping balance above 20k each month, probably based on average salary going in monthly.

If you cant leave 20k baht for a month you got bigger issues.

keeping 20K on the bank account all the time is not different than paying a fee of 20K....

lol

Farang cheating is the national sport, and you are a good candidate !

One day i had to change a quite big amount of foreign money. Checked the Thai exchange rates by internet and saw the best rate at TMB which was close to me. Went there 20 minutes later and the rate was much lower. Checked internet again and showed them but they said: solly sil. Won't go back there.

Here something went terribly wrong. Where did you see that?

I check exchange rates almost daily and TMB always has by far the worst exchange rates for notes (cash) of all Thai banks.

Seems like they do not want to do that business. In Khon Kaen they even have a sign "no currency exchange".

(not to say they don't like to deal with foreigners at all)

Select your currency vs THB and "notes" for cash:

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/

Today EUR/THB:

Bangkok Bank 43.9

TMB 42.88

TMB is a definitive no go for cash exchange.

On the other hand, their rates for electronic transfer (TT) are completely OK.

Edited February 18, 201412 yr by KhunBENQ