More than 105 billion baht withdrawn from GSB accounts in 4 days

[TVGerry]

Are these people stupid to withdraw ? What is the risk with this bank ?

It seems the money was withdrawn to show disapproval of the loan to the BAAC to be used to pay farmers. Those who withdrew the money want the government to fail so the bleeding of the Rice Scheme can stop. Yes, there is a lot of pain for the farmers, but that is already going to happen soon or later.

It 'seems' eh? Where's your proof?

Or perhaps people just don't feel safe having their money in a bank that would so recklessly lend money to a government that can't cover its debts and obligations.

The fact of the matter is, even if GSB is safe and won't go bust, why take the risk when it's officers are so reckless? There's not benefit in putting your money in GSB over say Bangkok Bank or SCB is there?

[telecom]

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

[scorecard]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

And on top of that, the GSB is very popular with many Thais for special savings for retirement, through their internal bonus lottery. My Thai son and his wife both have a number of work colleagues who are now lost what to do. If they withdraw they lose ground and make it all more shaky / should they tough it out, they don't know which way to turn.

[englishoak]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

And on top of that, the GSB is very popular with many Thais for special savings for retirement, through their internal bonus lottery. My Thai son and his wife both have a number of work colleagues who are now lost what to do. If they withdraw they lose ground and make it all more shaky / should they tough it out, they don't know which way to turn.

This isnt how it works,, im not going to go into how banking works but basically they only need to keep a small % as cash and as it is drawn down they just keep the % stable if given long enough.... they have been given long enough and whilst 60b net reduction may seem a lot over a week it isnt anything major overall.

Its all about having cash and today there was only a net - of 1.7b thats nothing like the beginning of the week.if the bank reduces in size it reduces if it were shaky wed have already seen major ripples within the banking sector, we havnt. If big deposits were going to move out of panic they would have already.

In my opinion GSB isnt going anywhere unless panic sets in and after a week we are now well over the panic. Thais do not have much patience or long attention span and its tapered off regarding GSB and unless there is some other event regarding GSB the current crisis for them is over... if it downsizes over time it wont matter, banks grow and down size all the time ... depositors and the public savings are safe at this point thats good news for everyone.

Edited February 21, 2014 by englishoak

[MrY]

B100bn?

Meh.

Fake farmers withdrawing Monopoly money.

Go straight to jail - do not pass go, do not collect $200...

[Gweiloman]

Are these people stupid to withdraw ? What is the risk with this bank ?

Depends on their reasons for the withdrawal. If they are withdrawing as a sign of protest against the bank for lending money to BAAC, that's well within their rights and understandable. If they are withdrawing because they think the bank might go under, they are just being uninformed and ignorant.

The risk with this bank is for all intents and purposes, zero.

Why zero?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Zero, for all intents and purposes. GSB is a government bank so as long as the government of Thailand is not bankrupt, the bank won't be either. It does not matter which political party is the government of the time.

[Prbkk]

Are these people stupid to withdraw ? What is the risk with this bank ?

There is no risk to the bank. But in the event of any risk in the future, the govt has many options to support it. For example, it could mandate that funds for retirement deposits for foreigners had to be in GSB rather than free choice. That would be popular with some poster here.

[Gweiloman]

Are these people stupid to withdraw ? What is the risk with this bank ?

Depends on their reasons for the withdrawal. If they are withdrawing as a sign of protest against the bank for lending money to BAAC, that's well within their rights and understandable. If they are withdrawing because they think the bank might go under, they are just being uninformed and ignorant.

The risk with this bank is for all intents and purposes, zero.

Thank you, I feel safer, but still I guess that I will prefer to spend for some luxuries again and not let the banks use my money by any way :-)

Is it easy to open a bank account somewhere more quiet as Singapore ? Can I just go there with a Thai bank cashier check and open an account ? Maybe some minimum amount to make sure that they won't deny ? If it is too complicated I guess that I will prefer to spend.

Yes, it's possible to open an account say in Singapore or Malaysia. It would be called an external account, meaning an account for non-residents. Withholding tax (on interest) will of course apply, at the maximum tax rate (assume around 30% or so and you should be ok).

The best account I have come across to have accounts in various countries is the HSBC Premier account. You are able to see and transact on all accounts with a single log in (although you will need a separate security device for each country). Problem is that HSBC Thailand has closed it's personal banking section so you might need to do this in either Malaysia or Singapore or Hong Kong (or back in your home country).

[Gweiloman]

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

BOT works as a lender of last resort to shore up a bank's liquidity as needed (although at higher interest rates compared to short term interbank lending).

It would seem that most of the major depositors who would withdraw money has done so and it is unlikely that the bank would continue to see such withdrawals next week. If anything, I would expect there to be net deposits from now on.

[beautifulthailand99]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

And on top of that, the GSB is very popular with many Thais for special savings for retirement, through their internal bonus lottery. My Thai son and his wife both have a number of work colleagues who are now lost what to do. If they withdraw they lose ground and make it all more shaky / should they tough it out, they don't know which way to turn.

The Golden Rules of panicing are

1) Don't panic.

2) If you do panic , panic first.

[monkeycountry]

SC Assett...opened today at B 3.04, now 3.10 ...WOW

Anyone know why AIS is targeted? As far as I know Thaksin has not had any shares in the company for many years. Suthep said himself in his "boycott AIS" speech, that Thaksin had sold all his shares long ago? Just curious.

Between selling shares on the market and "selling" shares to a "friend" there is a huge difference.

True, but Thaksin sold his shares in 2006 to Temasek which belongs to Singapore's government. Temasek has holdings of appx. 170 billion USD. I am quite sure they are not just holding the shares on Thaksins behalf :-) Edited February 22, 2014 by monkeycountry

[monkeycountry]

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

You forgot the 45 billion deposited in the same time span, so it is only 60 billion less. And should they run out, they can always borrow more as long as they offer an attractive interest rate. The bank is fine and in 2 weeks all will be forgotten.

[monkeycountry]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Anybody know what this means as a percentage of GSB holdings? $3 Billion is an awful lot of money to lose in a couple of days.

GSB is state owned. $3 billion is symbolic more than anything.

They really really don't want the farmers to have money do they! I doubt small lines like the one in the photo are the real draw in money, that is corporate and rich Bangkok elite money being drawn out there.

Erm...

If you go back to the Bangkok Post stories for Tuesday, the director declared that the money withdrawn was from a load of small accounts.

He also confirmed that BKK depositors account for 40% of its entire deposits (1.7 trillion baht) That is 600 bn baht, and to date have not been withdrawn.

However, the bank's liquidity is only 200 bn, and that is now less by 105 bn.

The deposits at the same time are not going to totally pull them out of the crap, because to run a bank, you have to put a large portion to work to earn its keep. The bank operates at about 12% liquidity and 88% put into assets to earn money. They can't just keep all that money in liquidity because the bank loses money as they need to make those deposits work for the bank.

If they get close to that 200 bn being withdrawn, it only takes a few big BKK depositors to pull out their cash and the bank is toast.

And on top of that, the GSB is very popular with many Thais for special savings for retirement, through their internal bonus lottery. My Thai son and his wife both have a number of work colleagues who are now lost what to do. If they withdraw they lose ground and make it all more shaky / should they tough it out, they don't know which way to turn.

The reason they don't want to withdraw is not the lottery part, but the interest on their deposit which will be much less if they withdraw prematurely. Anyway, they should not do anything at all, as nothing will happen to the bank or their deposits.

[beautifulthailand99]

The irony is that in a couple of days, the 130 billion baht mark will be reached. The same money Pheu Thai wanted is now being withdrawn by the people. GBS is very close to collapse if this continues much longer. This company has been around for a hundred years. But Kittirat's gambit has managed to bring it to the brink of closure in less than a week.

You are becoming more hysterical by the day. Closure? Absolute nonsense. Evil scaremongering and shameful

I agree, evil evil scaremongering.

How are southern, poor Thai, able to withdraw such an amount? It seems they are really RICH - just an illusion as to being poor and why do they want the Thai farmers to not have the money owing to them? They hate the northern and the north eastern people so much they want them to suffer in sickening ways. Every step the government takes to get the money to those suffering they are blocked by the Father of Lies and Deceit. Who is this incarnation of evil intent - non other than the corrupt, bankrupt ((according to the assets and liabilities declared as a politician)) murderer - another DECISIVE day passed on Wednesday and where were the millions? another no-show!!!

How will it end for Thailand? Will the invisible hand reveal itself? Can millions and millions of ordinary, lovely people resume life - families eating, working, educating, sharing together again? Can the elites go to their homes and be a parent again? Free food, water, entertainment, money doesn't send a good message to these people who seem to be enraged over what????? just an illness of obsession with a Thai family - TS

Get a life and I look in a mirror when I say this. I LOVE THAILAND

It's a very conditional LOVE for me with a host of addenda and T&Cs - but the wife I love very much and that's what matters the most and after 11 years in the UK her rose tinted spectacles of Thailand is the best country in the world have become somewhat jaundiced. She sees Thailand as it is not as the ruling elite would like her to see it. If anything spending a couple of months here again has made me appreciate all the more what is good and worthy about my home country. And the list starts with reasonable , sensible , courteous driving on the road back in the UK - I will never shout out my road rage as I drive around without considering what it would actually be like if I was brave enough to do that here - which I aint.

[onlycw]

With fractional reserves requirements, this won't be a laughing matter for the GSB. What's the ratio, does anyone know? 1:8? 1:10?

Suddenly, it's a trillion Baht in loans they cannot make any more.

[onlycw]

With fractional reserve requirements, this won't be a laughing matter for the board of the GSB. what's the ratio? 1:8? 1:10? that's a trillion Baht loans they won't be making...