Best Thai Bank Account for Foreigner

[rwdrwdrwd]

I'm guessing some very clued up person has already done some analysis on these things

The major banks are pretty much the same with these things, especially fees for use of ATMs, and the cost for transferring money really depends as much on your method and your home bank as the Thai bank. If there is a branch of the your Thai bank in your home country, for example there's a NY branch of Bangkok Bank, it makes transfers quite easy and inexpensive to do.

Unless you're transferring millions for a condo purchase or something, the difference is going to be negligible. I haven't done an actual analysis because I have better things to do with my time (e.g. staring out the window or making another cup of tea), but I'm sure Thai Visa is loaded with "clued-up" obsessive-compulsive types who have figured it all out to the last satang.

Your losses for wiring of $10000 from abroad to THB account will be somewhere between 200 and 300 USD. (Compared to bringing cash in your wallet, and exchanging it in a bank branch.)

Best

Your friendly neighborhood obsessive-compulsive type

What do your bank charge !!

Hell even the simple old Halifax in the UK (who are far from the best) only charge dollar equivalent around $16 and then the Thai Bank averaging the same so $30 plus tops...........

Where do you get $200-300 from........??

Exchange rates perhaps. It's certainly true that low charges are often accompanied by bad exchange rates.

Edited July 27, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[Chivas]

No you get the full TT rate listed on the receiving banks Website.....

[vadimbz]

What do your bank charge !!

Hell even the simple old Halifax in the UK (who are far from the best) only charge dollar equivalent around $16 and then the Thai Bank averaging the same so $30 plus tops...........

Where do you get $200-300 from........??

Exchange rate difference (1-3%) + intermediary/correspondent bank fees.

[Chivas]

What do your bank charge !!

Hell even the simple old Halifax in the UK (who are far from the best) only charge dollar equivalent around $16 and then the Thai Bank averaging the same so $30 plus tops...........

Where do you get $200-300 from........??

Exchange rate difference (1-3%) + intermediary/correspondent bank fees.

What are you guys talking about !!

The rate is just that, the rate.............!!

Bank sending charge a fee but you send in your own currency NOT Thai Baht and the receiving bank invariably charge around 500 Baht as well.......On $10,000 it should cost around $30 in total give or take, not 1-3% !!

[fourplay26]

Hi,

Looking at ATM fees

I am with Bangkok Bank and was wondering if there is a cheaper option recently for bank fees as we have to take out large amounts at one time to make it worthwhile for the fees especially when travelling.

I don't pay fees in Australia so paying a fee every time we take money out from the same bank ATM just because we are somewhere else in Thailand I do not like very much.

Thanks in advance

[Pib]

Hi,

Looking at ATM fees

I am with Bangkok Bank and was wondering if there is a cheaper option recently for bank fees as we have to take out large amounts at one time to make it worthwhile for the fees especially when travelling.

I don't pay fees in Australia so paying a fee every time we take money out from the same bank ATM just because we are somewhere else in Thailand I do not like very much.

Thanks in advance

A Bt10-20 ATM fee when outside your bank home region is applied by almost all Thai banks and AEON ATMs...but I think TMB might not. But then again, you also need to look at a bank's overall fee structure and interest paid to see if saving on some fees in one area is not being offset by other fees or lower interest. In Oz I expect the no ATM fee was when using their ATM network or a ATM partner network...here in Thailand the ATM network is a bunch of individual bank networks and they basically charge.

Thailand also has an "ATM Pool" setup where you are allowed 4 free withdrawals per month from other bank ATMs in the same banking region...like say in the Bangkok Metro Region and you use a K-bank ATM to get money from your Bangkok Bank account there will be no fee for up to 4 withdrawals...but if that K-bank ATM is outside your home region you get charged.

[fourplay26]

Thanks for the clarification, there seems to be a no win no matter which way you go.

We will keep doing what we have been so far, just feel that it is a huge rip off, but that can be Thailand

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Tapatalk

[stament]

One solution would be to open a foreign currency account at Bangkok Bank. You could then deposit your USD into that account and hold them as USD. When exchange rates were good, you could agree with the bank about what they would be and then convert to Thai Baht. And deposit the proceeds into your Thai Baht account.

Online currency exchanges like www.fx.com (?) might also be helpful, but I think you have to have USD and THB accounts on both sides for it to work.

Paypal or Skrill (Moneybookers) might be other options, but I think the fees and ceilings on what you can exchange might be problems.

Finally, if you have a trusted friend with a US checking account and a smartphone check deposit app, he/she could deposit the check into his/her checking account and then he/she could withdraw THB through their ATM access. High trust on both sides would be needed for that kind of arrangement, but it's probably the fastest and easiest. If it's a large check, though, your friend might need documentation so that the extra deposit doesn't show up as taxable income for him/her when his/her bank files their usual reports to the IRS.

Hope these ideas help. Good luck.

I thought I'd revive this old thread of mine. The above suggestion was a good one and I looked into this with BKK Bank. Minimum deposit I was fine with but then they were going to charge me a % on withdrawing my USD which I just couldn't accept. Since they are lending my money already making off me, I was flabbergasted as a UK banking customer that they would charge me to take my own money out. on principle it was an instant NO WAY! You're not having your cake and eating it. So surprisingly I decided not to open a USD account with them.

Anyone else come across this before? Perhaps it's normal and it's me whose just not tuned in!

[stament]

The fees and FX rates among Thai banks are very similar. Bangkok Bank, Kaiskorn Bank, and Siam Commerical Bank seem to be the ones most farangs have accounts with based on ThaiVisa posts.

Bangkok Bank is the "only" Thai bank with ACH transfer capability which allows you to transfer funds from the U.S. to your Bangkok Bank account a lot cheaper than using a wire/SWIFT transfer.

Since the fees/FX rates are very similar a person also needs to consider which bank is probably the most farang friendly/use to dealing with farangs....I think it the same banks I listed above.

And without a doubt...without a close second, Bangkok Bank has the most detailed/info laden website in Thai and correct English.

I've been looking at that internet site daytodaydata on fx rates and BKK bank consistently seem to be one of the worse on transfers. Always seem to be at the bottom of the table. I know it changes throughout the day but even taking this into account they always seem to be at the bottom unless they haven't updated and then when they do hey presto they're near the bottom again!

The government bank, tanachart seem always to be at the top with Kung thai usually consistently up there. I know the margins are quite small unless you transfer a large amount but it can make a difference if large transactions are involved. I wondered if this was because BKK bank have a max THB 500 fee and some others don't? It would be interesting to know what other banks have a limit on fees similar to this. I know I could go and ask every single bank but I was wondering if others already know. Some of the info on these sites is in thai.

At the moment certainly govt and tanachart banks look favourable nearly all the time on rates. A poster did say on here a while back that krung thai also have a maximum charge of 500 baht.

[stament]

Worth noting as some member pointed out on another post that internet transfers from UK HSBC accounts only incur a fee of 4 pounds! Now that's a bargain in my book, but make sure you transfer in GBP not THB!

[rwdrwdrwd]

I'm guessing some very clued up person has already done some analysis on these things

The major banks are pretty much the same with these things, especially fees for use of ATMs, and the cost for transferring money really depends as much on your method and your home bank as the Thai bank. If there is a branch of the your Thai bank in your home country, for example there's a NY branch of Bangkok Bank, it makes transfers quite easy and inexpensive to do.

Unless you're transferring millions for a condo purchase or something, the difference is going to be negligible. I haven't done an actual analysis because I have better things to do with my time (e.g. staring out the window or making another cup of tea), but I'm sure Thai Visa is loaded with "clued-up" obsessive-compulsive types who have figured it all out to the last satang.

Your losses for wiring of $10000 from abroad to THB account will be somewhere between 200 and 300 USD. (Compared to bringing cash in your wallet, and exchanging it in a bank branch.)

Best

Your friendly neighborhood obsessive-compulsive type

Since I last responded, I've been keeping a closer eye on my remittances and trying different approaches - I now regularly transfer 10,000 US from Citibank Singapore, opting for receiver to pay charges.

SCB never charge me receiver fees so the transfer is essentially free and I get almost exactly 1% less than mid market rate every time. $100 (or $0 if you use TT buying rate in the calculation, which you should). Also arrives within 2 hours.

Edited August 25, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[Pib]

The fees and FX rates among Thai banks are very similar. Bangkok Bank, Kaiskorn Bank, and Siam Commerical Bank seem to be the ones most farangs have accounts with based on ThaiVisa posts.

Bangkok Bank is the "only" Thai bank with ACH transfer capability which allows you to transfer funds from the U.S. to your Bangkok Bank account a lot cheaper than using a wire/SWIFT transfer.

Since the fees/FX rates are very similar a person also needs to consider which bank is probably the most farang friendly/use to dealing with farangs....I think it the same banks I listed above.

And without a doubt...without a close second, Bangkok Bank has the most detailed/info laden website in Thai and correct English.

I've been looking at that internet site daytodaydata on fx rates and BKK bank consistently seem to be one of the worse on transfers. Always seem to be at the bottom of the table. I know it changes throughout the day but even taking this into account they always seem to be at the bottom unless they haven't updated and then when they do hey presto they're near the bottom again!

The government bank, tanachart seem always to be at the top with Kung thai usually consistently up there. I know the margins are quite small unless you transfer a large amount but it can make a difference if large transactions are involved. I wondered if this was because BKK bank have a max THB 500 fee and some others don't? It would be interesting to know what other banks have a limit on fees similar to this. I know I could go and ask every single bank but I was wondering if others already know. Some of the info on these sites is in thai.

At the moment certainly govt and tanachart banks look favourable nearly all the time on rates. A poster did say on here a while back that krung thai also have a maximum charge of 500 baht.

That hasn't been my experience from looking at website you mentioned on a periodic basis...and by periodic basis I just mean going to it for some reason like to respond to a post, check rates if the forex market is volatile, etc. For my periodic visits, Bangkok Bank is usually around the middle of the pack ..and the difference between being in the middle, top, or bottom of the pack is usually on a few stang. For example, below a snapshot as of 12:20pm....out of 9 banks listed, Bangkok Bank has the third highest TT Buying Rate for USD-THB at 35.49 and is only 2 stang behind the highest rate of 35.51 at Siam Commercial Bank.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

Regarding what banks charge to receive inbound foreign transfers, the great majority are 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max), but a few lesser known banks do charge a flat fee of like Bt330 or Bt500. A person will find that bank fees across Thai banks are very, very similar since the number of different bank companies in Thailand is quite limited....very hard for a foreign bank to get their foot in the door in Thailand....this tightly controlled banking market has resulted in fees being very similar across Thai banks. You can go to this Bank of Thailand webpage (google translate is your friend at this Thai only website) and see the inbound fees charged by the majority Thai banks (for those reporting)....you will see for the ones reporting their inbound fees the great majority charge a fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max).

[Pib]

I'm guessing some very clued up person has already done some analysis on these things

The major banks are pretty much the same with these things, especially fees for use of ATMs, and the cost for transferring money really depends as much on your method and your home bank as the Thai bank. If there is a branch of the your Thai bank in your home country, for example there's a NY branch of Bangkok Bank, it makes transfers quite easy and inexpensive to do.

Unless you're transferring millions for a condo purchase or something, the difference is going to be negligible. I haven't done an actual analysis because I have better things to do with my time (e.g. staring out the window or making another cup of tea), but I'm sure Thai Visa is loaded with "clued-up" obsessive-compulsive types who have figured it all out to the last satang.

Your losses for wiring of $10000 from abroad to THB account will be somewhere between 200 and 300 USD. (Compared to bringing cash in your wallet, and exchanging it in a bank branch.)

Best

Your friendly neighborhood obsessive-compulsive type

Since I last responded, I've been keeping a closer eye on my remittances and trying different approaches - I now regularly transfer 10,000 US from Citibank Singapore, opting for receiver to pay charges.

SCB never charge me receiver fees so the transfer is essentially free and I get almost exactly 1% less than mid market rate every time. $100 (or $0 if you use TT buying rate in the calculation, which you should). Also arrives within 2 hours.

I'm pretty sure SCB does charge a inbound fee of either 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) or maybe it's a flat fee of Bt500.

And if you are ending up with approx 1% less in the SCB TT Buying Rate you are getting in comparison to the Forex market rate, then someone is charging you some fees or your Sending bank is doing the conversion before sending at a lower rate. Usually Thai bank TT Buying Rates are around 0.25% to 0.5% lower than the Forex market. For example, the forex/xe.com rate as of 12:54pm was 35.6343 and the SCB TT Buying Rate as of 12:21pm was 35.53, which calulates out to the SCB rate being 0.3% lower.

Yeap, if you are taking a 1% cut, then there are fees involved and/or the Sending bank is doing the conversion vs SCB.

[rwdrwdrwd]

I'm ending up with 1% less than mid market not less than TT - it's quite possible that the fees are baked in and I get slightly less than TT as a result.

Might opt to pay sending fees next time and see if that works out lower, or try a split transaction (though it's hard to tell which is which) - I'm definitely sending GBP.

Edited August 25, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[Pib]

I'm ending up with 1% less (more like 0.85 - 0.9%) than mid market not less than TT - it's quite possible that the fees are baked in and I get slightly less than TT as a result.

Might opt to pay sending fees next time and see if that works out lower - definitely sending GBP.

Yea, that's what I meant....if what you are getting at SCB is 1% less than the mid market rate, then there at some fees/other exchange rate issues at work. The Thai Bank TT Buying Rate is usually in the 0.25% to 0.50% less range than the forex/mid market rate.

[rwdrwdrwd]

It might actually have been 0.5% off mid market, now I think about it, it's a couple of months back that I last did one so hard to check - the point i was making was that 200 - 300 is well over the top on 10k US, even if calculating from mid market instead of TT. Mine is somewhere between 50 - 100 calculating from there including all fees.

Edited August 25, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[topt]

Since I last responded, I've been keeping a closer eye on my remittances and trying different approaches - I now regularly transfer 10,000 US from Citibank Singapore, opting for receiver to pay charges.

SCB never charge me receiver fees so the transfer is essentially free and I get almost exactly 1% less than mid market rate every time. $100 (or $0 if you use TT buying rate in the calculation, which you should). Also arrives within 2 hours.

I'm pretty sure SCB does charge a inbound fee of either 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) or maybe it's a flat fee of Bt500.

And if you are ending up with approx 1% less in the SCB TT Buying Rate you are getting in comparison to the Forex market rate, then someone is charging you some fees or your Sending bank is doing the conversion before sending at a lower rate. Usually Thai bank TT Buying Rates are around 0.25% to 0.5% lower than the Forex market. For example, the forex/xe.com rate as of 12:54pm was 35.6343 and the SCB TT Buying Rate as of 12:21pm was 35.53, which calulates out to the SCB rate being 0.3% lower.

Yeap, if you are taking a 1% cut, then there are fees involved and/or the Sending bank is doing the conversion vs SCB.

From personal experience I can confirm that SCB definitely charge a variable inbound fee as Pib mentions above. However I have just checked and the commission line on my Inward Transfer forms for different amounts but all over $5k says 520 baht - and one of these was from 2010. So I just checked with SCB help line and they charge 0.25% (now minimum 300 but still max 500) but, if your account is outside Bangkok, they charge an extra amount. In my case 20 baht for Pattaya.

Learn something new every day - I had long wondered what the 20baht extra was for......

[Pib]

So I just checked with SCB help line and they charge 0.25% (now minimum 300 but still max 500) ...

yea, that's right...I remember that now, especially the part about SCB's "minimum" amount of Bt300 being higher than most other Thai banks minimum of Bt200.

And SCB is one of the banks that does not report it's fee structure (at least for inward foreign remittances) to the Bank of Thailand who in turn post such fee info on the BOT website.