Can any of you guys recommend a farang friendly bank?

[Kenny202]

Hi, Will be in Bangkok next week and need to open a bank account ASAP.

Looking for a bank that will not only be reasonably to open the account but also have English etc for

internet banking etc. I will be living up country and would prefer to open the account locally for the

benefits that brings but they don't have a clue when dealing with farang.

My girl seems to think Krung Thai or one of the country banks are better for people living in the country

but spoke to a friend and he is very impressed with Bangkok bank. Any help appreciated. The ease of

online banking thing is probably most important to me

I have an O/A retirement visa and a letter from the local Amphur stating they know me, am aware of me

and my fiances relationship and that I am residing in her home.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Kenny202

[Crossy]

Citi, Bangkok Bank and Siam commercial have good online banking systems in English, I have no experience of the others, but see no reason why they should be any different.

It's just finding a branch that will open you an account and give you online banking when you don't have a work permit etc. as with many things here, if at first..... just try another branch.

[malt25]

I've been with Kasikorn for many years. Never a problem, excellent service. Very easy to operate on line banking in English.

Cheers..... Mal.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

I've had accounts at different branches of Siam Commercial Bank for 20+ years. Have found that my sorta small local branch provides the best service since I've got to know the people there pretty well. I'd think a local branch would be better than one in Bangkok.

FYI, I also do wire transfers from the U.S. to this SCB local branch, never had a problem.

And, one perhaps big item, the manager of this local branch has a key to the ATMs there so if your card gets eaten by the machine, he can retrieve it.

Mac

[CharlieH]

MOVED

[noise]

I've had accounts at different branches of Siam Commercial Bank for 20+ years. Have found that my sorta small local branch provides the best service since I've got to know the people there pretty well. I'd think a local branch would be better than one in Bangkok.

FYI, I also do wire transfers from the U.S. to this SCB local branch, never had a problem.

And, one perhaps big item, the manager of this local branch has a key to the ATMs there so if your card gets eaten by the machine, he can retrieve it.

Mac

i definitely have to concur Thanyaburi Mac. SCB gives good service and you will quite often (relatively speaking) have to deal directly with your branch so you want it as close to your house as possible.

Edited November 8, 2014 by noise

[Pib]

Bangkok Bank. Go to the HQ Bangkok Bank building on Silom Rd and open an account in the branch on the first floor of the building. They have lots of farang customers...no problem with English speaking capability. I have a several Bangkok Bank accounts at two different branches with one of those branches being the one mentioned above. Also have an account with Krungsri Bank...both the branch I opened the account at and another one I deal with seem to have close to zero English capability...but when calling their Call Center line the English is fine. It is usually best to open an account at a branch you can easily get to as there will be certain things/problems that "only the branch you opened the account at" can help you with...just the nature of the Thai banking system.

[Langsuan Man]

First of all you need to open an account where you are going to live. There are going to be many times you will have to return to your "home" branch (the location where you opened up your account) to perform certain things. Secondly, if you open up an account in Bangkok, you may have to pay fees to use banking services "up country" or "out of province"

If you are from the US or GB then Bangkok Bank is your best bet since you can then take advantage of their Electronic Funds Transfer System via their branch in New York or London

Finally, if possible, open up an account at a branch that is located in a shopping mall which will allow you to bank on weekends and after normal bank hours

[Kitsune]

Awful experience with Krungsi at the Mall Bangkapi : Singling you out publicly, very unhelpful, impolite.

Good experience with SCB and Bangkok Bank: Friendly and professional.

[Pib]

First of all you need to open an account where you are going to live. There are going to be many times you will have to return to your "home" branch (the location where you opened up your account) to perform certain things. Secondly, if you open up an account in Bangkok, you may have to pay fees to use banking services "up country" or "out of province"

If you are from the US or GB then Bangkok Bank is your best bet since you can then take advantage of their Electronic Funds Transfer System via their branch in New York or London

Finally, if possible, open up an account at a branch that is located in a shopping mall which will allow you to bank on weekends and after normal bank hours

Good point about the additional transaction fees when out of the home branch region/province. A person can get tired of paying Bt15/20 per ATM withdrawal fees, additional transfer fees, etc., just because they live in one province but opened a bank account in another province. Usually in western countries if you open a bank account with say Bank of America on the U.S. west coast you could walk into any Bank of America branch on the U.S. east coast and accomplish anything, resolve any issue/problem just like you were in the branch you opened the account at. But no, it don't work that way in Thailand, the Thai banking system is setup like a bunch of little banking kingdoms.

[Hornell]

Open an account with Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhaya) and you can get an ATM card from them for 2 or 300 Baht (can't remember which) which enables you to draw money at any ATM from any bank in any province. As soon as the transaction is made your mobile receives an SMS. I have banked with Krungsri in Bkk for umpteen years and now live up country. Until last year I was paying 20 Baht every time I drew out cash from my a/c until the Bank suggested I get this card. It's magic and has worked a treat for 12 months now. I should add that I had two a/c with Krungsri; a checking a/c and a savings a/c, I have now run down the checking a/c and the card operates on the savings a/c, so it also avoids the ghastly filling in a form and waiting in a queue to draw out money, which I had to do before.

[Langsuan Man]

Good point about the additional transaction fees when out of the home branch region/province. A person can get tired of paying Bt15/20 per ATM withdrawal fees, additional transfer fees, etc., just because they live in one province but opened a bank account in another province. Usually in western countries if you open a bank account with say Bank of America on the U.S. west coast you could walk into any Bank of America branch on the U.S. east coast and accomplish anything, resolve any issue/problem just like you were in the branch you opened the account at. But no, it don't work that way in Thailand, the Thai banking system is setup like a bunch of little banking kingdoms.

Interestingly enough that was not always the case. Chemical Bank out in Long Island during another lifetime used to require that I go to my "home" branch to cash my pay check even though the company I worked for used Chemical Bank for their payroll account.

Thus making a lie of their advertising slogan "There are more Chemical Bank branches on Long Island than there are MacDonald's "

[nisakiman]

It is usually best to open an account at a branch you can easily get to as there will be certain things/problems that "only the branch you opened the account at" can help you with...just the nature of the Thai banking system.

Yes, that is a pain. I opened an account with Bangkok Bank in Hua Hin several years ago, then because I hadn't used my card for a couple of years (I'm in Europe) forgot the PIN. We were in Ubon last year, and I tried to get a new PIN for my card from one of the local branches.

No deal. "You have to go to Hua Hin to do that" they told me. Bugger. So this year, we will have to go to Hua Hin for a few days just to do that and hopefully to organise internet banking.

Oh well, Hua Hin will be a nice place to spend Christmas day! I can think of worse things to be doing!

[KittenKong]

First of all you need to open an account where you are going to live. There are going to be many times you will have to return to your "home" branch (the location where you opened up your account) to perform certain things. Secondly, if you open up an account in Bangkok, you may have to pay fees to use banking services "up country" or "out of province"

Definitely something to watch out for.

Exceptions that I know of (at least for ATM use) are CIMB, TMB and Standard Chartered. But even those dont allow you to manage your account from a branch in another region, except perhaps the Standard Chartered eSaver which is largely done online.

Apart from that, and regardless of which bank the OP chooses, I would suggest opening the account at a branch that has many farang customers.

[colin2]

NO.

[xylophone]

I have been banking here for around eight years and have used both SCB and Bangkok Bank, having initially been with SCB and fairly recently changed to Bangkok Bank and have been pleased with the change, because service at the SCB was sadly lacking.

I almost gave up with SCB when I tried to transfer some money out of the country and despite them having all of the records of my incoming funds, including the "statements" from my NZ bank, they told me that these records were not enough proof, "but they were issued by your bank and given to me as proof of them being sent from my bank in NZ and arriving here in Thailand", I said – – blank faces and no go, so I got round it another way.

Just after that episode, I was having difficulty with their online banking and went into my home branch to get it sorted, and was invited to sit down with a personal banker to do it. Anyway trying to cut a long story short, despite them sitting me behind their desk, with two personal bankers in attendance, we still couldn't make it work, whereby one supposedly left to go to the toilet and the other one persevered with me, and when she couldn't make it work she also walked off.

I was left sitting there at the desk, with the files and computer at my disposal for 30 min (I was actually behind the desk and could well have been conducting business) for all anybody knew, and when I eventually managed to get the attention of the floor manager after many tries she did some asking about and basically told me in broken English that the two girls didn't know what to do so had basically walked off – – no explanation, no nothing.

That was the last straw and I transferred all of my funds to the Bangkok Bank the next day and have to say that the service there has been absolutely excellent. Not only that their online banking is far superior to that of SCB's, much more user-friendly and easy to follow and I'm so glad I made the change.

[Jdiddy]

SCB seem to have the best female uniforms, which was good enough for me

[dominique355]

I think it depends more on the branch than on the company. I experienced horrible service at one Bangkok Bank branch (at Ramkhamhaeng road) and am excellent English service at the Sam Paragon branch of the same Bangkok Bank.

Thai Military Bank might be the exception. I was turned down twice at different locations and the reason given wad that I am Farang.

Now I am at Kasikorn Bank and all branches have been friendly and helpful