Is Bangkok Bank London's unique selling point being in London?

[Craig krup]

I did a forum search and nobody seems to worry as much as I do .

I take it the main reason why you would open an account with the London branch of Bangkok Bank is that if push came to shove your branch would be in London, they've accepted UK arbitration and regulation and you're a UK citizen?

I mean, if you're having a dispute in Thailand and you opened an account in the country you're "on plums" (as they say in Glasgow) if there's a problem.

Or are all Thai banks pretty trustworthy?

[huawei]

Why do you need to open an account with them.They can be used as a UK intermediary for transferring funds on line. I like the service.

[Craig krup]

Why do you need to open an account with them.They can be used as a UK intermediary for transferring funds on line. I like the service.

To show the 800k.

Mind you, I'm pretty certain that if you can show it in sterling it'll be okay applying for the first visa in the UK. What happens if you try to renew it in Thailand might be different. But 800k baht is definitely going to be enough, and now that we're back up at 54 I think that's fair: Baht might weaken, might not.

[partington]

Deleted-as I may be incorrect.

Edited July 28, 2015 by partington

[huawei]

Why do you need to open an account with them.They can be used as a UK intermediary for transferring funds on line. I like the service.

To show the 800k.

Mind you, I'm pretty certain that if you can show it in sterling it'll be okay applying for the first visa in the UK. What happens if you try to renew it in Thailand might be different. But 800k baht is definitely going to be enough, and now that we're back up at 54 I think that's fair: Baht might weaken, might not.

Is this possible to show in sterling.?

[KamnanT]

I think you'll find that the Bangkok Bank subsidiary in London is not a retail bank and does not open retail accounts - it's a commercial bank only. However, you can perform domestic UK BACS transfers to the London branch for onward credit to a retail account in Thailand (see here).

[ldnguy]

I thought the money you had to show for immigration purposes had to be with a bank in Thailand, so not much use having money in a UK bank. They want to know you have enough money here to live.

[Craig krup]

I thought the money you had to show for immigration purposes had to be with a bank in Thailand, so not much use having money in a UK bank. They want to know you have enough money here to live.

Well, there's a lot of use in having money in a UK bank - you can take it out at any ATM. Money, these days, isn't "here" in that sense - it doesn't move anywhere, it's just a drawing right on a bank.

There entire system doesn't achieve what they want to achieve. There's nothing stopping you i) borrowing £15k for three months and then paying it back when you've got the visa, or ii) blowing every penny in the first week. The first of these is what a lot of foreign students do to get into the UK, and then they have to work during what is supposed to be their studies. I'm sure the second of these is what a lot of the washed-up folk you see did - "The Brits who never went home".

As I've said before, an escrow account with (say) £3k in it would make a lot more sense, to be held against emergencies until you've left the country, but there isn't a culture in place which allows anyone to say, "If we desire "x" then "y" won't achieve it for reason "z", but this alternative will". This is why they keep saying things that make no sense. The latest one I've just noticed is that your medical check has to have a "validity" of at least three months. What the **** does that mean? Does the certificate confer magical powers that stop you get syphilis? What they actually mean, of course, is that you have to submit your application within three months of having the medical done, but (again) nobody he understands can say to anyone above them, "This doesn't make any sense, boss, can I change it to.....?" So every year they'll spend weeks annoying prospective retirees, or putting themselves in the position where someone is costing them money and it is going to cost even more money to get rid of them.

Northcote and Trevelyan proved that a functioning civil service wasn't sufficient to make a country work (i.e. India), but it's certainly the case that without a functioning civil service a country definitely won't work.

[topt]

I thought the money you had to show for immigration purposes had to be with a bank in Thailand, so not much use having money in a UK bank. They want to know you have enough money here to live.

Well, there's a lot of use in having money in a UK bank - you can take it out at any ATM. Money, these days, isn't "here" in that sense - it doesn't move anywhere, it's just a drawing right on a bank.

There entire system doesn't achieve what they want to achieve. There's nothing stopping you i) borrowing £15k for three months and then paying it back when you've got the visa, or ii) blowing every penny in the first week. The first of these is what a lot of foreign students do to get into the UK, and then they have to work during what is supposed to be their studies. I'm sure the second of these is what a lot of the washed-up folk you see did - "The Brits who never went home".

As I've said before, an escrow account with (say) £3k in it would make a lot more sense, to be held against emergencies until you've left the country, but there isn't a culture in place which allows anyone to say, "If we desire "x" then "y" won't achieve it for reason "z", but this alternative will". This is why they keep saying things that make no sense. The latest one I've just noticed is that your medical check has to have a "validity" of at least three months. What the **** does that mean? Does the certificate confer magical powers that stop you get syphilis? What they actually mean, of course, is that you have to submit your application within three months of having the medical done, but (again) nobody he understands can say to anyone above them, "This doesn't make any sense, boss, can I change it to.....?" So every year they'll spend weeks annoying prospective retirees, or putting themselves in the position where someone is costing them money and it is going to cost even more money to get rid of them.

Northcote and Trevelyan proved that a functioning civil service wasn't sufficient to make a country work (i.e. India), but it's certainly the case that without a functioning civil service a country definitely won't work.

Was your OP genuinely naïve about BKK Bank's London branch or was the above the real reason you posted? The system is what it is and we are not going to be able to change it no matter what you think about it.

You say you did a search but there are many threads to do with sending money where BKK London and New York branches are mentioned..........

Not sure what you mean by

Or are all Thai banks pretty trustworthy?

Again many mentions about difficulties of getting your money back if your account is skimmed in some way but there is (currently) a large deposit protection scheme per bank which however is due to reduce to one million baht - sometime next year I think.

[Craig krup]

I thought the money you had to show for immigration purposes had to be with a bank in Thailand, so not much use having money in a UK bank. They want to know you have enough money here to live.

Well, there's a lot of use in having money in a UK bank - you can take it out at any ATM. Money, these days, isn't "here" in that sense - it doesn't move anywhere, it's just a drawing right on a bank.

There entire system doesn't achieve what they want to achieve. There's nothing stopping you i) borrowing £15k for three months and then paying it back when you've got the visa, or ii) blowing every penny in the first week. The first of these is what a lot of foreign students do to get into the UK, and then they have to work during what is supposed to be their studies. I'm sure the second of these is what a lot of the washed-up folk you see did - "The Brits who never went home".

As I've said before, an escrow account with (say) £3k in it would make a lot more sense, to be held against emergencies until you've left the country, but there isn't a culture in place which allows anyone to say, "If we desire "x" then "y" won't achieve it for reason "z", but this alternative will". This is why they keep saying things that make no sense. The latest one I've just noticed is that your medical check has to have a "validity" of at least three months. What the **** does that mean? Does the certificate confer magical powers that stop you get syphilis? What they actually mean, of course, is that you have to submit your application within three months of having the medical done, but (again) nobody he understands can say to anyone above them, "This doesn't make any sense, boss, can I change it to.....?" So every year they'll spend weeks annoying prospective retirees, or putting themselves in the position where someone is costing them money and it is going to cost even more money to get rid of them.

Northcote and Trevelyan proved that a functioning civil service wasn't sufficient to make a country work (i.e. India), but it's certainly the case that without a functioning civil service a country definitely won't work.

Was your OP genuinely naïve about BKK Bank's London branch or was the above the real reason you posted? The system is what it is and we are not going to be able to change it no matter what you think about it.

You say you did a search but there are many threads to do with sending money where BKK London and New York branches are mentioned..........

Not sure what you mean by

Or are all Thai banks pretty trustworthy?

Again many mentions about difficulties of getting your money back if your account is skimmed in some way but there is (currently) a large deposit protection scheme per bank which however is due to reduce to one million baht - sometime next year I think.

My original question was a genuine question - if you're a Brit as far as I can see the only way you'll have leverage over your baht Bank is to make it a British bank, and only Bangkok Bank meets the bill. I must admit, I didn't know it wasn't a retail walk in. I'd deal with them post/online anyway, unless there was a problem.

There are many threads about sending money where BKK London is mentioned, but none which actually address the issue: is there a serious advantage in having a bank regulated by the UK, and (even if BKK isn't that competitive in some other ways) is that worth paying for.

I didn't suggest I could change the system. I just drew attention to why a remark about "having to have the money in Thailand" makes no more sense than a lot of the bureaucracy the Thais put in place. I briefly worked as an auditor. The first thing they tell you is, work out whether the system they're running proves anything if it is adhered to. Don't waste your time checking whether is is adhered to if it wouldn't make any difference that it was. The Thais don't need people to teach them the English language, they need people to teach them Anglo-Saxon thinking. Typing those words cost me seconds, which is why the fact that it won't happen isn't a disincentive: it's worth telling the truth even if it does nothing more than anchor it in your own head .

[chiang mai]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

[magnacarta]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

[topt]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

Irrespective of whether you can or not I'd like to see you show a £GBP deposit in a UK "branch" of any bank for a retirement extension. You think your local Thai bank branch will be able to give you a letter and you will be able to update the bank book the day of or day before needed...............

But don't listen to us, please go and try and then let us know how well you got on..............

[Enoon]

"they need people to teach them Anglo-Saxon thinking. Typing those words cost me seconds, which is why the fact that it won't happen isn't a disincentive: it's worth telling the truth even if it does nothing more than anchor it in your own head"

Sounds like you may have got on the wrong aeroplane

[chiang mai]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

Because Bangkok Bank London doesn't hold a retail banking license, they are a single office bank in London which acts as a correspondent and commercial bank only.

[Suradit69]

I think you'll find that the Bangkok Bank subsidiary in London is not a retail bank and does not open retail accounts - it's a commercial bank only. However, you can perform domestic UK BACS transfers to the London branch for onward credit to a retail account in Thailand (see here).

Yes, I doubt you can open an account at the Bangkok Bank branch in London. I know individuals cannot open or maintain accounts at their branch in New York.

You open a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand and you can then direct deposits to one of their foreign branches in the local currency, using the account number of the account you opened in Thailand. The baht amount of the deposit will appear in your Thai based account in a day or two,

Edited July 30, 2015 by Suradit69

[Suradit69]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

" they do not know their arse from their elbow"

"now I rely on my own experience"

Extraordinary the experiences some people have. Given your cheerful attitude, the mystery deepens.

I opened an account at Bangkok Bank 15 years ago. Got an ATM card without asking. Have been making direct deposits to their branch in New York all these years without a single hitch. Never had any issues dealing with people at my local branch either ... but then I don't go in with a big chip on my shoulder & muttering to myself.

[ronwparker]

I have with BB in Chiangmai for over 14 years and this is the first I have heard of a retail London branch with an ATM

[ronwparker]

If it exists where is it and can I apply for an ATM card from Thailand?

[chiang mai]

If it exists where is it and can I apply for an ATM card from Thailand?

I don't know what you're reading because all the posts say there is NOT a retail branch of BBL in London, here, read:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/Europe/Pages/BranchinUK.aspx

Edited July 30, 2015 by chiang mai

[huawei]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

" they do not know their arse from their elbow"

"now I rely on my own experience"

Extraordinary the experiences some people have. Given your cheerful attitude, the mystery deepens.

I opened an account at Bangkok Bank 15 years ago. Got an ATM card without asking. Have been making direct deposits to their branch in New York all these years without a single hitch. Never had any issues dealing with people at my local branch either ... but then I don't go in with a big chip on my shoulder & muttering to myself.

I have the same experience as you..no problems for 30 years..but I refrain from adding comments like chip on shoulder muttering etc..you do not like your fellow foreigner do you!!

[Pdavies99]

Talk about making mountain out of a molehill, you better not cross over the road in Thailand unless the lights are on red! Panic!

[Mudcrab]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

" they do not know their arse from their elbow"

"now I rely on my own experience"

Extraordinary the experiences some people have. Given your cheerful attitude, the mystery deepens.

I opened an account at Bangkok Bank 15 years ago. Got an ATM card without asking. Have been making direct deposits to their branch in New York all these years without a single hitch. Never had any issues dealing with people at my local branch either ... but then I don't go in with a big chip on my shoulder & muttering to myself.

I have the same experience as you..no problems for 30 years..but I refrain from adding comments like chip on shoulder muttering etc..you do not like your fellow foreigner do you!!

"Fellow foreigner"?

Why would anyone "like" someone simply because he is another foreigner in a different land?

Have I missed a meeting?

Didn't I get invited to the "like the fellow foreigner club".

I'll have to settle for liking my fellow man and my Thai family I guess.

[Craig krup]

"they need people to teach them Anglo-Saxon thinking. Typing those words cost me seconds, which is why the fact that it won't happen isn't a disincentive: it's worth telling the truth even if it does nothing more than anchor it in your own head"

Sounds like you may have got on the wrong aeroplane

Someone can wax lyrical about all the (supposedly) wonderful aspects of any culture they like and not only does nobody think they are being ethnocentric, they think they are being wonderful, pluralistic and multicultural. But the instant you actually dare to suggest that there's anything beneficial about something "western"........oh, no, no, no, no, no.

Anglo-American analytical philosophy wasn't Burmese-Vietnamese analytical philosophy. It might be nice if it had been, but it wasn't. Hume was a Scot. He could have been Nepali, but he wasn't. Not everything quintessential to the West is bad.

We should have as few dead babies as possible, as few neglected pensioners as possible, as little misery and as much human happiness as possible. All of that follows on from seeing that, 1) "there are lots of threads talking about how to move money from BKK London", and 2) "there are lots of threads exploring the advantages of having a baht account in a UK regulated bank" assert two different propositions. Man bites dog is different from dog bites man. It so isn't the case that the difference doesn't matter: not mai phen rai.

But as I've said many times before, a country that doesn't understand that rules advance goals, and so it's important that they actually do, will produce a situation of "adverse selection". It's a bit like the British Army pre-2007. They were spending an incredible slice of the budget on recruiting and training: over £100,000 all in to actually put one indigenous Scot into an infantry battalion, if you took the entire budget and divided it by the number of people they managed to get. My mate took over the recruiting team. He identified the problem. "The kids we get that are brilliant with an ACF background and who are absolutely army barmy are exactly the ones who jack it in when they see the f****** d**s we've already got in the battalions".

So a westerner who thinks that all rules are just mad made-up things that are just designed by people in power to muck you about is much more likely to see British rules and Thai rules as equally onerous. Indeed they might well see Thai rules as less problematic. My pal, however, with his geophysicist wife, very much knows the difference. So despite their luxury mansion in Phra Khanong, and fat rewards, they're now back in the UK. Why? When I walked down the soi an incredibly aggressive dog came flying out snarling and barking. I had to use a lot of voice and assertion to stop it in its tracks. It had previously scared the living crap out of his three year old. I said, "Why not get the cops to do something about it?" He said, "Well, the first thing I'd have to do is bribe them". That, plus the neighbour's kid being killed by bad wiring, and a thousand similar things, is why the Thais will find they can retain the people who keep the "adult industry" workers employed, but they can't retain the people who tell them how to get the oil and gas out from under the water.

Thought matters.

[Craig krup]

If it exists where is it and can I apply for an ATM card from Thailand?

I don't know what you're reading because all the posts say there is NOT a retail branch of BBL in London, here, read:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/Europe/Pages/BranchinUK.aspx

The link's a bit misleading because the first thing you see at the top of the page is a tab for personal banking, which - when you click it - starts telling you all about accounts for individuals and kids.

[magnacarta]

You can't open a retail account with BBL London.

Can you elaborate as to the reasons why.From my experiece with Thai banks they do not know their arse from their elbow.When I first came here 13 years ago I opened an account with Bangkok Bank,they would not give me an ATM card so I had to open an account with HSBC round the corner.Once a month I had to go to Silom,draw my money and deposit it in HSBC because they gave me an ATM card.I live 1 hour outside Silom.I had to close my HSBC account when they started charging 500 baht per month to service my account,I was always in the black.I eventually opened an account with SCB,still had a few problems.I think my advise to you would be not to listen to what you are told on here but go with personal experience and learn from your mistakes.Much of the advice applies to visa,buying land,living in Thailand etc.When I was a newbie here I listened to the experts,now I rely on my own experience.Be aware,you will make mistakes.

Irrespective of whether you can or not I'd like to see you show a £GBP deposit in a UK "branch" of any bank for a retirement extension. You think your local Thai bank branch will be able to give you a letter and you will be able to update the bank book the day of or day before needed...............

But don't listen to us, please go and try and then let us know how well you got on..............

Done it got the tee shirt,you never know what you will face on the day,hence my advice.

[NoshowJones]

I think you'll find that the Bangkok Bank subsidiary in London is not a retail bank and does not open retail accounts - it's a commercial bank only. However, you can perform domestic UK BACS transfers to the London branch for onward credit to a retail account in Thailand (see here).

Bangkok Bank in London give an excellent service, and always answer your e-mails. I can't thank them enough.

[chiang mai]

If it exists where is it and can I apply for an ATM card from Thailand?

I don't know what you're reading because all the posts say there is NOT a retail branch of BBL in London, here, read:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/Europe/Pages/BranchinUK.aspx

The link's a bit misleading because the first thing you see at the top of the page is a tab for personal banking, which - when you click it - starts telling you all about accounts for individuals and kids.

Then I think you have a problem with your browser or your hand, here's the first few words from that link:

United Kingdom

London Branch

The London branch provides full commercial banking services to local and overseas customers.

There are many products tailored to meet your needs including:

• Trade Finance
• Corporate Lending
• Remittance
• Foreign Exchange Services

[Craig krup]

If it exists where is it and can I apply for an ATM card from Thailand?

I don't know what you're reading because all the posts say there is NOT a retail branch of BBL in London, here, read:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/Europe/Pages/BranchinUK.aspx

The link's a bit misleading because the first thing you see at the top of the page is a tab for personal banking, which - when you click it - starts telling you all about accounts for individuals and kids.

Then I think you have a problem with your browser or your hand, here's the first few words from that link:

United Kingdom

London Branch

The London branch provides full commercial banking services to local and overseas customers.

There are many products tailored to meet your needs including:

• Trade Finance
• Corporate Lending
• Remittance
• Foreign Exchange Services

Why did you crop the last words in the list you pasted? You know, the ones that say "Deposit Accounts"?

What do we see right next to the words "Bangkok Bank" on the link? Yup, that's right - "Personal Banking". And what do we see when we click that - "Accounts" at the top of the list on the (I think) Java box that pops up, and behind that savings accounts, including the "Sinmathaya Subthawee - Bualuang Kids Account". It is all a bit misleading, at best.

[chiang mai]

I don't know what you're reading because all the posts say there is NOT a retail branch of BBL in London, here, read:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/Europe/Pages/BranchinUK.aspx

The link's a bit misleading because the first thing you see at the top of the page is a tab for personal banking, which - when you click it - starts telling you all about accounts for individuals and kids.

Then I think you have a problem with your browser or your hand, here's the first few words from that link:

United Kingdom

London Branch

The London branch provides full commercial banking services to local and overseas customers.

There are many products tailored to meet your needs including:

• Trade Finance
• Corporate Lending
• Remittance
• Foreign Exchange Services

Why did you crop the last words in the list you pasted? You know, the ones that say "Deposit Accounts"?

What do we see right next to the words "Bangkok Bank" on the link? Yup, that's right - "Personal Banking". And what do we see when we click that - "Accounts" at the top of the list on the (I think) Java box that pops up, and behind that savings accounts, including the "Sinmathaya Subthawee - Bualuang Kids Account". It is all a bit misleading, at best.

I wrote, "here's the first few words from that link", I stopped where I stopped because that was enough to demonstrate that you're talking absolute rubbish!

You'll forgive me if I appear a little terse but, you're barking! And if you think you can open a retail bank account at BBL London, go give it a try and report back to us with your findings, alternatively don't! Out.