My trip to the bank to get a term deposit. Lost cause. Does anyone know what different banks are pay

[DrDave]

"...So brothers and sisters if anyone can tell me what rates are for 4,5,7 month term deposits are I would sincerely appreciate it. Save me a lot of legwork. Any rates in the archives are undoubtedly outdated. "

Not much legwork is involved. Most Thai banks clearly list their current rates, along with duration and minimum deposit requirements on their website. For example, K-Bank's is here:

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Deposit/Pages/Deposit.aspx

Note that most fixed deposit accounts are taxable, and the bank will withhold and remit to the Department of Revenue 15% of any interest paid. Tax-free accounts are generally available at a slightly reduced interest rate.

[chiang mai]

read this and think about Thai banks

not being involve in NPL Non performing loans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-24/thai-banks-face-biggest-default-since-97-as-steel-venture-fails

Read this and understand the NPL's situation in Thailand.

https://www.bot.or.th/English/Statistics/Graph/Pages/NPL.aspx

And Chinese steel production has effectively wiped out the rest of the worlds producers, Chinese companies are not at risk in that sense.

As for THB, it's plenty strong and secure enough, thanks you very much, GBP on the other hand has a long overdue fall coming when government realizes that consumer spending and real estate prices can't carry an economy indefinitely, I mean, what's left to sell any more!

[khunken]

"...So brothers and sisters if anyone can tell me what rates are for 4,5,7 month term deposits are I would sincerely appreciate it. Save me a lot of legwork. Any rates in the archives are undoubtedly outdated. "

Not much legwork is involved. Most Thai banks clearly list their current rates, along with duration and minimum deposit requirements on their website. For example, K-Bank's is here:

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Deposit/Pages/Deposit.aspx

Note that most fixed deposit accounts are taxable, and the bank will withhold and remit to the Department of Revenue 15% of any interest paid. Tax-free accounts are generally available at a slightly reduced interest rate.

Correct but anyone (except possibly a high-end tax payer?) can claim that tax back.

I am on a retirement visa extension & I've claimed all tax paid on interest on FTDs up to 2014 for the last 3 years. I'll be doing my 2015 tax refund claim very shortly.

[WorkingTourist]

I don't get it, you'r ready to lock your moneys away for 8 months for a lousy 16500 Baht (1.65%)? why even bother? You would make more money investing a trickle of that money in a hot dog stand and sell hot dogs on walking street in Pattaya, even at low season.

I assume the 1.65% is p.a. so that’d be 11.000 baht after 8 months. And the lower interest rate of 1.45% would come out to 1.333 baht less than what OP originally thought they would get.

[WorkingTourist]

A bank going "broke" is a pretty meaningless term.

Not according to Wikipedia:

The 2008 financial crisis led to the failure of a large number of banks in the United States. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) closed 465 failed banks from 2008 to 2012. In contrast, in the five years prior to 2008, only 10 banks failed.

A bank failure is the closing of a bank by a federal or state banking regulatory agency. The FDIC is named as Receiver for a bank's assets when its capital levels are too low, or it cannot meet obligations the next day. After a bank's assets are placed into Receivership, the FDIC acts in two capacities—first, it pays insurance to the depositors, up to the deposit insurance limit, for assets not sold to another bank. Second, as the receiver of the failed bank, it assumes the task of selling and collecting the assets of the failed bank and settling its debts, including claims for deposits in excess of the insured limit. The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, as a result of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which raised the limit from $100,000.

In Europe, how the government deals with failed banks vary from country, but a lot of people have lost non-insured funds after the financial crisis due to bank failures.

[chiang mai]

"...So brothers and sisters if anyone can tell me what rates are for 4,5,7 month term deposits are I would sincerely appreciate it. Save me a lot of legwork. Any rates in the archives are undoubtedly outdated. "

Not much legwork is involved. Most Thai banks clearly list their current rates, along with duration and minimum deposit requirements on their website. For example, K-Bank's is here:

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Deposit/Pages/Deposit.aspx

Note that most fixed deposit accounts are taxable, and the bank will withhold and remit to the Department of Revenue 15% of any interest paid. Tax-free accounts are generally available at a slightly reduced interest rate.

Tax paid on fixed rate accounts can be reclaimed from the revenue in Thailand the very next tax year, tax paid on regular savings accounts cannot, 15% in both cases. Tax free accounts simply take advantage of the tax free personal allowance, these types of accounts are not that common but the rates on some can be very good - they are short term accounts.

[elgordo38]

I don't get it, you'r ready to lock your moneys away for 8 months for a lousy 16500 Baht (1.65%)? why even bother? You would make more money investing a trickle of that money in a hot dog stand and sell hot dogs on walking street in Pattaya, even at low season.

Thanks for your reply. If you ever decide to go into business please do not ask me for a loan. I think you would be a poor credit risk. For your own sake I would avoid any type of business it could be bad for your financial health.

Edited January 26, 2016 by elgordo38

[elgordo38]

Well after all your kind and informative answers I decided to sally forth to one financial institution (whom I shall not name) who was recommended here. They had a branch close by so off I and my g/f went. The procedure started off well I liked their plan and interest rate copies were made and signed passport flashed and copied up to this point I was really impressed well then the wheels fell off of the wagon so to speak. The girl rather frustrated had entered the wrong code number for the transaction and suddenly there was a huddle of 4 or 5 employees around her. Oh no I said to my self this spells trouble. Huddles are not good. After another 15 or 20 minutes went by the whole office had passed by making comments/suggestions. After about 45 minutes we seem to overcome the code problem and it was time to scan and sign the final transaction. Hmm problem number 2 the scanner quit and they had no idea how to fix it. Back to square 1. I did however comment on the nice pens for signing all the documents and they whipped one out of the drawer brand new and gave it to me. Its an old habit of mine to see if any freebies were available. I thought because of the delay they should provide a free lunch but I guess that would be pushing it. Well that was it for today I must return tomorrow and hope the scanner is fixed. I will of course loose 1 days interest due to their error but I guess that is normal for Thailand. Thanks guys for all the links to posted rates. None on the list came close to what I received and some rates were already outdated. I wanted to stay with one of the major banks not any of the buckwheat banks.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

It's ridiculous to think that if bank like Bangkok Bank went broke your money would be insured, regardless of what fairy tale government tells you.

You're wasting your time with this.

[chiang mai]

It's ridiculous that you think Bank Deposit protection insurance doesn't exist in Thailand!

[Gutenberg]

It's ridiculous that you think Bank Deposit protection insurance doesn't exist in Thailand!

If Bangkok Bank goes broke I doubt that it would be the only bank affected and if those banks go broke I can assure you that whole country will be broke. In this situation, don't think you will get your 1 million THB per bank account as an alien/foreigner. There will be no more THB at all.

[AlQaholic]

I don't get it, you'r ready to lock your moneys away for 8 months for a lousy 16500 Baht (1.65%)? why even bother? You would make more money investing a trickle of that money in a hot dog stand and sell hot dogs on walking street in Pattaya, even at low season.

I assume the 1.65% is p.a. so that’d be 11.000 baht after 8 months. And the lower interest rate of 1.45% would come out to 1.333 baht less than what OP originally thought they would get.

Yeah I was thinking that the op would leave the money there for a full annum:) Anyway the amount is so ridiculously low I wouldn't even bother doing the calculations or even entering a bank for that matter, the mere effort of doing so would cancel out the enormous profit of 11,000 Baht. How this meager amount can generate so much discussion about global economy is beyond my comprehension.

[rak sa_ngop]

The TMB kept hounding me to take one out, I eventually seen the sense in it and went for it @ 2%, BKK were only offering 1.5% I think it was. Had no trouble at all opening it, they nearly bit my hand off to get me to do it.

Don't forget that TMB will also deduct 15 pc tax on interest income every year (not sure but maybe only if you receive more than 10,000 baht pa interest).

You can of course easily recover this from the tax department but it means registering as a tax payer and obtaining a tax number. Personally I would rather not make myself known to the Thai tax authorities as overseas income MAY be liable for tax in Thailand. And who knows what changes may occur in the future.

Therefore I am not bothered about losing about 3000 baht a year. Hey, I am contributing to Thailand's economy.

[Pib]

The way governments misuse and waste tax revenue you may be contributing more to corrupt politicians vs the Thai economy.

Now just continuing to buy stuff which incurs excise and VAT taxes is plenty of contribution to the economy.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Pib

[fletchsmile]

It's ridiculous that you think Bank Deposit protection insurance doesn't exist in Thailand!

If Bangkok Bank goes broke I doubt that it would be the only bank affected and if those banks go broke I can assure you that whole country will be broke. In this situation, don't think you will get your 1 million THB per bank account as an alien/foreigner. There will be no more THB at all.

"Printing" money and channelling it to support the banks like the US and UK have done would be an obvious option, if the issue was systemic to the banking sector rather than just one bank. The percentage of foreign currency assets and liabilities on most Thai banks balance sheets is also minimal compared to regional and global peers, which is a big plus for Thailand when looking at that particular risk.

There wouldn't be any difference between foreigner and Thai when it comes to DPA vs Thai. Also if got to that stage of shoring up banks and confidence it really wouldn't make sense to try and avoid the less than 1% of depositors who are foreign to save a little on costs. It wouldn't be meaningful as a cost saving and the repercussions internationally of trying to do that would far outweigh any little saving.

So one way or another I'd expect your THB still to be there. Might be worth a lot less internationally, in the unlikely scenario of a Thai banking system collapse playing out. Also if there were to be a systemic banking collapse in Thailand, it'd probably be more likely driven by external/ global factors and wouldn't be just a Thai issue.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

It's ridiculous that you think Bank Deposit protection insurance doesn't exist in Thailand!

This is not what I said at all.

[chiang mai]

It's ridiculous to think that if bank like Bangkok Bank went broke your money would be insured, regardless of what fairy tale government tells you.

You're wasting your time with this.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Again, this is not what I said at all.

[chiang mai]

[JimGant]

Foreign currency exposure of Thailand and its banks is far lower than peers such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

Interesting. Fletch, could you expand on that please...?

[skatewash]

"...So brothers and sisters if anyone can tell me what rates are for 4,5,7 month term deposits are I would sincerely appreciate it. Save me a lot of legwork. Any rates in the archives are undoubtedly outdated. "

Not much legwork is involved. Most Thai banks clearly list their current rates, along with duration and minimum deposit requirements on their website. For example, K-Bank's is here:

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Deposit/Pages/Deposit.aspx

Note that most fixed deposit accounts are taxable, and the bank will withhold and remit to the Department of Revenue 15% of any interest paid. Tax-free accounts are generally available at a slightly reduced interest rate.

Tax paid on fixed rate accounts can be reclaimed from the revenue in Thailand the very next tax year, tax paid on regular savings accounts cannot, 15% in both cases [emphasis added]. Tax free accounts simply take advantage of the tax free personal allowance, these types of accounts are not that common but the rates on some can be very good - they are short term accounts.

Actually, tax can be reclaimed from the revenue office in Thailand the next year assuming any was withheld regardless of whether in a fixed term deposit or a regular savings account. At least, I successfully reclaimed tax withheld from a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai savings account last year and expect to do so this again year. The difference may be that tax is always withheld from a fixed term deposit whereas it is only withheld from a regular savings account when you surpass the yearly threshold of interest income (which I guess is 20,000 THB). This might be another advantage to the Mee Tae Dai savings account over a fixed term deposit.

[chiang mai]

"...So brothers and sisters if anyone can tell me what rates are for 4,5,7 month term deposits are I would sincerely appreciate it. Save me a lot of legwork. Any rates in the archives are undoubtedly outdated. "

Not much legwork is involved. Most Thai banks clearly list their current rates, along with duration and minimum deposit requirements on their website. For example, K-Bank's is here:

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Deposit/Pages/Deposit.aspx

Note that most fixed deposit accounts are taxable, and the bank will withhold and remit to the Department of Revenue 15% of any interest paid. Tax-free accounts are generally available at a slightly reduced interest rate.

Tax paid on fixed rate accounts can be reclaimed from the revenue in Thailand the very next tax year, tax paid on regular savings accounts cannot, 15% in both cases [emphasis added]. Tax free accounts simply take advantage of the tax free personal allowance, these types of accounts are not that common but the rates on some can be very good - they are short term accounts.

Actually, tax can be reclaimed from the revenue office in Thailand the next year assuming any was withheld regardless of whether in a fixed term deposit or a regular savings account. At least, I successfully reclaimed tax withheld from a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai savings account last year and expect to do so this again year. The difference may be that tax is always withheld from a fixed term deposit whereas it is only withheld from a regular savings account when you surpass the yearly threshold of interest income (which I guess is 20,000 THB). This might be another advantage to the Mee Tae Dai savings account over a fixed term deposit.

Actually I think you are correct and that it's not just the Mee Tae Dai account to which the refund rule applies.

I must admit I had always taken as fact from the very outset that savings account taxes could not be reclaimed whereas fixed account taxes could and I never bothered to question this. Now that I have checked the tax laws I see no reason why savings interest tax cannot be reclaimed although there might be a couple of practical constraints to consider.

The first is that savings account interest rates are typically very low in Thailand, a standard savings account attracts less than 0.75%, a rate that is unattractive to most savers, most savers will I think opt for fixed rate products or higher rate products where interest is collected at source. Higher savings rates can be achieved but more often than not they come with a caveat that 15% tax is withheld once the tax free threshold is exceeded. When a person files a Personal Income Tax form they have the choice to either not consider the income from a savings account where the 15% has been withheld or to include the income on a return which may push their income to the next tax bracket.

Finally, I'm not sure how the Thai banks would react if a customer was to ask for a certificate of interest withheld on a regular savings accounts that pays 0.75%, as I recall that tax is not shown in the passbook hence the bank would need to calculate it and issue the certificate. That's a lot of work for a small amount of income so I'm guessing that many excuses might be forthcoming.