Opening offshore bank - what currency should I go for?

[Naam]

Errm, your link right there says it all. They want a percentage for JPY for example. Incoming fees are 0.25% (albeit with a cap), and THB going out of the country takes 0.25% without a cap. When it comes to banking I am always reminded of the line "These people are not your friends".

banks want your best! your money

[gamini]

Since you live in Thailand it would be best to keep most of your funds in Thai Baht. You will not suffer from currency fluctuations. The GPB went down to 36 bt some years back. Over the years The Thai baht has held up pretty well and the Thai economy is doing better than most. If you want to get some return on your money here you could carefully choose some blue chip Thai stocks to hold for long term. We have done very well on modest property purchases and renting out property. Don't believe the pathetic "Thai bashers" They are mostly ignorant and poorly educated.

The GPB went down to 36 bt some years back.

these "some" years was 19 years ago during the Asian crisis

Yes. It was a long time ago. Just after I retired to Thailand, So I really suffered financially. I had everything in GBP. Since then mostly in Baht and i have fared well

[Scotwight]

I've never tried to open an SG account, but did open a HK (HSBC) account some years ago. No problem except having to do it in person.

Having visited there to open another one for a new company (previous one is a business account also) we had to jump through hurdles and show what business we're in and what qualifications we had to say that we could run a business, and 3 months of statements (hello? no bank account so can't start the business and have bank statements). Despite that we've successfully been banking with them for 7 years with audited accounts, this time it was a wasted journey and a complete waste of time and money.

While looking for a personal account for reasons unrelated to the above two, I came across this for German account: https://www.deutscheskonto.org/en/open-bank-account-germany/ which may be of interest. I'm not that confident about the Euro in the longer term (or many others tbh), but at least from there you can transfer wherever you like should you find a preferable place to park assets. Due diligence required though, as a lot of (most of) the banks are technically insolvent, and I'm not even convinced the insurance companies that bank them are a trustworthy solution either.

I've been called crazy for the next one on the grounds of stability of the country, but I'm actually considering opening an account in Mongolia. On the surface at least it looks stress free, and foreign currency friendly. In their own currency they offer good rates for savings (around 4-5% for USD up to 15%+ for local currency). They're tiny in GDP but probably one of the most healthy debt/asset ratio out there. I just want somewhere away from US/Europe personally, and when looking at Citi Bank in SG I couldn't determine whether the west had any reach in terms of things like suspending accounts without accusation or suspicion. Mongolia is currently under the wings of China to a large degree (Mongolia has minerals, and they work cheaper than in Australia, as well as being closer to China than the alternatives). Even so, it's still worth doing some digging into the stability as they have a kind of 'mono asset' in minerals.

As for getting money out of Thailand, I've never tried (I just don't bring a lot more in than needed, for several reasons). I do think it can be done, but they might make you jump through a few hoops for their permission for you to retrieve your assets (which are their debt anyhow). Just makes me not want to deal with them at all beyond ATM usage. If you did have issues, then perhaps having more than one Thai bank and sending 50K at a time from several, or if you have trusted friends then perhaps they could help. Exchange rates aren't *that* bad, but transfer fees become a significant percentage if not moving a lot at a time. [sarcasm] I think their computers have to work harder for inputting a larger number than a smaller number, so that's why they charge you a percentage of your asset rather than just a fee and exchange rate rake [/sarcasm].

You really should not post about things you have no idea about. http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/CurrencyExchange/Pages/Fees.aspx#2

Errm, your link right there says it all. They want a percentage for JPY for example. Incoming fees are 0.25% (albeit with a cap), and THB going out of the country takes 0.25% without a cap. When it comes to banking I am always reminded of the line "These people are not your friends".

So how much does it cost to transfer $100,000 from Thailand to the USA?

[ExpatOilWorker]

Just open an account with Julius Baer, they have an office in HK, but their broker often travel to Thailand. (https://www.juliusbaer.com/global/en/home)

But, you might need a bit more than $50,000.

JB entry level was a few years ago ~$3mm.

You can actually get in with a little less than that, but not much lower. It also depends on the currency of the account.

[Naam]

Just open an account with Julius Baer, they have an office in HK, but their broker often travel to Thailand. (https://www.juliusbaer.com/global/en/home)

But, you might need a bit more than $50,000.

JB entry level was a few years ago ~$3mm.

You can actually get in with a little less than that, but not much lower. It also depends on the currency of the account.

the billions from Europe don't flow as they used to and that means more concessions by the banks. but the two heavyweights in Singapore, UBS and CS, act still high and mighty and demand a "5" on the bottom of the entry portfolio.