Re-activate 20 year old bank accounts

[PaddyThai]

My Thai wife, daughter and I left Thailand about 20 years ago to move to Europe where we all still live.

I never closed my Banks accounts with;

Thai Farmers Bank

Siam Commercial Bank

and

Bangkok Bank.

Because we plan to sell some land, I wondered could I, easily, re-activate these accounts so as to be able to lodge the large sale price into them and then withdraw using ATM from Europe or some such arrangement.

I don't expect too many people will have knowledge or experience of doing this but I thought I'd chance asking :)

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by PaddyThai

[A1Str8]

Just call the bank and ask them, for how long they keep an inactive account. 

You never closed those bank accounts. They probably did. Different banks have different policies on the length of maintaining a bank account that is not used. It's in their best interest to do so to keep the clients, so they keep it for a while but not indefinitely. 

However, it's worth a try if you are willing to pay. They aren't going to let you start using it again without paying what it cost them to keep it running for years. 

I have had different bank accounts that were inactive for years and I could always use them again, after paying the aforementioned fee. If you don't have any funds on those accounts that is. If you do then the money is used for maintaining it. 

I have had a bank account in Europe, which I didn't use for ten years, since I graduated from high school. When I asked them about it after a decade, they said its still there and I paid 30 usd to use it again. 

[al007]

Sounds to me you may be worried about paying tax in Europe

 

If the sum is significant surely your wife should come here for completion, if she is Thai she will have no problem opening a bank account, the chances are all the old ones even if still in existence would require resuscitating and probably as much info as for new

 

With an ATM you can withdraw cash in Europe, but it is an expensive way to get money out

 

You should probably examine your tax situation in your home country BEFORE completion to see if you can mitigate any tax liability, maybe and only maybe if in your wife's name and she is not domiciled where you live you might be OK

[phantomfiddler]

If you still have your bank books just go in and ask them to update your book. You will probably find that Thai Farmers, which has changed it,s name a few times as most crooked outfits do, will have emptied your account, but the other ones should be OK !

[Estrada]

I have done this myself with a dormant for 15 years, Bangkok Bank Account which was closed by the bank with B20,000.00 still in it. I had to visit the bank and deposit a nominal amount of money for them to reactivate it, for which there was a fee. You would have to come to Thailand to carry out the paperwork, I assume that the account maybe in joint names so if so bring the co-signer. You have to be aware of the reporting and restrictions imposed due to AMLO.

[redbarron]

I left Thailand in 2001 and had a few thousand baht in a Bangkok bank account. After 15 years I went back to Bangkok bank and showed them my old bankbook and told them I wanted too open an account again. No problem at all.

[bark]

After one year of not using one of my bank accounts with a lot of money in it. i got a letter from the bank, asking me to either deposit money ( even 1000 baht ) or update my bank account, or withdrawal. Bank said my account was inactive.

[OJAS]

OP - did you notify the 3 banks of your new European address prior to your move? If not you may well find that they sent letters to your old Thai address to notify you of their intention to close these accounts, which were then either returned as undeliverable or tossed in the bin by the new occupants.

[Slain]

I Banked with K bank about 8 years ago creating two different accounts.  leaving Thailand 6 years ago. I left a few thousand Bht in the accounts.

I have continued to activate the accounts by transferring small amounts once or twice a year electronically.  So far with no problems. I know this won't help Paddy, but its a useful thing to do if ever someone may want to live there in the future.  

[puipuitom]

My experience with Bangkok Bank in Pataya - North ( Sukhumvit): they withdraw the yearly account fee, and when that amount is finished, the bank account is closed. Cannot be reopened.

[fletchsmile]

The accounts will just have become dormant/ inactive and probably won't have been closed

 

If the account holder goes into the bank in person with their ID you can usually reactivate them. Procedures to do so vary from bank to bank, eg need to deposit a small cash account such as THB 100.

 

For ATM cards you would probably need to get new ones issued and pay the relevant fees and  get new pin numbers.

 

Whether or not you have any money left in the account will depend on the bank's fees/ policies for dormant accounts. Often they charge a fee if it falls below a minimum balance or after a certain period. That fee can then end up draining up any money in an account if the balance wasn't big. THB 5,000 is a common threshold but it can vary.

 

The time period after which an account becomes dormant may also vary. Typically it's after 1 year.

 

My wife has an old one from well over a decade back that shows up on her internet banking as "dormant" status. So if you have internet banking it may be worth looking up the status - not all banks show the status but at least you should see any balance. I suspect that given 20 years you probably didn't have internet banking though. Hence: 

 

Bottom line though is just to go to the bank concerned in person with your ID and passbooks

 

Cheers

Fletch :)

 

 

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, fletchsmile said:

.My wife has an old one from well over a decade back that shows up on her internet banking as "dormant" status. So if you have internet banking it may be worth looking up the status - not all banks show the status but at least you should see any balance. I suspect that given 20 years you probably didn't have internet banking though. Hence: 

Didn't work for me yesterday when I tried to check the status of 2 old Krungsri and Kasikorn accounts online - neither internet banking username and password was recognised, leading me to conclude the both accounts, along with my internet banking with those 2 particular banks, had now been closed after over 5 years of non-use!

[fletchsmile]

15 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Didn't work for me yesterday when I tried to check the status of 2 old Krungsri and Kasikorn accounts online - neither internet banking username and password was recognised, leading me to conclude the both accounts, along with my internet banking with those 2 particular banks, had now been closed after over 5 years of non-use!

 

They won't be closed after 5 years if they still have a balance. They will be dormant / inactive though. Highly likely that your internet banking has also been disabled if you haven't used it.

 

In our case, my wife also has some active accounts with the same bank, so can still log-in and see the dormant one as they are all shown based on the same ID

 

 

Edited December 14, 2016 by fletchsmile

[OJAS]

15 minutes ago, fletchsmile said:

 

They won't be closed after 5 years if they still have a balance. They will be dormant / inactive though. Highly likely that your internet banking has also been disabled if you haven't used it.

 

In our case, my wife also has some active accounts with the same bank, so can still log-in and see the dormant one as they are all shown based on the same ID

 

 

 

The terms and conditions of my current Bualang iBanking facility with Bangkok Bank specifically state that "The Bank may terminate this Service at anytime without having to notify the Applicant in the case where ... the Applicant has not accessed this Service for a period of more than 1 year ...  from the date of the last access to this Service by the Applicant". "Termination" by my book sounds rather more final than "disablement", and, although I have not been able to track any corresponding T&C's for Krungsri and Kasikorn online, I assume that the Bualang iBanking requirement is standard within the Thai banking industry.

 

[Pib]

If I was a betting man, I would bet the OP will not be able to reopen/reactivate old accounts; he'll have to start from scratch in opening new accounts when "physicall"y in Thailand.   Some quotes from Banggkok Bank website.

 

Quote

Can I open an account from abroad?

No, you must visit a Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand in person to open an account.

 

[userabcd]

I had this problem in 2012.

 

I had an account with BBank opened in 1994 and used until 1999 when I left the country. The account was rendered dormant.

 

In 2012 I enquired about reactivating the account and was informed by BBank head office that I  could not, I had to open a new account.

[PaddyThai]

Thanks for all the replies.

I was not expecting so much help and advice, much appreciated.

I expect accounts are closed and not worth re-opening.

I will likely let my Thai wife open a new account and use that.

Thanks again