Thailand Live Thursday 10 October 2024

[Simon555]

Does anyone have any recent experience with an FCD?

 

It appears I can have a bank account in my native currency here in Thailand, waiting for the day Sterling improves against the Baht.

 

This sounds almost too good to be true. Any thoughts?

 

Bring modest amounts of cash with me from the UK vs bank transfer. Pros and cons?

Edited January 12, 2017 by Simon555
typo

[salavan]

con's are very low almost no interest not covered if the bank goes broke

pro's can change to thai baht as and when you need it and as i understand  more easy to repatriate back to your home country.

but dont wait until the pound gets stronger i can only see it getting weaker

[topt]

Check the costs. I think you will find that depositing cash as opposed to a TT incurs a largish commission - normally 2% I think..........

Bangkok Bank web site has lots of info and most of the banks seem to be the same.

[Simon555]

Went into SCB & Krung Thai today - they appeared confused and I got nowhere. 

 

Bangkok Bank tried to fob me off until I showed them the webpage with their FCD product on it. They had to call a larger branch (the one I was already in was sizable) and a conversation was had. Think I can go into tomorrow to open an account, with every ID known to man to be presented. She mumbled something about a 'letter from the Embassy' but I have no idea what this is or why it is needed.

 

I'll probably have to open the account and I'll try transfering cash around to see if it is any value.

 

Sterling getting weaker still? When will this madness end?

[elgordo38]

16 hours ago, Simon555 said:

Sterling getting weaker still? When will this madness end?

Its a madness we are all suffering from 

[jerome2]

Pattaya is the only place to do a foreign money acc. I went udon kkaen loei ...impossible

[weedywhaoo]

Very easy to do at Bank of Auttaya in Saraburi. 

 

[mokwit]

Anybody have experience of moving money from foreign currency account to an account other than the one it came from - do the $50,000 BoT permissions still apply if e.g. USD not THB - I want to use it as an intermediary account in my name  to transfer funds from one broker to another as can't do direct.

 

Have heard there can be difficulty with transferring funds out of Thailand - that said I have always been able to transfer sub 50k amounts with no trouble using a photocopy of long expired WP - once had to wait for BoT phone approval for larger amount.

[Anon999]

The most cost efficient way of transferring Sterling to a FCD account is via the Bangkok Bank in London as you avoid the Clearing Banks in Bangkok,  and you can send it direct from your UK account. However, when the transfer is made from London the default is to a savings account which is a baht account. You must specify that it is in Sterling to a FCD account. The account number is too long for the number of spaces provided so when entering the account number ignore the first 3? or whatever so it fits into the available spaces! The charge was £25 I think. There is loads of information on their website and you can do everything online. For speed of transfer make sure your bank uses the Faster Payments Service.  http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

 

The other option is to use a financial trader that charges either nothing or a small fee <£1. However, do your research first to find out the best one for you and that will transfer in £'s. I have accounts with three but remember for small amounts, if required in a different currency, the exchange rate is poor.

 

[captpkapoor]

You can certainly and very easily, without any letter from the embassy, open both a foreign currency savings account as well as a foreign currency deposit account. I did both at Bangkok Bank without any problem - in fact I opened a Foreign Curr deposit for my wife as well, and she only had a tourist visa. However, I did all this at their HQ Branch at Silom Road in Bkk, where they had enough English speaking people who understood what to do. Downside: Each remittance I receive from abroad into my USD savings account, costs me $ 35 in fees and 500 baht equivalent - another $ 15 - in some other fee, so I lose about $ 50 each time. Sending USD abroad from this account is also easy, but with similar high costs.  The fixed deposit account earns very low interest - 0.9% p.a. Upside: I convert (on line) USD to my THB savings account, just as much as I need, and hopefully the $ is getting stronger this year.

[ExpatOilWorker]

http://www.uob.co.th/en/personal/deposit-foreign-currency-deposit-account.html

 

Type of Account

• Saving Deposit
• Time Deposit

Acceptable Currencies

• United State Dollar(USD)
• Great British Pound Sterling(GBP)
• Japanese Yen(JPY)
• Australian Dollar(AUD)
• Swiss Franc(CHF)
• Euro(EUR)
• Singaporean Dollar(SGD)

Documents required

1.Individual Resident Account

• A copy of Thai Citizen Identification

2. Individual Non-Resident Account

• A copy of passport,and
• A copy of work permit for Thailand

3. Corporate Account

• A copy of Business Registration. or Certificate of Incorporation
• A copy the Articles of Association
• A copy of resolution of board of directors' meeting indicating the intention to open the account, duly cerfified by the corporate secretary of the company or corporation, and notarised by a competent notary public
• A letter of Attorney designating a person(s), and specimen signature(s) of said person(s) to sign for and on behalf of the company
• For corporate account incorporated in Thailand; all credit transactions must be accompanied by supporting documents indicating an obligation to transfer payment in foreign currency within 180 days from the date of deposit in compliance with Bank of Thailand's regulation
• For corporate account incorporated overseas; all reference documents must be notarised by a competent notary public and certified by Royal Thai Embassy, Royal Thai Consular-General, or the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Thailand
• Tax identification (only for resident account)

4. Foreign Embassy, Mission, Consulate and International Organization Account

• An official note from the Ambassador, or Charge' d'Affaires, or head of International Organization, or Diplomatic Mission signed and sealed by Ambassador, Charge' d'Affaires, or Secretary-General of the respective International Organization, indicating its intention to open foreign currency account
• All reference documents from foreign embassies, Diplomatic Missions, Consulates, or International Organisations must be cerfified by Royal Thai Embassies, Royal Thai Consular-General, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand

Initial Deposit

• USD 5,000.00(USD five thousand only) or equivalent, except for Corporate account incorporated in Thailand

Maintenance Fee

• Maintenance fee charged at USD 50.00 per annum on non-active account

Deposit Commission

• Banknote : 0.50 % commission in lieu of exchange
• T/T, Swift, Export Bills, and Foreign Bill: Free of charge

Withdrawal Commission

• D/D, T/T, Swift 0.125% minimum USD 10 plus communications expense Baht 500 (in case of effect in full amount: our charge USD 10 for USD currency, and USD 15 equivalent for other currencies)
• Import settlement: 0.25% flat
• T/C 0.125% minimum USD 10, plus 1% and Baht 3 stamp duty
• Banknote 0.50% commission in lieu of exchange
• Convert into Thai baht free of charge

Foreign Bills for Collection

• Collection charge : USD 10, Plus foreign bank charge
• Return cheque : additional foreign bank charges

Interest Rate

• Interest rate as periodically appears in the bank announcement and subject to change from time to time
• Saving A/C : Interest is calculated daily and paid of a half-yearly basis
• Time A/C ; rates are accepted for a period of 3, 6 and 12 month

Important Notice:

• Deposit and withdrawal from these accounts are subject to Bank of Thailand's regulations.Withholding tax will be debited from the account in account in accordance with the government regulations.
• The above information is subject to change without prior notice.
• For further information, please contact nearest any UOBT brances, or the FCD Section, International Trade Services and Remittance Devision, the firsth floor, 690 UOB Bldg., Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110: telephone 0-2620-5127-34

[eeyang wah]

4 hours ago, mokwit said:

Anybody have experience of moving money from foreign currency account to an account other than the one it came from - do the $50,000 BoT permissions still apply if e.g. USD not THB - I want to use it as an intermediary account in my name  to transfer funds from one broker to another as can't do direct.

 

Have heard there can be difficulty with transferring funds out of Thailand - that said I have always been able to transfer sub 50k amounts with no trouble using a photocopy of long expired WP - once had to wait for BoT phone approval for larger amount.

No trouble transferring funds out of Thailand as long as you can show what it's for, but read the small-print carefully.

Recently transferred a large amount of USD from an FCD to an overseas bank and got stung with a 0.25% commission charge. I don't mind paying a fixed transfer fee but a % fee on international transfer is unheard of anywhere else in the world and was a very nasty surprise. Turns out most Thai banks charge this same fee on outgoing transfers.. Bunch of bloody crooks. 

[Titan1962]

Opened a FCB at Bangkok Bank. Not to many dramas as I already have a Thai baht account with them. You will need a residency letter from the immigration dept,passport copy ect. They will give you a list of things required. In Chang Mai it's now a 4 week wait just for the appointment to hand in the paperwork,then about another 2 weeks to get the letter. 

[JimmyJ]

On 1/11/2017 at 10:58 PM, salavan said:

con's are very low almost no interest not covered if the bank goes broke

pro's can change to thai baht as and when you need it and as i understand  more easy to repatriate back to your home country.

but dont wait until the pound gets stronger i can only see it getting weaker

 

" con's are very low ... not covered if the bank goes broke"

 

This is true of all Thai banks - funds are never insured?

- no equivalent of the USA's FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance which insures funds up to at least 250k USD) or anything similar?

[al007]

6 hours ago, jerome2 said:

Pattaya is the only place to do a foreign money acc. I went udon kkaen loei ...impossible

 

 

MISTAKEN INFORMATION

 

My wife is a thai national

We both have sterling and US dollar FCDs opened in KhonKaen

 

Both work well also easy to send sterling via BBL in london and charges very very reasonable

 

We are existing customers just went in and opened took a few days but no information requested other than what they had on file

Edited January 13, 2017 by al007
more info added

[JimmyJ]

Bank of America N.A.[8]

Citibank Thailand[9]

JP Morgan Chase[10]

Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) - through subsidiary Thanachart Bank

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Thailand#Foreign_banks_.28North_American.29

 

Has any USA citizen looked into setting up an account in Thailand at any of these North American banks with a Thai branch?

(Perhaps needs its own thread).

 

 

Edited January 13, 2017 by JimmyJ

[Pib]

BoA Thailand and JP Morgan Chase do not provide retail accounts to the common man off the streets; it's customer base is coporations/instituations/government

http://www.bankthailand.info/Bank-of-America.htm

https://www.jpmorgan.com/country/TH/EN/what-we-do

 

You can open an account at Citibank but it has a small presence in Thailand. 

 

Scotiabank just happens to be a major stock owner (49%) of Thanachart Bank, but the majority stock (51%) is still owned by a Thai company (TCAP).

 

Keep in mind every bank in Thailand operates under Thailand laws and Bank of Thailand regulations & licensing; not the laws and regulations of its foreign shareholders home country.

 

[JimmyJ]

1 hour ago, al007 said:

 

 

MISTAKEN INFORMATION

 

My wife is a thai national

We both have sterling and US dollar FCDs opened in KhonKaen

 

Both work well also easy to send sterling via BBL in london and charges very very reasonable

 

We are existing customers just went in and opened took a few days but no information requested other than what they had on file

 

What bank is this with?

[lkn]

3 hours ago, eeyang wah said:

[…] got stung with a 0.25% commission charge. I don't mind paying a fixed transfer fee but a % fee on international transfer is unheard of anywhere else in the world […]

 

I’ve had to pay a 0.1% comission to a bank in Cyprus (EU), so sadly not unheard of outside Thailand.

 

[al007]

7 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

 

What bank is this with?

 

It is Bangkok Bank BBL, I did actually refer to BBL in the middle

 

Apologies I should have been clearer and more specific