What bank do you use?

[PeteC]

Not a very sterling review of Thailand's banks. Pete

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... ing-system

[wpcoe]

Yeah, the big picture of the banking industry is probably not all cinnamon and spice, but I'm looking for opinions of the local bank branches, either good or bad, and since there seem not to be any horror stories I'm assuming all the banks here rate well in their dealings with farang, I'm leaning toward the Bangkok Bank branch near Market Village.

[Homer]

.. I'm looking for opinions of the local bank branches, either good or bad, and since there seem not to be any horror stories ...

Don't know if these qualify as horror stories. Below is part of my account of attempting to open a bank account while in the country on a tourist visa.

I visited three different banks. My experience was as commonly reported on expat forums: Differing levels of requirements, service, and English ability.

The first bank (Ayudhya) said I couldn’t open a Thai Bhat account on a Tourist Visa, but I could open a US Dollar account. The man said there was a 1% fee on all monies transferred into the account from out of the country, above and beyond the cost of the transfer. The brochure he handed me said the fee was 0.25%.

Two branches of Bangkok Bank said yes, but you need a letter from a Thai citizen or the US Embassy guaranteeing you are who your passport says you are. Isn't that the passport's purpose? One of the branches gave me the form in Thai, the other gave me an instruction sheet in Thai and English that told me what to do with the form, but didn’t give me the form.

Finally, at Kasikorn Bank they asked me if I had a ‘Thai Address’. That surprised me because few forum posters said this was ever required. I knew there is an offical immigration form and process for obtaining a Residence Certificate. It sounds like a minor pain the ass, but a reasonably easy bit of red tape to navigate. I told him I was renting an apartment and gave him the name of the building. He asked which room, so I showed him my key. That was enough proof of residence for him. Whoo hoo! I had a new account in under 15 minutes.