Opening a Thai Bank Account

[James Irish]

Hi there,

New to the site but have been living in Hua Hin for the last two months and very reluctant to leave.

My question is can I open a Thai bank account?

Who with and what do I need to show them?

I normally come on a double entry tourist visit which gives me 180 days although I might get a triple entry next time. But I won't be resident.

I also heard if the account is inactive for a while...not withdrawing from the ATM for a number of months, the account is shut down...I spend at present between 3 and 6 months back home...Is this true?

Thanks in advance for any advice..

James

[STEVE G]

I don't know if anything has changed but I have a Bangkok Bank account that I got on a tourist visa by walking into the bank and asking to open a bank account.

[traveller2]

Hi there,

New to the site but have been living in Hua Hin for the last two months and very reluctant to leave.

My question is can I open a Thai bank account?

Who with and what do I need to show them?

I normally come on a double entry tourist visit which gives me 180 days although I might get a triple entry next time. But I won't be resident.

I also heard if the account is inactive for a while...not withdrawing from the ATM for a number of months, the account is shut down...I spend at present between 3 and 6 months back home...Is this true?

Thanks in advance for any advice..

I opened a saving account with debit card last year, at kasikorn bank. All I needed was to show my passport. I was on a 30 day tourist visa.
I hope this is of help to you.

T2

James

[bonnielass]

I opened one with the Siam Commercial Bank in Market Village just over a year ago.
Put some cash into it and handed over my passport as I recall.
Twenty minutes later had an ATM card and a passbook.
I only use it when I am in Thailand, 4 or 5 times a year.
Haven't heard of a bank account getting closed due to inactivity.
But you never know, now you got me worried......

[almirante82]

I have been trying to open an account over the past couple of months, I believe they have recently changed some rules. At all the banks I visited they wanted to see a work permit. Kasikorn bank did say that if someone guarantees you then you can open account, although when I went back a few weeks later they said that this could no longer be done. Good luck!

[Lev]

Welcome to the forum. There is a recent thread on this here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21530

[StevePIraq]

Accounts don't get closed if not used just ask a bank if you doubt this.

Kasikorn and Ayuthaya banks are very easy to open accounts on tourist visa, Krung Thai last week wanted house book or they would not open account, I showed them the address written on the paper put in by immigration and they accepted this.

Ayuthaya will open a Foreign Currency Deposit account on a tourist visa

Others have mentioned safe deposit boxes but there seems to be huge waiting list at all banks I have questioned.

[James Irish]

Thanks Guys for your help...I'm going back in a few days for about three months to sell a house and will try when I get back

I used to preload my credit card before and go into the bank and withdraw the maximum of 40,000 baht at a time without any fees...But my bank stopped all that...I now have to withdraw from the ATM with 20,000 and a 150 baht fee and call them every month to let them know I'm alive..

They didn't tell me they were going to do this of course..no email,text, phone call..nothing..Just one very scary day when I couldn't use my card..After a couple of long distance phone calls and a number of cul de sacs I got it sorted but my trust in them has evaporated...

Again ta very much and to the forum in general. Its a great resource

James

[hhfarang]

Accounts don't get closed if not used just ask a bank if you doubt this.

Not sure if this is entirely true of all banks here. We have an account at Bank of Ayudhya that we haven't used in a few years. We left it with an 800b+ baht balance. I had set up daily balance alerts via email and I noticed once about three years ago in the fall that the balance dropped to 600b+. I mentioned it to my wife and we were both puzzled but didn't bother looking into it since it was only 200 baht and we really didn't use the account. The next year at about the same time the account balance dropped to 400b+ and a couple of months ago (another year later) it dropped to 200b+, so I've decided they take out a fee of 200 baht per year. I don't know it this is taken on every account and we just didn't notice when the account was active or if they only do it on "inactive" accounts.

Anyway, later this year, the account will drop to about 20b so I wonder if the time comes next year for that fee and there is not enough in the account to pay it will it automatically be closed?

So, maybe it's ok to keep an inactive account as long as you have a certain balance, but it's possible in other cases that they take a fee until the account goes to near zero and then close it. I'd ask the bank, especially if you use Bank of Ayudhya. BTW, I have a URL that monitors all major Thai bank's daily (actually nearly hourly) exchange rates and BofA is usually the worst rate of the bunch. That's one reason the account went inactive. Once I saw this we opened an account with a bank that has generally better rates.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

[christopher1]

I think the 200 baht charge is for the use of their bank card.
I'm with Bangkok bank and they charge 200 baht per year.

[Nereus]

I think the 200 baht charge is for the use of their bank card.
I'm with Bangkok bank and they charge 200 baht per year.

Yes, that is correct, and Kasikorn Bank do the same.

[brianks]

Am moving from Hua Hin to Khanom next week so wanted to open a bank account in Khanom to avoid all the "out of area" charges my current accounts would rack up. Went in to Siam Commercial Bank in Khanom and they said I needed Passport, Confirmation of Residence & some other document before they would open an account. Couldn't believe it since I had opened accounts with Bangkok Bank and K-Bank years past with just my passport. I cannot believe the SCB has those same requirements up here in Hua Hin or Bangkok. Then went to Bangkok Bank in Don Sauk and opened another account there with just my passport. They wanted a work visa but I had to keep telling them that I was on retirement visa and they eventually got the message and found it in my passport along with my Hua Hin account in their computer.

Opened the account then when trying to activate my ATM card, found I had to change the old lost phone number on my account (had previously had problem with KBank and knew the process even though the banker did not). Again, befuddled ladies as I insisted that they MUST call their head office and fill out the form to get my current phone number on my account. After that bit of "education" they then found out that I could make Don Sauk account primary account and Hua Hin account secondary (as I will eventually close the Hua Hin account) so another round of paper work. They were all nice, pleasant and very helpful to work with in a branch that does not really see much activity (never more than 1-2 customers in branch at one time). That will be nice to encounter when going to the bank there--one of the big reasons for moving to rural Thailand).

[Roel]

Correct. THB 200 per year is for ATM card. If balance is not sufficient they will close the account. Apparently you never cancelled the ATM card (just stopped using it) so they still charge you for it.

On a side note: I noticed once that Bangkok Bank charged me double every year. They informed me that was because I have two ATM cards. I have not. Turned out that I had my ATM card replaced in the past as the old one was almost ripped in half and no longer usable. I assumed that leaving the old card with them (which they cut into pieces with scissors) would automatically result in no longer being charged for it. Silly me. I had forgotten to cancel the card!

[StevePIraq]

Accounts don't get closed if not used just ask a bank if you doubt this.

Not sure if this is entirely true of all banks here. We have an account at Bank of Ayudhya that we haven't used in a few years. We left it with an 800b+ baht balance. I had set up daily balance alerts via email and I noticed once about three years ago in the fall that the balance dropped to 600b+. I mentioned it to my wife and we were both puzzled but didn't bother looking into it since it was only 200 baht and we really didn't use the account. The next year at about the same time the account balance dropped to 400b+ and a couple of months ago (another year later) it dropped to 200b+, so I've decided they take out a fee of 200 baht per year. I don't know it this is taken on every account and we just didn't notice when the account was active or if they only do it on "inactive" accounts.

Anyway, later this year, the account will drop to about 20b so I wonder if the time comes next year for that fee and there is not enough in the account to pay it will it automatically be closed?

So, maybe it's ok to keep an inactive account as long as you have a certain balance, but it's possible in other cases that they take a fee until the account goes to near zero and then close it. I'd ask the bank, especially if you use Bank of Ayudhya. BTW, I have a URL that monitors all major Thai bank's daily (actually nearly hourly) exchange rates and BofA is usually the worst rate of the bunch. That's one reason the account went inactive. Once I saw this we opened an account with a bank that has generally better rates.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

Well then they didn't close your account did they so I am correct, to be honest why would you keep an account open with only a few hundred Baht in it.

[Gregjam]

I have had an account at Kasikorn for over 15 years that has gone through long periods of inactivity and never been shut down. Have had lots of problems getting the internet reactivated after I forgot the password and had changed my Thai mobile number. Am going to try to open an account at another bank today (same as wife's account) and only have Non Imm visa as I work abroad and only stay around 3 months at a time. Will post to indicate how things went.