Bank Account

Frank.Paslawski wrote:

Hi, My name is Frank I'm from Houston Texas USA. I'm retired now and planning on moving to Bangkok soon. I am seeking advice on which are the best banks for foreigners? Most friendly and accommodating.

I am from Louisiana, moved to Thailand in Jul 2016.  I use Citibank Thailand in Bangkok located at Sukhumvit 21. I wire money from US to Citibank Thailand and have a Citi bank card which I use at any Thai bank's atms with no fees. Citibank does have a high minimum requirement to open account.

You can also try some of the Thai banks such as; Krungsri, KTB or SCB. I would think they all would be friendly and accommodating. I also opened a Krungsri account with 5,000 THB initial deposit.

Kindly, Zeus

Hi Frank
I've just opened an account with Bangkok bank in Korat and they were so helpful and friendly
I only needed my passport and 10000tb which you need to deposit but can drawer out again afterwards
Very easy and done in 15 mins with a smile 👍

Frank,
Just FYI, if you have a foreign bank account/s and have a total of $10,000 USD or equivalent in THB at any time during the year, you will be required to file FBAR reporting to the US. If you keep your balance below that limit, then you do not have to file. Thai banks are required to report your accounts to the US.

I have been using Bangkok Bank for many years without any problems.  I chose BB years ago because you can do a local transfer to BB NY branch and they forward to your BB account in Thailand.  Its also the only Thai bank account Social Security will wire benefits.

Thank all of you for your replies. Very good information.

Frank.Paslawski  Today 13:08:58

If you need any info on Bangkok, don't hesitate to ask.  You can also private message me by clicking on my profile and sending a message. Also, look me up when you get to Bangkok.

Good luck with your move...
Zeus

Zeus, explain to me how you don't get charged fee's from the ATM machines in Thailand, we also transfer money from Citi Bank, when we do they charge us 25.00 dollars. And we take out 50,000 baht about once a month and get charged 6.00 dollars from the Thai bank.  We are aware that if you have a Citi Gold account that you are not suppose to pay withdrawal fee's but we can't figure out how that works. So lately we have been using our Chase Card to withdraw the money, they don't charge fee's for this transaction & then we just pay the card on- line.  Thanks, Patrick

Dear Patrick (thailand4me)   Yesterday 18:11:35

You must have a Citibank USA account that you are using to send money. I opened an account at Citibank Thailand in Bangkok to receive international wire transfers from Chase Bank in US. I use the Citi Thailand bank card at any atm machine in Thailand and there are no fees. Chase does not charge a fee on wire transfers due to Private Client status.

Kindly...