Informations about bank account

[Nervous_Dog]

Random, depends where you are, Australia and Singapore don;t give balances, however KL does.

 

DOG

[rob1074]

Hi seashark,

 

I concur with the previous posts. Bangkok Bank very easy to open and no Work Permit needed (must have passport obviously) - one addditional point not mentioned in the previous posts is 300 Baht cost for the ATM card when opening the account.

 

Had my Dad visit recently and took him to open an account at BBL HO on Silom Rd. Very painless.

 

Only problem with BBL cards is they do not give you a balance in an overseas ATM. And you cannot get Internet Banking (that allows you to see the balance) without a Work Permit.

 

Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) ATM cards DO give you a balance from an O/S ATM. I am not sure if you need a Work Permit to open an account though (I have a Work Permit and used it when I opened my account but not sure if its an absoluite requirement or not).

 

Unlike some other comments to theis post, I have never had a problem drawing funds from a BBL or BAY Visa Electron (PLUS) ATM card in Thailand or anywhere overseas (Netherlands, UK, Germany, USA, Australia, NZ, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia in the last 12-18 months - thats a pretty reasonable spread of countries as a test of the usability of the cards).

[iuytrede]

"And you cannot get Internet Banking (that allows you to see the balance) without a Work Permit."

 

You can get it. Maybe have to shop around a bit. I got it.

 

"BAY) ATM cards DO give you a balance from an O/S ATM"

 

Are you sure??? hard to believe. BAY doesn't have many O?S branches - which ATM does this???

[Guest]

Iuytrede,

 

Can you give more info?? Need to get an account with more services/options on my next trip to LOS (just get 30 days stamps on arrival there)

Thanks

 

Random

[Nervous_Dog]

iuytrade, I think he is refering to the fact you can use a BAY ATM card overseas.

 

K Bank has internet banking, you used to be able to open a account with just the passport at Patpong, cant confirm about the internet banking but see no reason why not

 

That said DONT open a joint account, in thailand it can get really confusing sometimes with K Bank

 

DOG

[Guest]

Thanks ND,

 

I'll check all this out next month while in Thailand.

[iuytrede]

@ random

 

It all depends on the whim of the guy who you meet when you open the account. I have a non-Imm visa. A couple of years ago I opened an account at Bangkok Bank Emporium branch, they asked for a work permit but the visa was good enough. 2 weeks later I applied for internet banking for this account at Nana branch. They mumbled something about work permit, but no problem. BTW they had to send the application to Emporium branch. Later I opened a second account at Emporium, no problem. When I wanted internet banking for the second account, they said impossible, needs work permit. I told them I had internet banking for the first account and they were surprised: "Who gave you this?" Then they gave me internet banking for the second account. Last week I opened a third account at Emporium, they asked for work permit to open the account, but again the visa was enough in the end. And the same game about internet banking again, anyway I got it.

 

@ nervous + rob

"give you a balance" means what?

Any Thai ATM card from any bank can withdraw funds overseas if it carries the Plus or Cirrhus symbol. But I don't think there is a card where you can check your balance in a Thai account when you are overseas.

[Nervous_Dog]

You can get money, but you can;t get a balance on how much is left in your account

 

DOG

[Guest]

Iuytrede,

 

Do you have current or saving accounts?

[iuytrede]

savings account