How can I cancel an ED visa while transitioning to a DTV Muay Thai visa in Thailand?

As far as trusting the Thai bank not to steal your money, I would not worry as I think their regulations are solid especially after the 90's baht crisis.

I just don't think you'll make anything with them.

Been with SCB over 16 years never any issues, always great customer service in any branch I've used around Thailand. Great call centre customer services and I can purchase online around the world, just needs the daily limits setting setup. Highly recommended. My Thai wife prefers K Bank but I see no reason to change.

I have been through this with my wife many times. They are hooked on life insurance policies. They'll offer several varieties, but if you go through the math, all of them have identical net present values. And all give really bad returns.

I've finally got her into Chase where she can access her funds using a debit card incurring no transaction fee and essentially the posted exchange (similar to wise). Schwab would be another good alternative.

I've had 800K in Krungsri Bank for 5 years, suspended (couldn't do transactions) twice, once for a photo needed, and one for proof my phone number was obtained using my passport. Both for 5 working days. A pain, but a part of keeping my O visa.

I have a personal account at Bangkok Bank, and a business account at Kasikorn. With kasikorn, I am not allowed link that account to my phone number, supposedly due to their facial recognition not working on a foreigner (not sure if true, or translation breakdown). So the app has to be on my wife's phone 🤷‍♂️

This is the reason we went the OA visa, the interest we get from our money at home covers the extra costs involved with the OA insurance etc.

Kasikorn froze my bank account and funds for 6 months. Unlocking the account took multiple visits and telephone calls to customer service and proving reams of personal financial documents. This followed immediately after a horror saga with Bangkok Bank who also previously locked up my funds for extended period of time. When I asked Kasiorn why they locked my account they said "we're sorry we can't give you that information." I am obviously not a fan of the banks in Thailand and you may consider yourself appropriately warned about depositing your funds in this sketchy system.

Where are you finding 4%?

Yes do not invest anymore than you need to. Thai banks basically pay nothing interest when you take inflation into account. I personally do not rate banks in general there are better places to put your money.

As with all countries, there are good banks and bad banks but the thing is if you live here you are probably going to need a Thai bank and if you are going the 800,000 in a bank route for the extension of stay then you have no choice other than to use a Thai bank. Really if you are thinking about 'making money' then a bank is probably not the first choice anyway.

The best is the bank in your neighborhood and have staff who understand English.

I find K bank is the best.

So much going on like my Santander acct was frozen and then closed because of my move to Thailand. So all of my assett is in a Wise account gaining interest. That will be lost soon when Wise become registered here shortly, the balance will be converted to baht. If you have an interenational Wise account, using your former address or a friends address. Sooner or later by ip address, spending habits etc they will catch up with you> I am now looking at expat accounts where they want proof of my address, visa, tm 30 and more just to open. Better than the low interest rates in Thailand

Interest rate on a fix account is currently 1,25%. Buying Thai bonds you might get up to 3-4%. Investment opportunities here are futile. Hardly any international finds or equities can be bought. Just bring in so much being comfortable and let the rest stay in US or switch to Singapore as an closer alternative

Do what I do. Park the minimum only fir seasoning for annual visas renewals etc., and the rest put into stablecoins and crypto. You can get 4% interest on the former with Uphold exchange. No-brainer. Thai banks are a slice of durian away from total collapse anyway.

On a related note am I wrong in thinking a expat can remove 400k of the 800k for a 6 or 7 month time frame during that years time frame?

Is it that the 800k gotta be in the immigration account like 2 or 3 months after the visa renewal, and has to be back at 800k for 2 or 3 months before the visa renewal? Something like that?

if you come to thailand to retire why all the fuss about money, your retired , so you spend the money you put away to retire , your not here to make money your here to retire and die and spend , and make sure that there is nothing left for the ex and her hangers on , SPEND IT WHILE YOU CAN, THERE IS NO ATM WHERE WE ARE GOING , THERE IS NO WAY THAT I COULD EVER RUN OUT HERE IN THAILAND ! you will get there sooner if all you worry about is fucking money, why do you all want to save and make money, your retired , me on a aus pension 600k bhart a year , can not spend it , why save !

Mostly to do with Bangkok Bank. BUT, the authoritarian neo-Russian Thai government is quickly going to a 'Big Data' protocol mode to corral us obviously wantonly criminal expats (sarc.).

They are combining into a shared 'Big Data' data base the records of the police, the immigration department, the banks, Wise money transfer, the hospitals (regarding unpaid medical bills), and the DLT offices. All to flex their power and pressure against us in a big brother Orwellian fashion. Mark my words.

The Integrity Legal You Tube channel well-outlines all this.

Had an account with Bangkok Bank for 22 years, no issues whatsoever and great service. I am as confident in Bangkok Bank as I am with KBank and SCB, where I also have accounts. Some people seem to think if their account is frozen, they have lost their funds. That is not the case. If your account fails a compliance review, they will ask you to visit the branch with the required documents. If you can’t satisfy this, then the account will be closed and you can withdraw your balance. Those who are compliant will normally have no issues. Of course there are exceptions and Bangkok Bank dealt with the process of compliance testing in a way that upset many customers. You also have to take on board that Bangkok Bank had many more foreigner accounts than other banks, so reports of problems would naturally be higher anyway. But those that think they have a free pass with the other banks, will at some point have their accounts reviewed also. As for comparing interest rates with the US, Americans need to adapt to living in other countries … this isn’t the States and what you have or do there has no bearing on Thailand, whether it’s banking or tipping out of wack. As an expat, money in the bank is for the purpose of maintaining your visa, and not for getting returns.

Also, DTV holders are not eligible for a Thai bank account.

Gregory Hilton keep your funds in the US. Only transfer your requirements to love here. We have just gone through 9 months of negative inflation

If you want to keep it in cash then just keep it in USD or GBP etc.

The reason why interest rates are so low (well there's a few reasons) is because the Bank of Thailand interest rate is only 1%. You can get fixed deposit saving accounts here but the rates are very low, like 0.5% per year.

The only place where I (or specifically my ex-wife) found I could get a decent 3-4% interest rate in cash savings here was when we were saving in the the government teacher's credit union system over here.

But again that necessitates being married to someone who works for the government and again the money wouldn't be in an account in your name.

Over here you're kind of limited to either

a. keep the cash abroad and transfer money over larger lump sums when the exchange rate is decent.

b. just buy gold if you want to save and invest long term over here.

c. keep your investments in the US

Each has their own risks attached to them of course.

Also just as a side note, I have nothing against Kasikorn, but 'generally' the easiest solutions that foreigners use to circumnavigate bureaucracy and rules etc etc tend to become the biggest problems 5 years later down the line. The Bangkok Bank fiasco being the obvious example, tightening tourist visa rules, and the stricter enforcement of needing k deposit for the Non-O visas and extensions being another.

It's always smart to have a couple of options and/or back-ups at the ready in case something happens.

Even my wife has 3 different bank accounts just in case there's a problem.

Kasikorn is great. Hassle free

I read so much about avoiding Bangkok Bank.

I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. As soon as I took the paperwork required from immigration I’ve always felt more than welcome there.

I certainly have no issues with keeping my minimum B800k in a Thai bank. Not only to meet the Visa requirements, but I use it for rent and daily expenses. I hear Bangkok Bank is quite troublesome. Fortunately, my visa agent set me up with another bank some years ago and so far all is good. While it would be nice to earn something on that balance, I attribute the missed interest to the cost of relocation. Frankly, I don't want the interest as any income I generate triggers tax issues that I'd like to avoid.

The interest rate you will get in Thailand is 3%, on a long term account.

I like BKK Bank.If legal funds,no problem.

Different country,different economy, so forget USA.

Best advice is to not keep very much more than you have to in any Thai bank.

Haven’t had my account frozen, but recently the bank I have been dealing with reduced the daily limits for payments from my phone and didn’t tell me until after the changes were made. Tried to change them back but got message saying I had to verify my identity at my home branch. Tried that but they couldn’t change them either.

Plan to open new account at different bank very soon.

My experience on having banks in CA and TX. The banks here are better. Bankok bank is now pretty ordinary, Kasikon the best choice

Kasikorn bank requires a second id from home country, an expired drivers license doesn't work. So not that easy unless you've been here short time.

There is a reason Thai people are afraid to put their money into the banks and would rather wear gold. Also, the Thai baht has gone to zero before, and it is looking likely again now.

Thai banks are as good as any other banks but the interest available is not so generous. Bangkok Bank has a range of offerings including a USD CD account paying 3.7% plus government bonds, corporate bonds and so on