What are the conditions to keep my UK bank account open while living in Thailand?

I use standard bank isle of man. Can be linked to thai or UK address. maintain £5k and no fees.

Providing you set up your online banking whilst still having a UK phone number, it should not be a problem. As others have mentioned Wise, Revolut, Remitly etc are also the best options.

Just keep an address in UK, most banks don't force you to close, as long as account is active and they have a registered address, i lived here 11yrs and had zero problem holding a number of accounts and even a credit card. Now a year into my 2nd escape and still no problem.

Use Wise, best rate fast transfers.

I have a similar situation from Australia. I keep my Aus account open and also have Wise with a debit card. (They won’t transfer directly to Wise as it’s not a recognised bank) I transfer what I need to Wise then Wise to my Thai account. Takes about 1 minute in most cases.

I do it western union have no problems

Gee it’s the same old merry go round all the financial experts come out when will people learn don’t use a public forum to ask a question.

It’s no help whatsoever.

No thanks

Never had a problem with Nat West. I informed them 8 years ago l would be living in Thailand but all my uk pensions would still be paid to my uk account.

Ours gets paid into our Australian account

Wise is not a uk bank. My private pension provider will not accept them

just keep an HSBC uk account, pension goes there and use Wise to move here as and when you wish.

Gardez vos comptes, et faites vos virements de compte à compte

Use a company called wise so easy don't use banks

You can keep your bank account open in the UK as long has you wan't I done the same from Australia when i lived there for a long time and I'm British as well.

I would seriously question the statement that a Private pension cannot be paid into a Thai bank. Ask your Private Pension provider before you do anything.

My private pension was transferred directly to my Thai account.

I was taxed at basic rate in UK but I am in the process of claiming the tax back.

Don't tell em!

Use a Wise account to transfer to your Thai Bank account, avoid Bangkok Bank. You can get a retirement visa with a ฿65k monthly international transfer or ฿800k in you account, you can also do it by mixing both amounts. If you are married it is half the amounts. Remember to select long term living in Thailand reason when transferring.

Maybe have a look at Lloyds classic international account, i think thats what its called. I think its about £5 a month fee but that is not charged if you maintain a balance of over £5000.

Im with Santander with all my accounts but have just opened a couple of Lloyds one's and will be looking in to that classic account.

And a lot of people say get a wise account card.

Im trying to set all mine up a few years before i retire 🤞.

I've been with lloyd's for 40 odd years 10 in Thailand. I use wise to send money to my thai bank account account. only problem I have with lloyd's is they won't send me a debit card when it runs out.i change my address to my cousin he gets the card then sends it to me then I change my address back to Thailand with permission off lloyd's.

Nationwide, no probs.

I'm from the UK and 2 of my private pensions are deposited directly into my Thai Bank. I'm assuming you need to get another financial advisor. For what it is worth you need to have at least 800,000 Thai baht held at least 2 months prior to applying for a retirement visa or show you have 65,000 Thai baht paid monthly...

You can also use revolut, i find it cheaper and easier than Wise ton transfer to thailand. Comes with cash card i can use al around the world if i travel

I think it depends on the bank that you are with in the UK, I have not had an address in the UK for over 8 years and I still have a working account with one of the high street banks, but if you are with one of those banks that like to close your account because you don’t live there you can open a Wise account. I have my private pension paid into my Wise account and then I can decide when to transfer to my Thai bank account depending on exchange rates. I have found that wise offer some of the best exchange rates but you have to pay a small fee for the service, I would indeed recommend them.

Good luck

Keep a UK SIM active (I use Smarty £5 a month, and comes in handy on my trips back), and I changed my home address to my sister's house, where I rent a room 🤫 I load my Wise debit card and use it a lot more in Thailand now. I only use my Thai bank when I have to.

I have 2 private pensions that I receive by automatic transfer from U K to my Thai account for years with no problem

Do you have any family or trusted friends whose address you could use?

Wise retirement 65k month

I had 4 frozen UK pension pots. All were transferred straight to my Thai account but paperwork was cumbersome. I'd suggest you open an isle of man account. Get higher interest than in Thailand and is considered a UK transfer. Also no headache with HMRC on filing tax returns assuming no other UK assets. Its much easier to do before you leave UK.

I have a couple of private pensions paid directly into my Thai bank account

1.open an account with Bangkok bank in London branch,get pension paid into that.

Or 2. Open western union account (or whatever they are called now ) and pension is paid through them into your Thai account.my pension is paid this way and never had problem

I'm from the UK and been living in Thailand for over 12 years without taking any trips back to UK and had never had any problems with my UK bank. This might have changed and your bank might be different but here's my situation. I have Lloyds and HSBC accounts, I opened the HSBC before leaving UK as it was the bank with the best international transfer services, I think I pay about £4 per transfer and do the exchange from UK pounds to Thai Baht over here so get similar if not the same rate as you would changing notes in the bank so much better that in UK. I have changed my address at the UK banks to my address in Thailand so they know I'm living here and that should stop any problems with 'excessive' international transfers. As I said, I've live here over 12 years and never had any issues or even a letter about closing or restricting my accounts. It would be worth going into your bank and taking to the manager about your move before you leave as they might need some declaration or something that my bank did not. Be aware that not all banks are able to do international transfers with internet banking, well they weren't when I left but that was a long time ago.

I opened an account with Standard bank in the Isle of Man via an agent in Thailand and my pension gets paid into that

I left the UK in 2007 and I have never had any issues with keeping my UK bank account open. I have also given them my addresses overseas where I have lived, and live now, so they know I'm not in the UK. I never thought that this would or could be a problem, why should it be?

Ask your UK bank .

Buy gold in large amounts then fly over and sell it no exchange fees etc

unfortunetly im going through somthing similiar at the moment the repurcussions of brexit are really beginning to kick in ,now you will need a uk address sooner or later and as time goes on you will have to be paying council tax in uk to hold an account in uk we can thank AI for that im getting advice from a tax adviser at the moment and the loopholes are beginning to disappear,also you will have to pay tax in the country you reside in ,is going to be enforced in all eu countries.

Ya won’t get a penny

Do not use Santander bank extremely active in freezing bank accounts for international banking. And will not open until you visit your branch personally. We had to return to the UK and it took them six weeks to un freeze. And the best we could get in compensation was £350.🙈👎

Ask your "financial Advisor"

I use my Nationwide without any issues what so ever and also can use my banking app for Nationwide in Thailand with no issues. If i transfer money I use Remilty and never get any problems and costs me £1.99 per transfer.

If the UK bank decides to close your accounts then there is not much you can do about that.

Thankfully there is a solution. Barclays closed my accounts two years ago because I live in Canada. I opened a Wise account which gave me UK bank details. I have my private pensions paid into my Wise account and then transfer the funds at my convenience to my Canadian bank account.

The Wise account is very user friendly and their charges are very competitive when compared to regular banks. Hope this helps.

most haven't lived in the UK for years, but still keep a UK bank account and address, and use Wise to either use as an ATM card or to pay rent etc...its an over 50 visa not a retirement visa

Keep your UK bank and transfer your pension to Wise using bank transfer FOC. Then Use Wise as a multi currency option - converting your Sterling to Baht only when the exchange rate is good 43 Baht plus. Get a Wise debit card then spend the Baht in Thailand using the card virtually fee free - small fee when doing the Sterling to Baht conversion. Cant use the Wise card to take much cash out without fees only downside as far as I can see.

I also use both Wise & Revolut ( last week 500K transferred in 90 seconds) including converting from GBP to THB

Another option, Lloyd's Bank have an international bank account that can be used with a Thailand address. The international classic account, costs £5 per month unless you maintain a minimum balance of £5000. Pay pension into that then transfer with Wise.

I kept an adress , my phone (textos voice box) and pay taxes in my country so ... I use wise to pay lots of things directly from my bank

Use wise or Revolut, can transfer money abroad on line , open both

No problem with Nationwide.

Most of the mainstream banks will just transfer your account to an offshore hub they use. NatWest used to transfer accounts like yours to the Isle of Man.

You could open an offshore account in Jersey or Isle of Man, check with private pension if its acceptable as it works for me

Use a uk address for your bank account. You do know that if you move to Thailand officially your state pension does not get the yearly uplift? Thailand does not have a reciprocal agreement unlike say the Philippines

Keep your UK account details as it is. Then just transfer your funds every month through your bank app

Barclays charge £12 per transfer so I switch mine every quarter. Many friends use Wise to switch

Just set up a standing order up for your pension to be transferred to your thai account, there will be a charge from your uk bank but it works

Use a UK correspondence address for an online account is needed.

As others have said, this is a problem area.

The Wise option is definitely a good one.

Anecdotally, Nationwide Building Society seem to be more accepting of the situation, so it might be worth having a chat with them.

Best to ask your uk bank. If you leave Uk what account can you have?