What is the best bank for expatriates in Thailand to hold the 800,000 baht visa deposit while earning reasonable interest?

2 separate accounts make sense provided they are with different banks

I have one account with 800k and then every month I have an auto transfer of $2300 go in that account that shows up as THB, 70-75k baht. Then I withdraw 70k baht every month for living expenses… and that goes in my Krungthai (blue bank) account …, that way I protect my Krungsri (yelllow bank) account those are the only transactions in that immigration account and I can show them my 800k balance and I create a record of 65k+ per mth and one withdrawal.

I do have separate account at Siam Commercial (purple) that I put only money for our house we are building… that is the way we keep it all organized and the Krungthai account never has more than 85k baht in it … pay by phone is so common and in a lot of cases preferred I worry about being hacked some how!

I hope that helps and make sense for you!

The best bank is UOB Thailand, since this bank is 99pct Singaporean owned, if I'm not mistaken, so there's less of a chance that you're going to be screwed by a "Thai" bank like Bangkok Bank, which "illegally" freezes your THB800 000 during the visa application and renewal periods... and they have I believe also taken over the customers of Citibank Thailand and HSBC Thailand 12 years ago, so they are "foreigner focused", and I read many positive reviews

Love the idea of an interest bearing, I like the lottery scheme, buuuuut.

The government savings bank.800k will get you about 10k per year.and your money is safe in it... been with them for years now.

No Thai bank account has great interest in terms of where you can park the money, but I would recommend SCB or Krungsri as banks that at least do pay interest on holdings, versus say Bangkok Bank where I was told that foreigners couldn't hold an interest baring general account.

Problemet med månadsöverföring är att du gjort den i 12 månader innan du gör en ny extension.Du måste visa 12 månader tillbaka.

One account is easier for me and mostly contains 1 Million Baht being ample for spending and emergencies. Bank would not allow a second account until after 1st 1 year extension. I only just looked at a 2 account option and .75 % interest not worth the effort.

simple, after O visa, open ur acct,(mine is Krungsri), 1-saving for 800K, 2-another savings for x, and lastly 3-for life spending that you daily use whatever amount, for interest is less than you have to declare-make sure, not tax filings to worry about, or just ask Chatgpt, guided me the whole way, it knows everything!

I have 3 bank accounts. One was from when I volunteered 29 years ago with Thailand Government (AVA) and turned that into a erm deposit acct; second is Bangkok Bank, which is where all cash flow happens; and LH Bank, which is higher interest account (length of term depends on % interest) - this has been my 800,000 account and accrues interest regularly which is shown in the Bank Book.

I have 2 accounts at Kasikorn. 1 for my 800K and 1 for daily use. Both earn interest but not much. I keep the bulk of my money in the USA and just transfer what I need to Kasikorn every month or two for expenses here. Luckily Chase does not charge me for my international transfers.

Your sole reason for having 2 separate accounts should be safety. Set it up and forget it. The approximate 1% on the FDA is negligible. Others will confirm that “shopping around” for something that will yield anything significant will be fruitless

I have a fixed deposit account and a personal savings account at Kbank. I'm using the FD to secure a credit card and the other for daily expenses. I plan to use the FD, when the time comes, for my visa requirement.

The 800k has to be accessible, liquid.

SCB have been good for me so far.

There is no account with reasonable intrest.

But the best you can do is open an extra fixed term deposit account with your kasikorn bank.

This will give you a slightly better intrest rate. This is a bonus, but the real advantage is that this makes it fool-proof : it is absolutely impossible to accidentally overdraw on that account because you can only deposit or withdraw by going physically going to your bank. This way it is shielded from mistakes. Kasikorn fixed term is accepted by immigration for the 800k.

I would still advice to open an extra daily account at another bank. Not because kasikorn is bad, but always have a back-up.

SCB has a good e-account : no bankbook. Perfect for daily expenses because I think it is ridiculous to use a daily acxiunt with a physical bankbook, printing each expense and thus having whole pages of little purchases and expenses.

On top op that SCB has a good multi-currency top-up debitb card. A top-up debit card is a good way to shield your account from online purchases, debit card payments,...

Besides that you can also open a true wallet account which has also a virtual debit card.

You can connect these with your google play store, lazada, line... apps

that all depends on who you are and how you move your money. I have three accounts at three different Thailand banks. I have moved money two different ways and each way has its advantages and disadvantages as does each bank. do be very careful that you have a passbook with your bank account as immigration will not accept information from a bank that has not supplied you with a passbook.

Term deposit is okay, interest is about 1.25% to 1.5%, better than nothing, before you print your statement, deposit 1000 baht into account, keep the officials happy. Slowly Slowly the account grows.

Many people use the 65,000 baht a month income method but technically this still needs to be accompanied by an affidavit of income from your embassy. Most embassies stop doing this in 2019 but the requirement still technically remains. I fell foul of this at Surin immigration where I was transferring more than the required amount each month but I was refused a retirement visa on income. However if I lived in the next door provinces of Buriram or Korat, I've been told by many fellow expats that this would not be a problem. Because of the fickle nature of different immigration departments depending on province, I now use the 800,000 deposit method.

I use and would recommend K bank but interest rates are very low

I've never been bothered about any banking interest, here or at home. I would open 2 or 3 accounts, just so you have them.

Depending on what area you may be living

I have one account

Krung Thai bank

800K in fixed date 7 months deposit, one account for daily use and one other bank account for alternative use.

I have exactly this with Bangkok Bank. The money earned for 800K is peanuts as it's used as a scam against farangs forced into this situation.

No high interest earning here in Thailand, sorry. As foreigner you can’t invest in the stock market, in funds ect. The only way is buying physical gold at least at the time.

Your 800k Thb will not great a big revenue.sorry.

You must have instant access to the 800,000 or Immigration won't accept it or at least that is what I understand so a high interest account that requires notice to gain access won't work. I use 2 Kasikorn accounts as it's easy and free to transfer between them and I transfer from my home country to the 'visa' account and then move it to the 'expenses' account that way transfers are shown on the visa statement and it keeps that account active.

Yes the dual account system is probably the way to go. But i feel like with your wording you are quite um, not understanding how little interest is earned here...

I have two accounts as one stop banking make life easier. I don’t know if the bank interest rates vary!! But it’s extremely low

U can hv 2 separate K bank accounts. Clean and easy to manage