Chou Anou Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 So, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I'll be retiring to Thailand in 7-8 years. I think it's pretty much inevitable that the requirement for the Retirement Extension will soon be 1 million baht in a Thai bank account. I see that 1 million happens to be the minimum for foreigners to open an account with Citibank Thailand, and that minimum includes investments with them. Of course, only a fool would keep 1 million baht in a bank account without having it "work" for them as an investment...and if that would enable me to stay in Thailand in a relatively hassle-free manner, I can handle it. But my question is this: do any farang actually invest with Citibank Thailand? And if so, just how bad is it? I do all my investing in the US with Charles Schwab and (to a lesser extent) Fidelity. In the US, Citibank's investment "services" are utter crap, rife with all sorts of fees that one does not encounter with Schwab and Fidelity. I can't imagine that Citibank Thailand investing is any better--likely, much worse--but what I'm wondering is, how bad is it? What are the options for ETFs, mutual funds, etc.? Can one at least get a meager return on one's 1 million investment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Citibank seem to pay at best around 1% for time deposits, with many of their accounts paying less. You can get significantly more from other banks here. One simple solution might be the Krungsri MTD account https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/PersonalBanking/DepositProducts/SavingsDeposit/MeeTaeDaiSavings.html which pays 1.3% with instant access. I get 1.8% for my time deposit with CIMB. All are acceptable for deposits for a retirement extension. Investments like ETFs, shares or bonds are not acceptable. Read this topic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chou Anou Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tounge Thaied Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 http://www.ihbank.co.th/promotion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogandave Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I think the primary reason Citibank is in Thailand is to provide services to their multinational corporate customers. I cant speak to their personal banking, but for business, their fees are (in my opinion) the highest in the country. I do have a Citibank visa, but only because when we switched from Kasikorn to Citibank at work they came in and signed up everyone that wanted one. I believe that Thailand is like the US in that the investment products the banks push are crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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