Am I required to close my thai bank account after my work permit ends.

[DjChris28]

Hi, 

 

I signed up to the Siam Commercial Bank. I had to sign  a crap load of forms all written in Thai and understood bugger all and nobody in the bank even understood any english. I was trying to understand what the process was when you quit your job as well as a few other things such as if there is a fee to close the account later. Do you need to close your bank account when you quit your job and end your work permit? On my last month of my work, i'm required to give one pay period notice which means that my last day will always be the last day of the month which means that the last day of the month of resignation is the last day i''m legally allowed to stay in the country which is the day I will have to close my bank account (If it is required), but the employer pays AFTER the last day of the month which means that my last pay for whenever I decide to resign actually might not get paid. (Because i'll be out of the country and the bank account will be closed).

 

On top of that i'm realizing that I won't get my security deposit back for my rent anyway because the landlord has to wait for bills to be finalized and i'll be out of the country by then and they won't do international payment even if I'm willing to wear the international transfer cost.

[johng]

As far as I'm aware you don't have to close your bank account..but T.I.T

[ubonjoe]

You don't need to close your bank account. Their is no requirement for you to have a work permit to have one.

[Evilbaz]

Your bank account is not dependent on a work permit.

I recommend you st-up internet banking with international transfers if you want to return home.

Otherwise leave LOS for somewhere nearby and re-enter with a Tourist Visa or Visa exempt entry, both of which can be extended for 30 days at your local Immi office.

[maewang99]

it might not be easy to always open a retail bank account, but once it's open it's only yours to close.... or the bank... but they don't do that.  keep the account, it's an option you might want someday to use not just for getting your pay. 

of course, if you are US file an online FBAR every year until you do close it... but the FBAR is very easy to do... and there is no reason not to do it.  it won't trigger a thing. you probably already know if you need to...but just in case I mention it. x-IRS.





 

Edited February 25, 2017 by maewang99

[Dipterocarp]

Keep it open. Also even if the OP is a US person no requirement exists to file FBAR if the aggregate amount in foreign accounts is less than $10,000USD equivalent.

[whatawonderfulday]

No, but ensure you maintain it with the minimum balance though

[Jeremy50]

No, you don't have to. On the apartment deposit, your landlord probably had no intention of ever giving your deposit back. I have always had to fight for mine, but 4000 is a significant amount which should be handed back to you with good grace, as long as you haven't damaged anything.

[dotpoom]

I never heard of a bank who wanted wished, demanded or hoped for a customer  to cease banking with them. Close it if you want....up to you, I would imagine. I have A/Cs in about 3 different countries, left a few bob in each of them just to keep them open, (might have come in handy in the future) can't even remember where exactly they are now it's so long ago....most lightly they're dormant now anyway.

[Jai Dee]

18 hours ago, DjChris28 said:

I signed up to the Siam Commercial Bank.

As has already been suggested you can set up internet banking.

 

The SCB has an excellent system (in English as well as Thai).

 

You can register at their webpage here.

 

And no, there is no requirement to close your account if your work permit is cancelled.

[JackThompson]

Keep the account open, and have your landlord make payment into that account for your deposit.  They can do it from any ATM machine - transferred from their account into yours.  As per others' suggestion, setup online-banking, so you don't have to be in Thailand to access your account.

[hawker9000]

Just because some one of the bank employees might have once upon a time told you that a work permit is a requirement for a bank account (not even close to being true) certainly doesn't mean you should lend that any credence.  Many of them are kind of full of it.   If you want to keep the account, keep it.

  

[saltrock]

On the topic of Internet banking - I have a Kasikorn account and I am unable to make Internet transfers from my Kasikorn account to another Thai account whilst in UK.  I had this confirmed verbally in the branch recently. I was told this could only be done within Thailand.

Is there a Thai bank with Internet banking which would overcome this problem? Thanks

[Lannig]

Well, KBANK has internet banking (K-Cyber Banking). You must know else what would you be using when in the UK?

I use it all the time to make money transfers, even more when I'm not in Thailand. It works OK except for the OTP password by SMS that's broken from time to time.

[Jai Dee]

10 minutes ago, saltrock said:

I have a Kasikorn account and I am unable to make Internet transfers from my Kasikorn account to another Thai account whilst in UK.

I find that very strange.

That is not a problem with an SCB account.

[saltrock]

If I recall correctly, think the problem initially arose as when I tried to do it from UK it said a code would be sent to my mobile phone (but I had no Thai mobile number whilst out of the country to accept the code). 

I called Kasikon call centre who said I would need to register whilst in Thailand but when went to branch was told it was not possible to transfer from one Thai account to another whilst our of country.

Looks like may be able to overcome by changing Thai bank. Thanks 

[RBOP]

20 hours ago, Evilbaz said:

Your bank account is not dependent on a work permit.

I recommend you st-up internet banking with international transfers if you want to return home.

Otherwise leave LOS for somewhere nearby and re-enter with a Tourist Visa or Visa exempt entry, both of which can be extended for 30 days at your local Immi office.

And set up the internet-international transfers quickly while you still have a Work Permit in hand. After WP gone its a hastle doing international transfers.

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by RBOP

[Lannig]

6 minutes ago, saltrock said:

If I recall correctly, think the problem initially arose as when I tried to do it from UK it said a code would be sent to my mobile phone (but I had no Thai mobile number whilst out of the country to accept the code). 

I called Kasikon call centre who said I would need to register whilst in Thailand but when went to branch was told it was not possible to transfer from one Thai account to another whilst our of country.

Looks like may be able to overcome by changing Thai bank. Thanks 

Ah, that's correct. You do need a Thai mobile phone number.

They won't register a foreign mobile phone number, and you do need to make the registration in person at your Kasikorn branch.

I use mine in roaming mode. It's a plain prepaid DTAC SIM you can get in just any 7/11 with your passport. Then after some time (one month I think) you can call DTAC service center to make then open up roaming service to this number.

I've heard that AIS doesn't have this delay. You can get roaming right away.

Receiving SMSes to a roaming phone is free. Not always reliable, though.

EDIT: there's some confusion here. I'm writing about making domestic money transfers while staying abroad, not making transfers to foreign banks. I don't do this. No idea.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Lannig

[Jai Dee]

2 minutes ago, Lannig said:

Ah, that's correct. You do need a Thai mobile phone number.

 

I'm pretty sure that is only needed when you're setting it up... ie. adding a third party account to your payee list.

You will receive a One-Time-Password (OTP) via SMS.

Once you've used the OTP there is no further need for the Thai mobile phone to receive future SMS's for future transactions.

Unless, of course, you wish to add more.

[Lannig]

Not correct as far as Kasikorn K-Cyber Banking goes.

You need an OTP for every money transfer.

Only topping up mobile phones (possibly up to some max amount I don't know) can be done without OTP.

They also have this PIN2 security scheme (basically just a second level of password protection) but they're very reluctant to allow it.

Now they also have a new scheme based on QR codes but no one at my Kasikorn local branch had a clue so I'm still trying to figure out how it works.

Need to call their hotline next time I'm in the LOS. Not a priority now.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Lannig

[Jai Dee]

1 minute ago, Lannig said:

Not correct as far as Kasikorn K-Cyber Banking goes.

You need an OTP for every money transfer.

OK. Not required with SCB e-banking.

[bkkgriz]

I left Thailand three years ago but kept my Bangkok Bank account open. I still use it when I come back for a bit of warm weather over winter break.

[Centrum]

23 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

No, you don't have to. On the apartment deposit, your landlord probably had no intention of ever giving your deposit back. I have always had to fight for mine, but 4000 is a significant amount which should be handed back to you with good grace, as long as you haven't damaged anything.

Well, I've never had to fight to get my deposit back in any of the apartments I've stayed in. I hope my generalization counters your generalization and people can return to the original topic.

[Giandone]

For anybody who need to do transfers from Kasikorn while abroad you can call the international call center and ask to remove the otp code and use a confirmation email in place. Once requested the otp code system is disabled for 24h, after that it will be back online and you'll need to call again in order to use the email confirmation again.

[wobalt]

You need a postpaid phone account in ordere to receive sms codes for banking outside Thailand


Gesendet von iPad mit Thaivisa Connect

[onera1961]

On 2/25/2017 at 6:19 AM, maewang99 said:

of course, if you are US file an online FBAR every year until you do close it... but the FBAR is very easy to do... and there is no reason not to do it.  it won't trigger a thing. you probably already know if you need to...but just in case I mention it. x-IRS.

Can you please post the link to FBAR website. Thanks. I have to file this year I guess as I had weekly remittances of 500 USD in 2018 and still continuing in 2019.

[ocddave]

46 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Can you please post the link to FBAR website. Thanks. I have to file this year I guess as I had weekly remittances of 500 USD in 2018 and still continuing in 2019.

https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html

[the guest]

If it's business, yes you must.

[HampiK]

13 hours ago, wobalt said:

You need a postpaid phone account in ordere to receive sms codes for banking outside Thailand


Gesendet von iPad mit Thaivisa Connect

Not correct!!!

 

With prepaid you can also receive SMS outside of Thailand. I always had Prepaid (DTAC) and used and still use today when I'm abroad to log in to K-Bank and sometimes make transfers. works fine.

Edited January 12, 2019 by ubonjoe
changed to English from German (Google translate)

[wobalt]

Not possible with KTB to receive the code only with postpaid DTAC


Gesendet von iPad mit Thaivisa Connect