To the bank
To open a bank account, go to the bank here. This will sound familiar to the elderly among us, but I will explain it to the younger ones: a bank used to be a, usually prominent, building where people sat behind counters. You could deposit or withdraw money from these people. Basically just like an online connection, but with real people.
Well, here in Thailand it still is. There are ATMs, and also machines where you can deposit money, and other machines where you can top up the balance in your bank book. But you can… oh, sorry, young people: a bank book is a book in which your balance is stated and in which credits and debits are recorded. With that booklet you can get money or checks. A check is proof that you have reserved a certain value from your account. You give that check to someone else who can then have that value paid out or credited to their account. So for all that you go to the bank.
When we entered the bank on Monday morning, all 10 (!) counters were occupied.* There were about 40 chairs, neatly arranged in rows, all of which were occupied by waiting people. There was a large television screen showing fighting films, of course with accompanying sound. There was a number machine at the entrance; zoë which is also in the town hall of Boxmeer. Only there was someone here who asked what we came for and pressed the right buttons for us. We expected a considerable waiting time, but the first number that popped up was ours. We were allowed to go to counter 10, and after about 3 minutes of forms and formalities we had a bank account with bank book and debit card. That doesn't work that fast in the online world.
Buaban, the landlady had been waiting patiently all this time. Her husband had also joined. Landlady? What was he doing there then? Well, here if you want to open a bank account as a foreigner, you take your landlord to the bank. He must personally declare that you really live in his or her house. She had picked us up on the mountain, but then I had to drive the rather large box to the bench and she sat in the back. At the first intersection I forgot of course that it was a manual car, fortunately without annoying consequences.
After we finished at the bank Buaban asked if we happened to be interested in looking at a piece of land with and one without a house. We did. So we drove a few kilometers out of the village (Buaban's husband was now driving; Mieke now also had to go back. Much to the amusement of both Thais, I sat with my knees against the dashboard and my head almost against the roof.) We watched a beautiful house in itself, but very large and with a piece of land of 2 rai (1 rai is 1600m2), half of which was about a blubbery pond. Then we drove in Tham Chiang Dao to a piece of land of 10 rai, again beautifully situated, but much too large and not easy to make habitable. So it's not going to be.
To thank them for their efforts and patience, we offered Buaban and her husband to have lunch together. They drove us to a nice spot outside the village where we ate a richly filled meal soup. This sympathetic offer cost us 130 Baht (€ 3,25). You can do nice for that.
This morning we arranged internet banking. No matter how convenient and personal such a bank with real people is, being able to check balances and arrange payments at home is something that we are now too used to doing away with. To arrange internet banking you go here, you already understand, to the bank. Buaban didn't have to come along this time. They already know us there.
* Chiang Dao and its associated villages have a population of just over 15.000 people. That is something like Harlingen, Slochteren or Eemsmond. There are several banks, all with real people behind real counters.
Nicely Described. Indeed, it sometimes seems to go back 50 years in the banking world. And then the many papers…
What I really like is that you can always call a helpdesk, who also speak decent English.
We have accounts with different banks and actually no bad experiences.
Clearly nicely written, but may I note that that landlady / boss is not necessarily necessary ..., an address certificate from immigration has always been accepted by me,
Even 8 years ago just my word where I stayed / lived …. times change and banks themselves are changeable and on top of the affiliates and then also the clerks can have different requirements.
Beats. How it works and whether it is possible to open an account at all depends very much on the bank you go to and even differs per branch. Later we opened an account with another bank without the landlord and that went fine, while it was not possible at all with other banks. (But all those nuances are difficult to describe in a story if you want to keep it a bit fun and readable :-))
You wrote: “Well, here if you want to open a bank account as a foreigner, you take your landlord to the bank. After all, he must personally declare that you really live in his or her house”. Although I have been living in Thailand for 10 years, that is the first time I hear that from someone. I was never asked and I have an account in 3 different Thai banks.
Most banks have some time ago adjusted the conditions for foreigners to open an account. For example, the Bangkok bank states that a recommendation letter from a Thai who has an account with the bank is required. So if your landlord comes along, this is usually also good. The branches are franchises where the director often changes the conditions as it suits him or her. For example, there are banks here that require a deposit of THB 10000 or to take out accident insurance to open an account. Since the branches are independent, you must report a change of address or a new passport number to the branch where you have an account.
A few notes.
When I started my job here ten years ago, I was taken to a bank branch in the university building to open a bank account. A Human Resources representative accompanied me. The same thing happened at my second job.
The banking system in Thailand is both outdated in some aspects and modern in others. I am not very familiar with the situation in the Netherlands in 2017, but I am sure that 10 years ago it was already possible in Thailand to withdraw money via the ATM, to deposit money, to transfer money to another private person (with one further bank) and to pay bills such as water and electricity. And if you deposited money, you could have it again the same minute. In the Netherlands, the bank held your money for at least 1 working day.
What nice pieces of you. I wish you lots of luck in your new homeland. And good luck finding a nice place.
It is no different for bank employees than in general. LOSS OF FACE does not want to lead Thai. As a falang/westerner, we do not always recognize this. When I wanted to open an account with the SCB I met a most friendly lady who, after consulting some written instructions, told me that I could not open an account. At my request, an older male colleague was called in who could not make chocolate from the instructions and therefore also told me that the Siambank could not open an account for me despite the fact that I had submitted the yellow book, passport, etc., etc.
Not knowing how to act was turned into "can't" instead of even trying to consult a colleague.
You also encounter this “act” in many other situations, but because it hardly occurs in our way of thinking, it is not recognized.
At the Bangkok bank I was outside with the same documents after 20 minutes with a bank account with card and all.
Thanks for the positive responses. That encourages you to keep writing :-).
I didn't come up with the idea of bringing the landlady with me. I read somewhere that that might help, and it's very likely that it was on this blog. We had only lived in Thailand for a few weeks at the time, so it was also useful from that point of view to bring someone with us. For the accounts we opened later, we didn't take others with us.
As for Corretje's remark about the risk for the landlady: I didn't know about that rule (and the landlady probably didn't either). At the bank we were always asked if we had friends or acquaintances in the USA. When asked, a bank employee said that this also had to do with money laundering prevention.
And indeed what Chris writes is also true: in some areas the banking system is lagging behind considerably. For example, why would you still need a bank book? And why are checks still used? But in other respects it is extremely efficient. Every login and every transaction is immediately confirmed by text message, so abuse should in principle be immediately noticeable. And that bankbook may not be necessary, but there is a separate machine where you can have it updated automatically.
What the Dutch banks may think that Thailand is lagging behind in this is the extremely helpful staff. Just people you can ask something to and then they will go out of their way to help you. As far as I am concerned, that is also an aspect in which the Thai banks are far ahead of the Dutch.
That SMS is not free and you have to pay for it. I thought of Baht 300 per month. I find a bank book easy because if you lose the debit card you can always withdraw money with it at the counter. Great system. The SCB did not want to renew my debit card and I had to have it done where I made the bank account, so "no can do" which is not true, can be done at any branch and is stated on the ATM screen. I don't have a debit card now, but I do have a bank book, so I can deposit and withdraw money at the counter. I have no problem with that.
So is it enough to open a bank account if you rent a house or apartment and take your landlord to the bank? Is a statement in the landlord's bank sufficient to open a bank account?
I'd say give it a try :-).
The above story is (among other things) about the things that struck me when opening a bank account. It is therefore not a manual for opening such an account. From the responses you can also conclude that everything can differ considerably per bank (branch). You may conclude that it can help to bring your landlord with you, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee anything.
We write our stories to give our family and friends in the Netherlands an idea of life in Thailand. We start from our own very subjective perception and experience. I strongly discourage anyone from making decisions based solely on our stories. Get your information from the official files, or from the authorities where you have to arrange matters. And read our stories because you like them. (At least we hope so.)
In the more than 40 years that I've lived here, I've never filled out such a TM30 and I've never been asked for it. By no one, same with passport.