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  1. #1
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    nidhogg's Avatar
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    Savings cooperatives

    So, for the last decade or so I have been a member of my works savings cooperative. A bit of my salary automatically gets stashed in it every month. I could, if I wished, take out a loan in multiples of the amount I have saved, I get dividends etc.

    No longer. I have just been informed in a registered letter that the law governing savings cooperatives has recently been updated, and one of the new things is that savings cooperatives are limited to Thai citizens only. My account will be terminated in January and the money returned, and obviously I can no longer contribute.

    Yet another tightening of the noose.

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat
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    are you married to a Thai? because usually they would accept farangs married to Thai for those type of savings, or you could put it all under your Thai spouse name if the trust is there

    if more than 1M THB, just buy some real estate and rent it to students, might still get 5% to 8% annually

  3. #3
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg View Post
    My account will be terminated in January and the money returned, and obviously I can no longer contribute.
    Perhaps a (potential) blessing in disguise. Several such cooperatives have had their money stolen by those who run them.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neverna View Post
    Perhaps a (potential) blessing in disguise. Several such cooperatives have had their money stolen by those who run them.
    I believe that is why the laws were recently revamped. The Thai citizen only thing just seems to be fallout of the revision.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg View Post
    Yet another tightening of the noose.
    I don't see that. My money is in a 'fixed term account' in The Buriram Teachers Credit Union'. I assume that's similar to your 'cooperative? As a farang I am not allowed to have a 6% interest fixed term account. It's in my wife's name.
    As a farang I am allowed a 4% interest savings account to which I have in my name and have immediate access to. Been like that for many a year.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pragmatic View Post
    I don't see that. My money is in a 'fixed term account' in The Buriram Teachers Credit Union'. I assume that's similar to your 'cooperative? As a farang I am not allowed to have a 6% interest fixed term account. It's in my wife's name.
    As a farang I am allowed a 4% interest savings account to which I have in my name and have immediate access to. Been like that for many a year.
    My account was with the savings union in my name. That is no longer allowed.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neverna View Post
    Perhaps a (potential) blessing in disguise. Several such cooperatives have had their money stolen by those who run them.
    They're now covered by law and the governors of said cooperatives are regularly rotated to prevent such incidents.


    Edit : https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...-credit-unions

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg View Post
    My account was with the savings union in my name
    All I can say is that the one I/we save in has been like that since we joined. Only Thai nationals in 'fixed term accounts'.
    Last edited by Pragmatic; 11-12-2019 at 02:50 PM.

  9. #9
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    Is this similar to a "share" scheme where the rich get rich and the stupid get poorer?
    Unless someone runs off with the pot...

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chittychangchang View Post
    Is this similar to a "share" scheme where the rich get rich and the stupid get poorer?
    Unless someone runs off with the pot...
    No - it is just a mutual savings organization, which means everyone gets to vote on who runs it, and theoretically we" own it. My work provides the framework so to speak, but members of staff get elected to serve and run it.

    As noted above, some big ones have been looted recently, hence a tightening of the laws.

  11. #11
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    While on the subject of banking, I recently discovered a new type of account. Cannot remember the name of it, but although I have the account in my sole name, a beneficiary is listed (in this case my son). I can use it as a normal account (money in and out etc).

    In the event of my untimely death, he just has to take his ID card and the documents the bank gave me to them - and he then inherits the account directly. he has just been accepted to Uni, so I have dumped the cost of his tuition and living (for him and his mum) for four years into it. This way he will have immediate and uninterrupted access to the money should he need it.

    My other funds are likely to take much longer to access if I am not around, so the immediate base is covered.

    The bank is SCB - not sure if other banks have a similar account scheme.

  12. #12
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    ^ That seems to be a very convenient and useful set up.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonfly View Post

    if more than 1M THB, just buy some real estate and rent it to students, might still get 5% to 8% annually
    The days of making money off student dorm investments may be over.
    Student enrollments countrywide are down - declining birthrate playing a part.

    Some universities are taking dorms in house to help with the shortfall in registration revenues

    From the Bangkok Post earlier this year.

    NAKHONRATCHASIMA: Operators of dormitories say their businesses have beenseverely affected by a sharp drop in the numbers of students entolledat universities in the past few years. Nakhon Ratchasima,the gateway to the northeast region, is home to many highereducational institutes including the Rajamangala University ofTechnology Isan, the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University andVongchavalitkul University. These universities in the past had largenumbers of students, causing dormitories to mushroom. In recent years, however, the numbers ofstudents has dropped sharply. For instance, the Nakhon RatchasimaRajabhat University in 2015 had an enrolment of 22,766 students. Thenumber dropped to 12,796 in 2019.
    https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...sity-enrolment




    .

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nidhogg
    In the event of my untimely death, he just has to take his ID card and the documents the bank gave me to them - and he then inherits the account directly. he has just been accepted to Uni, so I have dumped the cost of his tuition and living (for him and his mum) for four years into it. This way he will have immediate and uninterrupted access to the money should he need it.
    Thought provoking. Thai accounts wouldn't be an issue but if I were to croak it Mrs R might have some issues accessing the NZ accounts. Will have to look into that.

  15. #15
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pragmatic View Post
    I don't see that. My money is in a 'fixed term account' in The Buriram Teachers Credit Union'. I assume that's similar to your 'cooperative? As a farang I am not allowed to have a 6% interest fixed term account. It's in my wife's name.
    As a farang I am allowed a 4% interest savings account to which I have in my name and have immediate access to. Been like that for many a year.

    Easier to guess that such modified restrictions are applying to particular situations - a hit and miss kinda Thai financial racket thing.
    Also guessing that Niddy's plan was more of a corporate associated scheme, whereas provincial Teachers' Credit Unions don't fall under these suspicious loop holes.

    Should reek of caveats when the xenophobic-like authoritarian presence mandates no foreign investors allowed - resident or not.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neverna View Post
    That seems to be a very convenient and useful set up.
    As far as I'm aware the standard procedure here is for the wife to show the marriage certificate and the husbands death certificate and that's it. She has it all.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pragmatic View Post
    As far as I'm aware the standard procedure here is for the wife to show the marriage certificate and the husbands death certificate and that's it. She has it all.

    Most of my funds are overseas. Means it will not be quite so simple.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Sit 8 Thais around a table with 10m cash in the middle of it, walk out, walk back in, ask who took the money and not one will know.

    Put your money in a Thai cooperative where nobody at the best of times knows wtf's going on, that's a recipe for tears and you have nobody to blame but yerself.

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Sorry I'm not this usually up front but you're talking bollix. Obviously you know FA about Thai cooperatives.
    Quote Originally Posted by jabir View Post
    Put your money in a Thai cooperative where nobody at the best of times knows wtf's going on, that's a recipe for tears and you have nobody to blame but yerself

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    True, my exp is with Thais not Thai co-ops.

    Your tone suggests the 10m has a net thrown over it.

  21. #21
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    Not living in TH, but will share my experiences of cooperatives and savings unions.

    I'm a member of 2 cooperatives, 1 big (5,000+) mrmbers and 1 small (less than 100 members). The big cooperative has been there since the 1970s, and is run by a board, all Filipinos. My mom is a member of it, and when I started working, my mom advised me to be a member of it, so I became a member (bcos mothers know best!). That coop is good & stable. Every year, we have a general meeting & election of officers. There's also the distribution of dividend cheques during the election - usually held on Saturdays. If you're not able to go to the ofc and claim your cheque, after a month, they credit the cheque into your savings account, so all's good.

    They also have several types of loans - I've loaned there several times and have repaid them - so I'm in good standing. Each member has a "fixed deposit" and "savings deposit" accounts. When you loan, a percentage of the loan goes to the "fixed deposit", so your deposited amount gets bigger. There's a fixed deposit which just grows and you can't take the money out (unless you resign as member or you die). If you die, then your beneficiary gets the amount (upon presentation of docs) plus the members' contribution to your death fund. Upon the death of every member, 100 pesos is deducted from the "savings deposit" account of each member, so that's quite a nice amount for the family/ beneficiary. The "savings deposit" works like a savings account in the bank - you can deposit & withdraw anytime.

    There have been members who have defaulted on their loans, so not all members are good. In the case of some members, they get a co-borrower, who must be also a member (usually a regular employee). If the borrower is contractual, has finished the contract & has defaulted on the loan, the co-borrower ends up paying the rest of the loan. My mom has advised me of the dangers of being a co-borrower. As such, I have never agreed to be a co-borrower. As for my loans, I make sure that the amount is less than my "fixed deposit" and have no need for a co-borrower. That coop was in my former workplace.

    The 2nd coop that I'm a member of is in my present office. It's smaller and has fewer members. Every month, the member deposits a voluntary amount. The pooled money is used for loans to members who applied for the loans. At the end of the year, the money deposited plus interest is returned to the person. It has higher ROI than a bank, but not too high interest either, which varies - depends on the amounts loaned. This year, interest was around 4 percent. We also have a board of officers & auditors for that coop, so all's well & there's transparency.

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    There have been members who have defaulted on their loans
    As far as I'm aware in the teachers, police, hospital etc cooperatives they now only do loans, as far as I'm aware, to members that have the loan repaid monthly by their employer. It takes away the risk of the loan not being paid back.
    And thank you Katie for that in depth post.

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