Insane bureaucracy at Kasikorn Bank

I opened an acct at KBank about 10 years ago.
I use it mostly for my '800k deposit' money.

6 months ago I applied for a new ATM card although I rarely use it
The teller noticed a discrepancy as to the name of my country
Think Ireland/Eire kind of thing.....as many countries in the EU have 2 names (one official and the common name)
I had used the common name whereas I should have used the 'official' name when I opened the acct.
She asked for the passport I had at the time of opening the acct but it was back in Europe .

I left it at that

A few days ago I visited another branch with the same aim
After looking at my passport she started poking her nose in the stapled papers inside trying to look at my visa status or something..
She then noticed that my passport expires in a month or so and she refused to issue the card.

What is going onion here?

I wanted to move my money out asap but the immi. official told me that I can only move it on the day of my annual retirement or else there would be problems.

Sleepless in Nakhon Nowhere..:smileylaughing:

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Originally Posted by SummonTheSurf

What is going onion here?

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Take a taxi cabbage back to the branch and find out.

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Originally Posted by SummonTheSurf

She then noticed that my passport expires in a month or so and she refused to issue the card.

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This has the makings of a Fluke thread.

Yeh, I gotta lump sum coming up (eventually) from a property sale. I'm paranoid as to how I'm gonna move the money out of Thailand, given that I still have a bank account there but no longer reside there or have an annual marriage visa. I basically found thai banks a nightmare to deal with. My current thought is to shift it through the ex-wifes account- assuming she stays nice. What could possible go wrong? :chitown:

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Originally Posted by SummonTheSurf

I wanted to move my money out asap but the immi. official told me that I can only move it on the day of my annual retirement or else there would be problems.

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You can withdraw your money at any time you like and all of it if you so wish.
Be aware though that if you in the future intend to renew your extension of stay based on retirement then:

- 800.000 must stay in the account until 3 months after an extension is granted

- there must be 800.000 baht in the account for the last 2 month before applying for an extension

- there must be at least 400.000 baht in the account during the other 7 month

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Originally Posted by sabang

Yeh, I gotta lump sum coming up (eventually) from a property sale. I'm paranoid as to how I'm gonna move the money out of Thailand, given that I still have a bank account there but no longer reside there or have an annual marriage visa. I basically found thai banks a nightmare to deal with. My current thought is to shift it through the ex-wifes account- assuming she stays nice. What could possible go wrong? :chitown:

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A few options.

Shift it bit by bit with a Thai and their bank account.

Do it by crypto - Bitcoin etc. Open an exchange in Thailand and an exchange in your home country. Deposit it on the Thai exchange, send it to your homecountry exchange, then sell and deposit that into your home bank account.

Set up a Thai account with ATM that has the lowest fee for international withdrawals and the allows the highest withdrawal amount. Send the ATM to a family member in homecountry and they withdraw it.

^ Cheers for that. Crypto is a bit new age for me, but that ATM option seems a good idea. Also, a bit of drip feeding makes sense, don't want to attract the attention of the nosey Australian taxman (not because I'm dodging anything, but being slapped with a 'please explain' is a right pain in the arse). I'll do me research.

But FX rates a bummer. Would it work to send money via Transferwise, or one of those services?

^ The good thing with cyrpto is the fun in it gaining or losing 50% of its value in the 5 minutes it takes to transfer. :)

After selling you can keep the currency on the exchange as currency, then deposit it to different home back accounts at different times in different amounts, if you wish to be a bit sneaky about it. :)

What kind of a banker doesn't know how to do a swifty with financial transactions . . . surely you have an off-shore account with credit and debit card facilities, HSBC, StanChart etc . . . (Bearer Bonds still in TH?)

Double Post - sorry

This one. Thailand is most definitely not Hong Kong.

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Originally Posted by sabang

This one. Thailand is most definitely not Hong Kong.

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Yes, I thought as much . . . only kidding about: "What kind of a banker doesn't know... "


I remember the hassles we had opening and then closing accounts in Thailand as well, especially as none of us are Thai.
What we ended up doing is getting the cash out . . .


Drip-deduction are a pain - calculate the value of your property and the daily max debit :smile: You'll be at the bank every day for a year

I second the opinion of the KB bureaucracy. However, the poor clerks cannot change the system, even if they know you for ages. They are always asking for new many papers/copies/signings at any small change of the account, in the "paperless" system - as always claimed. Even when changed the email address for automatic announcing. In turn, as a reward, they show so many nonsensical images on many large scale monitors on their walls...

If you have a K+ system, it shows a possibility for direct foreign transfer to some listed countries - not many of them. However, before you can get on that menu they ask you again for many documents, work permit etc. When asking in their HQ in Bkk they again confirm the difficulties and restrictions.

Then, you can go to TMB and organize the TMB Touch (similar like K+) where the foreign transfer is possible from your I-phone. Despite some difficulties with the menu - it did not let me go to the last step when entering my local address - the names has to be picked up as they are showing, provided that you can discover it, not as you type. It has taken me 3 days of test of patience in communication with a girl in Bkk HQ. Finally, a small hitch was fixed and I was surprised that it had gone, and even more surprised when very fast received.

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Originally Posted by sabang

Yeh, I gotta lump sum coming up (eventually) from a property sale. I'm paranoid as to how I'm gonna move the money out of Thailand, given that I still have a bank account there but no longer reside there or have an annual marriage visa. I basically found thai banks a nightmare to deal with. My current thought is to shift it through the ex-wifes account- assuming she stays nice. What could possible go wrong? :chitown:

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Buy bitcoin, transfer, voila.

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Originally Posted by sabang

^

But FX rates a bummer. Would it work to send money via Transferwise, or one of those services?

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I use Transferwise all the time and they have been really good .

That's nothing.

My passport number changed since opening an account 7 years ago.

I requested a new ATM card because old one doesn't work anymore.

Mai dai! Diffelent passe-port! Not same person!

The last time I was in a Thai bank, the clerk wanted me to sign a piece of paper...and my signature had to be EXACTLY like the one I gave when I opened the account 15 years earlier. That was fun.

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Originally Posted by YourDaddy

That's nothing.

My passport number changed since opening an account 7 years ago.

I requested a new ATM card because old one doesn't work anymore.

Mai dai! Diffelent passe-port! Not same person!

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I had immense fun with this at Bangkok Bank. Not the same passport! Well, it wouldn't be, over 30 years since I opened the first account. A cheque account, that was the only option back then. Somewhere I have all my old passports except that one, which was list/stolen at Don Mruang arrivals. Surprisingly the local branch eventually called me and asked me to come to sign a copy of the old passport that they had retrieved from the Silom Road branch records. I asked to take a pic, me, about 35 years younger. The bank ladies had a polite giggle about this.

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Originally Posted by YourDaddy

Mai dai! Diffelent passe-port! Not same person!

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You didnt keep your old passport? Silly fellow.

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Originally Posted by Neverna

The last time I was in a Thai bank, the clerk wanted me to sign a piece of paper...and my signature had to be EXACTLY like the one I gave when I opened the account 15 years earlier. That was fun.

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Exactly this, and try writing your signature 'properly' after you've just signed 35 pieces of paper in a row.

So they get me to sign the documents before we fill them in until they agree it's close enough to 2001.

I've actually never had a problem with Thai banks.

Somebody (me) lost my wallet a month or so ago, cancelled the cards that night and the next day had to go to BAY, K-Bank and Bangkok Bank, new passport and new phone number since the accounts were opened 10-15 years ago. No issues at all.

The lovely at BAY was lovely, the gay snidey bloke at Bkk Bank, less so.

Actually thinking of losing my BAY card again just so I go back to her desk and end up with either a date, Line account, or security warning.

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Originally Posted by Neverna

The last time I was in a Thai bank, the clerk wanted me to sign a piece of paper...and my signature had to be EXACTLY like the one I gave when I opened the account 15 years earlier. That was fun.

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Ditto, except was no fun at all when I ended up signing 17 (27?) times until the clerk was satisfied one matched the one in my book bank, which she then noticed was different to the one in my passport resulting in another stream of sigs. When we finally resolved that, the c-i-c must have spotted the opportunity to impress her underlings by further obstructing the farang, with a check that the hybrid matched the one they had on my original application form from years earlier, which of course it didn't, reheating the situation which was finally resolved when in total frustration I ripped off the offending application sig and stuffed it into my mouth. The payoff in these situations comes when the enemy protest you can't do something you've already done.

What did I need from them, credit, large withdrawal or transfer? - nope, a simple stamp on a form to confirm that I have an account at that bank, for 3BB (TT&T at the time).

To be fair, although upsetting at the time, this and similar experiences occurred before I realised I was living in nation of 8 year olds.