Guest voldemar Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 I agree with TJ. There are no reasons to keep in Thailand more money that absolutely necessary. Thai law distinguishes between residential and nonresidential accounts. All farangs living in Thailand on retirement visas have nonresidential accounts and in theory there should be no problem in transfering any amount of money from nonresidential account back to your home country. In practice no Thai banks follow the law and it creates problems like Bookero encountered. The only bank which strictly follows the law I am aware of is HSBC Thailand. Thus, if one wants to keep large sums in Thailand, use HSBC. It will create certain inconveniences but you will have no problem in repatriating any amount of money from your nonresidential account. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 Thailand Inheritance: 'Last Will and Testament' legal will service online Law Office of Siam Expat Law 57/4 Moo. 4, Kamala, Kathu, Phuket, Thailand 83150 Thank you. Quote
Bob Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 If you feel that assurances from a lawyer is good enough, ok, but I know what the embassy told me and if the Thai authorities relinquish the jurisdiction to the embassy, then now it's the embassy calling the shots. It was thoroughly explained to me just what those shots will be. I suggest not relying solely on the assurances of a Thai attorney, but also checking with your embassy. If they tell you that the attorney is right, wonderful. But if the embassy tells you differently, then that will isn't going to be worth the paper it's written on. I suggest making certain. Your notation said in part: "The Embassy can, in most circumstances, take charge of personal effects and possessions of the deceased if instructed to do so by the Next-of-Kin." I take it then that the US office (embassy or consulate) won't take charge of any personal effects or possession unless instructed by the "next-of-kin" to do so. In my case, I've already registered the "next-of-kin" at the consulate and my next-of-kin (who happens to also be the beneficiary and personal representative of my US estate) is aware of my wishes and my Thai Will (besides, my US Will notes the existence of my Thai Will and mandates disposition of my "Thai" assets according to that Thai Will). So, I think I've covered all the bases fairly well. Nevertheless, since I have a lot of time on my hands, I'll stop at the Chiangmai consulate this fall and ask the specific questions about both the personal property (including bank account) and disposition (burning) of the corpse in Thailand. If I remember, I'll resurrect this thread or start another with the info. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 I used a competent Thai lawyer to draft the Will and I was assured that a Thai Will will in fact work to transfer in-Thailand assets to a Thai beneficiary. There are some minimal proceedings and costs but I was assured it will work just fine. It didn't sound too complicated and my Thai beneficiary has the contact info for my Thai lawyer (both of them have original Wills). You may be right that the US Embassy won't "honor" or recognize a Thai Will with respect to the Thai possessions of a deceased US citizen. That's fine (I really don't want them involved with my Thai property anyway). As to my body, the plan (presuming I buy the farm while in Thailand) is for me to be shoved into the nearest stupa and go up in smoke (being smoked as a final act somehow seems appropriate ); however, I'm not sure how that will go and, in a sense, I don't think I'll really care. Guess I'll ask my Thai lawyer once I'm back in September. According to the US Embassy, you should provide a notorized copy of your wishes for your remains and any property in Thailand in your name, including bank accounts, to the embassy. This would include whom for them to contact in the US upon your death. They said this would be honored. Quote
Bob Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 According to the US Embassy, you should provide a notorized copy of your wishes for your remains and any property in Thailand in your name, including bank accounts, to the embassy. This would include whom for them to contact in the US upon your death. They said this would be honored. Thanks for the info (I'm presuming you got this info straight from the Embassy). I'll take a notarized statement with me when I return to Chiangmai in September....and, when I drop it off at the consulate, I'll see if they'll confirm what you've been told. Quote
Gaybutton Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 I take it then that the US office (embassy or consulate) won't take charge of any personal effects or possession unless instructed by the "next-of-kin" to do so. I don't know the answer to that one. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 All farangs living in Thailand on retirement visas have nonresidential accounts and in theory there should be no problem in transfering any amount of money from nonresidential account back to your home country. I bank with HSBC. A few years back, I changed my main account from non-resident to a resident one when the bank started imposing pretty high bank charges for certain transactions. For example, I used to deposit a small sum each month into a Thai-based unit trust. The cost of doing that from a non-resident account suddenly jumped massively. So I changed to a resident account. I think I am right in saying that all funds going in to a non-resident account have to be remitted from overseas. Hence it is easy to get them remitted out. Unfortunately that is unlikely to help buckeroo2. Quote
Guest voldemar Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 I bank with HSBC. A few years back, I changed my main account from non-resident to a resident one when the bank started imposing pretty high bank charges for certain transactions. For example, I used to deposit a small sum each month into a Thai-based unit trust. The cost of doing that from a non-resident account suddenly jumped massively. So I changed to a resident account. I think I am right in saying that all funds going in to a non-resident account have to be remitted from overseas. Hence it is easy to get them remitted out. Unfortunately that is unlikely to help buckeroo2. You are correct. However, if you are HSBC Premier customer most of the fees are waived. As I said, there are certain inconveniences but advantage is you can repatriate your funds out of Thailand without any documentation. As Premier customer , I can do it through internet banking by pushing couple of buttons and free of charge. I doubt it is possible with any Thai bank. I also enjoy using my ATM HSBC card anywhere in Thailand with withdrawal fees 10 baht with any ATM in Thailand and free tranfers of funds to Thailand from HSBC US through internet banking and excellent exchange rates. Quote
Bob Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 non-resident to a resident one Ok, silly question, but how does one tell if one has a resident or non-resident account? I've had accounts (Bangkok Bank and SCB) for about a decade in LOS and I see nothing on the account books indicating if it's a resident or non-resident account. I'm presuming it's a non-resident account but that's just a pure guess as I opened up the acocunts with just the 30-day visas way back when. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 You are correct. However, if you are HSBC Premier customer most of the fees are waived. There are certainly advantages to being a Premier customer, but to qualify I believe you have to maintain a balance of about Bt. 3 million in the account. Sadly I can't do that. Ok, silly question, but how does one tell if one has a resident or non-resident account? Not silly at all. I only knew when I purchased the apartment about 2 years before I came to live here. I went to HSBC because I bank with HSBC in Hong Kong. They advised that the funds for the purchase would have to go into a non-resident account as I did not live here, and then set one up for me. I do not recall anything on the statements to indicate that it was resident or non-resident. When I moved here, I just continued with the account. HSBC had told me that they could not (at least at that time) process standing orders to pay for things like utilities. So with the help of a Thai friend, I opened another account at Bangkok Bank. I had no thought of asking if it was resident or non-resident, and it was only 4 years later I discovered it is a resident account. As mentioned earlier, I subsequently changed the HSBC account also to a resident one. The one advantage of a resident account is that you can pay Baht in to it with no questions asked. I believe you cannot pay Baht into a non-resident account. Quote
Guest voldemar Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 There are certainly advantages to being a Premier customer, but to qualify I believe you have to maintain a balance of about Bt. 3 million in the account. Sadly I can't do that. Not silly at all. I only knew when I purchased the apartment about 2 years before I came to live here. I went to HSBC because I bank with HSBC in Hong Kong. They advised that the funds for the purchase would have to go into a non-resident account as I did not live here, and then set one up for me. I do not recall anything on the statements to indicate that it was resident or non-resident. When I moved here, I just continued with the account. HSBC had told me that they could not (at least at that time) process standing orders to pay for things like utilities. So with the help of a Thai friend, I opened another account at Bangkok Bank. I had no thought of asking if it was resident or non-resident, and it was only 4 years later I discovered it is a resident account. As mentioned earlier, I subsequently changed the HSBC account also to a resident one. The one advantage of a resident account is that you can pay Baht in to it with no questions asked. I believe you cannot pay Baht into a non-resident account. You can deposit bahts in nonresidential account but you need to provide a certain documentation. You do not need to mainain the balance of 3 million baht to be a Premier customer. This is a global concept in HSBC. You need to qualify in one country to be Premier customer in all HSBC banks. Most American retirees do have some savings. Why not to keep them in one of the HSBC banks somewhere in the world. In HSBC US the requirement is 100000 US. In HSBC Malaysia 200000 ringit and, say, HSBC Australia 100000 AUD. Just qualify in one HSBC bank and you can be Premier customer everywhere. I do not have 3 mln baht in HSBC Thailand but I am Premier customer over there, enjoy all privileges and pay no fees. It is frankly a very bad idea to have a residential account with HSBC. For practical purposes (like paying bills etc) one can open an account in any Thai banks but real funds should be kept in HSBC nonresidential account with option of immediate , easy repatriation in case of emergency. Even better option for expats in Thailand is to keep real money in Singapore. Singapore banks are among the best and most liquid in the world (and Singapore dollar is excellent currency if one worries about wealth preservation). Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 You can deposit bahts in nonresidential account but you need to provide a certain documentation. You do not need to mainain the balance of 3 million baht to be a Premier customer. This is a global concept in HSBC. You need to qualify in one country to be Premier customer in all HSBC banks. I had forgotten you do not have to qualify in Thailand. But I could not provide the minimum anywhere, so I still wouldn't qualify, unfortunately! I am sure you are right about the inadvisability of maintaining a resident account at HSBC. I am now considering changing that. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 Thanks for the info (I'm presuming you got this info straight from the Embassy). I'll take a notarized statement with me when I return to Chiangmai in September....and, when I drop it off at the consulate, I'll see if they'll confirm what you've been told. Yes...this was told to me directly by an embassy official when I was there last November for my income verification letter for my retirement visa. Quote
Guest voldemar Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 Let me mention here another privilege of being HSBC Premier member. They have internal global network. Premiere ATM card with any HSBC bank will work in most of the countries with HSBC ATM with no ATM fees and no foreign exchange fees. I checked it in a number of places from Rio to KL. Premier credit card with HSBC US works without foreign exchange fees. I have had a pretty bizzare experience in KL on my way to Phuket just several days ago. None of my US debit cards worked with local ATMs. This includes couple of o VISA debit cards linked to US brokerage accounts which suppose to work everywhere without ATM fees. They did not work in KL. I saw a number of foreign tourists over there from different places having the same problem. However, HSBC card worked with HSBC ATM over there. I presume because of mentioned internal global network. I have not been to KL for five years. Thus, I do not know how typical my experience was. In my opinion, HSBC offers the best global services available at this point through their Premier program. Quote
