Seeking Advice on Opening a Personal Account as a Thai Resident with European Nationality

theblast3r

New member
Mar 12, 2022
46
36
43
México
#1
Register now
You must login or register to view hidden content on this page.
Hello everyone,

I’m a European citizen from a country with a terrible tax system, and I currently live in Thailand. I don’t want to open a Thai bank account due to recent changes in remittance taxation here. I run an LLC in the USA, where I invoice European companies.

I’m looking to open a personal account with a non-European bank to accumulate personal funds. I’ve read about Charles Schwab’s international account where you can deposit $50k USD and open it without a US address, but I’m unsure which banks might accept Thai residents.

I’ve searched the forum but haven’t found much on personal accounts for Thai residents. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!
 
#2
you can open one, it wont change much nor will it make you more/less visible. Its even recommended for ease of keeping track of remittance based systems.
The usual suspects Singapore, HK, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Switzerland. Crs (if applicable) will apply, not being ideal at all if your worried about your info leaking and potential kidnap as from other thread. But if the numbers are not too big, it should be ok.

theres also expat banking in the crown dependency of jersey, iom and guernsey, afaik there is hsbc, barclays and lloyds.

wise while a monkey emi also works (for low numbers).
 
Last edited:
Reactions: toums
#3

Does Schwab require 50k now? used to be 25k. But on their page they don't mention any minimum amount actually.
https://international.schwab.com/open-account-intro/open-account?country=TH&branchCode=EO

They do accept thai residents, that wasn't very difficult to figure out..

edit:

What are the costs of opening an international brokerage account?​

  • $0 monthly service fees and $0 account minimum
 
#4
Several banks in Czech republic are willing to open a personal bank account if you have a passport from any EU country. You just need a local address and a local phone number. Even virtual addresses are accepted in some cases. Banks will likely care more about source of income.
 
#5

Then you can maybe apply to HSBC EXPAT (Premier account). it's based in Jersey and you can open it remotely, online.
 
#6
What is your citizenship?

toums said:
Then you can maybe apply to HSBC EXPAT (Premier account). it's based in Jersey and you can open it remotely, online.
Click to expand...
How come we wrote in French?
 
#9
Xshore said:
I opened mine some years ago, but got a checkbook. Maybe they have stopped that, did they say that?
But they still give you a debit card?
Click to expand...
I did not open an account with them because as a non-US citizen or resident, they only offer a broker account with the debit card. You can see this on their website when trying to open an account. They offer a different product than in the US.
 
#10
FACT CHECK: TRUE

Whatever Schwab used to do in the past, the reality as of today for non US citizens/residents is a brokerage account tied to a "bank" account with a debit card if you leave the money idle -paid at 4.5%, which is not bad. You can use the account for bonds and stocks trading (margin trading for speculative instruments is optional) with low commissions, which may be appealing to some. What you CANNOT do is receive/send 3rd party transfers in it.

NVO
 
Reactions: ilke, Mercury and churumbelo
#11
Exactly! It is like an account with IBKR but with a debit card included.
 
Reactions: ilke
#12
When did you open yours? Mine can still send and receive 3rd party wires, and ACH, deposit checks in the app, and write checks.

EDIT:
Their info still says they accept 3rd party wires.
https://international.schwab.com/fund-your-account links to this:
https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-10740369
Which says:
Third-Party Payments: Should you send funds from a bank account that is not in the same name as your Charles Schwab account, funds must be sent as a Telegraphic Wire Transfer per the above instructions.

EDIT2:
Their info about the international acccount (https://international.schwab.com/brokerage-account) says:
Access and manage cash in your brokerage account with check writing up to your available account balance, and a Visa® debit card.

And the minimum to open now is $0.
 
Last edited:
Reactions: ilke
#13
It was opened in 2022. All things stated are from that point on, no idea how it worked before then.

One thing to note: the interest you get paid on your idle balance (or any dividend/interest income from ETFs, shares, etc) gets a nice upfront WHT (withholding tax) cut of 30% straight away, so that 4.5% effectively is a 3.15%. Just to make it clear.

NVO
 
#14
If your country of residence has a DTA with the US addressing this, could only be 15% WHT I guess. But you would have to let them know and you might have to fill a W-8 Ben. I think this is the procedure for what I know from other brokers.
 
Reactions: Nicholas Van Orton
#16
Do you mean that you don't have, and can't request a checkbook, contrary to what the info says in the links above?

Have you tried sending / receiving a 3rd party wire or receive direct deposits?
 
#17
You can receive 3rd party ACH transfers.

I do it regularly.
 
#18
Xshore said:
Do you mean that you don't have, and can't request a checkbook, contrary to what the info says in the links above?

Have you tried sending / receiving a 3rd party wire or receive direct deposits?
Click to expand...
It’s possible I do it regularly.

I use my international Schwab brokerage account as my main bank account.

You get checks and an account number and routing number for direct deposit.

Only Schwab USA offers this, not Schwab HK or SG.
 
Reactions: Xshore
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register