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

[blastah]

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!

 

[JackAlabama]

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 and︅ potential kidnap as from other thread. But if the numbers are not too big, it︆ should be ok.

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

wise while a monkey emi also works︈ (for low numbers).

 

[Xshore]

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
  

 

[sknomad]

Several banks in Czech republic are willing to open a personal bank account if︂ you have a passport from any EU country. You just need a local address and︃ a local phone number. Even virtual addresses are accepted in some cases. Banks will likely︄ care more about source of income.

 

[toums]

Then you can maybe apply to HSBC EXPAT (Premier account). it's based︃ in Jersey and you can open it remotely, online.

 

[daniels27]

What is your citizenship?

How come︆ we wrote in French?

 

[churumbelo]

Charles Schwab only opens a checking account if you are a US resident. Otherwise it‌ is only a broker account with a debit card. I wanted to open an account‍ with them too.

 

[Xshore]

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?

 

[churumbelo]

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.

 

[Nicholas Van Orton]

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 the︀ account for bonds and stocks trading (margin trading for speculative instruments is optional) with low︁ commissions, which may be appealing to some. What you CANNOT do is receive/send 3rd party︂ transfers in it.

NVO

 

[churumbelo]

Exactly! It is like an account with IBKR but with a debit card included.︀

 

[Xshore]

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 says︁ 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: Should︂ you send funds from a bank account that is not in the same name as︃ your Charles Schwab account, funds must be sent as a Telegraphic Wire Transfer per the︄ above instructions.

EDIT2:
Their info about the international acccount (https://international.schwab.com/brokerage-account) says:
Access and︅ 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.

 

[Nicholas Van Orton]

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 get︁ paid on your idle balance (or any dividend/interest income from ETFs, shares, etc) gets a︂ nice upfront WHT (withholding tax) cut of 30% straight away, so that 4.5% effectively is︃ a 3.15%. Just to make it clear.

NVO

 

[churumbelo]

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 have︀ to fill a W-8 Ben. I think this is the procedure for what I know︁ from other brokers.

 

[Nicholas Van Orton]

Yep, I know, thanks for⁤ the comment in any case 🙂

 

[Xshore]

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 wire︀ or receive direct deposits?

 

[Clank]

You can receive 3rd party ACH transfers.

I do it regularly.

 

[Clank]

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.

 

[Xshore]

This might be the reason why the other poster doesn't have it. I think if‍ you live in SG, HK or some of the other countries those branches cover like⁠ MY, then you get their account through the HK or SG branch.

 

[Nacho]

ABA Bank Cambodia USD account - highly recommended (I’m also a Thai resident)