Expat Advice: Financial Issues in Bangkok, Thailand

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Bangkok

Which banks do you use? If you have a local account, which bank do you use? How do you like it? Do you also have an account in your home country? Which bank? Do they charge for ATM withdrawals? Do they charge a lot for international wire transfers? How has it been working with them from abroad? Do you use a special international wire transfer service? Do you use an online bank? If so, tell us about them.

Yes - I used the Bank of America at first until they went out of the retail banking business. Since then I have used Thai banks, as well as banks in the United States

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Traveling Mailbox serves thousands of travelers, expats, digital nomads, businesses, individuals and others in over 47 Countries by scanning their postal mail so they can view it online anywhere in the world. They provide customer service 7 days a week so if you need assistance, it is just a phone call away. Traveling Mailbox works with Evernote, Bill.com and Dropbox. And, there are Traveling Mailbox apps available for iOS and Android devices.
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What advice would you offer others about banking as an expat in your country? What do you wish you had known about banking when you first arrived?

Get credit cards from your home country, because doing bank transfers to Thailand can result in long delays in getting your money

What sort of challenges or frustrations have you encountered as an investor living overseas? Please describe.

Be very wary about playing the Thai Stock Market - it's speculative and volatile, and the brokers will take advantage of you if they want to.

What advice was particularly helpful to you in managing your finances? What advice would you give? Any other thoughts?

Don't overspend. Anything can happen and you might find yourself out of money. This has happened to most of the expats I have known in Thailand over the past 30 years.

Do you do your own taxes, use a local firm, an expat-oriented firm or does your employer handle this for you (i.e. via an corporate tax firm)?

I no longer pay taxes here as there is a tax treaty and my income is earned abroad, but I file taxes for my home country myself.

What advice could you offer others about doing your taxes as an expat?

Depends on whether or not you make more or less than your home country exempts.