Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing banking matters in Thailand especially as it pertains to the context of retirees here in Thailand. I thought of making this video, and specifically when we are talking about banking; sorry just not to sort of get too far ahead of myself here, we are talking about what are called foreign currency bank accounts. Some folks opt to maintain a balance of funds in a bank account here in Thailand denominated in a foreign currency rather than the local currency of the Thai Baht. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Baht strengthens as Fed expected to stay put. Quoting directly: "The Baht gained against the softening US Dollar as some investors expect the US Federal Reserve to maintain its policy rate at its meeting scheduled for this week. The Baht opened at 35.38 to the Dollar on Tuesday, appreciating from the previous day’s close of 35.58. The local currency moved in a range of 35.28-35.45 to the dollar and closed at 35.35 on Tuesday."

So a couple of things to keep in mind. Yeah, look the fluctuating exchange rate of the Thai Baht versus for example it couldn’t necessarily be the US Dollar; I know British folks who their pensions for example or their savings is denominated in Pounds Sterling; those whose savings may be denominated in Euros or even in things like the Kroner depending on the country you are from up in Scandinavia. Again, this can have an impact on your purchasing power here in Thailand as the Baht fluctuates against the values of those various currencies. Now what can you do to sort of possibly mitigate that? Well that is where these so-called foreign currency bank accounts come in because they allow a person to go ahead and maintain a balance in a different currency; they don't have to maintain their bank balance in Thai Baht. 

Now these are kind of more specialized, they oftentimes require a bit of extra work to obtain. So many folks here in Thailand that are looking for a foreign currency bank account find themselves kind of spinning their wheels sometimes especially with regard to paperwork and things associated with dealing with the overall process. As we have noted in other videos, we assist folks with bank accounts here in Thailand. In fact it is something we do rather frequently so those that are looking for assistance with banking matters, it is probably a good idea to contact us; we may be able to assist. But that said, this can be a major benefit to retirees here in Thailand. Also something to keep in mind and I'm making a video contemporaneously with this one, where I discuss the specific issues pertaining to Americans maintaining a foreign currency bank account as there are specific issues associated with Americans opening any kind of bank account abroad under the FATCA rules but that is really not pertinent to this more general video. 

The long story short and the thing to take away from this video is yeah foreign currency bank accounts do exist here in Thailand and they may be beneficial for certain folks who wish to maintain a balance of savings in a foreign currency here in the Kingdom of Thailand.