Bank Institutes

There is a large selection of bank institutes in Phuket to choose from. Everyone wants to know if they’ll be able to access cash credit on their American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover – yes, you can! Not every ATM or bank can do this for you – so pay attention to the logos on the ATM machines, and that will let you know if you’ll be able to get cash on your credit card at that specific location.

The bank institutes in Phuket all offer ATM machines, and they are generally safe for use to withdraw money. Do scams exist? Of course, they do! Use ATM's in crowded locations inside or outside the banks for a safest experience. Digital thieves are much more likely to target machines located in remote areas, or outside 7-Eleven or other convenience stores.

If you’re going to remain in Phuket for a couple of months, and you want to open your own local bank account at a Thai branch, you can do this with your passport showing a valid visa, and a rental agreement or hotel receipt. Bangkok Bank is rumored not to require a work permit for savings account.

The advantages in opening an account at a bank institute in Phuket would be the ability to pay for mobile phone credit online, transfer money from bank to bank within Thailand, and to limit your liability for electronic transactions. If you only keep 20,000 THB in your Thai bank account, then that is all you can lose. Compare that with using your credit card every time you need it – for big and small purchases, and if you have a $20,000 USD cash credit line, you stand to lose a lot more if your card is compromised!

Popular banks you might choose from include: Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Kasikornbank, TMB, UOB and Krung Thai Bank.

* As you can see we have only one location on this page at the moment. We are sorry for the inconvenience and assure you that we will list more as soon as we have done a more thorough research. *

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