Youth Savings Account · For Customers Aged 10–20

Start your savings journey with an account designed young people. There is no minimum balance and no monthly fee.

Interest: 1.5% per year, paid every six months. Your money grows you are not spending it.

Opening an account: Bring your ID card. Customers under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, will also need to show their ID card.

Banking app: Check your balance and set savings goals on your phone. You can also turn on alerts you receive a message every time money enters or leaves your account.

Stay safe: Our staff will never ask for your password or one-time code phone, email or text message. If someone to be from the bank asks for this information, end the conversation and call our 24-hour helpline.

Remember: small amounts saved regularly can grow into something big. you start, the more you will have.

Four Lessons from My First Pay Cheque · by Pang Sirikul

Three months ago I started working weekends at a café near my house. Before that, I had never earned money . Here are four things I have learned since.

1. Money disappears quickly if you don’t plan. In my first week, I spent almost a thousand baht on snacks and bubble tea realising it. Now I use a simple budget: half for savings, a quarter for needs and a quarter for wants.

2. Small savings grow. I save 500 baht every week. That does not sound like much, but after three months I more than six thousand baht.

3. Scammers target young people too. Last month someone called me to be a police officer. He tried to frighten me into transferring my savings. Because my mother had warned me, I hung up and called my bank. My aunt was not so lucky. She lost thirty thousand baht to a similar call and was too ashamed to tell anyone. Talking about scams openly is one of the best ways to them.

4. Work teaches more than money. At the café I have learned to be patient with difficult customers, to count change quickly and to arrive on time, I am tired.

My goal is to buy a laptop by the end of the year. I keep saving, I should reach it by November. And when I do, I know that I earned it.

Pang’s Monthly Budget · June

Income: Café wages 4,200 baht · Tips 600 baht · Total 4,800 baht

Savings (50%): 2,400 baht · laptop fund

Needs (25%): 1,200 baht · bus fares 600 · school supplies 300 · phone top-up 300

Wants (25%): 1,200 baht · bubble tea and snacks 500 · clothes 400 · cinema 300

Notes: Laptop price: 18,000 baht. Saved so far: 6,500 baht. If tips are lower next month, reduce “wants” first, not savings.

The Voice That Steals

Phone scams have become one of the most common crimes in Thailand. Each year, victims lose billions of baht to criminal groups that often operate from outside the country, using call centres with dozens of staff who follow carefully written scripts.

The scripts are designed to create fear and urgency. A caller may claim to be a police officer, a bank employee or a parcel delivery company. The victim is told that their account has been linked to a crime, that a parcel containing illegal goods has been found in their name, or that they owe money. To “prove their innocence” or “protect their savings”, victims are told to transfer money to a “safe account” immediately, often while staying on the phone so they cannot ask anyone for advice.

Scammers succeed not because victims are foolish, but because the methods exploit normal human reactions. Most people respect authority, panic when threatened and want to solve problems quickly. Well-educated professionals, including doctors and teachers, have been among the victims.

Experts give simple advice. Real police officers and bank staff will never ask you to transfer money to a “safe account” or to share your password. If you receive such a call, hang up and contact the organisation directly using a number you find yourself.

Perhaps the most powerful protection is conversation. Many victims never tell anyone because they feel ashamed, and so their families and friends never learn the warning signs. Talking openly about scams turns one person’s painful experience into a lesson for many.

A letter to Pang

Dear Pang,

Your mother told me that you received one of those calls last month, and that you hung up and called your bank. I am so proud of you. I also have something to tell you that I should have told the family a long time ago.

Last year, I received a call from a man who said he was from the Department of Special Investigation. He knew my name, my address and the name of my bank. He said a parcel with illegal drugs had been sent in my name, and that if I did not cooperate, I would be arrested that day. I was so frightened that I could not think clearly. He kept me on the phone for almost two hours and guided me, step by step, to transfer thirty thousand baht into a “government account”.

The moment the call ended, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. But I was so ashamed that I told nobody except your mother. I thought people would laugh at me for being stupid.

Now I understand that silence helped the criminals, not me. If I had spoken earlier, perhaps someone else would not have been fooled. That is why I am writing to you now. Please share my story with your friends, and tell them that it can happen to anyone.

With love,
Aunt Nok