Thailand

UOB’s penchant for acquisitions to expand its Asean franchise is paying off handsomely in Thailand, where the bank is preparing for an even bigger boom to its business.

This January was quite a milestone for UOB. The Singaporean bank agreed to acquire Citi’s consumer banking business in several southeast Asian countries, including Thailand.

HSBC, which was the first commercial bank to be set up in Thailand in 1888, still leads the way among its international banking peers. It’s a feat that makes it Asiamoney’s best international bank in Thailand in 2022.

Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s largest bank by total assets and southeast Asia’s sixth-largest lender, has all the metrics to warrant our award for best bank for digital solutions in Thailand.

Fifty years of building repeat business relationships with local firms – whether energy company PTT Group, conglomerates such as Charoen Pokphand Group, Bank of Ayudhya, transport outfit BTS Group Holdings and Bangkok Dusit Medical Service – can pay off in times of market turbulence. That was the case with Kiatnakin Phatra Securities over the past year, but it takes the best investment bank award for 2022 for going a step further when it comes to helping clients.

Kasikornbank added a major feather to its cap in February when it earned S&P Global’s highest ESG scores in Asean. It also won S&P’s prestigious Global Silver Class distinction.

Siam Commercial Bank is often celebrated for driving Thailand’s economic development over the past 100 or so years. These days, however, the bank is getting more attention for leaning rather boldly into the century to come.

With a history dating back 77 years, Bank of Ayudhya has long been a vital part of the fabric of Thailand. It proved that time and again in the past two years, too, especially with its leadership in corporate social responsibility.