How to send or bring money to Thailand:

[NYC-KK 0]

Hello,

I want to bring a substantial sum of money to Thailand and either deposit it in my wife's checking account or use it diretly to pay off her debt to the Khon Kaen teachers' credit union. The thing is, I have noticed that there are many fees and low exhange rates associated with most methods. Which is the best way?

Edited May 10, 2010 by NYC-KK

[Otto 83]

** Topic may be better suited in Regional Discussion since it is (or may be) specific to that area. (Moving thread from General Discussion to Asia: East and Pacific

[NYC-KK 0]

I can't believe no one has any advice for me. I have a few more questions. Can I open an account at a Thai bank or can my wife add me to her account?

[TheBears 9]

Yes, you can open a bank account or add your name to hers. You need to be present in order to sign the forms. You need your passport, marriage certificate, her national ID card (baht prachachon), and her house registration (tabian baan). If you're thinking of ever going back to live there and purchase land, I suggest keeping your accounts separate. Or opening a new account together and leaving her existing account alone.

For us, the most cost-effective way to send money to Thailand is for him to have one of my debit cards. He can pull out whatever he needs whenever he needs it. I'm charged a minimal fee. Much less than sending a wire transfer, using a transfer service, or exchanging currency once in the country.

In the future, there's a Thailand thread. If you're looking for Thai-specific advice, you may want to check it out. You're bound to get faster answers there.

[Jaime and Melvin 0]

We use Paypal. My partner sends me money through it and then I transfer it to my bank account. It costs $1 to withdraw it from Paypal, if the amount is under $150 and it costs nothing to withdraw if it's over $150.

[thongd4me 69]

Hello,

I want to bring a substantial sum of money to Thailand and either deposit it in my wife's checking account or use it diretly to pay off her debt to the Khon Kaen teachers' credit union. The thing is, I have noticed that there are many fees and low exhange rates associated with most methods. Which is the best way?

TRAVELERS' Checks - I get them with NO CHARGE from my credit union!

I would use my method with discretion - if you carry them it's no problem.

If you send them, I would test the mail service a few times to see if an envelope

with just a letter inside gets sidetracked.

This, besides a modest amount of cash and occasionally using a credit card

has been my main method over the years. That's because the mail service

has always been prompt and honest at her end. Obviously depending on

the country and the locality, results may very.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that AMEX travelers checks got an exchange

rate BETTER than cash at Thai banks. If you ask a bank here how best to

send money they will try to discourage you from mailing travelers' checks,

but I have NEVER had any problem with that. Naturally they would prefer

that you pay the fees for wire transfer or whatever other scam they have going.

If they are lost in the mail you can get a FULL refund from AMEX.

Since your Thai SO will be on the payee line, that is pretty good

insurance that someone else won't be able to cash it even if it IS

stolen, because Thai banks are VERY VERY suspicious even of their

own Thai depositors and check IDs much more. They welcome the

customer's money but make them walk the gauntlet when the

customer wants money from them.

If you have a close friend/relative that has access to travelers

checks with small or no fee, write them a check and have them

make travelers checks out in the amount you want with your

SO on the payee line. It's the same as if YOU had made the

checks. However, if they get lost your friend/relative would have

to go through the recovery process.

Watch those Thai names - spelling counts!

[rsn 135]

Wire it to a local Thai bank from your U.S. bank for the best exchange rate, or go with TCs. Do NOT use PayPal or any other similar service unless you want to get ripped off on the exchange rate. The simplest method is wiring the money, but T.C.s should work too, IF you don't have to pay a fee.

[NYC-KK 0]

Thanks for your responses. I believe that I settled upon the best possible method. First, I plan to open an account in Thailand in my own name. Then, I plan sell some of my AT&T stock and have the funds from the sale deposited in Thai bhat into my account. AT&T told me yesterday that they will convert the money to Thai bhat at the universal currency exchange rate for a fee of just $35. That is a great deal.

In general, Thai banks exchange foriegn currencies into bhat at a "sell" rate, which is always less than the universal exchange rate. For anyone who needs to transfer a large sum, it is therefore probably a good idea to park the money in a safe stock, such as AT&T, collect some dividend payments, and then sell the stock, hopefully at a profit, and have the funds from the sale deposited in Thai bhat into your Thai bank account. You will get a better exchange rate using this method than any other that I have found. In fact, you get the best possible exchange rate- better than even an ATM machine gives. You can buy AT&T and many other stocks direct on computershare.com for very low fees. Since AT&T pays quarterly dividends amounting to more than 6% per year, even one dividend payment more than pays for the costs of buying and selling stock on computershare.com. Even after the recent market crash, I'm still up about $400 on 20K I invested in January of this year. I anticipate that by the time I am ready to sell the stock in July it will be higher than it is now (I hope so). But if it sinks, then I will be making a lot of trips to the AEON ATM machine in Khon Kaen instead of selling stock. I read on the web that AEON ATMs are the only ones in Thailand that do not charge 150 bhat per withdrawal. They are free to use with a foriegn ATM debit card!!!

[Ning 619]

Wire it to a local Thai bank from your U.S. bank for the best exchange rate, or go with TCs. Do NOT use PayPal or any other similar service unless you want to get ripped off on the exchange rate. The simplest method is wiring the money, but T.C.s should work too, IF you don't have to pay a fee.

Ray is correct. To do this you will need the swift code for the Thai bank, the account number, the address & name on the account. Your U S bank will have you fill out a simple form to transfer the funds. Chase bank doesnt charge a fee to wire funds but the Thai bank will charge about 12 bucks to handle the transaction.

[NYC-KK 0]

Ray is correct. To do this you will need the swift code for the Thai bank, the account number, the address & name on the account. Your U S bank will have you fill out a simple form to transfer the funds. Chase bank doesnt charge a fee to wire funds but the Thai bank will charge about 12 bucks to handle the transaction.

But the Thai bank will use an exchange rate that is 1 to 2 bhat per dollar lower than the universal exchange rate. When transferring large sums, this adds up. I calculated that it would have cost me more than $700 to transfer $15,000 into Bangkok Bank yesterday. That is cheaper than Western Union and Paypal, but it still sucks.

[rsn 135]

But the Thai bank will use an exchange rate that is 1 to 2 bhat per dollar lower than the universal exchange rate. When transferring large sums, this adds up. I calculated that it would have cost me more than $700 to transfer $15,000 into Bangkok Bank yesterday. That is cheaper than Western Union and Paypal, but it still sucks.

I guess it depends on the level of risk you are comfortable with. You could go the TC or wire xfer route and know exactly how much you will pay and still get a relatively good exchange rate, or you could put it all into stocks and hope you don't end up losing more than you would if you go the TC or wire xfer route.

Good info about the AEON ATMs though. I wasnt aware of any no-fee ATMs in Thailand. I'll have to remember that next time we are in LOS.

[Ning 619]

But the Thai bank will use an exchange rate that is 1 to 2 bhat per dollar lower than the universal exchange rate. When transferring large sums, this adds up. I calculated that it would have cost me more than $700 to transfer $15,000 into Bangkok Bank yesterday. That is cheaper than Western Union and Paypal, but it still sucks.

I sent money to Thailand by wire for many months & the Thai bank we use did not do this. At first they charged 6 bucks to do the transaction. They then doubled that to 12. Now we do it thru an ATM card & that costs about 4 bucks per transaction.

If its only 15 K why not just take cash? I took 50 K with no problem.

[NYC-KK 0]

I think US customs law prohibits taking more than 10K in or out of the country. Almost all banks use a sell rate for currency exchange, which is lower than the universal rate. For example, google search Bangkok Bank and look at their exchange rates. They use a "sell" rate to convert your dollars to bhat and a "buy" rate to convert your bhat to dollars. The sell rate is lower than, and the buy rate is higher than, the exchange rate, although both rates vary directly with that rate. So the bank makes money by exchanging currency.

[Ning 619]

I think US customs law prohibits taking more than 10K in or out of the country. Almost all banks use a sell rate for currency exchange, which is lower than the universal rate. For example, google search Bangkok Bank and look at their exchange rates. They use a "sell" rate to convert your dollars to bhat and a "buy" rate to convert your bhat to dollars. The sell rate is lower than, and the buy rate is higher than, the exchange rate, although both rates vary directly with that rate. So the bank makes money by exchanging currency.

There is no problem taking any amount of cash in or out of the USA. If you bring an amount over 10 K in you need to declare it on the form. I brought 55 K back & declared it. They looked at the form & never asked me about it. I had a withdrawl reciept from my Thai bank with me to ensure they didnt think it was drug cash for example.

[NYC-KK 0]

Actually, it turns out AT&T gave me wrong information. They just called me back after I insisted that they check and verify. They use City Bank to convert dollars to Thai bhat before depositing it in my account. They could not, as of yet, tell me what exchange rate City Bank uses.