Sending money to Thailand

[Kang Lang 7]

hi all,

i have a friend in thailand right now that my husband wants to have bring some stuff back to the states. it is a full suitcase worth of stuff he wants. we want to send the money to him so he can pay for everything (poor student) western union only offering a 28.3THB exchange rate and my banks (BofA and Wells Fargo want between 35-45 a piece but I couldn't determine if I could send it somewhere to pick up, he's a USC not Thai national so no bank to receive it unless someone has some advice).

i don't have a chuck schwab account or money market through my fidelity so any advice is appreciated.

(right now waiting to hear back if he has a bank account in the u.s. where i can deposit it and have him just withdraw in bkk)

THANK YOU!

[Karee 4,190]

hi all,

i have a friend in thailand right now that my husband wants to have bring some stuff back to the states. it is a full suitcase worth of stuff he wants. we want to send the money to him so he can pay for everything (poor student) western union only offering a 28.3THB exchange rate and my banks (BofA and Wells Fargo want between 35-45 a piece but I couldn't determine if I could send it somewhere to pick up, he's a USC not Thai national so no bank to receive it unless someone has some advice).

i don't have a chuck schwab account or money market through my fidelity so any advice is appreciated.

(right now waiting to hear back if he has a bank account in the u.s. where i can deposit it and have him just withdraw in bkk)

THANK YOU!

I don't know your time constraints, but you could send a prepaid debit card.

[AaronLV 12]

You have pretty much covered all the ways you can do it. Hopefully he has a US bank you can put money in, that is the most economical way to send money.

If we have to send money we normally use Western Union, it is the cheapest for small amounts of money, even with the difference in the exchange rates.

[Kang Lang 7]

thanks karee and aaron. yeah we use western union for the small amounts but this is 2k USD. fortunately he's got a wells fargo account so i can do an inter account transfer online. WHEW.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER.

[Danger Fire 1]

Money Gram is also an option for Thailand, and is cheaper than Western Union.

[thongd4me 69]

Over the years I've only used one method to send money to Thailand.

American Express travelers checks.

I get them for free at my credit union and they are insured against loss/theft.

None have ever gone astray.

I always sent them through regular mail, not registered.

If I had to register or insure them, what would it be against if I'm already

going to get a full refund from AMEX?

The exchange rate for AMEX checks is always BETTER than for US cash money.

My stepson has a full time job and he needed a car, so

my wife has been sending money from her salary to him

to help with the down payment. Last week the car finally

came and she says we can use it when we come for a visit.

While we are there her son will use his dad's car and his dad will use the motorbike

Edited April 13, 2011 by thongd4me

[Nicoco 26]

When I went to Thailand, I needed to bring a large amount of money, but I didn't want to carry it.

So I had my fiance set up a paypal account and I set up one as well. I used paypal to transfer the money, and it took a week to transfer, and the fee was only $5. The exchange rate was really good too for the current time. So I reccomend Paypal. It's secure and cheap. But make sure to transfer ahead of time because it will take about a week.

[Virginian61 1]

I do online banking with a major US bank. And we have a joint account in Thailand. In a few clicks I can transfer any amount to our Thai account and my wife can withdraw it in Bhat. We've been remodeling our house in Thailand and I do this all the time. The exchange rate from my bank is below the exchange rate, but the convenience often makes it worth it.