Sending Money From U.k. To T'land

[Eastender]

When returning to the U.K. soon I want to be able to transfer small amounts of money back here to my Thai girlfriend, (to pay rent on our appartment etc).

Can I simply talk to my bank in the UK and transfer to her bank account in Thailand, (and if so is there a particular bank she should open an account with)?

Or do I need to use Western Union Money Transfer, and if so how do I use this and she pick up the cash.

Thanks.

[Bluecat]

Can I simply talk to my bank in the UK and transfer to her bank account in Thailand,

Yes.

(and if so is there a particular bank she should open an account with)

No.

But my account number is available if any difficulties,...

[pitrevie]

If you want the cheapest way, open an account with Nationwide. Just pay in what you need to transfer plus a bit extra as the exchange rate varies. Send the ATM card to your girlfriend and she can then use this in Thailand to withdraw from any machine. This incurs no charges and her limit is governed by the balance you keep in the account. If you dont want to use this method the cheapest method of transfer I have found is direct through the Bangkok Bank in London. You just send them a cheque for the amount you want to transfer plus 15 pounds for the charge.

[Harrym]

If you withdraw money from a UK account through an ATM in Thailand the charges are anywhere between 1.75 and 3% plus you will not get a decent rate. The Bangkok Bank in London is the best bet transferring to an account at Bangkok Bank here to save time.

[Basher]

If you withdraw money from a UK account through an ATM in Thailand the charges are anywhere between 1.75 and 3% plus you will not get a decent rate. The Bangkok Bank in London is the best bet transferring to an account at Bangkok Bank here to save time.

In the case of the Nationwide, the sevice is free, I have been using it for many many years and have never been charged for it.

It is not a bank it is a building society and one of it's features is free banking.

Do exactly as pitrevie says andf you will save the additional costs of wiring the money.

Bash

[KevinN]

If I was you, I would just give her my ATM card and PIN # and tell her to draw a fixed amount out each month on a fixed day, that will save you a lot of headache and trouble.

But seeing that I ain't you, I wouldn't send her any at all, maybe to be a good guy,give her the old inactive one that you didn't throw away and she won't know any difference til your plane has about left the runway,pobly take her that long to find an ATM.

[roamer]

Eastender...last reply a dipstick. Go for the Nationwide approach, I've used Halifax for exactly the same thing, its just the 1+% that you can live with. The exchange rate is as good as you get on a cheque. Don't tell the bank/building soc your sending the card overseas or they may get all prim.

[Richard W]

If you dont want to use this method the cheapest method of transfer I have found is direct through the Bangkok Bank in London. You just send them a cheque for the amount you want to transfer plus 15 pounds for the charge.

Does that include the charge at the other end?

[astral]

..... the cheapest method of transfer I have found is direct through the Bangkok Bank in London. You just send them a cheque for the amount you want to transfer plus 15 pounds for the charge.

Does that include the charge at the other end?

There may be a small charge in Thailand, around 300 baht.

Generally the bank here makes it's profit through the exhange rate.

How many GF will only take out a fixed amount if you give her the UK ATM

card?

Fixed amounts into a Thai account are safer.

When you check the book later you will find the entire amount withdrawn

as soon as it arrives............SURE!!

[KevinN]

astral says "How many GF will only take out a fixed amount if you give her the UK ATM

card?"

Why in the world would you want to send money to someone that you don't trust? And it sounds like you don't trust your Thai GF.

[Up2U]

All this is dependent on the financial institution in UK being flexible enough to transfer money to Thailand.

The hassle I have had with Lloyds Bank on this, in order to pay the rent on my apartment, has been incredible. Pages of forms to fill in, proof of the origin of the money, so on. And they will not send a debit card out to me, because it is not safe by post. Instead they agreed to send it to my sister in UK. It never arrived, but someone emptied my account by shopping around in Camden, London.

Bloody British Banks.