Goldbear

I want to send my stuff to my friend's house up north. He only has a scooter so I want it delivered to his house. It's two guitars, two boxes and a bicycle.

I'm interested in using Kerry Express for the two boxes and two guitars but I don't know where in Pattaya to go. There are all these retail Kerry places inside stores and whatnot but is there a larger office for parcels or a truck that will come pick it up?

If any of you have done this and have good ideas about it, please let me know. I assume I can send the bicycle via the post office. I'm not sure if I need to box it or not.

Thanks very much.

One of my friends send his 125cc scooter from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui via the post office and it went well. That was about six months ago. I've never done it and I don't know what the size limit is.

Thanks for the detailed responses, Pib. You answered my questions and a few that I hadn't considered like repatriating the money.

I located Bangkok Bank's TT buying rate, online.

Thank you!

Hi, I am looking for feedback about the best way to transfer money from the USA to Thailand. In 2018/2019 I did two transfers using the Bangkok Bank New York ACH method, which is no longer allowed. I’m now looking for the best alternative.

In my current scenario I want to transfer $49,000 USD to Thailand (Immigration money, vehicle purchase, living expenses). later I would do smaller amounts maybe two times a year, for living expenses.

It seems to come down to two main ways to transfer the money:

1. SWIFT Wire transfer from my USA credit union to my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. There is a $25 USD wire transfer fee and a 500 baht receiving fee at Bangkok Bank. It is sent in dollars and converted to baht upon arrival in Thailand, at the exchange rate offered at that moment.

2. ACH wire transfer from my USA bank to Transferwise, which will deposit baht into my Bangkok Bank account. They use the agreed exchange rate on their site. Their fee is $288. There is a 30 baht receiving fee from Bangkok Bank. There is a $25 transfer fee from my USA credit union.

On it’s face, the SWIFT Transfer from my credit union seems cheaper. Am I missing something? Transferwise claims to be cheaper than banks. Could the difference be in the exchange rate? Maybe it's not even true, at least in my case? 

Yesterday I read an article by an American blogger in Europe. He said that for him, Transferwise was less expensive amounts under about 875 Euro. Otherwise, a regular bank transfer was cheaper. I wonder if that would generalize to the USA and Thailand using a SWIFT transfer?

I’m looking for feedback from anyone who has knowledge of any of that and can educate me. My assumptions might not be correct. I am trying to learn.

(For smaller amounts of money it seems easy to use my USA debit card to send money to Transferwise, which then puts it in my Thailand bank account. I did that as a test two days ago, with $50 and it worked.)

Thanks very much!

On 7/25/2020 at 4:07 PM, jacko45k said:

I  thought I saw a sign at Jomtiem saying get your appointment before getting the COR!

I got certificate of residence for driver license today, without the appointment for driver license renewal. The last time I was at Immigration, about two weeks ago, I saw that same sign. I did not see it today.

Thanks to all of you who have replied. You have given me some great ideas. Much appreciated!

8 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

I always had it on a fixed deposit. No ATM card/availability.

Normal savings account for daily expenses/use.

 

From the OP it sounds as another bank should be found.

Seems a particular bad branch.

That seems like a good way to do it. Thanks.

9 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Why do you keep suggesting that the bank may be planning on stealing your money?  

I made no such suggestions. But thefts do happen internally and via debit cards. I assume you have seen those in the news. Not common but they happen.

13 minutes ago, robblok said:

Sure you would win if the baht crashes, but so far the dollar has been sliding down for years. So if you had bet you had bet wrongly. So many expats are constantly predicting the doom of Thailand. I have been here 15 years and ever since that time they have predicted it. Guess what it never happened. 

 

I am a more play it safe kind of person, once you got the money on the bank currency risks are irrelevant as you need to keep the amount in the bank anyway. Its merely a way to secure a stay in Thailand. See it as a price you have to pay. 

 

But then again you might like risks more then I do so I cannot judge. But if a bank card is the problem then there are also accounts without an ATM card. 

I agree about the 800,000 baht being the price of admission. My last and only extension was via the embassy letter, which is no longer being done. I'll bring it over and forget about it. But I still want it as safe as reasonably possible.

10 minutes ago, robblok said:

Can i ask you why a foreign currency account ? I mean its about keeping 800k in the bank. With a foreign currency account you can dip under it without you knowing. If you now put it in thai baht you will always have that money.

 

I am sure there are Thai accounts too that have no ATM associated.

 

I still don't get it why your so worried about an ATM card. I mean if you keep your pin safe and the card safe then its safe. 

 

If a crooked bank employee steals even having no ATM card wont help you.

 

I mean if they say you took it out yourself and you respond fast there is always video image from ATM's to prove it was not you at all. 

 

I understand its a bit safer but with good personal safety it should not be much worse

I was thinking about a foreign currency account just in case the baht crashed at some point. Of course the dollar could do that just as easily. It was just an idea.

Dealing with a bank after a theft seems like much more difficult than preventing it. I do see debit cards as being a security issue, even if slight.

3 minutes ago, Oldie said:

I don't understand your problems. Open one account for the 800,000 and others for your daily expenses. And again - it is up to you if you want to have a debit card for it. 

Opening another account for me isn't that easy apparently. I need documents that I don't have. I'm not established in Thailand as I've been traveling. No residence, etc. And I'm about to change provinces.

We will see what the lady says at Bangkok Bank when I talk to her...

1 minute ago, robblok said:

If you respond quick after an alert of course you get it back. Then its fresh and you can prove it was not you. Besides if they can steal from a thai currency account why could they not do the same from a foreign currency account. 

 

Once a bank employee is involved everything is possible. However if you respond quickly they cannot cover it up. Usually people find out far too late and evidence is hard to gather. 

Good point about quick response.

Foreign currency account would have no ATM associated.

1 minute ago, robblok said:

I have had much higher amounts in my kasikorn bank. Never a problem with Theft over 15 years now. I guess it depends how secure you keep your ATM card and data. 

 

If you have an app on your phone you can check your balance and transactions always. 

 

So even if a bank employee would steal you would know it within a day if you check or receive alerts.

I do get alerts but could I get it back if it were stolen? That would be my question. Good reminder about the alerts on the phone. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies so far. Again, I'm asking here because I don't trust the lady at the bank. How can I get another account there? When I asked about opening a foreign currency account I had to jump through a lot of hoops including going to the embassy, to get a letter confirming that my passport is valid. It seems as though if I already have an account there that I shouldn't have to do any of that.

I'm trying to get a 30 day entry (with covid extension) converted to an O-visa so I can get another retirement extension. I had one before but it expired when I left Thailand for a while.

Thanks.

Sorry for the strange title. I have an account at Bangkok Bank. I have a debit card. I want to transfer over the equivalent of 800,000 baht for visa extension purposes. I want to have the 800,000 not accessible via the ATM card because I have heard of thefts. Does anyone know a way to do that?

The reason I am asking here and not at my bank branch is because the lady who does the accounts for foreigners has given me bad information before. I think to get out of doing work. She told me that Immigration requires that the money be in Baht and not in foreign currency which I heard on this forum isn't true. When I lost my debit card, she refused to give me a new one. I had to call the main office and they made her do it.

Anyway, if any of you have ideas please let me know. Thanks.

Hi. I'm here on a 30 day visa exempt entry (arr 17 Mar from Sri Lanka) and now, of course, I'm on an emergency extension.

I want to know if I can convert that, inside Thailand, to an O visa so that I can get a retirement extension.

I had a retirement extension last year. It's expired now. I'd planned to spend most of 2020 outside of Thailand. Covid changed that.

I saw someone comment about not being able to change visas because there wasn't 15 days left on the regular entry.

Thanks very much.

Kev in Thailand. I watched several of his videos. RIP. He seemed like a nice guy.

Follow up: I went to Mae Hong Son immigration. They accepted my 90 day report but still mentioned the 400,000 baht next time and the "new law." I tried to explain that it wasn't required because I had shown proof of income but he just said, "I don't know." 

I asked about getting a copy of my income affidavit, which the Immigration Officer that I spoke to on the phone last Friday told me that he would give me for my next 90-day report (I couldn't find a copy of it in my own records). The man I spoke with said that particular Immigration Officer had been transferred and he wouldn't make me a copy unless approved by the new Immigration Officer that hasn't started work there yet. 

So I am good for another 90 days but who knows what will happen after that.

To add a bit more for clarity. When you get an O/A visa you get stamped into Thailand for a year every time you enter. If you go out of the country ten times, you will get stamped back in for a year each time you re-enter. If it's the last day of the visa validity you still get stamped back in for a year. 

I did it and that is correct. I went to the Cambodian border at the end of the one year visa validity. I came back over the border immediately and Thai immigration stamped me in for another year.  Also correct about reentry permit for travel outside the country in the second year. 

The same thing happened to a Canadian friend a bit less than two months ago. He flew to Vietnam, (though he got a tourist visa there), flew back into Don Mueang. They told him he'd been in Thailand more than 180 days in 2018 and denied him entry. They put him in the detention, made him fly back to Vietnam and put the same stamp in his passport. He also has plenty of money. 

My friend's son is 22 years old and just graduated from university in the USA. He's a dual citizen and he has a Thai military obligation. He's signing up for 6 months in 2019 as he doesn't want to risk the lottery and the potential two year obligation. 

Thanks to both of you.