topfield

All residents are aware that Thailand has always had exchange control. Even buying a cheque for a hundred dollars at a bank needed a form filled in.

The UK Exchange Control Act 1939 ( suspended in 1977 but not repealed) with which most of us Oldies were familar had as its aim the retention of monies in the UK and the building up of foreign reserves .

At one time even holiday allowances were strictly controlled and had to be entered in our passports ...50 pounds for a whole year during the 60's. Property overseas could only be bought with special property dollars at a premium of up to 60 percent.

All the above logical and rational with a firm purpose in mind.whether you agree with it or not..

So what is Exchange Contol in Thailand all about. ? If Taksin's wife can take out $400M willy nilly as reported in the press today, what is the point of having exchange control here?

Anybody care to explain, I am baffled . Is this just a case of TIT as Bernard Trink used to say. ??

[quote name=topfield' date='2007-03-17 19:18:33'

I'd give my right arm were Nationwide UK to introduce such a service.

You can always check the likely nationwide withdrawal rate each day, by checking the Visa web site.

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv...HB&rate=0.0

[/quote

A test ATM withrawal of Baht 200 followed by a look at online banking to see whats been retained is the only available option as the above site gives an approximate rate

However Citibank tells you the ACTUAL rate and allows you to accept or reject that rate...BRILLIANT

Check out this company.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with them, but they do have some useful information on their website.

They are the experts with good service but generally double the price of any Thai Sat co.which is understandable as the owner is a Kiwi.

So if I wanted to get TV5 and BBC world as well as few sports channels, living in Bangkok, how much would I have to pay for decent dish, medium end and top end? I am also assuming that all this comes free of UBC's interference in veiwing pleasure, i.e meaning that I don't have to see a nasty red screen, and can get the real FTV as well VH1?

Can anyone tell me what package I need to go for to get the above? Thanks! On satellite!

Please look at the later thread here on the forum asking whether a named sat co could be recommended.

They are in Bangkok and have a proper shop /demonstration area. Speak English too !

Excellent company. They have an English speaking girl ready to answer the phone at all times and the boss K. Pornchai is very helpful.

Please note one caveat : due to reasons that cannot be given on this and other UK and Western fora there are certain subjects which cannot be mentioned or discussed other than IN PERSON at the shop.

Please understand...this is in YOUR interest.

Are they affiliated with Al-Qaeda ??

Now you got me interested.

wonder what all the secrecy is about...

Could it be the "XXX Love" bonus package bounced of some sattelite in europe

Far naughtier than that !

On Friday a friend of mine having checked the fees both on the official Embassy website and over the phone prepared her visa application and purchased the correct demand draft payable to the Embassy.

She went to submit the application at the VPS on Monday.

After a six hour wait ( yes there are huge queues at present due to the upcoming INCREASE in fees on 1 April ) was told that the application could not be accepted as (with no prior announcement or notification) all visa fees had been REDUCED by four percent that day the reason being that the Consul had altered the Embassy exchange rate from 75 to 72.

The settlement fee had gone down from Baht 19500 to 18720 .

Despite telling them that they could keep the extra money the staff refused outright to accept the application.

Despite a plea directly to the Indian head of the VPS whose name is Arun Noromma they would not budge claiming that this was Embassy policy and that all applications (even those sent by mail) which did not have the correct fee on the draft would be automatically rejected.

I informed Mr Arun that this was NOT Embassy policy as in the last twenty years dealing with the Embassy cashier, where a fee had altered due to exchange rate fluctuations, they would never reject an application outright but refund any excess amount when the fee went down OR accept payment for the extra amount where fees had gone up.

Like my friend there must be dozens of applicants in this predicament who will now have to buy a new draft and join the queue for a further six hour wait, The decrease in fees had not to my knowledge been made known to anyone as I was at VPS on Friday and read all the notices posted around the area none of which indicated an imminent drop in the price . Clearly if they knew they decided not to make it known possibly for fear of people holding back their applications to submit more cheaply on the Monday. The VPS also gained financially as those who had bought ther drafts from them, on what was the previous working day, were able to double the money they earned on their demand drafts which cost over twice as much as such drafts purchased at a normal Thai bank.

Was the applicant unlucky ot were the VPS acting incorrectly and just being bloody minded in rejecting applications where payment was in excess of the actual rate and people were prepared to forgo the exchange rate reduction ?

Where can I find a post from a member of the forum that explained how he set up his satellite with dreambox and was downloading programs on his PC and also got it connected to a wifi system.

I can not find this post any more and I want to install the same in my house.

Can somebody of the forum help me to find this post???

Thanks

It is very unlikely you will receive the info you require as firstly its against the rules of this forum and secondly its probably unlawful !

Why not send a pm to meerkat who described his system in a posting above ?

Jsat do indeed offer such systems on their website but have to do it in a way so as not to bring the wrath of UBC/True Vision on themselves, with the owner a falang being deported . To watch encrypted Thai bouquets without paying the appropriate subscription is certainly very serious when done for commercial purposes

As a private arrangement with no money changing hands ,in the UK anyway, one can probably get away with it but please bear in mind piracy is piracy.

Where can I find a post from a member of the forum that explained how he set up his satellite with dreambox and was downloading programs on his PC and also got it connected to a wifi system.

I can not find this post any more and I want to install the same in my house.

Can somebody of the forum help me to find this post???

Thanks

It is very unlikely you will receive the info you require as firstly its against the rules of this forum and secondly its probably unlawful !

Why not send a pm to meerkat who described his system in a posting above ?

Jsat do indeed offer such systems on their website but have to do it in a way so as not to bring the wrath of UBC/True Vision on themselves, with the owner a falang being deported . To watch encrypted Thai bouquets without paying the appropriate subscription is certainly very serious when done for commercial purposes

As a private arrangement with no money changing hands ,in the UK anyway, one can probably get away with it but please bear in mind piracy is piracy.

Never actually bought from them, but I heard good reports, plus they answer e-mails, even in English!

Thanks Monty they sounded helpful over the phone

Excellent company. They have an English speaking girl ready to answer the phone at all times and the boss K. Pornchai is very helpful.

Please note one caveat : due to reasons that cannot be given on this and other UK and Western fora there are certain subjects which cannot be mentioned or discussed other than IN PERSON at the shop.

Please understand...this is in YOUR interest.

You see, when you ask your bank to remit money to Australia, it does not mail a bundle of bank notes; it asks its correspondent bank in Australia to debit its AUD account with that Australian bank and credit your account.

then i guess it's a fairy tale that in olden times carrier pigeons were used to deliver the banknotes?

Actually this was done in more recent times ! Anyone remember the Swedish blackmail/hostage case (don't remember which) about 20 years ago when 10.000 Kroner notes [or $2000] were sent back to the criminal wrapped around the legs of a homing pidgeon.

Dont remember if the crook was caught.

What I do remember is that after that these large denomination Swedish notes were withdrawn from circulation shortly thereafter as a result..

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

Question No 4 Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge

Now you really have opened a can of worms and inadvertently touched on the biggest racket/ scandal in international banking today . Rip off is an understatement !

Am refering to so called "correspondence fees ' If you dont know what these are they are fees which the sender HAS to pay to a third and often unknown bank for passing on the funds to another bank..

Why a rip off ? Firstly the remitting bank (RB) will tell you what their own fees are...but not what the fees of the correspondent bank (CB) are...they will say they dont know. Even worse if you know who the CB is and call them to ask they will refuse to tell you giving the reason that they have private confidential arrangements with the RB.

What are the fees in practice they charge...might be $20 ...if you're lucky...or may be $40..you dont know.

Furthermore the remitting bank will often send the funds through a 'favourite' CB and you can be pretty sure the fee is split between the RB and the CB .

I have seen many cases of the RB sending funds through the CB unnecessarily ie when the could send via a branch of their own . Also a RB will pass on charges from the CB when its the same bank in order to get two fees for the group As a CB is in fact acting as agent of the RB they cannot do this legally as a principal cannot be agent of the same principal...they are one.

Ie Standard Chartered has an office in London AND in Singapore . For historical reasons Singapore Stanchart is not a subsidiary but the same bank . Therefore Stanchart Singapore cannot be the AGENT of Stanchart London. therefore no AGENCY fees may be charged for passing on the funds . Ive agued this one before and got the fees refunded but other might not know and be charged.

I reckon banks make hundreds of millions each year through these totally opaque fees but was unable to do anything about it. Like the unlawful penalties UK banks are now charging their customers this is an absolute scandal as you can do little about it.

The only possible way out is to find the name of the receiving bank and then search for an RB which has a no fee arrangement with the receiving bank and tt the funds that way if you can. . Not an east task.

Sorry.a small spelling error......I meant correspondents’ fees not correspondence fees !

Sorry if this is not directly relevant as it is intended for sterling based UK expats only :

I confirm from personal experience that Nationwide ATM Debit Card consistantly gives the interbank rate in Singapore and that, as you probably already know , makes no charge or fee whatsoever for use of its card in Singapore.

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

Question No 4 Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge

Now you really have opened a can of worms and inadvertently touched on the biggest racket/ scandal in international banking today . Rip off is an understatement !

Am refering to so called "correspondence fees ' If you dont know what these are they are fees which the sender HAS to pay to a third and often unknown bank for passing on the funds to another bank..

Why a rip off ? Firstly the remitting bank (RB) will tell you what their own fees are...but not what the fees of the correspondent bank (CB) are...they will say they dont know. Even worse if you know who the CB is and call them to ask they will refuse to tell you giving the reason that they have private confidential arrangements with the RB.

What are the fees in practice they charge...might be $20 ...if you're lucky...or may be $40..you dont know.

Furthermore the remitting bank will often send the funds through a 'favourite' CB and you can be pretty sure the fee is split between the RB and the CB .

I have seen many cases of the RB sending funds through the CB unnecessarily ie when the could send via a branch of their own . Also a RB will pass on charges from the CB when its the same bank in order to get two fees for the group As a CB is in fact acting as agent of the RB they cannot do this legally as a principal cannot be agent of the same principal...they are one.

Ie Standard Chartered has an office in London AND in Singapore . For historical reasons Singapore Stanchart is not a subsidiary but the same bank . Therefore Stanchart Singapore cannot be the AGENT of Stanchart London. therefore no AGENCY fees may be charged for passing on the funds . Ive agued this one before and got the fees refunded but other might not know and be charged.

I reckon banks make hundreds of millions each year through these totally opaque fees but was unable to do anything about it. Like the unlawful penalties UK banks are now charging their customers this is an absolute scandal as you can do little about it.

The only possible way out is to find the name of the receiving bank and then search for an RB which has a no fee arrangement with the receiving bank and tt the funds that way if you can. . Not an east task.

6 atm withdrawal transactions from different US banks yesterday @34.81, closer to the onshore rate than offshore rate. Plenty of folks on the board receive funds this way, I'm sure some could confirm.

Actually, I have a Citibank USD account and I almost withdrew from the Citibank ATM yesterday, but the screen said it was only gona give me 32.64 to 1 THB!!!!

So now I'm really confused... Was Citibank one of your US Banks?

Citibank sux. Go with a different bank.

The rate offered by Citibank may have been poor but their ATM system is ....BRILLIANT !

I know of no other bank that for an overseas withdrawal will show the proposed exchange rate

ON THE ATM SCREEN and allow the customer the option of confirming or aborting the transaction.

I'd give my right arm were Nationwide UK to introduce such a service.

Anyone else know of another bank that offers this serVice at their ATM's ??

I don't want to start a new thread for this so hope some one can slip an answer in here quick for me.

What is the onshore and offshore Baht / Sterling rate today 16 feb 07.

Tried to google this and now getting very confused.

Any help much appreciated, cheers

I think it more useful to explain how you get the rates at any time !

1. offshore :http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

2. onshore :http://www.cb.ktb.co.th/prod/bishis.nsf

Cheers

Thanks all.

I had been calling a Thai Chinese businessman I know Hia Pornchai thinking he would appreciate the respect I was showing for him, but clearly as I am not Thai Chinese nor close to him, he might in fact have found it insulting !

Does anyone know when one can use 'here' instaed of khun when addressing a Thai gentleman ?

Thank you

Surely the solution to the current dillema of the strong baht is very straightforward .

Do as Switzerland ( in particular) , Japan and Singapore have done . Reduce interest rates to a level so low that it is uneconomic for speculators and indeed nonspeculators to hang on to the currency.

At the moment its a one way bet for say UK expats. They can buy their baht at a discount [some would say a gift ] from the BOT of four baht per pound . the onshore rate being 68 the offshore rate being 64.

Then once they have their baht they can get around 4% interest on them so will hang on to their baht .

Were the BOT to slash interest rates to one percent what would the effect be both on the Thai economy and the currency ?

My answer/opinion ...and it would be interesting to read the answer of others especially sonic dragon and Dr Naam distinguished currency experts on this forum....is

1. the baht (offshore rate) will drop immediately possibly to 35 .the level of the onshore rate and over the following months to 38. Why ? Because few people will want to hold baht at an interest rate of one percent if they can get 5 + with dollars and pounds .

2. With bank loans available at such low rates many existing businesses will expand and many new businesses will take off. The need for staff will result in a steady lowering of the unemployment rate.

In a nutshell the Thai economy will start to flourish

Do others agree or disagree with this assessment of what will happen if interest rates were slashed ?

It would be interesting to know the detailed reasons for his view on that. One thing I heard on the rumourmill is that Taxin and his family and cronies had shorted the baht in very big size after the coup. If that's true, then it's one reason why the government is happy to let the baht strengthen for the time being. Maybe in May these positions will be closed out and the baht can resume a more "reasonable" value.

Personally I think that's cobblers, but there's no way to know, right ?

You can make a strong case for either a weaker or stronger baht.

He gave examples on his show how big money could be made transfering funds back and forth between Thailand and Singapore. This would spell the death knell for the dual rate system ...[the rest is my opinion] and of couse we all agree , as soon as the onshore rate /controls go and market forces take over, it is nearly hundred percent certain the baht will inmmediately rise and take up the slack between the two rates resulting in one far higher unified rate for the baht.

What happens after that nobody knows but Sontee 's forecast is as posted.

Link?

Did he say why he felt this would happen? I really do not see how the US dollar is going to strengthen in the short term, so the Thai government would have to play some role in weakening the baht, perhaps by lowering interest rates?

Sontee spoke live on his tv show this evening so no link . Perhaps repeated in the Manager tomorrow but you will need Thai to read that.

Hiya All,

I have been sending money to Thailand using chaps transfer in the UK to LOS. I want to know why I see a sudden decrease in the amount at the other end? I have checked rates etc and the fluctaution is not that great 2 or 3 baht recently. I always send in sterling to the my bank in Thailand which has never had a large fee for converting into baht on arrival...why decrease...the Bank rates have not changed much?

Any ideas. thanks

Friend you did not send a chaps payment to Thailand as that is impossible...see pasting below :

CHAPS is an electronic bank-to-bank same-day value payment made within the UK in sterling .

You probably sent a SWIFT international transfer.

Yes the baht has been rising steadily each day against the dollar and the pound took a hit last Friday knocking the rate against the pound from $1.97 down to $1.92.

The cumulative effect resulted in a drop in the pound baht rate of around 3 baht. It could get worse.

Sad for those UK expats here in Thailand who are sterling based.

As the baht hit a new nine year high today , Sontee Limtongkun, publishing mogul , owner of the Manager and Astv and argueably the most knowledgeable and influential journalist in Thailand today , on his tv program Guardian of the Nation this evening stated that he believed that the baht will rise to 32 to the dollar by May this year .

After that it will start to fall and by January 2008 will be back at around 40 to the dollar.

Do people agree this is the most likely scenario for the baht over the coming months and year ?

Anyone use the DVR that UBC have? I work long hours and miss all the shows I want and after having TIVO for two years, really want one, just in time for the start of F1?

Any info on price, contract etc? I have platnum package from UBC.....

Look into the Dreambox 720 from many sat shops. You will get your dvr and a VERY VERY pleasant surprise which its not permitted to talk about on this forum......subject to you having broadband.

I exchanged when it was around 71.8 which is great for me now but terrible for when I want to take it back to England. So is there anyone out there looking to do a sensible swap or not?

Casanundra,

Unless I miss read, you'd do well to change your baht back to pounds by yourself at this stronger baht rate @67 to the pound.

Every 100 pounds you originally transferred over into baht will now buy back 107 pounds. Unless you are going to be massively killed on transaction costs, fees and charges, then I'd be looking at making a 7% return on my money.

Not a bad outcome!

Of couse you are right ..............but surely Casanunra knows this ??? Perhaps he is worried how to take out such a large quantity of baht cash without being caught at Customs ??

For some reason my portfolio of ITV, Picnic and Distar aren't doing that well though, ah well, they will go up soon enough :-) 5555

try adding CEI ,SGF and TT&T

Yes, I do believe we are on the same page Temporaneo.

TT&T. Absolute classic, I had forgotten about that chestnut. :-)

.....and also that wretched Thai family owned internet Co three four years ago. Cannot for the life of me remember their name.....can you ?

Yes, it is possible.

If you have a Thai baht account with an overseas bank, then you need to ask them for their correspondent bank details. Then you give the instruction to your thai bank to make a local baht transfer to the correspondent bank, with "onward credit instruction" to your own named account with your bank (the receiving bank). In many cases the correspondent bank will be the bangkok branch of your overseas branch.

Not absolutely certain if you mean sending baht from a bank in Thailand to a baht a/c in say Singapore.

If so beware.

Sending out foreign currency is subject to a low fixed tt charge. Send out baht and a different charging regime applies which is a fixed percentage amount with no maximum. So in theory a tt in baht for a large amount could cost B100,000 for the one tt !

The charges cannot be reduced or negotiated as they are a 'cartel price' regulated by the Association of Thai Banks.

I know ....as have been subjected to these outrageous fees.....and could find no way out at the time..

That problem does not occur with Citibank. I have transferred baht to my citibank hong kong baht a/c on several occasions and the fees are minimal.

However it should be obvious that you can't transfer baht to an overseas account, then convert those funds at the offshore rate into (say) USD, then bring the USD back into thailand and convert back to baht at the onshore rate. These were the rates quoted by citibank hong kong just now:

31.94-34.02

Jeez Sonic dragon...you certainly know your stuff. Spot on !! Citibank is outside the cartel !

What happened in my case was, ....knowing the ridiculous tt charges, I did instruct Cibank to make the transfer but the BOT refused permission for the funds to go out ! When the same day Bangkok Bank applied ,BOT permission was granted immediately hence the outrageous fee had to be paid !!

By the way Sonic ...re "However it should be obvious that you can't transfer "etc etc above , what actually prevents this being done and a large profit made ?