Using Transferwise for bringing money to THailand

[ellathai]

l am at present on a Non O , l will be applying for an extension of stay based on retirement, at present l have the 800,000 baht in the Thai bank which l transferred here thru ANZ bank in Australia.

In my other bank account l have money which l transferred here thru Transferwise who don't actually send money to Thailand it's all done without borders and l get heaps more than any bank would offer, but would appear to be a local transfer in my bank statement

My question is for the future, if l presented the bank balance that transferwise transferred into my bank in Thailand would that be accepted by immigration?

 

Cheers

Bruce

 

 

[ubonjoe]

There is no requirement that the funds have to come from abroad to apply for an extension of stay.

[ellathai]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

There is no requirement that the funds have to come from abroad to apply for an extension of stay.

THanks Joe,l had it all backwards in my scone.

[mikebell]

I too use Transferwise.  I like the fact they email me at every stage.  The only improvement I would like to see is to give me an estimate before I transfer funds to them.  Moneycorp, my alternative, does this.

[ketherin]

53 minutes ago, mikebell said:

I too use Transferwise.  I like the fact they email me at every stage.  The only improvement I would like to see is to give me an estimate before I transfer funds to them.  Moneycorp, my alternative, does this.

I have been using Transferwise for a while now and agree they are very good. In fact I did a transfer yesterday, and you do get an estimate before you purchase. 

And it's not just an estimate it's exactly the amount of Thai baht which goes into my Thai bank account, really helpful. 

[leither69]

14 minutes ago, ketherin said:

I have been using Transferwise for a while now and agree they are very good. In fact I did a transfer yesterday, and you do get an estimate before you purchase. 

And it's not just an estimate it's exactly the amount of Thai baht which goes into my Thai bank account, really helpful. 

Exactly the same,  i did yesterday and simlar quote

[Wavel]

I have been using TransferWise for some time now & for my own records i always download the transfer confirmation. This might be useful to you for your own peace of mind, weather you submit them to immigration or not.

 

[trd]

There is no requirement that the funds have to come from abroad to apply for an extension of stay.

If that's true, could I use my foreign currency account at Krungsri Bank to use for an extension if it has the equivalent of more than 800k in Thai Baht.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, trd said:

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no requirement that the funds have to come from abroad to apply for an extension of stay.

If that's true, could I use my foreign currency account at Krungsri Bank to use for an extension if it has the equivalent of more than 800k in Thai Baht.

Yes you could use a foreign currency account at the majority of immigration offices to apply for your extension. The bank will have to write a letter confirming the amount in your account in baht on the date the letter is done using the exchange rate on the date you apply. That would be the baseline number to prove it has been in the bank for 3 months (60 days for first extension).

[CanuckThai]

I've been using Transferwise for while now, it's a decent platform.  Visa debit transfers are also reasonable and basically instantaneous.  Are many people bypassing the whole  system by sending "ecoin" from a foreign wallet (eg Canadian or US platform wallet) to a bx.in.th wallet, then a withdrawal to your Thai bank ?  If so, any grief,  pitfalls or just smooth sailing?

[OJAS]

Echo all the positive comments on this thread about TransferWise, which I now use for making periodic transfers from my UK account to my Bangkok Bank account here (most recently today), now that Bangkok Bank have placed major roadblocks in the way of making transfers via their London branch.

 

Reverting to the OP's question. Immigration will be solely interested in checking that the balances in his Thai bank account are maintained at a minimum of 800,000 THB throughout the 3 months preceding a retirement extension application. They will not be interested in the details of how that end is achieved.

[Saraphee]

8 hours ago, OJAS said:

Bangkok Bank have placed major roadblocks in the way of making transfers via their London branch.

 

What would those roadblocks be, may I ask as I haven't used the BKK route in a while

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Saraphee said:

What would those roadblocks be, may I ask as I haven't used the BKK route in a while

Topic about it is here.

 

[hgma]

On 9/9/2017 at 10:06 AM, ubonjoe said:

There is no requirement that the funds have to come from abroad to apply for an extension of stay.

I am sure a lot of people had no notion of this.......

Thanks for sharing.

[OJAS]

5 hours ago, hgma said:

I am sure a lot of people had no notion of this.......

Thanks for sharing.

Indeed. It was only thanks to the OP of the topic referred to by ubonjoe that I found out about the new procedures. It was clearly too much of an effort for Bangkok Bank's London branch to notify everyone using their facility in person.

 

Our American cousins will, I think, need to brace themselves for the possibility of Bangkok Bank's New York branch following suit!

Edited September 12, 2017 by OJAS

[MAZ3]

I've just used Transferwise for the first time, based on commets on here. Worked very well and took less than a day, got about 1,000b more compared to the usual method (UK Bank fee, then 500b receiving fee here). I have used Bangkok Bank in London before, what is the problem with them now?. I've set up 2 widows pension's to Thailand with them and will that cause any problems?. Thanks

Sent from my SM-J730GM using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Kellynch]

On 9/9/2017 at 2:28 PM, ketherin said:

I have been using Transferwise for a while now and agree they are very good. In fact I did a transfer yesterday, and you do get an estimate before you purchase. 

And it's not just an estimate it's exactly the amount of Thai baht which goes into my Thai bank account, really helpful. 

I'd be grateful for some information about how the transferred money goes into your Thai bank.  My normal international bank transfer gets routed through Bangkok Bank(I'm told all these transfers do) then it's transferred into my Kasikorn account, with fees of course.  Would you let me know how your situation works from using Transferwise to your Thai account?  Many thanks

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, Kellynch said:

I'd be grateful for some information about how the transferred money goes into your Thai bank.  My normal international bank transfer gets routed through Bangkok Bank(I'm told all these transfers do) then it's transferred into my Kasikorn account, with fees of course.  Would you let me know how your situation works from using Transferwise to your Thai account?  Many thanks

Most UK banks have the ability to transfer direct to Kasikorn. Their use of Bangkok Bank as a correspondent bank is just incompetence or, sometimes, a deliberate ploy to hide where the money was to allow them to hold onto it for a day or two. When I used to do regular transfers from the UK, I used to police them on things like this.

[H508]

I transfer money from my US bank (credit union) through ACH to the New York Bangkok Bank branch to my actual BB thai account. I did a test 2 months ago to compare it to Transferwise: I got my money a day sooner with Transferwise and also more Thai baht at the end of the day.

 

So, no matter if NY BB changes like the London branch; doesn't affect me - I've already changed. You should do your own test, of course, but I think you'll be in the same boat as me and drop the BB transfer and move to transferwise.

Edited November 15, 2017 by H508

[Langsuan Man]

On 9/12/2017 at 2:42 PM, OJAS said:

Our American cousins will, I think, need to brace themselves for the possibility of Bangkok Bank's New York branch following suit!

In terms of what ?  Increased fees or pre-registration ?

[Jip99]

9 hours ago, BritTim said:

Most UK banks have the ability to transfer direct to Kasikorn. Their use of Bangkok Bank as a correspondent bank is just incompetence or, sometimes, a deliberate ploy to hide where the money was to allow them to hold onto it for a day or two. When I used to do regular transfers from the UK, I used to police them on things like this.

 

 

All changed now at HSBC.

 

Correspondent bank charges picked up on recent transfers to BKB and K Bank.... both previously 'direct'.

[ubonjoe]

11 hours ago, Kellynch said:

I'd be grateful for some information about how the transferred money goes into your Thai bank.  My normal international bank transfer gets routed through Bangkok Bank(I'm told all these transfers do) then it's transferred into my Kasikorn account, with fees of course.  Would you let me know how your situation works from using Transferwise to your Thai account?  Many thanks

I think you are confusing the Bank of Thailand with Bangkok Bank. International transfers done by SWIFT go directly to your bank and are not routed through another bank here.

[BritTim]

27 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I think you are confusing the Bank of Thailand with Bangkok Bank. International transfers done by SWIFT go directly to your bank and are not routed through another bank here.

That seems logical, but it is not the way things work. While SWIFT (usually) guarantees the integrity of the transfer, it is still necessary for the two banks involved to trust each other. Historically, long before SWIFT existed, a bank would tend to have a limited number of trusted correspondent banks. Those banks, in turn, would be able to handle local transfers to other banks. For a while, the international transfer was usually by telex. (Earlier, it was by mail correspondence.) Typically, the local transfer was completed by the correspondent bank writing a check to deposit money into the final recipient account at the destination bank. Crazy as it may seem, even where SWIFT is involved and there is a trust relationship between the source and destination banks, the source bank still sometimes decides to route the transfer through a correspondent bank today. Incompetence or fraud? I think a mix of the two.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, BritTim said:

That seems logical, but it is not the way things work. While SWIFT (usually) guarantees the integrity of the transfer, it is still necessary for the two banks involved to trust each other.

My experience from many years ago was that the correspondent bank was not in the destination country it was in the country where the transfer was initiated by a bank. For example bank A in Texas sent it to bank B in New York that was a correspondent bank with my bank in Venezuela.

I have had an account with SCB here and it came directly to my account without going through another bank here. Same for accounts at Bangkok Bank.

[Evilbaz]

My bank in OZ, CBA, sends direct to Kasikorn if you accept their **** FX conversion rate and send Baht, but uses a correspondent Bank if you insist on sending AUD (much better onshore FX rates) and charges and extra $60.

So I agree - this a money grabbing scam.

 

So I use Bahtsmart - great rates and no fees.

They transfer to a Chiang Mai a/c and then to my KBank.

[Wilson Smith]

can you send Baht out?

[Rally123]

Use 'HiFx' to transfer. Better than 'Transferwise' IMO. No fees if transferring £3000 or more. Being in Thailand the office used is in New Zealand. Not a problem. You get a fixed exchange rate before agreeing to the transfer.  You select the rate you want.

 

Quote

HiFX and TransferWise are two services giving banks a run for their money. We compare fees, exchange rates and speed to see who comes out on top. While HiFX and TransferWise are very similar when compared to each other, HiFX can be cheaper for larger transfer amounts. For transfers below $5,000, HiFX charges a $5 fee.

 

Edited November 16, 2017 by Rally123

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

My experience from many years ago was that the correspondent bank was not in the destination country it was in the country where the transfer was initiated by a bank. For example bank A in Texas sent it to bank B in New York that was a correspondent bank with my bank in Venezuela.

I have had an account with SCB here and it came directly to my account without going through another bank here. Same for accounts at Bangkok Bank.

It can work either way round. In the US, many banks are not equipped to do foreign transfers at all. In that case, they have no option but to use a correspondent bank in the US.

 

Most large banks around the world have trust relationships with the major Thai banks, and can use SWIFT transfers to send money direct (usually within 24 hours). The fact remains that due to employee incompetence or, sometimes a deliberate ploy to allow them to collect interest through delay on a hard to trace transfer, correspondent banks are still sometimes used.

[fondue zoo]

 

I've been using WorldRemit without issue for over a year, bank transfers (1-3 days) or near instant cash pickup from Government Savings Banks, excepting those in Central Plaza shopping centres.

 

[Mattd]

2 hours ago, Wilson Smith said:

can you send Baht out?

Sending THB out of Thailand is restricted by the Bank of Thailand regulations, it is possible, usually as a Foreigner, then you would be asked to prove that the money originated outside of Thailand or that it was legitimately earned in Thailand, before it can be sent out.