Transfer money by usd to avoid offshore rates?

[yengec]

Hi to all,

 

i looked the forum and i cant exactly find what i need to.. in few days i will transfer around 20k usd to Thailand by swift. my worry is if the intermediary bank converts the usd into thb by offshore rate and send it to the final destination of my thai bank account. in order to avoid this, most of them told to write “dont convert” or something like that in the description part but its not a certain solution. 

 

If i open a usd account in my bangkok bank and transfer from usd to usd account, there will be no off or onshore exchange for sure. but this time the trouble starts how to convert it into thai baht? If i take out usd by cash, i will lose 1% which is not good. if i exchange usd to thb in online banking or at the branch, can i get TT rate? if yes, it would be perfect..also i will be glad if there is a better way to do or am i missing any extra charges for this method?

[simoh1490]

You are the customer, you decide how the funds will be received in Thailand, in THB or USD so you need to specify that on the transfer form/screen, the intermediary bank will not convert the funds, only the receiving bank will do so, if that's what you specify.

 

Yes, if you convert USD to THB, from a multi-currency account, the rate is the TT rate.

[yengec]

a year ago when i first transferred usd to thailand, it was the real estates bank account so im not sure if it was thai or usd account. also my home bank on usd swift, doesnot allow me to write anything in the description part. As you guess, there is no screen for me to choose the sending currency, intermediary, etc. this international bank transfer costs are not guaranteed since money goes from Turkey-Usa-Thailand. even my home bank cant tell how much would be the total cost of the transfer prior to do it. Thats why i dont want to take any risk because when something happens bad, there will be no correction for my benefit..

[simoh1490]

3 hours ago, yengec said:

a year ago when i first transferred usd to thailand, it was the real estates bank account so im not sure if it was thai or usd account. also my home bank on usd swift, doesnot allow me to write anything in the description part. As you guess, there is no screen for me to choose the sending currency, intermediary, etc. this international bank transfer costs are not guaranteed since money goes from Turkey-Usa-Thailand. even my home bank cant tell how much would be the total cost of the transfer prior to do it. Thats why i dont want to take any risk because when something happens bad, there will be no correction for my benefit..

Rule number 1 - only ever transfer to your own account, never to somebody else's account.

 

Rule number 2 - always transfer foreign currency and allow all currency conversions to take place in Thailand.

 

Bank of Thailand requires you to state a reason for transferring the money to Thailand, if you don't write the reason, somebody else will.

 

You need to find a cheaper easier way to transfer funds, there's lots of options out there without having to use the route you describe, maybe there are special rules regarding Turkey and funds transfers, dunno.

 

[ebean001]

keep all the documents. they will be needed in the future...critical.

[yengec]

I checked the previos swift invoice and I saw wells fargo bank was the inetermediary bank and they sent them usd without converting into thai baht and I got TT rate from bangkok bank. The thing is on this my home bank, I cant put any comment in the description. I think I will be using the same method again and if I inform the bangkok bank that the money comes in order to purchase a condo, that should be ok.

 

Btw there is a regulation in Turkey about USD swifts. Even if you send from A bank to B bank within Turkey, there has to be a US intermediary bank in the USA. Thats why many people use cash in hand transcation in usd payments but when Im in Thailand its impossible.

[britishrepublican]

Buy cryptocurrency and sell it in Thailand. No bank fees and you'll probably make money.

[denby45]

21 minutes ago, britishrepublican said:

Buy cryptocurrency and sell it in Thailand. No bank fees and you'll probably make money.

Absolute nonsense. The spread here in Thailand is around 8% to the exchange Buy/Sell rate. Check out the exchanges if you don't believe it. You will get done at least 4% on top of any other charges.

 

Please don't give bad advice.

 

Den

[12DrinkMore]

3 hours ago, yengec said:

Btw there is a regulation in Turkey about USD swifts. Even if you send from A bank to B bank within Turkey, there has to be a US intermediary bank in the USA.

 

Not just Turkey.

 

It is the way transfers in a non-domestic currency are required to be made.

 

If you transfer USD then a US based correspondent bank has to be involved.

 

If you transfer EUR then a European correspondent bank has to be involved.

 

(if you want to know more, then look up vostro and nostro accounts in correspondent banks)

[Tidybeard]

I use a company called "Transfer Wise" to send GBP to Thailand. Always very competitive rates. They also save all of my transfer details / accounts etc. so each new transfer is very quick and convenient.

 

I am sure you cold find a similar company for USD.

 

Cheers

 

[Tidybeard]

Just checked - you can use Transfer Wise in any country, so check it out...

[yengec]

i heardand checked  transferwise but it can only be used when you send to Turkey, not from Turkey. its great service i wish to have it available for my country in both ways. btw just from a curiosity, can u use transferwise for condo purchase? 

Edited December 12, 2017 by yengec

[rhodie]

14 minutes ago, yengec said:

i heardand checked  transferwise but it can only be used when you send to Turkey, not from Turkey. its great service i wish to have it available for my country in both ways. btw just from a curiosity, can u use transferwise for condo purchase? 

No, probably not. For condo purchase the money must arrive as foreign currency, e.g. US$. TransferWise will convert to Baht.

[Mandox]

I second "Buy cryptocurrency and sell it in Thailand. No bank fees and you'll probably make money."

 

Good change you have the same day the money in your Bank Account.

Most probably you make even a little bit extra, because prices are most of the times a little bit higher in Thailand.

s Tip: Use Litecoin (LTC) instead of Bitcoin (BTC) faster and very low fees .. ($0.15 ....haha ... compare that to bank fees)

 

PS: No idea where the one "nonsense voice" get a spread of 8% for the exchange .. lol

see yourself https://bx.in.th/  ... 

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by Mandox

[britishrepublican]

2 hours ago, denby45 said:

Absolute nonsense. The spread here in Thailand is around 8% to the exchange Buy/Sell rate. Check out the exchanges if you don't believe it. You will get done at least 4% on top of any other charges.

 

Please don't give bad advice.

 

Den

Your a fool. I often profit heavily from selling my crypto here.its seems you don't know what your doing. You probably own half a bitcoin and think you Tyler winklevoss.

[Naam]

5 hours ago, yengec said:

Btw there is a regulation in Turkey about USD swifts. Even if you send from A bank to B bank within Turkey, there has to be a US intermediary bank in the USA. Thats why many people use cash in hand transcation in usd payments but when Im in Thailand its impossible.

that's not a Turkish regulation but it applies to all USD transfers (not limited to SWIFT) from/to any country even if the banks are located in the same country. it sounds crazy but if i transfer USD from Crédit Suisse, Singapore to USB, Singapore the transfer is done via NY.

Edited December 12, 2017 by Naam
grammar

[farcanell]

Whenever I transfer money from Oz ( don’t know if this is relevant), I do it online, transferring AUD direct to my Thai account, from my Australian account... they convert it at gazzetted bank rates (as shown on their electronic display boards, which is very similar to internet quoted exchange rates)

 

having the Australian bank convert and send baht, sees them convert at an in house (far lessor) rate.

 

The last time I came back from Oz, i thought I would be clever, and brought 12000 AUD back with me.... but found that the difference (in my favor) was about 1000 baht on that sum.... not worth the hassle

 

i have to tell the Australian bank why I’m transferring money overseas (subsistence, usually) but I have never been questioned about it by my Thai bank, with the largest amount transferred being 300k AUD, a few years back

 

[Naam]

53 minutes ago, farcanell said:

i have to tell the Australian bank why I’m transferring money overseas (subsistence, usually) but I have never been questioned about it by my Thai bank, with the largest amount transferred being 300k AUD, a few years back

it's not really a "questioning" but a bank rendered service to find out whether you need a document showing foreign currency transfer required when purchase immobile property or facilitating a later potential re-transfer.

[farcanell]

4 minutes ago, Naam said:

it's not really a "questioning" but a bank rendered service to find out whether you need a document showing foreign currency transfer required when purchase immobile property or facilitating a later potential re-transfer.

Well s***...... I’m having an “oops” moment right now.

must be time for vodka.... it might not be the answer, but it’s worth a try!

[Lacessit]

Beware. There is a mechanism called Dynamic Currency Conversion, which is a euphemism for legal robbery.

ALWAYS send money into Thailand in the currency of your home country, or be thoroughly stung.

[JimGant]

Quote

Beware. There is a mechanism called Dynamic Currency Conversion, which is a euphemism for legal robbery.

ALWAYS send money into Thailand in the currency of your home country, or be thoroughly stung.

A bit of apples and oranges. DCC is a POS or ATM scheme, whereby the merchant wants you to buy using your home country currency, whereby he dictates a less-favorable (to you) FX rate. Thus, only make purchases (or ATM draws) in the currency of the foreign country you're in. Conversely, when sending money, home country currency is the option to choose.