Canada Expats

[ModBellerophon]

1 hour ago, kurtgruen said:

 

Krungsri allows you to take 30,000 baht at a time, the yellow ATMs.  At least it does for me (did it yesterday in fact).  I always keep an eye out for those ones and know where I can find one in most of Central Pattaya... the fees are high as is so minimizing them over the course of the year adds up. 

[jerojero]

If you have a Bangkok Bank account here, maybe your Canadian bank would be willing to send deposits (using your established account number here) to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank. That might be considered a domestic transfer even though it is to the US.
 
If you have a brokerage account in Canada they may be willing to do the above from a money market account. I use my Vanguard Money Market account to send deposits to Bangkok Bank in New York. They seem more flexible than my (US) bank about doing such things. Depending on holidays and weekends, the deposit in baht to my Thai bank takes a couple of days.
 
 
 

If your funds go from Canada to New York Bangkok Bank the to Thailand, you'll pay exchange rate changes to US dollars then again to Thailand Baht. Each time banks take their cut. Find way to go directly from Canadian dollars to Baht. Will be less costly

[jerojero]

If you have a Bangkok Bank account here, maybe your Canadian bank would be willing to send deposits (using your established account number here) to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank. That might be considered a domestic transfer even though it is to the US.
 
If you have a brokerage account in Canada they may be willing to do the above from a money market account. I use my Vanguard Money Market account to send deposits to Bangkok Bank in New York. They seem more flexible than my (US) bank about doing such things. Depending on holidays and weekends, the deposit in baht to my Thai bank takes a couple of days.
 
 
 

If your funds go from Canada to New York Bangkok Bank then to Thailand, you'll pay exchange rate changes to US dollars then again to Thailand Baht. Each time banks take their cut. Find way to go directly from Canadian dollars to Baht. Will be less costly

[jerojero]

If you have a Bangkok Bank account here, maybe your Canadian bank would be willing to send deposits (using your established account number here) to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank. That might be considered a domestic transfer even though it is to the US.
 
If you have a brokerage account in Canada they may be willing to do the above from a money market account. I use my Vanguard Money Market account to send deposits to Bangkok Bank in New York. They seem more flexible than my (US) bank about doing such things. Depending on holidays and weekends, the deposit in baht to my Thai bank takes a couple of days.
 
 
 

If your funds go from Canada to New York Bangkok Bank then to Thailand, you'll pay exchange rate changes to US dollars then again to Thailand Baht. Each time banks take their cut. Find way to go directly from Canadian dollars to Baht. Will be less costly

[sumrit]

On 10/01/2018 at 10:06 PM, ModBellerophon said:

Krungsri allows you to take 30,000 baht at a time, the yellow ATMs.  At least it does for me (did it yesterday in fact).  I always keep an eye out for those ones and know where I can find one in most of Central Pattaya... the fees are high as is so minimizing them over the course of the year adds up. 

Is that using a foreign bank ATM card and, if so, what exchange rate do you get??

[ModBellerophon]

23 hours ago, sumrit said:

Is that using a foreign bank ATM card and, if so, what exchange rate do you get??

I use a Canadian ATM. As for the exchange rate... never looked into it.  Might be someone here who's run around to an ATM from every bank in town to check which gives them the best rate but I'm pretty sure at the end of the day you'd have run around to find maybe a 100baht difference at most.

[JimGant]

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Is that using a foreign bank ATM card and, if so, what exchange rate do you get??

Unless the ATM machine offers to convert to your home currency (which you should instantly refuse, as it's costly), you'll get your card's network rate (Visa or MasterCard). For example, at Visa's site (MC has a similar site):

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html/

 

The March 20 fx rate for the CAD is .042202, or reciprocally, 23.696 baht per dollar. This is slightly better than the Bangkok Bank TT rate, which is usually the case for Visa (MC is usually slightly less).

 

But, this is the fee free rate. Most banks pass on the network fee of 1%, and many add an additional 2% of their own (plus possibly a flat fee per transaction). And on the Thai end there' s that 220 baht ATM fee. In these situations, obviously your realized fx rate will be lower.

 

A few financial outfits *do* offer completely fee free cards, and some of these also will reimburse the ATM fee. Notable is Schwab. But, I'm not sure our northern cousins can obtain a domestic Schwab card -- but the following link holds out some hope.....

 

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You can open a US bank account with TD Bank, it is especially easy if you have a TDCanada Trust account here in Canada. You don't have to go down to the states or be a resident. I did it all online and over the phone. Took 10 days to get the debit card mailed to me. From what I have read you can use Royal Bank as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/4f1keu/how_to_get_a_us_bank_account_especially_charles/

 

 

 

 

[timber]

I changed my RRSP when I 71 through my stock broker

Sent from my C6902 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[gerry1953]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 10:41 PM, paulhen said:

I am reaching out to any longer term expats here in Thailand in the hope of discussing a number of issues that have recently evolved in Canada making life increasingly difficult here and the future unknown... 

1) international bank transfers have recently become "impossible" so says my bank in Canada after my 30 years with them and six years here making SWIFT transfers, albeit with increasing bureaucratic requirements, some being farcical, until finally the door closed. Now they demand an in branch appearance to sign the transfer form.... 

2) due to the recent passing of my dear friend and bookkeeper, I now need to find new resources for a Canadian address and what are now relatively simple personal tax returns and to act on our behalf with a local phone number. 

3) discuss health care issues in the event of catastrophic illness, repatriating in light of the three month disqualification that prevails and provision for insurance for such an interim period or a work around

4) discuss Powers of Health & Attorney, Wills and such in light of any such repatriation

5) depletion of RRSP assets prior to age 71 forced dissolution 

6) hedging of Canadian dollar assets

 

Any takers for intelligent discussion?? 

Hi Paulhen.

1) Swift transfers are a pain because of high fees plus you have to be in Canada (at least at RBC).  I use TransferWise exclusively due to low cost (went down May 2018) plus very good exchange rates compared to others and banks.  No receiving fees at my Thai bank either as it arrives in THB.

2) Get a Canadian address and a good accountant who can do your taxes online if you are out of country.  You can sign, print and return to them for him to submit.

3) I keep my BC medical paid up as it is cheap at $37 CAD per month.  When I return there is no 3 month waiting period.  Sometimes I so 2 years at a time in Issan but my BC medical is still valid with permission from them.  If need be I can fly back for treatments.

In Thailand I either buy travel insurance (at 65 it is getting harder) or I self insure and I keep a $30K CAD credit on cards should I have an "incident".

4) I keep wills in both countries and my Thai wife can transfer up to 500K baht a day should I croak from my Thai bank.

5) Your RRSP assets should roll over to a RRIF or LIF at 71 where the CRA dictates a minimum and maximum you can remove each year.  Cashing it in will trigger large taxes for MOST people.

6) I try to keep funds both countries and use them when rates are to my advantage.

 

Cheers

Edited May 27, 2018 by gerry1953