Transfer money out of Thailand - Foreign currency account ATM vs. SWIFT vs. Cash

[sabai jai]

I've seen other discussions on here on this topic, but wondering if anyone has compared the pitfalls of these 3 options:

 

My situation:

- Have work permit and am employed in Thailand for 3 years, all THB savings are from Thailand earnings.

- Moving back to home country (USA) soon.

- Looking not to lose money on FX rates and fees, etc. when changing from THB to USD

 

Options - which is best:

1. Open a Bangkok Bank - Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts for Non-Residents - and then simply withdrawal funds via US ATM within the daily limits, over time. Is this possible?

 

2. Do a straight-forward SWIFT transfer between Bangkok Bank (THB) and my US bank account (USD) - I am worried about losing on the exchange rate here, but I like that I can just make 1 transaction and it is finished.

 

3. Cash out and convert to USD (at SuperRich) and then carry out to the US, declaring it at US entry customs (if greater than $10,000) and Thai exit customs (if greater than $20,000), then deposit cash in the US bank. - Obvious security concerns on this option.

[Rhys]

Interesting situation, I have the reverse issue, in the end, I  processed with Western union... and made the appropriate amounts so I don't have to deal with customs or what ever...

[Nick ZepTepi]

Bitcoin

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[Nick ZepTepi]

Try xendpay or orbitremit much much lower fees and very code to interbank rate than Wu

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[simoh1490]

Option 2 wins by a mile, the TT rate (electronic transfer) is about as good as it gets if the funds are converted into USD here in Thailand. Don't waste time screwing around trying to save a few Baht, it's not worth it.

 

Option 1 is not possible, no.

 

Option 3 carries risk, as you well know and it's just not worth it.

Edited March 4, 2018 by simoh1490

[sabai jai]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

Option 2 wins by a mile, the TT rate (electronic transfer) is about as good as it gets if the funds are converted into USD here in Thailand. Don't waste time screwing around trying to save a few Baht, it's not worth it.

 

Option 1 is not possible, no.

 

Option 3 carries risk, as you well know and it's just not worth it.

Thank you for the direct answer!  I just went to Bangkok Bank inside EmQuartier, and they told me the fees and FX rate (it’s only 0.14 baht/usd more than the interbank rate from XE.com (Friday 31.60 compared to 31.46 THB/USD) + there are 2 options for bank fees:

 

option1: pay 400 baht to Bangkok bank plus the foreign bank’s fees to receive the transfer.

 

Option 2: pay 1100 baht to Bangkok Bank to cover charges both ends. I suspect this will be less.

 

Wins hands down! Thanks to all for the responses!

[dorchester]

I did the western union and swift thing for years.Last time ,just plug in my trezor sent the money to the thai exchange which was instructed to send to my wife's bank account.I did that from the states took me 5 min,total 20min start to finish,just waiting on bank confirmations.