We retiring in Thailand next year, what should we do?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Elkski said:

You may want to sell the heavy fragile green egg smoker and buy a Weber smokey Mountain when you arrive.   I understand there is a Weber dealer in Chiang Mai. 

Speaking of Smokey Mountain...

 

One of the other things that I hope the OP knows about his relocating plans, that hasn't been mentioned here in the thread thus far, is the awful air pollution problem that CM and CR have each year from about Nov. to March or April. Very high to dangerous PM2.5 air pollution levels that especially this past season required wearing special face masks and many farang, at least, investing in electric HEPA air purifier units for inside their homes. Similar problems elsewhere including BKK, but not quite as bad as the far north.

 

That kind of pollution definitely has the potential to cause respiratory health problems, and worsen problems for people who already have any kind of respiratory or other health problem. AFAIK, there's no place in the U.S. that has the same kind of PM2.5 pollution that CM and CR have during the burning season there, so preparing for that in my book is a definite must.

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[NancyL]

Actually, the dangers air pollution levels in Chiang Mai are from mid-Feb into May.  Several portable electric HEPA air filter units in the condo make a big difference.  We had use of an air quality meter for several weeks this year and collected some interesting data.  Of special note is that with the windows closed and the aircon and air filters running, the CO2 levels got into level of concern in our bedroom at night, about 2500 ppm, in the zone where you can have headaches, difficulty concentrating, increased heart rate.  It was a trade-off because many evenings it was still cool enough to have the windows open, but the PM2.5 level outside was dangerous.

 

We were able lower the CO2 level by investing in some indoor plants, researching varieties that actually are toxic to cats.  The cats take one bite, and look at us like why did you bring this nasty thing in here and leave them alone.  If we'd followed the internet's advice about buying "cat friendly" plants, they would have been turned into cat salad during their first few days.  Of course, we supervised the cats around the plants at first to be sure it was "hate at first bite".  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Actually, the dangers air pollution levels in Chiang Mai are from mid-Feb into May.

 

Nancy, I agree, that timeframe you mention is probably the peak for the worst of it. But it starts getting out of good and into unhealthy levels even earlier than your mid-Feb. reference.

 

See the PM2.5 levels chart for CM below. Green means good air, yellow means moderate pollution, orange means unhealthy, and red means dangerous.

 

There's a HUGE difference between the pretty good air quality levels during the June to Oct. period vs the bad air quality levels that begin rising in November, get bad by January and really bad by Feb.-March-April.

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[NancyL]

Yeah, you're probably right.  Hubby and I try to take our last in-country holiday for the cool season just before mid-Feb because we know we'll be cooped up inside for the next few months.  One year we took the 3rd class day train from Chiang Mai to Lampang for Valentine's weekend.  While the weather was still cool and it was nice to ride bicycles around the town, on the way back it was a constant barrage of ash, soot and live embers coming into the train through the open windows from all the burning in the fields near the tracks. Sunday afternoon is a favorite time for field burning -- no gov't officials around working. (as if regulations are actually enforced)

[Thailand J]

CM is not for everyone. The smog. The summer heat.

[mejomini]

On 7/14/2018 at 10:16 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Yes, that's a very good change and relatively recent one of their part.

 

C1 USED to be a stickler on foreign travel, and I had my cards locked by them more than once in the past. But these days, they rely more on getting confirmations from the user either by mobile message or emails to confirm anything they flag as a suspicious transactions.

 

I was REALLY surprised some time back when C1 credit cards told me I no longer needed to worry about foreign travel notifications with them!!!!

 

I had terrible trouble with Capital One's security department. The new card they sent to my US address was lost in the mail, they would not send another without infinite additional security measures, and a US cell phone able to receive SMS confirmations.  Absolutely horrible company to deal with.  Never again. Had their card for maybe 15 years, no late payments, they just don't want to take care of customers.

[jerry921]

On 7/14/2018 at 2:34 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

There's also a T-Mobile prepaid option to keep a valid T-Mobile number that costs only $3 per month, but it's really only suited for people who would want to use that T-Mobile number when they're back in the U.S. for travel. It really doesn't serve any good purpose for using in Thailand because, under T-Mobile's roaming rules, calls to your TM in Thailand would cost like $2.50 per minute and they also charge some small money for each incoming our outgoing SMS. As I said, that plan is really only a kind of placeholder for people who was to reactivate a TM number once they're back in the U.S. for whatever reasons.

One of the unique things about T-mobile is their smart-phones have a wifi calling feature. You can use this feature with a wifi connection in your home in Thailand.  In the wifi-calling settings set up, choose the "Never Use Cellular Network", and leave the phone at home in range of your wifi all the time. This allows you to keep a US phone number, anywhere in the world. Calling over wifi is unlimited and doesn't count against your cellular minute allowance or count as roaming.

 

If you are going to try to keep a US address, it's useful to keep a US phone number to go with it.

[jerry921]

Nowadays, once you leave the US it immediately becomes very difficult to open any kind of financial account. Maintaining a US "presence" is helpful, but not always sufficient. #1 piece of advice is to get all financial accounts you are going to want set up before you leave - this is just a repeat of what others have said, but +1 from me.

 

Here's one that got me: after years of investing with vanguard and e-trade, and never once putting any money in Us govt debt except via funds, I wanted to invest using treasurydirect. (www.treasurydirect.gov). It's an account where you can buy treasuries directly, for no fee, have the money pulled from a bank account and receive the interest directly to that bank account, and hold the paper until maturity, without having the principal change due to interest rate changes (like it would in a US govt bond fund).

 

I couldn't set it up from overseas, after doing the online application the account was locked until I took a form in to a bank in the US, one that I had an established customer relationship with, provided ID and got them to sign and put their bank medallion seal on the form (not a notary, a bank medallion).

So if you are ever going to want that sort of thing, set it up before you leave.

 

Also: cards get lost, stolen, hacked, and sometimes simply locked by the issuing institution for no reason. You need backup cards, and they should be for different accounts from different banking institutions. This is becoming more and more important as they tighten up more and more. Like the abovev, this advice is particularly for US citizens, not other nationalities.

 

Something I learned the hard way: don't rely exclusively on debit cards. Even if you aren't the charge-card kind of person, set up at least one US-based charge card while you still have a US address. You can't get one after you move overseas. You say you don't plan to travel back to the US, but are you certain you won't ever visit your relatives? If you do, and you want to rent a car in the US, you need a charge card. It is possible in some airports with some rental agencies to use a debit card, but it's not universally possible, and it is universally a huge hassle. It's much easier to get a cash-rewards credit card before you leave.

 

I saw in skimming through here a reference to using your son's address, but not anything about whether your son lives in Texas. If your son lives in Texas, then no worries, skip this paragraph. Otherwise, don't use his address as a forwarding address or in any other way. If he lives in another state, it could compromise your "domicile". Domicile is a legal term that is important. Legally, it is the state you "intend to return to", whether you actually ever intend to return or not. It is your last state of residence, the state you owe income tax to, the state which will assess inheritance tax if you die (if they know about your death) and the state your US will should be executed in. If your son lives in certain states, that state will learn from the PO about your forwarding address, and put you down as a resident of their state and then start assessing income taxes. Some states are much more "grabby" than others, Virginia and California are quite bad. Texas is a great state to have your domicile in - no income tax, no inheritance tax. Don't mess that up!

 

I recommend subscribing to a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, one with a Texas address, as mentioned by earlier posters. The one I use is texashomebase.com. They are in Wichita, if that's driving distance away for you, it's ideal. It's $200/yr, plus you pay forwarding postage, but they open and scan all your incoming mail and you can simply view it online and then have it all shredded and only forward really important stuff a couple times a year. No trouble with junk mail. I recommend subscribing now and starting to switch accounts over to that address while you are still receiving mail at your old residential address. There's stuff that only comes once a year that you might forget, otherwise. After the accounts are switched over, put them all on e-statements.

 

After a couple years in Thailand, if you agree with the other posters here who say you don't need a US presence, you can drop it, but once you drop your presence, you can't really re-establish it without moving back.

 

There was a thread here about customers of some Thai bank that was insisting to know your foreign home address - even from customers who hadn't lived in their own country for 20 years. They didn't check it, so people just gave them their last address, but in my opinion, the direction of the wind is clear, and keeping a US address is becoming more and more valuable and necessary. I think maintaining a US presence is smart and good insurance for the price.

Are you planning on continuing to vote?

 

[Ahab]

I am a US Navy retiree (and Thai/US citizen wife) and have been living here for the past year and a half. A mail forwarding service is important for the fist year (after that the utility seems to decrease). I use USA Box, but there are many others to choose from, I can view the outside of the envelope to determine if it is junk or not (if junk you can have them delete and destroy it), you can also have them open an scan a letter, or select which ones you would like to be forwarded to you. Except for deleting junk mail all the services are for various additional fees (of course). You will also need a physical address for your brokerage accounts. USA Box is recognized as a forwarding service so you will need the address of a friend or relative for your account (or else you cannot use it for trading, selling, etc.).

 

Make sure you claim well more than the minimum required on any income affidavits for extension of stay (if the minimum is 45K baht make sure you claim 50K or 55K baht, as long as you make that much). I recently ran into an issue with a very poor exchange rate being used for the calculation at Buriram Immigration (less than the single dollar bill exchange rate at Bangkok Bank) and I was just short of the retirement extension requirement.

 

Besides that, I would highly recommend not bringing too much stuff with you. We brought eight large cardboard boxes and we could have halved that amount and still would have had too much stuff. You can buy everything here, although sometimes you might have to drive a bit to get it. We are loving it.

[Ahab]

On ‎7‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 9:02 AM, ubonjoe said:

I am not sure that info is factual. I cannot see them doing away with ACH transfers since many businesses use them to transfer funds and payments.

As far as I know ACH is the only way to do the transfers.

Evidently the ACH is still working and being used since the direct posits and established ACH transfers are still working.

We regularly transfer money through BBK Bank via ACH with no issues from our credit union (Navy FCU) in the USA.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, jerry921 said:

One of the unique things about T-mobile is their smart-phones have a wifi calling feature. You can use this feature with a wifi connection in your home in Thailand.  In the wifi-calling settings set up, choose the "Never Use Cellular Network", and leave the phone at home in range of your wifi all the time. This allows you to keep a US phone number, anywhere in the world. Calling over wifi is unlimited and doesn't count against your cellular minute allowance or count as roaming.

 

If you are going to try to keep a US address, it's useful to keep a US phone number to go with it.

 

Except, AFAIK,

 

1. TM's wifi calling feature is only available on certain phones, including those bought directly from TM.

 

2. And more to the point, the wifi calling feature is NOT available on the $3 a month prepaid plan.

 

I've checked out that topic before, because I was hoping I might be able to use my TM SIM in the manner you suggest. And found, not available on my particular mobile device, and not avail on my $3 a month TM plan.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

We regularly transfer money through BBK Bank via ACH with no issues from our credit union (Navy FCU) in the USA.

 

Make the transfers while you can. In all likelihood, the current BKKB ACH transfer system won't last any longer than a few more months. Perhaps they'll come up with a reasonable alternative, perhaps they won't.

 

 

[JLCrab]

If you get a 220 baht fee-reimbursed ATM card not having the BKK ACH transfer is not such a big deal unless the 20,000 baht maximum withdrawal per day is a major impediment to your lifestyle.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

 USA Box is recognized as a forwarding service so you will need the address of a friend or relative for your account (or else you cannot use it for trading, selling, etc.).

 

 

Ideally for me, you'd want a mail forwarding service and related address that is NOT "blacklisted" as a mail forwarding address.  In my years of using USA2Me, I've only had that problem ONCE with one particular bank, and everything else has been fine, including brokerages.

 

But what I think can be helpful to someone considering relocating is this:  While you're still in the states at your OLD address, open everything you think you might possibly need with your old address, and then move and do subsequent address changes to your new MF address. That's the safer way.

 

As opposed to, waiting and then trying to open new accounts from scratch using a mail forwarding address at the beginning. Typically, if an institution or retailer has some kind of address check, they're going to do it at account opening, and not so much or at all on subsequent address changes.

 

That said, I've opened tons of accounts over the years with my address, and as I said, only had a problem once.

[JLCrab]

How much does an account weigh?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

If you get a 220 baht fee-reimbursed ATM card not having the BKK ACH transfer is not such a big deal unless the 20,000 baht maximum withdrawal per day is a major impediment to your lifestyle.

 

And some debit cards such as Schwab have a higher daily withdrawal limit of $1000, which means you can withdraw the maximum 30,000 per pull allowed at Thai ATMs belonging to Krungsri and TMB, and just incur a single ATM fee/fee reimbursement, AFAIK.

 

As you mention, a lot of the other Thai ATMs have lower per withdrawal limits of 20 to 25K.

 

To make it work optimally with a fee reimbursing debit card, you need two things:

--a U.S. card that allows the $1000 or more in cash withdrawals per day. Most are in the $300 to $500 per day range, which would prevent you from maximizing your potential withdrawal.

 

--And, a Thai bank whose ATMs support the maximum 30,000 baht allowed per withdrawal, which right now works out to $900+.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, jerry921 said:

There was a thread here about customers of some Thai bank that was insisting to know your foreign home address - even from customers who hadn't lived in their own country for 20 years. They didn't check it, so people just gave them their last address, but in my opinion, the direction of the wind is clear, and keeping a US address is becoming more and more valuable and necessary. I think maintaining a US presence is smart and good insurance for the price.

 

Every time I've opened a Thai bank account lately, they've insisted that I write down my current U.S. address as part of the account application. I'm not sure why or what they do with it, but I suspect it's probably in part related to the Thai banks obligation to share U.S. account holder info with the U.S. for tax reporting and FBAR/FATCA compliance.

 

I told them, Hey, I've lived here for XX years. And their response was, don't care, we want your U.S. residence address.

 

 

[JLCrab]

I think you will find that it is not your US bank that establishes the daily limit or at a Thai ATM or inside a Thai bank office but the VISA network system.

[Ahab]

27 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Make the transfers while you can. In all likelihood, the current BKKB ACH transfer system won't last any longer than a few more months. Perhaps they'll come up with a reasonable alternative, perhaps they won't.

 

 

You should read through the posts on this thread about BKK Bank, why do you think that ACH through the NYC Branch will only be around for a few more months? Based on the other posts and the Bangkok Bank website information your belief seems baseless. Just curious.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I think you will find that it is not your US bank that establishes the daily limit or at a Thai ATM or inside a Thai bank office but the VISA network system.

 

No, the individual U.S. bank sets the daily withdrawal limit on the cards issued under their name. Each card has a daily (PER DAY) limit on cash withdrawals and POS purchases that the individual bank sets by their own policy.

 

And then, separate from that, the individual Thai banks each have varying PER WITHDRAWAL limits on how many bills their particular ATMs will spit out per transaction. You could go back multiple times to the same ATM, up until you reached the DAILY withdrawal limit set by your bank.

 

The VISA and MC networks aren't setting either the daily limit on a particular debit card OR how much money a particular Thai bank ATM will dispense per transaction.

 

I have some MCs with a $300 daily limit, some $450, some $500, etc etc. It's up to the issuing bank.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, Ahab said:

You should read through the posts on this thread about BKK Bank, why do you think that ACH through the NYC Branch will only be around for a few more months? Based on the other posts and the Bangkok Bank website information your belief seems baseless. Just curious.

 

Because I've talked to BKKB NY on the telephone, and that's exactly what they confirmed. See the elaboration below from a different thread exactly on that subject.

 

The exact timing of the coming demise of the current NY Branch ACH system is still up in the air. They haven't decided that yet while they look for other alternatives. But the end of the current system is coming.

 

Why don't you give them a call and ask yourself, if you don't believe my report?  Also, you should read the other thread on BKKB if you want to get a better understanding of what's going on and why.

 

The more people who call BKKB NY wanting to know what's going on, the more they'll know that their customers want them to find a viable replacement option for the current ACH system.

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

5 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I think you will find that it is not your US bank that establishes the daily limit or at a Thai ATM or inside a Thai bank office but the VISA network system.

No, it's set by your card-issuing bank as TG said.   A typical amount used by U.S. banks is $1000 or $500, but it can be any amount the bank chooses.  Like I have one bank where the limit is $600 but most of my banks are $1000.   Even Schwab issues at least two versions of it's debit card...one comes with a $1000 limit; the other with $500.

 

And then Thai banks have their own limits set for ATM withdrawal----ranges from Bt20K to Bt30K depending on the bank. But a Thai bank's counter withdrawal limit when using a foreign card is much higher....pretty much your only limit will be what the card-issuing bank allows.

[JLCrab]

I had approved a $2500 one day withdrawal limit at my US bank to help pay a hospital bill in cash (not mine) and it was declined at several banks and ATM's here in Thailand so let's just say my experienced differs.

[jerry921]

28 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Except, AFAIK,

 

1. TM's wifi calling feature is only available on certain phones, including those bought directly from TM.

 

2. And more to the point, the wifi calling feature is NOT available on the $3 a month prepaid plan.

 

I've checked out that topic before, because I was hoping I might be able to use my TM SIM in the manner you suggest. And found, not available on my particular mobile device, and not avail on my $3 a month TM plan.

 

I have an S-7 that I bought from T-M two years ago. I don't know how far back their smart phones go in supporting that feature, or how expensive the cheapest plan that includes the feature would be. I was a little hesitant to post what I did, because I'm in Mexico not Thailand, and I have a $50/month plan that includes free roaming in Mexico, but I use the wifi calling as much as I can to reduce the amount of roaming, just in case they decide I'm using too much of their "free roaming". (There are unconfirmed reports online of people getting booted off the plan for "extreme roaming", whatever that may be).

 

It may be that some of the other schemes like Magic Jack are better for Thailand, especially if you can receive text messages and whatsapp.

 

It was very handy for me to have been able to keep the same US phone number that was already associated with all my accounts. For example, when my retirement account/stock broker company wants to text me a confirmation code because I'm logging in from a "new address" (even though it's the same laptop), I comes to my phone no problem. For me it's a great feature.

 

Another risk to depending on this is if T-Mobile merges with Sprint - who knows what happens then, they could easily drop the feature.

[Pib]

Just now, JLCrab said:

I had approved a $2500 one day withdrawal limit at my US bank to help pay a hospital bill in cash (not mine) and it was declined at several banks and ATM's here in Thailand so let's just say my experienced differs.

 

I can understand the disapproval at a Thai ATM because they are setup to issue a max of 30 notes (30 one-thousand baht notes which is around $950)....doesn't matter if you have a $10K daily limit debit card....you can still only get a max of 30K baht from Thai ATMs--those ATMs that allow up to 30K....some only allow 20K or 25K baht.  Like TMB and Krungsri allow Bt30K....Bangkok Bank Bt25K...and some other only allow Bt20K.  I think AEON ATMs are now only Bt20K.

 

Now a $2500 amount being declined for a counter withdrawal I can't speak to what happened in your case.   I know you said you had the U.S. bank's approval for $2,500, but my gut tells me when you actually attempted the withdrawal teh disapproval/came from the U.S. bank.  Maybe they failed to properly code the one-time approval in their system and when it hit it was rejected.  If the Thai bank had a max limit below $2,500 they would not even attempt the transaction....just look  at you before even attempting the transaction and say no-can-do for that amount....max amount we will do is X-amount.

 

I have used my no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee "credit" cards, which allow $2000 per day at counter or only $1,000 day from an ATM to do numerous counter withdrawals at Bangkok Bank and Krungsri Branch for $2,000 equivalent in baht which was a little over Bt60K at the time.   And sometimes in the same counter withdrawal setting also used my "debit" card to get another $1000 equivalent in baht.   One time doing the two cards in the same settings, one a debit card and one a credit card, I did a counter withdrawal totaling 102,000 baht which I had deposit directly into my Thai bank account during the same setting. 

 

Below is an example of various limits a card-issuing bank may set for a card. Yes it is talking one of my credit cards issued by a credit union regarding a cash transaction but it serves as an example.   Notice the various limits allowed.  And a person can still request a one-time increase to get a bigger cash advance by calling the bank and requesting an approval which they may or may not approved....all depends on the bank's policy.

Quote

 

Members may advance up to $5,000 into a checking, share, or Money Market Savings Account.

A member may do a cash advance withdraw up to $1,000 per day from a ATM.

A member may withdraw up to $2,000 per day from a financial institution.

 

 

And for a debit card, below is a cut and paste from the Schwab debit card Terms and Agreement.  A $1000 limit from an ATM or counter....but a purchase can be much higher....and it talks you can possibly get an increase by talking to Schwab.....it even talks even with a one time increase that other factors may prevent the transaction from actually working.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

30 minutes ago, jerry921 said:

I have an S-7 that I bought from T-M two years ago. I don't know how far back their smart phones go in supporting that feature, or how expensive the cheapest plan that includes the feature would be. I was a little hesitant to post what I did, because I'm in Mexico not Thailand, and I have a $50/month plan that includes free roaming in Mexico, but I use the wifi calling as much as I can to reduce the amount of roaming, just in case they decide I'm using too much of their "free roaming". (There are unconfirmed reports online of people getting booted off the plan for "extreme roaming", whatever that may be).

 

 

You're exactly right in what you're saying here --  TM wifi calling does work with most or all recent phones bought from TM, AND for customers who are on their regular postpaid (MONEY) plans, like your $50 a month one. It's a great deal in THAT context.

 

But I was taking issue with your prior more general post on TM wifi calling, especially since it's not allowed on the $3 a month prepaid plan that I had mentioned earlier, regardless of what kind of phone one might be using it with.

 

And since TM does NOT offer free international roaming in Thailand, unlike Mexico, for most people who live in Thailand, its going to make no sense to pay $50 a month for a postpaid TM plan that then charges you $2.50 or so per minute for all calls to that TM number while TM roaming in Thailand.

 

The $3 a month TM prepaid plan, on the other hand, is a reasonably economical way to basically keep and maintain a viable U.S. mobile number for use when traveling back to the U.S. -- periods when you can change the $3 plan to a higher level plan for U.S. use, and then revert back to the $3 a month placeholder service when back to Thailand.

 

The $3 a month TM plan also provides a viable U.S. SMS sending and receiving method while in Thailand, although TM will charge a small fee per SMS for both incoming and outgoing. But as long as you dont do too many SMS, it's acceptable -- unlike their outrageous almost $2.50 per minute roaming fee on calls while in Thailand. For U.S. SMSs, I personally prefer using other free or lower cost methods like Google Voice or TextNow.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[JLCrab]

Thank you. I have related my experience with a $2500 one day withdrawal limit via telephone call US Bank approval for which I could not withdraw multiple times at an ATM and was declined at Bangkok Bank and KrungThai Bank offices. This was March 2017. If your experience is different, then your experience is different.

 

I was able to withdraw the funds as normal from the ATM over the next few days. The hospital let the young patient go home following open-heart surgery but the mother had to camp out in the hospital lobby until the bill was paid in full. The young patient is now doing well but this was a terminal condition and quite dramatic all-around. 

Edited July 16, 2018 by JLCrab

[khlongtoey]

On 7/14/2018 at 9:29 AM, Pib said:

Me too...met too...in Thailand 73-75 in USAF....even picked up Thai wife before leaving which I'm still with....she is also a dual Thai-U.S. citizen.  We retired here to Thailand a decade ago.   Some

 

Basically your choice of transfer methods is either Domestic ACH, SWIFT, International Wire....the later two being pricey fee-wise.  While Domestic ACH transfers from already established U.S. ibanking ACH transfer links are still getting through to Bangkok Bank accounts it's highly probable that will stop in the near future.

--------

funny, I setup transferwise today, and it offered two choices ACH and Wire, for $1000  it shows  "Wire" as less expensive by about $1   FWIW

 

Maybe one can set up both  Schwab International and  Domestic Accounts to have the luxury  of free Wire  transfers

[Pib]

2 hours ago, khlongtoey said:

Basically your choice of transfer methods is either Domestic ACH, SWIFT, International Wire....the later two being pricey fee-wise.  While Domestic ACH transfers from already established U.S. ibanking ACH transfer links are still getting through to Bangkok Bank accounts it's highly probable that will stop in the near future.

--------

funny, I setup transferwise today, and it offered two choices ACH and Wire, for $1000  it shows  "Wire" as less expensive by about $1   FWIW

 

Maybe one can set up both  Schwab International and  Domestic Accounts to have the luxury  of free Wire  transfers

That's because Transferwise does not initiate a Wire to obtain the funds to source you transfer, therefore, no fee from them.   But they will initiate a transfer via ACH Debit, Debit Card, or Credit Card.  Up to the individual in what they choose as the funding method.

 

If wanting to fund the transfer via Wire then it's "your" responsibility to get with your bank and Wire the funds to Transferwise which is includes whatever fee your bank will charge you for the Wire transfer. Wire transfers at banks usually start at around $25 and up.   

 

So, now add in the cost of that wire from you bank to the total transfer costs.   Unless a person gets free wires from his bank I doubt the person would want to use that method as it would significantly increase the cost of the transfer. 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Pib

[NancyL]

2 hours ago, khlongtoey said:

Basically your choice of transfer methods is either Domestic ACH, SWIFT, International Wire....the later two being pricey fee-wise.  While Domestic ACH transfers from already established U.S. ibanking ACH transfer links are still getting through to Bangkok Bank accounts it's highly probable that will stop in the near future.

--------

funny, I setup transferwise today, and it offered two choices ACH and Wire, for $1000  it shows  "Wire" as less expensive by about $1   FWIW

 

Maybe one can set up both  Schwab International and  Domestic Accounts to have the luxury  of free Wire  transfers

I know that there have been reports of difficulty with new ACH transfers between U.S. banks and Bangkok Bank, so to test this on Friday evening, Thai time, I set up a new ACH transfer between my U.S. credit union checking account and the Bangkok Bank account of an organization in Thailand, an account not in my name.  No problem.  They sent me an SMS yesterday (Wednesday) that they had received my donation from the U.S.  I used the credit union's "bill pay" function.  No need for "trial deposits".