Transferring Money To Thailand Bank Or Cash?

[Philbot44]

Hi

I have a problem and I am not sure which is the best way to send 500,000 b to thailand.

We live in the emirates and I have checked here that we can send bank transfer to Kasikorn bank and the money will be transfered as thai baht.

It seems however that when it arrives in thailand they will take the following:-

0.25% of the 500,000 for the transfer =1250 baht!!

A simple 20 baht for the transfer ( I can live with that one)

Then it will transfer from BKK branch to branch in the north they charge another 10 baht for every 10,000 baht = 520 baht!!

To me that works out at £300 roughly, but I have already lost out in the conversion to Thai baht prior to sending the money the the BKK branch?

The questions are;

Is this legit

IS there another way of sending it

Can I bring it in my bag as Thai baht or is there a limit to how much I can bring to Thailand.. (yes i will check here too about taking money out of country)

Should I convert it to US dollar and bring to thailand?

Does anybody have any other suggestins please

Many thanks

Philbot

[Greer]

Hey Philbot, I dont know what kind of calculator or arithmetic you are using, but when I went to school the following was true:

.25% of 500,000 baht = 1250 baht

Transfer fee = 20 baht

10 baht/10,000 = 500 baht

Total = 1770 baht

Exchange rate is about 68 baht per pound, so that means your fees come to the princely sum of GBP26.03

Where did you get GBP300 from?

I am pretty certain that carrying that amount of money into the country would draw suspicion (think about drug dealers etc) and if you were caught, although it may not be illegal (if in USD) I am sure it would result in a long and unecessary period of questioning by the authorities.

Do the transfer, it is easier, cleaner, and completely legal. It will usually take a few days for the funds to become available in your account in Thailand. I regularly send money by TT from the UK to Bangkok to pay my bills there for the family etc. and a TT generally takes a couple or three days max.

Hope this helps...

\edit...spelling

Edited February 17, 2007 by Greer

[Pilchard]

Hi

I never been charged anywhere near that for receiving money to my account.

If you're coming to Thailand could you not just buy 14x 1000 dollar travelers cheques .

Just a thought

[lopburi3]

The normal charge is .25% up to 500 baht max (at least at Bangkok Bank).

Make very sure you send foreign currency rather than baht bought on the international market (as there is a huge difference currently). You want the exchange to be done in Thailand.

[Peterpan]

Hi

I have a problem and I am not sure which is the best way to send 500,000 b to thailand.

We live in the emirates and I have checked here that we can send bank transfer to Kasikorn bank and the money will be transfered as thai baht.

It seems however that when it arrives in thailand they will take the following:-

0.25% of the 500,000 for the transfer =1250 baht!!

A simple 20 baht for the transfer ( I can live with that one)

Then it will transfer from BKK branch to branch in the north they charge another 10 baht for every 10,000 baht = 520 baht!!

To me that works out at £300 roughly, but I have already lost out in the conversion to Thai baht prior to sending the money the the BKK branch?

The questions are;

Is this legit

IS there another way of sending it

Can I bring it in my bag as Thai baht or is there a limit to how much I can bring to Thailand.. (yes i will check here too about taking money out of country)

Should I convert it to US dollar and bring to thailand?

Does anybody have any other suggestins please

Many thanks

Philbot

I send money every month to Kasikorn account and I send US dollars, never THB and the costs are peanuts

[Maestro]

...transfer to Kasikorn bank...It seems however that when it arrives in thailand they will take the following...

While other Thai banks give full details of their bank charges on their websites I cannot find this information on the site of Kasikorn Bank. Perhaps it is there, but too skillfully hidden.

--

Maestro

[Philbot44]

lol

thanks for all your replies.. seems my maths isnt as good as I thought, yes its ok £26 why I thought it was £260!

I am living in UAE so I would have to change from Dirhams to Dollar then to Thai baht in Thailand so i think I will stick with sending it in thai baht

Also my wife tells me they did say max 500 baht so its even less than £26..

Just was a bit worried, thanks again for putting my mind as rest.

Ive transfered 9000 baht as a test to see what happens bfore I send the big bucks.

Philbot

[Sophon]

I am living in UAE so I would have to change from Dirhams to Dollar then to Thai baht in Thailand so i think I will stick with sending it in thai baht

I would check exchange rates with your bank before you decide how to send the money, as I'm pretty sure that even with two exchanges it will be much (and I do mean much) better for you to send USD. The spread on USD is probably much smaller than on THB in UAE, and with the current on-shore/off-shore rates I would be very surprised if you would come out ahead sending THB.

Sophon

[pampal]

when i bought my condo in bkk, i brought in all the money cash, declared it

I was not questioned or given any dirty looks

these days drug dealers are more prone to using the banking system than using cash

many people bring in large amounts of cash to do shopping also