How to receive money transfer without bank account and NOT with Western Union ?

[anatta0]

Hi, I am traveling in Bangkok, Thailand, I need to transfer money from overseas with a money transfer agent that I know that has very good rate and relatively low fees.

I can't withdraw with my foreign ATM as the card is spoiled, need to go back to my country to fix that.

 

I want to receive money transfer that will be triggered with a transfer agent from overseas, but I need a bank account in Thailand to receive this money.

I can't open a bank account even with Bangkok Bank, they ask me to get a recommendation letter from my embassy, but my embassy will only produce this letter if I am a residence/work in Thailand.

 

So I wonder if there's money agent in Bangkok that will help to receive money for me ? That I can pay a small fees.

 

I called up Bangkok Bank, they said I can receive money without bank account, just ask the sender to go to Bangkok bank branch to transfer and provide my full name, address, passport number, phone number and I can pickup from the branch. But my transfer agent won't do that for me.

 

I know about Western Union, the fees is high, trying to avoid that.

[ubonjoe]

You might want to check MoneyGram's rates. It has been a few years since I used them but their rates were much lower than WU.

See: http://moneygram.co.th/en

Edit: International site. https://secure.moneygram.com/mgo/us/en/

Checked and it was $16 to send $1000 from the US.

[anatta0]

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You might want to check MoneyGram's rates. It has been a few years since I used them but their rates were much lower than WU.

See: http://moneygram.co.th/en

Hi, thanks, I have heard of this often. I will check on this. But i also prefer to use my transfer agent (alike Transferwise, but not) as this way I can initiate the transfer with online banking myself without bothering friends/family in my country to do the transfer for me. With WU/Moneygram I have to bother someone to go to the agent. So, still hope if there's a money changer in Bangkok will do this for a fee ?

[ubonjoe]

It can be done online in the US with a credit/debit card or from a bank account. See: https://www.moneygram.com/us/en/send-money-online

[anatta0]

23 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It can be done online in the US with a credit/debit card or from a bank account. See: https://www.moneygram.com/us/en/send-money-online

Okay, to be more specific, I am transferring from Indonesia to Thailand. The fees are more expensive than from USA.  EDIT : There's no online banking option for me from Indonesia.

I estimated, say transferring IDR 14 500 000 (USD 1000) , the fee IDR 630K (USD 43) + lost in poor exchange rate THB 1286 (USD 39), total USD 82. It's always a privilege to be American ???? 

https://secure.moneygram.com/embed/estimate/transaction-information 

 

Compared to this https://topremit.com/en/send-money-to/THA

Fee and using the mid-market/almost real-time rate, fee is just USD 8 and not bothering anyone to initiate the transfer.

 

[Xaos]

Bitcoin

Coinbase.com

Bx.th.in

[anatta0]

26 minutes ago, Xaos said:

Bitcoin

Coinbase.com

Bx.th.in

I can feel your enthusiasm in bitcoin, I actually looked into that already. But have you given a thought about if I can withdraw into fiat currency (BAHT) WITHOUT Bank account ?

[chrisatchch]

You should be able to open bank account, if you can’t provide required documents, u can use some private people to help you open bank account, Siam Legal,fee about 3000 bhat.   A lady from Bangkokhelper.com ,    Also more people do this service 

[Rhys]

With Western Union there is also a 5 K Limit in the USA they can send you and will question your sender mercilessly and rudely due to the "Money Laundering"claim.   Good luck.

[generealty]

You could use my bank account ! By the way I am a Nigerian Prince so you can trust me

[Peter Denis]

A possible option is to use TransferWise (best rates - midrate / small handling fee / quick processing / fully transparent) and have the money sent to a Thai friend / someone you trust who has a Thai bank account, and who can withdraw the money in cash once it arrived (usually next working day) and hand it over to you.

[sultan2011]

18 hours ago, anatta0 said:

I can feel your enthusiasm in bitcoin, I actually looked into that already. But have you given a thought about if I can withdraw into fiat currency (BAHT) WITHOUT Bank account ?

Buy the coins at home..using the funds you want to transfer..then sell the coins in Thai,, for cash if you have to.

[anatta0]

22 hours ago, chrisatchch said:

You should be able to open bank account, if you can’t provide required documents, u can use some private people to help you open bank account, Siam Legal,fee about 3000 bhat.   A lady from Bangkokhelper.com ,    Also more people do this service 

This is a nice idea, I have seen that Bangkok Helper and Siam Legal, cheapest fee is Siam Legal with USD 120 around 4000 THB. Which I am trying to getch if it's worth it to spent this just for few times usage of the bank account. Looking for cheaper provider if there's any. Thanks.

[anatta0]

6 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

A possible option is to use TransferWise (best rates - midrate / small handling fee / quick processing / fully transparent) and have the money sent to a Thai friend / someone you trust who has a Thai bank account, and who can withdraw the money in cash once it arrived (usually next working day) and hand it over to you.

I am aware of this, Transferwise cannot transfer out from Indonesia. So I am using Topremit.com , transferwise equivalent for Indonesia outbound transfer. I am aware about transferring to friend is one way to go, but as I am travelling here, don't have many local friends, so I want to know if there's a service for money receiving agent that I can trust and without bothering friend.

[steve73]

I'm sure many of the "visa" agents (or possibly even "travel" agents) could provide this service for you, but obviously for a fee, but whether they would be any more trustworthy than the Nigerian Prince who posted earlier is questionable. ;-))

 

Certainly a trusted friend would be the best option, but that trust has to work both ways, as there have been some cases of a foreigner's Thai bank account being frozen when a transfer from overseas has originated from an account "under suspicion".    

 

[Quack]

On 12/24/2018 at 4:11 PM, anatta0 said:

I can feel your enthusiasm in bitcoin, I actually looked into that already. But have you given a thought about if I can withdraw into fiat currency (BAHT) WITHOUT Bank account ?

You can sell for cash directly at localbitcoins.com

[Monomial]

Check out WorldRemit  (https://www.worldremit.com).

 

You can pick up at any Government Savings Bank. Just make sure you have proper identification, and that the name (including honorific) matches exactly what is in your passport. Also be prepared for a struggle, as many times the bank employees don't know what they are doing.

 

 

[singburisam]

I just had a strange experience with Moneygram.

 

Someone in U.S.A. wanted to send me $1000 with Moneygram.  She paid $1000 at her Moneygram office, read that funds were "ready for pickup", sent me number etc.

 

I checked the Moneygram online:  "Not found."  I went to SC Bank; they couldn't find it either.  Finally we learned that Moneygram wouldn't pay the money in Thailand because of some (undisclosed) "problems."  What??  I'll guess the $1000 amount exceeded some threshold.  The money was returned and the sender will find another way to send it.

 

I was annoyed that Moneygram couldn't figure this out, and advise the sender immediately, or provide some more informative message than "transaction not found."  Tell all your friends that Moneygram sucks!

 

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(Unrelated question, while I'm here: )

Does anyone here know about sending money in the opposite direction?  A foreigner must show tax information before he can send money (exceeding some threshold?) out of the kingdom.  What restrictions apply to Thai nationals sending money abroad?