CONFIRMED: Here is exactly what’s needed for retirement & marriage extensions (income method) from 2019

[sfokevin]

30 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

6 hours ago, Anon999 said:

KBank say they are unable to show a transfer as International due to the local processing procedure prior to it being credited to your account. Only solution appears to be change to BKB as they are the only one, I think, that does.

Kasikorn must know when its Intl though otherwise how can they issue an FET for condo purchases?

For those who use Kasikorn and other banks showing your transfers as domestic I would recommend you go to the bank and request a “Credit Advice” for the transaction... it may show the actually origin of the money proving its from a foreign source name... 

 

Here is an example Sheryl posted on another tread...

(These can be requested for any credit to your account (foreign or domestic) and free if requested within 3 months of transaction)

Edited January 19, 2019 by sfokevin

[JLCrab]

8 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Or modified... I have "friendly bank manger 10+ yr"

Is that a joke.  Annoy another thread

I have a friendly bank manager because when I first moved to Thailand  setting up a bank account was one of the first things I did. There are those who have been here at least as long as I have who still have no Thai bank account. 

 

So once again those are the new regs and if someone cannot comply I don't see why I should be accused of taking pot shots at them. Maybe you should commiserate with all the Joan of Arc types who want to use this topic to just say how unfair everything is. 

[Madgee]

To JL, 

I'm not disputing your 10y bank manager relationship but it's highly unusual for a manager to stay in one branch for more than 4 years, they're normally forced to move on to another branch. The two managers in my family have had to anyway and my local BKK manager had to switch branches fairly recently as well. 

Or maybe you move branch with your manager? 

Anyway, no worries! 

[JLCrab]

18 minutes ago, Madgee said:

The two managers in my family

I guess he's not in your family but be careful lest you be accused of bragging on here by those who only have one bank manager in the family.

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I guess he's not in your family but be careful lest you be accused of bragging on here by those who only have one bank manager in the family.

More nonsense zero help to income method advice. 

[luckyluke]

 

I am Belgian so still can rely on a L. o. I.. 

 

I also transfer monthly, and since many years, ca. the equivalent of 75.000 Thb. 

 

I used Swift, now Transferwise since a while, because it is cheaper. 

 

If eventually no L. o. I. anymore in the future ( one never know here) and an identification problem with Transferwise, I will switch back to Swift. 

 

If one want something, adapting is the word, even if sometimes it cost.

 

It's the price to pay. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by luckyluke

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Madgee said:

To JL, 

I'm not disputing your 10y bank manager relationship but it's highly unusual for a manager to stay in one branch for more than 4 years, they're normally forced to move on to another branch. The two managers in my family have had to anyway and my local BKK manager had to switch branches fairly recently as well. 

Or maybe you move branch with your manager? 

Anyway, no worries! 

That is what I thought.

 

My local KBank in the "big" village has had 4 managers in the last 14 years that I know of though many of the staff at the lower level have been there 10 years or more.

 

Perhaps they are happier to take a smaller salary and not bother with promotion just to stay in the same place.

[Kadilo]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

So to make it crystal. If I for example had an elite visa, then I can come onto members forum that is discussing problems surrounding recent changes....and post what.."I have an elite visa, suffer mugs". Or modified... I have "friendly bank manger 10+ yr"

Is that a joke.  Annoy another thread.

It’s his way. Sadly you have to get used to it and seems to be able to pretty much do what he wants for some reason. 

Says a lot about a person who wishes to gloat in this way. 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Kadilo

[friendofthai]

I hope there will be stories of success soon. With locations of Imm. offices.

[JLCrab]

1 hour ago, friendofthai said:

I hope there will be stories of success soon. With locations of Imm. offices.

November 2019 (I hope) with 12 month's of 65K+ baht FTT SWIFT transfers.

 

ThaiVisa.com: Where you get razzed for following the rules instead of yammering why aren't the rules something else.

Edited January 19, 2019 by JLCrab

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, jimn said:

"I got my extension by just transfering 65k in and out of 2 thai bank accounts monthly". I would not be surprised if this is the case. 

That would seem to be a blatant non-qualifier so don't hold your breath,

[farangx]

9 hours ago, friendofthai said:

I hope there will be stories of success soon. With locations of Imm. offices.

The real success should show towards the end of this year.

 

[jimn]

9 hours ago, jacko45k said:

That would seem to be a blatant non-qualifier so don't hold your breath,

We shall see.

[Thaidream]

14 hours ago, JLCrab said:

ThaiVisa.com: Where you get razzed for following the rules instead of yammering why aren't the rules something else.

I can follow the rules without any problem- but Thai Immigration refuses to follow their own rules.

[Sheryl]

When I did my exstension 17 this Jan last Thursday my wife and I went to Kbank at Changwatana down stairs from imagration and the guy didn't know what I was talking about. Gave us some bs about 500 baht and wait 1 month for a letter that shows monthly deposits  for the year no guarantee that it will show international deposit.  
I just did my exstension using embassy letter And want to try to get clarification from Kbank before I deposit for Feb. I don't want to find out middle of this year that Kbank's middle bank policy won't work. 
But knowing Bangkok bank is fully aware. 

With Kbank always best to call their main helpline and let them explain to branch staff.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Sheryl]

Re Post #1321 above, I believe that in banking language Kbank is using s "correspondent bank."  Not unusual.  Don't  worry about it.  Consistent transfers (which would be the easiest to spot on a statement) would be reflected in both your BOA statement and your KBank statement (a couple of days after the money is sent because of processing time.  No need to panic.
 
Nor do I think you have to worry about  a day early or late regarding transit time.  To keep things simple, do your transfers during the middle of each month.  Anyway, what you are doing is clear enough.  Just don't cut it too close on the currency exchange rate.  You'd go nuts otherwise.
 
I should add that doing this with Bangkok Bank is a piece of cake.

If they are using a correspondent bank for Swift transfer the whole thing including point of origin of the funds. Get copies of the Credit Advices.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Spidey]

Made my first SWIFT transfer from my UK account to my Bangkok Bank account last week. Took exactly 3 days to reach my account, shows as "International Transfer" on my online statement. Charged £9.50 by my UK bank and possibly 200 baht by Bangkok Bank (not certain).

 

Biggest downside was that I asked for the money to be sent in Baht and got a rate of 39.6 Baht/GBP.

 

I had withdrawn the same amount using my UK CC 4 weeks earlier and got a rate of 41.2. No bank charges at either end.

 

Easy enough to do, less convenient and noticeably more expensive.

 

Big question is: Do I get the best rate sending the money in GBP or THB, and how can I check the respective rates before making a transfer?

[Kadilo]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Made my first SWIFT transfer from my UK account to my Bangkok Bank account last week. Took exactly 3 days to reach my account, shows as "International Transfer" on my online statement. Charged £9.50 by my UK bank and possibly 200 baht by Bangkok Bank (not certain).

 

Biggest downside was that I asked for the money to be sent in Baht and got a rate of 39.6 Baht/GBP.

 

I had withdrawn the same amount using my UK CC 4 weeks earlier and got a rate of 41.2. No bank charges at either end.

 

Easy enough to do, less convenient and noticeably more expensive.

 

Big question is: Do I get the best rate sending the money in GBP or THB, and how can I check the respective rates before making a transfer?

Which UK bank do you use if you don’t mind me asking. Santander charge £25. 

 

[JLCrab]

16 hours ago, Thaidream said:

I can follow the rules without any problem- but Thai Immigration refuses to follow their own rules.

Their ball and their bat so I guess you lose.

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Which UK bank do you use if you don’t mind me asking. Santander charge £25. 

 

Halifax. Also use Halifax Clarity CC for in bank withdrawals. Zero charges at either end.

[Kadilo]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Halifax. Also use Halifax Clarity CC for in bank withdrawals. Zero charges at either end.

Good Q re sending baht vs £. 

Something I need to know myself. 

[steve73]

24 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Good Q re sending baht vs £. 

Something I need to know myself. 

This is one of the reasons I send using Transferwise... You know EXACTLY what rate has been applied, and what baht you will receive.

They update their rates in line with the MMR (Mid Market Rate) continuously, and you can see their rate changing if you update their quote page (or even just change the amount to be sent, i.e. 1000 to 1001 to 1000 again.)

But unless the source of the funds is unimportant to you (i.e. 800k savings) then it's risky if you're using someone other than Bangkok Bank to receive them.

 

If you SWIFT in GBP, then you will only get the receiving bank rate when the funds arrive (and IMO this is open to abuse).  But SWIFT sending THB from a UK bank and you'll get a much lower rate... but at lest you'll know upfront what it will be (if you ask).

[jacko45k]

46 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Big question is: Do I get the best rate sending the money in GBP or THB, and how can I check the respective rates before making a transfer?

Better to send it in GBP, local Thai banks give better rates than UK banks.

The Bangkok Bank rate can be seen on their website updated throughout the day. Use TT buying rates.

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates

 

[Spidey]

26 minutes ago, steve73 said:

If you SWIFT in GBP, then you will only get the receiving bank rate when the funds arrive (and IMO this is open to abuse).  But SWIFT sending THB from a UK bank and you'll get a much lower rate... but at lest you'll know upfront what it will be (if you ask).

I use Bangkok Bank. I would really like to check the 2 rates online before making the transfer.

 

I have looked into TransferWise. For me, it has no advantages. Fee is pretty much identical to the fee charged by my UK bank for SWIFT transfer. Also the rate, when I checked, was not quite as good as the rate I was getting using my CC (Mastercard). I would be happy if I could achieve a similar rate to this on a SWIFT transfer. Also, don't like the idea of using a 3rd party. i.e. Setting up an account with TransferWise, transferring the required funds from my UK bank to TransferWise, then making another transfer from TransferWise to my Thai bank account. A bit messy. Easier to SWIFT transfer my funds directly from my UK bank to my Thai bank.

 

I just need a decent, verifiable exchange rate.

[jimn]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Made my first SWIFT transfer from my UK account to my Bangkok Bank account last week. Took exactly 3 days to reach my account, shows as "International Transfer" on my online statement. Charged £9.50 by my UK bank and possibly 200 baht by Bangkok Bank (not certain).

 

Biggest downside was that I asked for the money to be sent in Baht and got a rate of 39.6 Baht/GBP.

 

I had withdrawn the same amount using my UK CC 4 weeks earlier and got a rate of 41.2. No bank charges at either end.

 

Easy enough to do, less convenient and noticeably more expensive.

 

Big question is: Do I get the best rate sending the money in GBP or THB, and how can I check the respective rates before making a transfer?

Spidey, if you do transfers always always send money in GBP. It gets converted in Thailand normally at the TT rate. If you send in baht it gets converted at a poor rate of exchange in the UK.

[Spidey]

41 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Better to send it in GBP, local Thai banks give better rates than UK banks.

The Bangkok Bank rate can be seen on their website updated throughout the day. Use TT buying rates.

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates

 

So the rate I will get, using a SWIFT transfer in GBP, is the on is the "TT buying rate" as shown on the website?

[jacko45k]

30 minutes ago, Spidey said:

So the rate I will get, using a SWIFT transfer in GBP, is the on is the "TT buying rate" as shown on the website?

Yes, but of course it will likely change in the intervening time of it arriving.

As to Transferwise, it took a bit to set up, but I liked the way it worked, and it was quick.

The rate was only marginally better, 0.1 baht/GBP mostly, but  it arrived in baht, exactly to the amount stated, and no charge at Bangkok Bank end. (Usually some percentage to a max of 500 baht).

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by jacko45k

[steve73]

11 minutes ago, Spidey said:

I use Bangkok Bank. I would really like to check the 2 rates online before making the transfer.

 

<snip.>

 

I just need a decent, verifiable exchange rate.

 

You can check BBL's TT rate on-line (same for all Thai banks, and there's often quite a significant difference), but unless you can predict the future it won't tell you what rate you'll get when the cash arrives (and with the Brexit "negotiations" in full swing, the GBP/THB rate varies by as much a 1% during the day some days.

See here for Thai bank rates... https://daytodaydata.net/

 

Your UK bank should be able to provide you a current THB rate (I've never used sent THB, so I've never checked mine to see), but no idea if they would actually commit to a rate when you made a SWIFT transfer.

[Spidey]

20 minutes ago, Spidey said:

I just need a decent, verifiable exchange rate.

Have just checked a couple of websites, including excellent site provided by @jacko45k which is now a shortcut on my desktop.

 

Current rate with Mastercard = 40.85.

Current buying rate with BKK bank/ TT = 40.5

 

Close enough for me. On my standard 70k baht transfer that gives me a difference of £15 or 600 baht.

 

In total this method will cost me an extra £15+£9.50+ 200 baht (£5) = £29.50 (1200 baht) per month. x12= 14.300 baht per annum. Almost identical to paying an agent to sort it all out for you.

[steve73]

18 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Have just checked a couple of websites, including excellent site provided by @jacko45k which is now a shortcut on my desktop.

 

Current rate with Mastercard = 40.85.

Current buying rate with BKK bank/ TT = 40.5

 

Close enough for me. On my standard 70k baht transfer that gives me a difference of £15 or 600 baht.

 

In total this method will cost me an extra £15+£9.50+ 200 baht (£5) = £29.50 (1200 baht) per month. x12= 14.300 baht per annum. Almost identical to paying an agent to sort it all out for you.

TW Fx currently 40.89418.

Total Fee on 1723 GBP sent is 10.92 GBP for 70,014 Bt.

 

A little over a third of the cost your SWIFT transfer... and you know EXACTLY how many baht you'll receive.

Provided BBL statements clearly show it is an international payment (which they appear to from what I've read.)