If the transfer services do not work either to or FROM Thailand...

[KhunFred]

Exactly HOW  are transfers to be made?   None of what I have been reading about Transferwise and Dee Money makes any sense. Tranferring my SOCIAL SECURITY alone won't work because my fiance left me.., thus no marriage and requirements are now 65 thousand a month.

Edited February 21, 2019 by KhunFred

[Caldera]

They do work. The only (but quite relevant, to those affected) question is if immigration will accept inbound transfers using such services as "coming from overseas".

 

Knowing how Thai officials tick, I'd say: Don't bank on it! The obvious - albeit potentially expensive - alternative are regular SWIFT transfers.

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Caldera
Addition

[FritsSikkink]

Use a normal bank, then you don't have to worry

[KhunFred]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

Use a normal bank, then you don't have to worry

Credit unions and Bangkok Bank are not normal banks????

 

[BertM]

KhunFred,

There are several ways to transfer money to Thailand. The way I do it is as follows:

I have a Chase Bank account in the US and a Citibank Thailand Bank account in Thailand. I transfer USD from Chase in the US using SWIFT (international wire xfers) to Citi. I have a FCD (foreign currency deposit) USD account & THB account with Citi. I transfer the USD to the FCD account and convert it to THB account at my convenience. Chase doesn't charge any fees for my international transfers due to being a Private Client. You can google & research which banks and/or brokerage firms have the cheapest/best wire fees. I also have a newly opened Kasikorn Bank THB account that I transfer from Citi to Kasikorn to put the 400k & 800k in to meet Immigration's requirements. Kasikorn has a branch office at CW Immigration in Bangkok, so it's convenient to get the letter & passbook updated on the day I go for my extension renewal. That's it... Good luck...

Edited February 21, 2019 by BertM

[graemeaylward]

I have never had a problem in 6 years! My state pension and civil service pension get paid into my UK bank account on different days. Therefore, I transfer money twice a month from my UK bank account to my Bangkok Bank account which costs £9.50 per time and always shows up as a foreign transaction in my bank book (FTT) and arrives next day! £19 is a small price to pay for a fast and reliable bank to bank service :-)

Sent from my X98 Plus II (C2D6) using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[wgdanson]

23 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

Credit unions and Bangkok Bank are not normal banks????

 

Bangkok Bank seems pretty normal to me. I put money in, take it out, get a bit of interest, have a debit card, oh yes, and I transfer 65k per month via Transferwise or First Direct and it says FTT in my BANK book.

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, KhunFred said:

because my fiance left me.., thus no marriage

Fiance is different than WIFE.

[onera1961]

They do work. The only (but quite relevant, to those affected) question is if immigration will accept inbound transfers using such services as "coming from overseas".
 
Knowing how Thai officials tick, I'd say: Don't bank on it! The obvious - albeit potentially expensive - alternative are regular SWIFT transfers.
 

They will work for all agent submitted application. Did you talk to any agent?

Sent from my JKM-LX2 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[DrJack54]

28 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

I have never had a problem in 6 years! My state pension and civil service pension get paid into my UK bank account on different days. Therefore, I transfer money twice a month from my UK bank account to my Bangkok Bank account which costs £9.50 per time and always shows up as a foreign transaction in my bank book (FTT) and arrives next day! £19 is a small price to pay for a fast and reliable bank to bank service ????

Sent from my X98 Plus II (C2D6) using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I don't regard £19/month a small price. BTW What's the exchange rate? Most likely not flash.

[Henryford]

1 hour ago, graemeaylward said:

I have never had a problem in 6 years! My state pension and civil service pension get paid into my UK bank account on different days. Therefore, I transfer money twice a month from my UK bank account to my Bangkok Bank account which costs £9.50 per time and always shows up as a foreign transaction in my bank book (FTT) and arrives next day! £19 is a small price to pay for a fast and reliable bank to bank service ????

Sent from my X98 Plus II (C2D6) using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

The cost is not just 19 GBP a month. You are getting much lower rates than say Transferwise and, i guess, getting charged by your Thai bank for the receipt. I would imagine the cost is nearer 50 GBP a month, 600 GBP a year.

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Tranferring my SOCIAL SECURITY alone won't work because my fiance left me.., thus no marriage and requirements are now 65 thousand a month.

Is your problem is not having enough money to transfer in total - 65K Baht - even before passport-country expenses?  Or do you have other income-streams in addition to Social Security?

[KhunFred]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

Fiance is different than WIFE.

I should not even respond to this,but our plans were to be married.thus qualifying to show a lower monthly amount in the bank.

[FritsSikkink]

3 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Credit unions and Bangkok Bank are not normal banks????

 

You were talking about Transferwise and Dee Money

[Thaifish]

I'm sure I will get shot to pieces but where does it actually say that using the 65k Bht method has to come from a foreign money transfer. What is stopping you from just opening up another Thai Bank Account and Transferring 65K Bht every month between accounts. Am I missing something?... Shoot away..

 

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Thaifish

[jacko45k]

8 minutes ago, Thaifish said:

I'm sure I will get shot to pieces but where does it actually say that using the 65k Bht method has to come from a foreign money transfer. What is stopping you from just opening up another Thai Bank Account and Transferring 65K Bht every month between accounts. Am I missing something?... Shoot away..

 

 

It states on the original order that the money must come into a Thai account every month from overseas.

[zoza]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I don't regard £19/month a small price. BTW What's the exchange rate? Most likely not flash.

I have just checked out an account of mine (Halifax) who are offering ''good rates'' for current account holders 29.50 pounds = 9.50 + 20 pounds for Thai bank fee=400 + % more than transfer wise at( 6.99 for 1000 ponds) Halifax also have no exchange rate less than  3.20% less than other banks current exchange rates. so not worth even thinking about it.  

Edited February 21, 2019 by zoza

[Danthai]

5 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Credit unions and Bangkok Bank are not normal banks????

 

When I set up my direct deposit account with BKK them and my main bank fir many years, SCB, how to send money back to my CU USA. Both indicated it is done using a wire transfer. About 1200 to 1400 baht depending n whish bank I use.

[jesimps]

5 hours ago, Henryford said:

The cost is not just 19 GBP a month. You are getting much lower rates than say Transferwise and, i guess, getting charged by your Thai bank for the receipt. I would imagine the cost is nearer 50 GBP a month, 600 GBP a year.

To transfer 65000 baht the difference for me between TransferWise and SWIFT is about 2000 baht, 24000 a year, I'll stick to TW.

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, zoza said:

I have just checked out an account of mine (Halifax) who are offering ''good rates'' for current account holders 29.50 pounds = 9.50 + 20 pounds for Thai bank fee=400 + % more than transfer wise at( 6.99 for 1000 ponds) Halifax also have no exchange rate less than  3.20% less than other banks current exchange rates. so not worth even thinking about it.  

Transferring 1700 pounds from Halifax plc to here using SWIFT costs me 2000 baht more than if I use TransferWise. I know, I recently did a test run.

[gk10002000]

What would be wrong with just writing and depositing a check every month from your home bank account into your Thai  bank account?  How much does it cost to deposit a check.  How long does it take to for the funds to appear?  I have deposited some checks from overseas into my USA accounts and that didn't seem to take too long.  No idea how long the other direction might take, but there should be nothing stopping one from depositing the check 30 days in advance, surely that would leave plenty of time? 

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, jesimps said:

To transfer 65000 baht the difference for me between TransferWise and SWIFT is about 2000 baht, 24000 a year, I'll stick to TW.

And you may not be able to show that they are international transfers (because they are not) and be unable to use them to show foreign income to your immigration office.

[samsensam]

 

transfer money to your thai bank from your home bank using; smart currency exchange, OANDA, OFX or the like. better exchange rate & easy.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 hours ago, BertM said:

Chase doesn't charge any fees for my international transfers due to being a Private Client.

 

And therein lies the rub. Most folks here who are worrying about how to meet the latest version of Immigration's financial requirements probably don't have sufficient funds on deposit in their home countries to qualify for "private client" type perks with U.S. or UK banks.

 

If you're just an ordinary shmoe not keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars on deposit with one of the mega banks in the U.S., you're probably looking at international wire transfer fees from those mega banks that average $40-$60 per. Multiply that times 12 per year based on the new Immigration rules, and you're easily talking $500+ per year just in traditional Swift wire transfer fees.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

What would be wrong with just writing and depositing a check every month from your home bank account into your Thai  bank account?  How much does it cost to deposit a check.  How long does it take to for the funds to appear?  I have deposited some checks from overseas into my USA accounts and that didn't seem to take too long.  No idea how long the other direction might take, but there should be nothing stopping one from depositing the check 30 days in advance, surely that would leave plenty of time? 

 Check deposits are possible, but might not be a reliable solution for Immigration purposes.

 

Part of the issue could be timing, because depositing a foreign check with a Thai bank can take several weeks before the funds are finally credited locally, and could, depending on when the transfer is done, spill over into a different month and thus cause a compliance problem.

 

The processing fee depends on the Thai bank, but last time I checked, typically was a couple hundred baht per check.

 

Also, there's the issue of how the Thai bank would code a local check deposit from a foreign bank, and whether their classification would count that as a foreign funds transfer. Of course, we have little idea right now to what extent Immigration is going to focus on the details of the transfer vs just seeing 65K deposited into the Thai bank account each and every month.

 

[BertM]

KhunFred,

If you're a US citizen and your Social Security doesn't meet the 65k monthly requirement, then you will need to deposit your SS in a US bank, CU or brokerage firm, then supplement it with additional monies and transfer enough to meet the 65k requirement to a Thai bank using TransferWise, SWIFT international wire transfer or some other method. You will have to pay transfer fees.

I don't know what else anyone can tell you that would help explain. Being unmarried means you will need the 65k per month or you can always use the 400k & 800k bank method. Good luck.

Edited February 21, 2019 by BertM

[gk10002000]

6 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

And therein lies the rub. Most folks here who are worrying about how to meet the latest version of Immigration's financial requirements probably don't have sufficient funds on deposit in their home countries to qualify for "private client" type perks with U.S. or UK banks.

 

If you're just an ordinary shmoe not keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars on deposit with one of the mega banks in the U.S., you're probably looking at international wire transfer fees from those mega banks that average $40-$60 per. Multiply that times 12 per year based on the new Immigration rules, and you're easily talking $500+ per year just in traditional Swift wire transfer fees.

 

Yes, ergo the ridiculous stipulation that transfers need to be made monthly, versus, bi-monthly or even twice a year, or whatever one does.  Some sort of average transfer amount should be allowed.  Heck, I plan to just bring several months of cash with me when I repeat one or two trips back to the states during the year.  I want the convenience of a retirement extension so I don't have to constantly get SETV or other visas.  I was happy to show income but now that they require monthly transfers it is just plain nutty.  Heck, for one or two months I might not even be in country but one would still have to transfer money in to the country.

[gk10002000]

FYI:  Quote from Etrade.  I have 900K USD on deposit with Etrade and while those amounts get me lots of perks, free ATM, no IRA fees, etc., I don't get any break from transfer fees.

"FEES: There is a $25 fee per transaction for outgoing wires. We may deduct the fee from your account, in addition to the amount you request. If you have insufficient funds for the transaction fee, it will be deducted from your wire amount. Wires which are converted from US Dollar ($) to a foreign currency will incur an additional conversion fee of up to 225 basis points (2.25%). We will deduct the conversion fee from the total amount you request.

[soalbundy]

18 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

You were talking about Transferwise and Dee Money

What's wrong with transferwise ? I get my pension transferred from my German account to Bangkok bank via transferwise, I showed my bank book to the manager and he confirmed that this is a foreign transfer of funds.

[jacko45k]

Just now, soalbundy said:

What's wrong with transferwise ? I get my pension transferred from my German account to Bangkok bank via transferwise, I showed my bank book to the manager and he confirmed that this is a foreign transfer of funds.

Apparently most transfers to Bangkok Bank do show up as clearly international, it is though, not 100%, as I have experienced personally and they just might bring it in via say TMB, and then domestic transfer to BB. 

It isn't the bank manager who has to be satisfied but an IO, and if one of 12 transfers looks different, that might be a problem. Hopefully confirming Transferwise receipt and identifying the transfer description as international yourself, may work.