Transferring high amounts vs low amounts more often

[Hal65]

For anyone in the know about thai banks, do you think it's worth added fees and time to do smaller transfers? I'd like to add to my investment account without causing problems, but of course it's more hassle and costly to transfer more often. The US will flag any transactions they deem suspicious, Thailand may or may not be like that too.

[Naam]

Thailand likes any transfer, sky's the limit!

[CharlieH]

Post with affiliate link removed.

[Pib]

Yes, US financial institutions can flag "any" amount....low or high....been that way for many years.  Someone transferring Bt40K or Bt65K per month could be using that money to fund "bad things" just as easy as sending 12 months worth in one transfer to fund "bad things."  And Thailand could care less how much you send....but more the better. 

 

Summary: don't worry about it...small or big amounts...unless you are sending the money for bad things like for Joe the Terrorist. 

 

  

[Hal65]

I would be transferring out of Thailand. As the average salary here is still like $500/month I feel apprehensive tranferring 300k THB, maybe even half that. Then again I'm a foreigner which they should also see

[Chelseafan]

How much is your bank charging you for transferring money ?

IMHO and certainly with my bank, they can charge very high feeds indeed.

Personally I use transferwise. Good exchange rate and the fee is very reasonable

 

[NCC1701A]

6 hours ago, Hal65 said:

he US will flag any transactions they deem suspicious,

years ago i was told transfers of any type in the USA above $10,000 were automatically reported to the IRS. 

[scoutman360]

40 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

years ago i was told transfers of any type in the USA above $10,000 were automatically reported to the IRS. 

I don't believe that is true. It is $10,000 cash that banks will report (deposits), not digital transactions. There is a form they need to fill out.

[1FinickyOne]

If your money is clean, the amount should not matter much... just remember people bring far larger sums here for purchase of condos etc... 

[ClaySmc]

14 hours ago, scoutman360 said:

I don't believe that is true. It is $10,000 cash that banks will report (deposits), not digital transactions. There is a form they need to fill out.

I have to agree with NCC1701A, and doing a quick Google search so does Transferwise:

 

 

The magic number $10,000 comes from the US government in this case, although it’s a common benchmark in many parts of the world. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, the IRS and other government bodies are required to report information about cash transactions over the value of $10,000¹ and to collect details about wire transactions over $3,000.²

 

Banks also have a duty to inform the IRS of any other suspicious activity. For example, they’ll report it if a customer seems to be trying to split up payments in such a way as to avoid hitting the $10,000 mark by making multiple smaller linked payments.¹ This is intended to deter and discover any individual trying to avoid paying tax, or any flows of money linked to illegal activity, such as crime, money laundering, or funding terrorism.

Edited May 20, 2019 by ClaySmc

[topt]

22 hours ago, Hal65 said:

The US will flag any transactions they deem suspicious,

if you don't have anything to hide what's the problem? Everybody has to live on something. Do whatever makes financial or practical sense to you.

I try to transfer once per year what I expect to spend plus a cushion and then its done. I don't have to worry about suddenly finding some cash for an emergency and unless Thailand goes ahead and massively reduces deposit protection do not see an issue.

16 hours ago, Hal65 said:

I feel apprehensive tranferring 300k THB

For many posters that is a relatively small amount and unless you are trying to stay under the $10k amount not much point. 

[Pib]

U.S. govt weblink below summarizes the rules per the Bank Secrecy/Anti-Money Laundering laws/regulations.  Reports can be submitted on amounts much smaller than $10K.....they are looking at more than just the amount to determine if a report needs to be submitted.

 

https://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/pages_manual/olm_015.htm

[wgdanson]

16 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

How much is your bank charging you for transferring money ?

IMHO and certainly with my bank, they can charge very high feeds indeed.

Personally I use transferwise. Good exchange rate and the fee is very reasonable

 

He said he would be transferring OUT of Thailand. So Transferwise no good, Dee Money OK.

[Brunolem]

19 hours ago, Pib said:

...unless you are sending the money for bad things like for Joe the Terrorist. 

 

  

You mean Joe the Plumber? 

[Chelseafan]

3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

He said he would be transferring OUT of Thailand. So Transferwise no good, Dee Money OK.

Ok I misunderstood but where did he say he was transferring out of Thailand?

 

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

Ok I misunderstood but where did he say he was transferring out of Thailand?

 

Post #5, first sentence.

[billzant]

I asked my Kasikorn bank.

 

Transfer in:- Minimum charge 200 Baht, Maximum Charge 500 Baht , or 0.25%.

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, Chelseafan said:

Ok I misunderstood but where did he say he was transferring out of Thailand?

 

Post no 5. No worries.

 

[chilli42]

I have a call once a year with my bank (Citibank) where they want to know the purpose of all my transfers for the past year.  I simply tell them it’s for living expenses, house, whatever and they are good with that.  They are just following anti money laundering procedures.  Most transfers under $75,000 go through with no problem.  If several large ones are bunched together they put I on hold and have the chat about the purpose of the transfer.  None of this a big deal.  For me bigger and less often leads to less frequent calls and explanations.  BTW, I find it handy to transfer the US$ into my Citibank Thailand US$ account and wait to catch a good FX rate (in case it’s US$ that you are transferring.  Keep all your documents in case you want the mi eye to go back the other way.  It’s a lot easier to get money into Thailand than out.

[sead]

By own experience, cash over 50k bht they will ask you to fill in alot of papers to take out. They recommended me to send under that amount several times.

[Hal65]

1 minute ago, sead said:

By own experience, cash over 50k bht they will ask you to fill in alot of papers to take out. They recommended me to send under that amount several times.

I may just do that then. 

To the other poster who said if you have nothing to hide why worry? Because thailand is controlled by a military junta who throws people in jail for dumb things. Maybe that is changing post election, we'll see. Regardless in this kind of country one should know what triggers scrutiny and what is relatively safe.

[rwill]

Last year I did 2 wire transfers at the same time.  One for $135K to my account and one for $15K to my wives account.  I got a better exchange rate on my money than she did.  So I would say it is better to do one large transfer.

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, rwill said:

Last year I did 2 wire transfers at the same time.  One for $135K to my account and one for $15K to my wives account.  I got a better exchange rate on my money than she did.  So I would say it is better to do one large transfer.

Did you not have to complete a foreign exchange transaction form, as per the attachment, for your $135k transfer?

Foreign Exchange Transaction Form.pdf

[Pib]

Below website gives a good summary of FET requirements which have change over the years....and actually there must be wiggle room in  how a Thai bank is suppose to report transfer amounts over $50K to the Bank of Thailand.   I think Thai banks can do this electronically now without the need for a paper-based FET form.  The paper-based FET form seems for the benefit of the receiver so they have documentation from the bank in case of buying property, need to repatriate the fund later, etc.   

 

https://www.samuiforsale.com/condominium/foreign-exchange-transaction-form.html

 

In late 2007 when I transferred $215K to Bangkok Bank as the Thai wife and I were retiring to Thailand and finalizing the buy of a some dirt with a house on it Bangkok Bank did not require completion of a FET.  And in mid 2007 before that $215K transfer we had done another transferred for $30K.  Funds posted to our account no problem.  Dirt/house to be in Thai wife's name but I have a Usufruct.  About a month later in early 2008 when arriving Bangkok to finalize the buy (which we did), I did go in an get a FET just in case it was needed to finalize the buy (it was not in this case) and to be able to repatriate the funds in the future if we decided to sell and move back to the U.S.  But for the $30K or $215K transfers Bangkok Bank did not "require" completion of the FET for the funds to be posted to my account....for me to access the money...etc.  While I did ask and get a FET for the $215K transfer, I never did ask for one for the $30K transfer.

 

Whether a Thai bank will "require you/not deposit the funds" until you come in an complete a FET varies among banks.   Apparently some may for amounts over $50K....most probably do not as they electronically report such transfers...the FET seems to be more for the customer benefit now days.

 

 

 

 

 

[RabCNesbitt]

19 hours ago, wgdanson said:

He said he would be transferring OUT of Thailand. So Transferwise no good, Dee Money OK.

What is Dee Money? As mentioned, Transferwise is only useful for transfer of funds in to Thailand, so what is the best to use to transfer from Thailand? I haven't found one yet and I have to send money every month to the UK.... losing every time because not only do BKK Bank charge their fees, they also give a poorer exchange rate than the XE one, so you lose even more on the transfer.

[Old Croc]

11 minutes ago, RabCNesbitt said:

What is Dee Money? As mentioned, Transferwise is only useful for transfer of funds in to Thailand, so what is the best to use to transfer from Thailand? I haven't found one yet and I have to send money every month to the UK.... losing every time because not only do BKK Bank charge their fees, they also give a poorer exchange rate than the XE one, so you lose even more on the transfer.

https://www.dee.money/

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

I think Thai banks can do this electronically now without the need for a paper-based FET form.

Ah, that will probably explain why I was no longer able to find this form on the Bangkok Bank website - from which I had previously downloaded the attachment to my previous post!

 

I had to complete one of these wretched forms back in 2010 when transferring the GBP equivalent of more than 20,000 USD from the UK. Galling to learn from your link that, had I hung on a bit until the limit had been increased to 50,000 USD, I would not have needed to do this!

Edited May 21, 2019 by OJAS

[Pib]

9 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Ah, that will probably explain why I was no longer able to find this form on the Bangkok Bank website - from which I had previously downloaded the attachment to my previous post!

 

I had to complete one of these wretched forms back in 2010 when transferring the GBP equivalent of more than 20,000 USD from the UK. Galling to learn from your link that, had I hung on a bit until the limit had been increased to 50,000 USD, I would not have needed to do this!

I use to be able to find it on their old website; but after they upgraded their website about a year ago I can't find it....not that I looked really hard....it still may be on their new website someone.

 

But to view/download a sample FET form a person can at this webpage:

https://www.samuiforsale.com/fet-form/view-document.html  

 

Below Bangkok Bank webpage gives a lot of general info about transferring funds into Thailand...general info that probably applies at all other Thai banks.   Since we have been talking about small or large amounts below partial quote from one of the Q&As says you can send as much as you want.  Thailand is indeed the Land of Smiles for Incoming Money; but can be the Land of Frowns for Outgoing Money.

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/FAQs

 

 

[Kwasaki]

On 5/21/2019 at 10:50 AM, RabCNesbitt said:

losing every time because not only do BKK Bank charge their fees

How much do they charge or did they use western union.

[Pib]

13 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

How much do they charge or did they use western union.

Thai bank "sending fees" will range from approx Bt350 to Bt1,200.  Will be on the lower range if you select the sending option of the Thai bank not covering an correspondent/intermediary bank fees that may occur along the way to the receiving bank.  But this also mean a correspondent bank may slice off a fee as the funds flow thru them.    On the upper range if instructing the Thai bank to cover any correspondent bank fees.   And keep in mind, your receiving bank may still charge a receiving fee for an international transfer....most do not....but some of the more fee-evil bank do.

 

And the exchange rate Thai banks use is their TT "Selling" Rate, as in they will "sell" you  the USD/GBP/EUR/etc you want to send.  The Selling rate versus Buying rate is used for outgoing transfers.  The lower the selling rate the better for you as fewer baht must be forked out to buy the foreign currency to be sent.  

Edited May 22, 2019 by Pib