I finally qualify for my OA Retirement Visa so now I need to figure out what is the cheapest and/or most efficient way to get 800k from a Canadian bank to my Bangkok Bank account, 

 

In Canada there are no free international money transfer cards like the US has with Charles Schwab and Fidelity. 

 

Any help would be appreciated.  

You don't need to have the 800k baht in the bank to apply for a OA long stay visa at a embassy or official consulate in Canada. It can be in a bank there.

Or are you wanting to apply for a extension of stay (it is not a visa) based upon retirement at immigration here?

Oh ok.  I'll be applying at a Canadian Embassy, However, I assume if I'm doing my extension after 1 year I will need it in my Bangkok Bank account?

 

As always, thanks for your help UJ.  I'd still like to know the cheapest/efficient way to transfer money from Canada to Bangkok Bank in case I decide to buy an overpriced car or a condo.

Call your bank.  It’s all cheap compared to the amounts involved.

It can be almost 2 years before you need to apply for the extension at immigration. The OA visa allows unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue. If you leave and enter the country just before it expires you will get a new one year entry and then you can get a re-entry permit to keep that entry valid after your visa expires.

Not sure about from Canada but many people are using TransferWise to do their transfers. It apparently costs much less than other ways.

23 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not sure about from Canada but many people are using TransferWise to do their transfers. It apparently costs much less than other ways.

At the current rate it would need about 35000 CAD to be transfered.

With transferwise this would cost about 350 CAD.

For such amounts a conventional SWIFT transfer might end up cheaper.

And when coming here take as much cash as you are comfortable with. Hard to beat.

 

Cheapest and best way is to withdraw from your bank in Canada bring it in cash and go to green superrich money exchange bkk.

Next is companies like transferwise. I use OFX when need arises but not as good as bringing in cash.

I'm Canadian, &have been retired in Thailand for several years. It is easy, if you are with the right bank. From my observations on here, some Cdn. banks can be extremely difficult. Click on my name and send me a Private Mail, to which I will reply.

28 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

At the current rate it would need about 35000 CAD to be transfered.

With transferwise this would cost about 350 CAD.

For such amounts a conventional SWIFT transfer might end up cheaper.

And when coming here take as much cash as you are comfortable with. Hard to beat.

 

Wow.  I didn’t realize transferwise was so expensive.  My swift transfer (Bank of America) for $35,000 was $45

Transferwise has a fixed percentage as part of the fee.

Even with the good rates they use it might make them a worse choice for high amounts.

To my comparisons they are good for transfers up the 3000 USD/Euro range.

5 hours ago, Airalee said:

Wow.  I didn’t realize transferwise was so expensive.  My swift transfer (Bank of America) for $35,000 was $45

Yea, but you are only looking at half of the equation....the upfront fee part.  

 

The Transferwise exchange rate will be significantly higher than the rate you will get when transferring from BoA.   For example the Transferwise CAD-THB exchange rate at this minute in time is 23.34 compared to the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate used for incoming foreign transfers of 23.095 which is 1% lower than the Transferwise rate.  1% of $35K is $350....or an indirect fee of $350 plus the $45 direct fee....totaling $395.

 

 You need to price out both fees and exchange rate.   

my cibc acct allows free overseas transfer 15k max per transaction, register your Thai acct online and away you go, 3-5 bus. days , other banks must offer it also..