How Do I Obtain Bank Letter For Retirement Extension

[Crazy Noobie]

I transfer my money every month from USA to Bangkok Bank. I went to Bangkok Bank to find out the process of receiving my bank letter for immigration. They informed me they couldn't issue me a letter because the local Bangkok Bank said in their computer it just shows a in-country transfer, not a international transfer. I showed them my paperwork from my USA bank showing the money was transferred from my USA bank to Bangkok Bank in Bangkok and in-turned to be transferred to my Chiang Mai Bangkok Bank. They looked in their computer and it says the money was transferred to my local bank account by Bank of Thailand. Found out that when I started the transfer in my USA bank I did it in baht. which means it comes to Thailand and it goes to Bangkok Bank in Bangkok, but they in-turn give it to Bank of Thailand for them to transfer it to my local Bangkok bank. Which makes no sense to me. So this last week I made sure my money was transferred in USA dollars, instead of baht. Money went to Bangkok Bank in Bangkok and this time they transferred it directly to my local bank and now everything shows it is a international transfer. So I went to the local Bank of Thailand to obtain a letter from them, since they handled my money once it came to Thailand, but they said they can not help me, because I do not have an account with them. I explained everything to them, but they don't know what to do, so they said no. So my question is, how do I get a bank letter for all of the months that my money came to Thailand as baht? I do have the paperwork for each month from my USA bank, but immigration wants a bank letter? My local Bangkok Bank does not understand why the money came from Bangkok Bank to Bank of Thailand then to my local bank. They don't know what to do either. Any advice?

[lopburi3]

They at the least should be able to issue you a letter listing the deposits.  Immigration has accepted in some cases when foreign account shows the same amount sent as received.  Just be sure to have copies of everything and also pension statements in case further data asked.  There are a lot of people in similar boat with this system.

[Matzzon]

 

[Captain 776]

Just walk in and ask for it

[NCC1701A]

20 hours ago, Crazy Noobie said:

Found out that when I started the transfer in my USA bank I did it in baht.

always transfer in US dollars. Much cheaper.

[lagavulin1]

I transfer from Barclays UK in GBP to BKK London. No charges. 

BKK London send it to Thailand where it shows in my statement as International Transfer ib THB. . 

There is a BKK in New York that does this. 

Instructions on BKK website. 

Edited July 28, 2019 by lagavulin1
Add currency.

[mikosan]

14 minutes ago, lagavulin1 said:

I transfer from Barclays UK in GBP to BKK London. No charges. 

BKK London send it to Thailand where it shows in my statement as International Transfer ib THB. . 

There is a BKK in New York that does this. 

Instructions on BKK website. 

What are the percentage charges for the transfer from BKK London to Thailand and how does the exchange rate compare with other methods of transfer i.e. Transferwise?

[lopburi3]

20 minutes ago, lagavulin1 said:

There is a BKK in New York that does this. 

Instructions on BKK website. 

They stopped setting up new accounts months ago and will stop all service not in international format (all bank to bank) shortly so it is not a viable option for anything but direct payment from SS and such.

[Captain 776]

5 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

They stopped setting up new accounts months ago and will stop all service not in international format (all bank to bank) shortly so it is not a viable option for anything but direct payment from SS and such.

This is just RUMOR....

 

.ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.

 

Went to bank manager here in Thailand and called Chase Bank in USA.......neither bank knows anything about this.........and if a major change like this was coming, ALL CUSTOMERS would be notified in writing at least 90 days in advance.

 

sometimes this site is a giant fountain of misinformation.

[lagavulin1]

41 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

This is just RUMOR....

 

.ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.

 

Went to bank manager here in Thailand and called Chase Bank in USA.......neither bank knows anything about this.........and if a major change like this was coming, ALL CUSTOMERS would be notified in writing at least 90 days in advance.

 

sometimes this site is a giant fountain of misinformation.

Not sure if this is relevant but in London the money bounces into a general transfer account direct to BKK Thailand. You can open a personal account (or could) but not necessary. To all intents its Me in UK to Me in BKK. (??) Shows as IFF on bank book (I may have the acronym wrong ????

 

[lopburi3]

55 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

.ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.

Actually it is true.  Below is the applicable working from Bangkok Bank website:

Quote

via US ACH system and Bangkok Bank's New York branch, using the IAT (International ACH Transaction) Format 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

 

So if you can find a US bank that uses IAT format you can use - but nobody has reported finding one yet.

[ICECOOL]

Not sure if this will help but I get a copy of the international transfer deposit slip emailed to me by Bahtnet for each transfer. I set this free service up with the Kbank.

 

I presented these deposit slips to immigration which corresponded with my kasikhornbank deposits. This was accepted by immigration Hua Hin.

[natway09]

Why the hell did you transfer in Thai Bht ???

[kensisaket]

I do direct transfer from SS and military retirement.  When I got to Thailand 5 years ago I went to Bkk Bank and opened up an account.  I was informed at that time that your incoming money cannot have an ATM card (U.S. requirement). I opened another account and do a physical transfer every month.  This is FYI only.  When I went for the income letter in Sisaket they sent off to Bangkok for the "official statement".  Your local bank should be able to do that. It took about a week. If you are getting the run around I would say ask to speak to the bank manager. Unfortunately, I did not copy the paper(s) sent from Bangkok otherwise I would email you a pic.  That paperwork was a single page for each month and signed by someone in Bangkok.  Additionally when I brought that bundle of papers to immigration they sent me back to the local bank; because, they wanted another paper showing the current account balance.  That one didn't make sense to me; but, was easy enough to get.  If you continue to have problems I may be able to get a phone number for you for the Bangkok office that generated my paperwork.  Let me know by making a reply to this comment. I'll see what I can do.

[thaiboss]

2 hours ago, lagavulin1 said:

I transfer from Barclays UK in GBP to BKK London. No charges. 

BKK London send it to Thailand where it shows in my statement as International Transfer ib THB. . 

There is a BKK in New York that does this. 

Instructions on BKK website. 

the best is transfer direkt from barcleys gbp to a foreign currency account krungsri bank thailand thats the best way direct

[thaiboss]

I FOUND OUT from any bank overseas in £ or $ transfer direct from oversea origin bank to a foreign currency account krungsri bank thailand . then use intern medium rate to ex change in thai baht ....

[Presnock]

You are correct to change to US dollars sent here as baht goes to a center where it is converted (at a loss usually) compared to you changing the dollars to baht at your bank or your bank changing the money.  I also get a monthly report from the office that sends my retirement monies to my USA bank.  I make a copy of that and also, the USA bank sends me an email stating that they received the money from the retirement agency.  Then there is also an email stating that they forwarded x amount of dollars to my Thai Bangkok Bank account.  Thus, there are 4 different ways to account for the monies.  When I go to immigration in C/M I make copies of each of the emails, put them in the correct chronological order and when the Imm Officer can't follow the "trail" I show them a doc I make of that trail.   Last month I did my yearly based on 65K deposit each month and fortunately with the documentation by my money handlers, it has been no problem.  Hope this helps and wish you the best of luck.

[Suradit69]

9 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

always transfer in US dollars. Much cheaper.

And the only way  one can claim to be sending foreign exchange to Thailand. If your US bank is transferring baht to Thailand, baht is not foreign  exchange in Thailand. The OP's. Bank in the US is probably buying baht from a correspondent bank in the US.

[Thailand]

13 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

And the only way  one can claim to be sending foreign exchange to Thailand. If your US bank is transferring baht to Thailand, baht is not foreign  exchange in Thailand. The OP's. Bank in the US is probably buying baht from a correspondent bank in the US.

The funds need to be shown to be coming from overseas, does not matter which currency.

 

In answer to the initial question: Showing funds received as Bahtnet?

Ask your Bangkok Bank for a 12 month statement from head office. Cost 200 baht. When you receive the statement funds from abroad irrespective of currency will show under "via" (Last column) GPSD (Global Payments Service Dept) this indicates that the monies were received from overseas and should be acceptable to your Bangkok Bank to issue the required letter. 

 

[brianthainess]

I always transfer money to here in my country's currency to BKK bank, better exchange rate however, on a couple occasions it went to the bank of Thailand first where it got exchanged at a bad rate, before it got to BKK bank,was told its a holding bank,after contacting my overseas bank about this problem i eventually got told to write in -the message to bank space - " DO NOT EXCHANGE FUNDS" have never had this problem since.

Edited July 30, 2019 by brianthainess
correct punctuation

[Bangkok Basha]

Bangkok Bank requires 3-5 working days to produce copies of bank statements (I mistakenly shredded mine after entering the data into financial software). Unfortunately I waited until the week before my Extension of Stay expires, but got 12 months of statements today. When I went to the counter to get the official letter with the monthly transfer totals (for use with the 65,000/month option), I was told it might take "several days". Only after I practically begged did the banking associate agree to provide it by close of business tomorrow, and said she'd have to work on it after hours (as they don't work on them during customer banking hours- for some reason). I plan to get it tomorrow and go to Chang Wattana on Friday- the last day I can apply for it, as my Extension expires on Sunday. The lesson here is not to wait until the week before, as I did. 

[lopburi3]

39 minutes ago, Bangkok Basha said:

I plan to get it tomorrow and go to Chang Wattana on Friday- the last day I can apply for it, as my Extension expires on Sunday. The lesson here is not to wait until the week before, as I did. 

In worst cass believe they will accept Monday so don't give up hope.  You do have TM30 report on file OK as that is also a requirement now at Chiang Watanna so if not have paperwork for that report also.