Check From Us Bank

[whynot?]

Any help is appreciated-I just got a refund check from a title company for 1200$-can I deposit this in my Bangkok Bank acct? Any fees attached for doing so? Trying to avoid the hassle of dealing with them so thought I'd ask for answers here first-also-is it possible to write checks here from a US acct?

thanks-wn

Edited March 19, 2007 by whynot?

[jumnien]

With my Wells Fargo Bank account online I can write checks online and they are mailed out to the recipient in the US for free. Works like a charm! The only easy place to cash US checks in Thailand is American Express for card holders.

As far as depositing check, why not mail it to your US acct?

[jm49er1]

Any help is appreciated-I just got a refund check from a title company for 1200$-can I deposit this in my Bangkok Bank acct? Any fees attached for doing so? Trying to avoid the hassle of dealing with them so thought I'd ask for answers here first-also-is it possible to write checks here from a US acct?

thanks-wn

don't have any info on depositing checks here but i do have an account set up with US Bank and i use the online bill pay option to pay any bills i receive from the US - you can set up the payee to any company or individual so this eliminates the need to write checks - the bank does everything at no charge

[sonicdragon]

You should be able to deposit it into your bank account in thailand, depending on what kind of account it is. They will charge you a fee, and more likely than not it will take 30 days for the funds to become available to you.

[autonomous_unit]

This may be too late to help the original poster, but some US banks (Wells Fargo among them) also have "third party deposit" mailing addresses where you can send a check to have it deposited into the payee's account. I've arranged for this when someone wanted to send me money, so I could then just withdraw via ATM etc.

I am not sure it is a good idea to send the check back to the US (because of the unreliable Thai postal system) but that would probably be the cheapest way to "cash" the check, if you have an account at a US bank with such a service.

[sonicdragon]

Regarding your question about writing checks - I didn't fully understand what you mean. Do you mean you want to issue a US$ cheque from your account in thailand and send it to someone in the US$ ? If that's what you mean, yes it is possible - it's called a "demand draft", and it will be drawn on the New York branch of Bangkok Bank - and there will be some fee for issuing it.

[Maestro]

...refund check from a title company for 1200$-can I deposit this in my Bangkok Bank acct?

Yes, you can deposit the cheque into your account with Bangkok Bank.

Yes, there is a fee.

--

Maestro

[whynot?]

thanks to all for the info-wn

[Gary A]

It is a big hassle and there is a fee plus a 30 to 45 day wait. The last time I wanted to deposit a US check the girl had to consult with a number of other bank employees. I wasted about half an hour and was then asked to fill out a lot of forms. I asked the lady if it would be better for me to send it to my US bank and that got a BIG smile and a quick YES!

I sign the check and write under my signature "For deposit only". It cost 600 baht for Thai EMS and it gets there quickly. Much faster than waiting for the check to clear the Thai bank.

That said, a friend of mine writes a check every month from his US bank to his Thai bank. His pension is direct deposited into his US bank. He really didn't know how much it cost him and he said it was always one month behind but since he has been doing it for a long time it is no problem. I asked him to check the charges but he hasn't bothered, said it didn't matter to him.

[lopburi3]

I have been depositing by mail to US bank for years and the only time mail has been lost was when a local driver dropped into a mail box without stamps. Just have used the local shop mail service for last few years at average cost of about 60 baht.

In the case where letter was lost the checks were re-issued promptly (US medical insurance).