Transfering 800k bhat via Transferwise--not a good experience

[racyrick]

11 minutes ago, JESSVANPELT said:

Absolutely incorrect, Im American . I opened my account at Bangkok bank the same day my English friend did and we both were required the same documentation, And at no time was I asked to give my US social security number which is the only thing that would link me to a USA tax situation. 

 

You are very lucky, because all Thai banks are required to collect the social security number of all American citizens.

It has been that way for about 3 years, but we all know each bank does it's own thing sometimes.

[blorg]

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

We are talking about pensions. There's no treaties, just double tax agreements between countries. If a country has a double tax agreement with Thailand,you always pay tax on your pension in your home country or where you resided permanently. Never in Thailand. If paranoid authorities in the US reasons differently, that has nothing to do with other western countries. 

A double tax "agreement" is a treaty, what semantics is this? Look where the IRS puts it on their site, under "tax treaties":

 

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/thailand-tax-treaty-documents

 

"you always pay tax on your pension in your home country or where you resided permanently"

 

Right, and if you are in Thailand more than 180 days in a year you are tax resident in Thailand. 

 

Honestly, go read the treaty, convention or "agreement", whatever you want to call it. The default situation is that income is taxable in the country of residence. That is Thailand if you are here over 180 days a year. Then- certain specific income is excluded, such as social security paid by the US government in the US-Thailand tax treaty.

 

I'm using the US treaty as an example here, if you are from another country feel free to dig up your own one.

 

And other income, such as investment income earned in a year prior to it being remitted, may also be excluded, not due to any tax treaty but just due to the general Thai tax code. But the default position unless specifically excluded is that pension income is taxable here.

 

I'm also well aware they don't actually tax retirees. But I'm talking of the underlying legal situation here, not what they actually do. They didn't enforce the TM30 for several decades either.

[Max69xl]

11 minutes ago, blorg said:

De facto this is the case, you are right. Thailand don't tax retirees.

 

De jure, it is not actually what is written in the double tax agreements if you read them. Thailand is entitled to tax retired people here by default, excepting specific types of income as laid out in the double tax agreements (such as social security paid by the government in the US). I know they don't, but they are entitled to. They just don't follow it up for some reason. This could change.

That's NOT what a double tax agreement says. Not where I'm from or from other countries in the EU. I am still talking about a normal pension, not a sketchy 'income' from the US. Thailand is not entitled to tax me or anyone else from the EU (probably other countries too) as a retiree living in Thailand. That's the whole purpose of the double tax agreement. 

[blorg]

13 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Bht 20,000 is 2.5% of 800,000. So my thinking is that 2.5% of £30 is negligible. 

But you are comparing apples to oranges, what is the point of comparing these two numbers with money you already have in Thailand vs money you do not have in Thailand? It's just misleading and leads to lazy thinking where you hide the true cost from yourself, comparing those numbers is meaningless. I may as well say I have 20,000B in cash in my pocket and putting that in my bank is free.

[Max69xl]

3 minutes ago, blorg said:

A double tax "agreement" is a treaty, what semantics is this? Look where the IRS puts it on their site, under "tax treaties":

 

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/thailand-tax-treaty-documents

 

"you always pay tax on your pension in your home country or where you resided permanently"

 

Right, and if you are in Thailand more than 180 days in a year you are tax resident in Thailand. 

 

Honestly, go read the treaty, convention or "agreement", whatever you want to call it. The default situation is that income is taxable in the country of residence. That is Thailand if you are here over 180 days a year. Then- certain specific income is excluded, such as social security paid by the US government in the US-Thailand tax treaty.

 

I'm using the US treaty as an example here, if you are from another country feel free to dig up your own one.

 

And other income, such as investment income earned in a year prior to it being remitted, may also be excluded, not due to any tax treaty but just due to the general Thai tax code. But the default position unless specifically excluded is that pension income is taxable here.

 

I'm also well aware they don't actually tax retirees. But I'm talking of the underlying legal situation here, not what they actually do. They didn't enforce the TM30 for several decades either.

The double tax agreement between Thailand and my country (and many others) says that I as a retiree have to pay tax on my pension in my home country. It has NOTHING to do how long I stay here. 6 years in a row or 5 months. I never ever have to pay tax in Thailand. How hard is it to understand that? Don't compare IRS with other tax agencies in other countries,and don't compare agreements.

[JimGant]

28 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You're wrong. Everything is about double tax agreements between Thailand and other countries. If you are retired and come from one of those countries,you always pay tax in your home country, NEVER in Thailand. It has nothing to do with >180 days out of your country. Get your facts straight. 

 

24 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

If a country has a double tax agreement with Thailand,you always pay tax on your pension in your home country or where you resided permanently.

Do a little homework and quit wasting our time. The US is somewhat unique, in that we require our citizens to file a US tax return, to include all income, even if the DTA says our country of residence has "exclusive" taxing authority. Double taxation, however, is avoided with tax credits.

 

Norway does it slightly differently -- no need to file a Norwegian tax return for income taxed via DTA in Thailand -- just need to prove you filed a tax return with Thailand. (And, incidentally, all Norwegian pensions, including government pensions, are taxable by Thailand, if you meet the residency requirement.)

Quote

Persons who can document that they are resident in Thailand under the tax treaty between Norway and Thailand are entitled to tax exemption for pensions, disability benefits from the National Insurance Scheme and disability benefits from annuities if they can document that the pension/disability benefit is taxed in Thailand.

https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/get-the-taxes-right/employment-benefits-and-pensions/pension-and-disability-benefit/resident-abroad/countries/thailand/

 

[JimGant]

21 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I never ever have to pay tax in Thailand

Where are you from? I'd like to explain your DTA to you.

[blorg]

6 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

The double tax agreement between Thailand and my country (and many others) says that I as a retiree have to pay tax on my pension in my home country. It has NOTHING to do how long I stay here. 6 years in a row or 5 months. I never ever have to pay tax in Thailand. How hard is it to understand that? Don't compare IRS with other tax agencies in other countries,and don't compare agreements.

The tax treaties exclude certain specific income. Your tax treaty may well exclude your pension, depending on the type of pension and the source and what the tax treaty says. But there is not a general principle that retirees are not taxed in Thailand.

 

Look up the UK Thailand tax treaty for example, look at Article 4 Fiscal Domicile which establishes where a person should primarily be taxed- in the case of almost all UK expats living here over 180 days the answer to this will be "Thailand".

 

Then if you go down to Article 19, you will see that it specifically excludes pensions paid as a result of government service. So that would seem to exclude civil service pensions. But it also clearly states in many places, that for example dividend income from the UK is taxable in Thailand, interest income from the UK is taxable in Thailand. So it depends on the specific nature of your income.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/507424/uk-thailand-dtc180281_-_in_force.pdf

 

You would have to look this up for your own country and see what the situation is there. But it is not a general rule that foreign income or pensions or income are not taxable in Thailand, the default position is that they ARE, unless excluded. It's very possible that you may be able to exclude them- the "remitted in the previous year" is an obvious loophole independent of any double taxation treaty. But this depends on the specifics and that loophole does technically require you to be careful not to remit income the same year it is earned.

 

Here's an example, opinion from the Thai Revenue themselves, of how a Norwegian pension should be taxed under the Thai-Norway DTA. Answer- if the person is actually living here, it should be taxed in Thailand. I suggest you read this opinion as it explains the situation quite well. In the early years it may be possible for the retiree to still be considered resident in Norway but not if they live here long term.

 

And no, Norway is not some special case, the treaty with Norway is quite similar to the treaties with other European and Western countries. You can dig up the treaty with your own country if you like.

 

http://download.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/nation/Norwegian_answer.pdf

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Just a little off topic, but relevant. I needed Bht 20,000 urgently this morning. Transferwise would cost £517.39 and take 24 hours, transfer from my Bkk Foreign Currency account...£517.69 immediately. OK, the past cost of getting those GBP to my FCA might be a bit more, but it's done & dusted now.

And hopefully the FCA is not the basis of your retirement extension, or you may have gone below a 400,000 or 800,000 baht requirement.

[wgdanson]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

And hopefully the FCA is not the basis of your retirement extension, or you may have gone below a 400,000 or 800,000 baht requirement.

Yes it is, and yes, I do keep an eye on the balance. Thanks for your concern.

[LivinLOS]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

By defininition most of an IRA distribution was earned in prior years.

But was it taxed then ?? Most pension systems are deferred taxation as the assumption is that the payment will come at a time of reduced earnings. 

I am not familiar with IRA pensions as much as some others (at one time I used to operate a precious metals pensions scheme under SEPA) but a 10 second search shows an IRA distribution is taxable income, yet free of capital gains tax. It should be noted that a Roth IRA is different. 
 

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021015/how-much-are-taxes-ira-withdrawal.asp

 

Quote

 

Regular Income Tax Only

If the money is deposited in a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, Simple IRA or SARSEP IRA, you will owe taxes at your current tax rate on the amount you withdraw. For example, if you are in the 22% tax bracket, your withdrawal will be taxed at 22%

 

 

[LivinLOS]

2 hours ago, blorg said:

I mean I linked the treaty. That's not what the treaty says. The treaty says by default you pay tax in the country of your residence. That's Thailand if you are here over 180 days a year. Then it lists specific exemptions- in the case of the US, that's social security and child support- they are taxed in the US and not Thailand.

People are just incredibly ill informed of what DTAs actually do (and say) and even how basic pensions work, but public and private. 

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

You're wrong. Everything is about double tax agreements between Thailand and other countries. If you are retired and come from one of those countries,you always pay tax in your home country, NEVER in Thailand. It has nothing to do with >180 days out of your country. Get your facts straight. 

Simply factually untrue.. 

 

Thailand currently makes no effort to claim that tax source, and so everyone ignores the issue. For people resident in Thailand > 180 days per year, you are tax resident in Thailand, and pension income brought into the country in the year it is paid is legally taxable. It is up to the individual to have that tax obligation released from its source country. 

There are some exceptions, as pointed out (child support government pensions etc) these are not blanke exceptions and a DTA does not simply mean 'you pay it where your passport is from' far from it. 

Many years ago I used to operate (niche admittedly) pension schemes, currently I own a cross border labour supply company, dual taxation agreements for non resident earners is my day to day business and pensions was a prior one. 

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

Yeah, but we're concerned here about when this deferred income is distributed -- and regards Thailand, whether or not this distribution was brought into Thailand in same year distributed (not in same year earned).

 

The subject of taxing IRAs by one's country of residence was dealt with in a ruling at the highest level of the IRS. The country in question was Switzerland, but its treaty with the US is nearly identical to the Thai-US tax treaty (both follow the OECD model). Bottom line in the finding was that, yes, Switzerland gets first priority in taxing a US expat's IRA distribution; but due to the "saving clause," the expat must also file a US tax return -- and take a credit for taxes paid to Switzerland. Here's the link to the ruling:

https://hodgen.com/ira-distribution-to-u-s-citizen-living-in-switzerland-which-country-taxes-it/

 

A certain US tax "professional" claims the "saving clause" doesn't apply to IRA distributions to US expats residing in Thailand. And, if not distributed to Thailand in same year paid out, no Thai tax either. Thus, move to Thailand for 180 days every year, have this guy file your tax return, and don't pay a nickel on your 6-figure IRA. Apparently, a lot of folks are doing this -- and nobody at the IRS is familiar the Swiss precedent. Anyway, old news. Go to this thread, beginning with post #25:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1008555-tax-specialist-in-chiang-mai/

 

I am far more experienced at UK and EU law / systems of application, but this is a nicely accurate summary. 

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

That's NOT what a double tax agreement says. Not where I'm from or from other countries in the EU. I am still talking about a normal pension, not a sketchy 'income' from the US. Thailand is not entitled to tax me or anyone else from the EU (probably other countries too) as a retiree living in Thailand. That's the whole purpose of the double tax agreement. 

again. your not correct. 

What is your country of source income (pension) and is it a private pension or what legal format is it ?? 

[LivinLOS]

56 minutes ago, blorg said:

The tax treaties exclude certain specific income. Your tax treaty may well exclude your pension, depending on the type of pension and the source and what the tax treaty says. But there is not a general principle that retirees are not taxed in Thailand.

 

Look up the UK Thailand tax treaty for example, look at Article 4 Fiscal Domicile which establishes where a person should primarily be taxed- in the case of almost all UK expats living here over 180 days the answer to this will be "Thailand".

 

Then if you go down to Article 19, you will see that it specifically excludes pensions paid as a result of government service. So that would seem to exclude civil service pensions. But it also clearly states in many places, that for example dividend income from the UK is taxable in Thailand, interest income from the UK is taxable in Thailand. So it depends on the specific nature of your income.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/507424/uk-thailand-dtc180281_-_in_force.pdf

 

You would have to look this up for your own country and see what the situation is there. But it is not a general rule that foreign income or pensions or income are not taxable in Thailand, the default position is that they ARE, unless excluded. It's very possible that you may be able to exclude them- the "remitted in the previous year" is an obvious loophole independent of any double taxation treaty. But this depends on the specifics and that loophole does technically require you to be careful not to remit income the same year it is earned.

 

Here's an example, opinion from the Thai Revenue themselves, of how a Norwegian pension should be taxed under the Thai-Norway DTA. Answer- if the person is actually living here, it should be taxed in Thailand. I suggest you read this opinion as it explains the situation quite well. In the early years it may be possible for the retiree to still be considered resident in Norway but not if they live here long term.

 

And no, Norway is not some special case, the treaty with Norway is quite similar to the treaties with other European and Western countries. You can dig up the treaty with your own country if you like.

 

http://download.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/nation/Norwegian_answer.pdf

Just to note, well done, these are much higher quality answers than are usually posted on this topic. 

[digbeth]

1 hour ago, racyrick said:

You are very lucky, because all Thai banks are required to collect the social security number of all American citizens.

It has been that way for about 3 years, but we all know each bank does it's own thing sometimes.

Maybe on the forms that asks are you a US citizens, he didn't see 'American' so didn't tick the box and got away with it?

[Sheryl]

45 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

But was it taxed then ?? Most pension systems are deferred taxation as the assumption is that the payment will come at a time of reduced earnings. 

I am not familiar with IRA pensions as much as some others (at one time I used to operate a precious metals pensions scheme under SEPA) but a 10 second search shows an IRA distribution is taxable income, yet free of capital gains tax. It should be noted that a Roth IRA is different. 
 

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021015/how-much-are-taxes-ira-withdrawal.asp

 

 

 

It is taxed in the US the year it is distributed but it was earned prior. My understanding is that Thailand taxes income only if brought into the country in the year it was earned. One would have to get into the exact wording of that in Thai to figure out how that applies in cases of income earned but distribution deferred.

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

again. your not correct. 

What is your country of source income (pension) and is it a private pension or what legal format is it ?? 

I have both government pension and private pension, and the double tax agreement clearly states that I pay tax in my former home country, and will not pay any taxes in Thailand. It's as simple as that. Don't think that every double tax agreement are written the same,they are bi-lateral agreements between 2 countries. 

[blorg]

20 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I have both government pension and private pension, and the double tax agreement clearly states that I pay tax in my former home country, and will not pay any taxes in Thailand. It's as simple as that. Don't think that every double tax agreement are written the same,they are bi-lateral agreements between 2 countries. 

Max, no one is presuming that every country is the same except you. You started with "all Western countries" have double tax "agreements" (for some reason you object to calling them treaties) that state that all retiree income is non-taxable in Thailand. Then after I pointed out that wasn't true of the US treaty, you rolled back to "all European countries". And then I pointed out that wasn't true of the UK or Norway so now you are finally down to your specific home country and your specific government and private pension.

 

Now it's entirely possible that your specific pensions from your one country (which you refuse to disclose) are exempted from tax in Thailand under the DTA with your specific country. No one has been arguing that, how could we when you won't even disclose where you are from. All we are saying is that it is not a general principle that Western pensions are non-taxable in Thailand, the general principle is in fact the opposite, they are taxable, unless specifically exempted. Yours may be exempted.

[oznomad]

On 10/30/2019 at 2:59 AM, thinktoomuch said:

There is indeed now as "Funds for long term stay in Thailand" option.

Interesting. I will try that next time.

Today I used TW, as I normally do.

AUD exchange rate. 20.8904

I selected 'general living expenses', and the BKK bank notation was "Transfer from Account at Other Bank".

How long did it take to arrive today? A mind-boggling TWO MINUTES. I was impressed.

[Max69xl]

28 minutes ago, oznomad said:

Interesting. I will try that next time.

Today I used TW, as I normally do.

AUD exchange rate. 20.8904

I selected 'general living expenses', and the BKK bank notation was "Transfer from Account at Other Bank".

How long did it take to arrive today? A mind-boggling TWO MINUTES. I was impressed.

The idea about choosing correct reason for the transfer is the type of transfer showing in the bank book. "General living expenses" might show up as a local transfer. = Interbank Transfer. 

The transfer is fast because it's a domestic transfer, not a real transfer from abroad like when you do a swift transfer from a bank at home.

TW just moves money in Thailand. It's not that impressive when you know how it works. 

[JimGant]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

It is taxed in the US the year it is distributed but it was earned prior. My understanding is that Thailand taxes income only if brought into the country in the year it was earned. One would have to get into the exact wording of that in Thai to figure out how that applies in cases of income earned but distribution deferred

Moot point, since they don't bother to tax anything brought in from abroad. But, IRA deferred income, when paid out, grows a 1099-R tail, meaning it's a taxable event in the US. I would imagine the Thais would use that, should they ever tighten up on taxable events.

 

More curious is that the treaty gives Thailand (or Switzerland, or whomever the related treaty country) first right of taxation. But, an IRA involves deferred taxation, i.e., you didn't pay taxes on this income for 20-30 years, whatever. You'd think Uncle Sam would want first dibs for repayment of these deferred taxes...... After all, if you can write the treaty to say US Government pensions are taxable only by the US -- why wouldn't you include IRAs? Weird.

[thailand49]

I have read a number of pages stopped after a while because the topic was starting to get a bit off track?

 

I'm not defending TW, but here is my experience a mid 2018, for a number of reasons I needed to get US dollars into my Thai bank which is Bangkok bank. I knew about TW but first did an internet search on other options including options provided by my credit union and Wells Fargo bank. My credit union recommended Xoom and Wells Fargo uses Zellers to wire money but one didn't convert to Baht and Zeller doesn't do large amount off the bat you need to work your way up to large amount which wasn't a good option for me.

 

The other options some offer free wiring but the rates were much lower than TW, in the end TW provided the highest rate and lowest fee so I set up an account and started. 

 

I'm not going to go into TW business plan but people need to do more research as to how and why they are able to provide higher exchange rates and lower fees although their fee has risen in the past year along with them changing to another bank especially in Thailand as to the reason why transfers aren't always under the FTT marking. When using TW, you aren't using a Bank per say?

 

Once my account was set up in my research on their website once you make your request amount to be transfer and where in this particular case USD to Thai Baht the Baht is only deposited into your Thai account is when they receive the Dollars in their account which in this case if done in the U.S. is sent to TW account in New York.

 

Whenever a red flag was raised I contacted online TW about my concern and question each time quickly responded. I realized from their answer I would have problems doing a large sum like 30,000 plus especially when I was already in Thailand. It wasn't all TW, using other services like TW, I would run into the same problem. Contacting my bank and credit union the big issue I was making a large request transfer ONLINE there was a security issue than to do with TW plus since 9/11 transferring large some now borders on money laundry issue.

 

In running through TW website I saw an option DEBIT ACH, I contact them regarding this option it was suggested I might be able to make two 15,000 USD transfer using this option but it came of an addition fee, in the end add it all up the exchange rate being higher TW was still the best option. I wanted the money to come from my credit union so I contacted online as to my plan and as noted there was a security issue so they arrange a time for me to call from Thailand and after answering a number of security questions they clear my request. The request I was going to move 30,000 into my checking account which I've been issue a debit card and do two transaction 15,000 each with TW.

 

Once the money was in place I went online and process the transaction using Debit ACH and it was really easy with TW, each transaction took a few days more since it was during the Thai holidays. In fact, I capitalize since the rate is guarantee like 24 hours? but while waiting the rate actually went up both times The update website isn't exactly accurate but it was really close.

 

A few months later I need to send another 30,000 but this time I was making a trip back to the U.S. to see family. The morning after I return to the States I logged on to TW and requested a 30,000 transfer, got my confirmation number and where to wire the money confirmed again in their N.Y account. I went into my credit union and wired the money to TW in N.Y. an hour later I got a email from TW, money was received and my Thai baht was being placed into my Thai account. Quick and easy done within 24 hours!

 

When the ops indicated his wiring is due to the 800,000 baht requirement. Now listen up seniors and this applies at the Jomtien Immigration office only in Pattaya. I ask this question because I wanted to move baht from one account to another thinking it would matter since it wouldn't be deposited as FTT, the junior and senior officer said when using the 800,000 method it doesn't have to be FTT! 

 

In 2018, there wasn't a problem with transfers being made as FTT as all transactions came over showing FTT, from the online conversation it only started sometime this year since they made a change in banks or something. When I contacted TW regarding the FTT for future transfer they responded they are well aware of the problem and prior to request contact them and request that the transfer be made FTT they will do their best but THERE IS NO GUARANTEE!  so it is buyer beware here! 

 

My experience with TW was different it should be remember I believe TW is well established in EU, but not in U.S. they have just started issuing TW debit cards for U.S. residents. As noted in my research I got responds with other competitors wouldn't do large transfer, some didn't convert to baht and I not residing in the U.S.

 

I also have large holding at Charles Schwab a few month back after filling out some forms Online was able to have them wire a very large sum to my Bangkok bank account. I process the amount online waited a few hours called a special number to confirm my identity by morning the money was in the bank. Schwab doesn't convert money to baht, it was wired to Bangkok bank they converted it at a pretty good rate and charge me 500 baht.

 

Good day and good luck my experience with TW was better?

 

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by thailand49

[LivinLOS]

6 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

It is taxed in the US the year it is distributed but it was earned prior. My understanding is that Thailand taxes income only if brought into the country in the year it was earned. One would have to get into the exact wording of that in Thai to figure out how that applies in cases of income earned but distribution deferred.

Deferred taxation pensions treat saved income as tax free until the point of payment, that is the time it is earned and the time at which where you are resident at the time of distribution is the key element. A standard IRA is at payment date a Roth IRA is different. 

 

In the UK I used to operate as a SIPP based pension provider, money put into the pension wrapper was treated both tax free and had government matched tax relief added (depending on tax bands). The growth of the funds in the wrapper are capital gains tax free until distribution or paid as income. It is at the time of distribution that the money is then taxable, at the tax rate where you are resident at the time of disbursement. 

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, thailand49 said:

I have read a number of pages stopped after a while because the topic was starting to get a bit off track?

 

I'm not defending TW, but here is my experience a mid 2018, for a number of reasons I needed to get US dollars into my Thai bank which is Bangkok bank. I knew about TW but first did an internet search on other options including options provided by my credit union and Wells Fargo bank. My credit union recommended Xoom and Wells Fargo uses Zellers to wire money but one didn't convert to Baht and Zeller doesn't do large amount off the bat you need to work your way up to large amount which wasn't a good option for me.

 

The other options some offer free wiring but the rates were much lower than TW, in the end TW provided the highest rate and lowest fee so I set up an account and started. 

 

I'm not going to go into TW business plan but people need to do more research as to how and why they are able to provide higher exchange rates and lower fees although their fee has risen in the past year along with them changing to another bank especially in Thailand as to the reason why transfers aren't always under the FTT marking. When using TW, you aren't using a Bank per say?

 

Once my account was set up in my research on their website once you make your request amount to be transfer and where in this particular case USD to Thai Baht the Baht is only deposited into your Thai account is when they receive the Dollars in their account which in this case if done in the U.S. is sent to TW account in New York.

 

Whenever a red flag was raised I contacted online TW about my concern and question each time quickly responded. I realized from their answer I would have problems doing a large sum like 30,000 plus especially when I was already in Thailand. It wasn't all TW, using other services like TW, I would run into the same problem. Contacting my bank and credit union the big issue I was making a large request transfer ONLINE there was a security issue than to do with TW plus since 9/11 transferring large some now borders on money laundry issue.

 

In running through TW website I saw an option DEBIT ACH, I contact them regarding this option it was suggested I might be able to make two 15,000 USD transfer using this option but it came of an addition fee, in the end add it all up the exchange rate being higher TW was still the best option. I wanted the money to come from my credit union so I contacted online as to my plan and as noted there was a security issue so they arrange a time for me to call from Thailand and after answering a number of security questions they clear my request. The request I was going to move 30,000 into my checking account which I've been issue a debit card and do two transaction 15,000 each with TW.

 

Once the money was in place I went online and process the transaction using Debit ACH and it was really easy with TW, each transaction took a few days more since it was during the Thai holidays. In fact, I capitalize since the rate is guarantee like 24 hours? but while waiting the rate actually went up both times The update website isn't exactly accurate but it was really close.

 

A few months later I need to send another 30,000 but this time I was making a trip back to the U.S. to see family. The morning after I return to the States I logged on to TW and requested a 30,000 transfer, got my confirmation number and where to wire the money confirmed again in their N.Y account. I went into my credit union and wired the money to TW in N.Y. an hour later I got a email from TW, money was received and my Thai baht was being placed into my Thai account. Quick and easy done within 24 hours!

 

When the ops indicated his wiring is due to the 800,000 baht requirement. Now listen up seniors and this applies at the Jomtien Immigration office only in Pattaya. I ask this question because I wanted to move baht from one account to another thinking it would matter since it wouldn't be deposited as FTT, the junior and senior officer said when using the 800,000 method it doesn't have to be FTT! 

 

In 2018, there wasn't a problem with transfers being made as FTT as all transactions came over showing FTT, from the online conversation it only started sometime this year since they made a change in banks or something. When I contacted TW regarding the FTT for future transfer they responded they are well aware of the problem and prior to request contact them and request that the transfer be made FTT they will do their best but THERE IS NO GUARANTEE!  so it is buyer beware here! 

 

My experience with TW was different it should be remember I believe TW is well established in EU, but not in U.S. they have just started issuing TW debit cards for U.S. residents. As noted in my research I got responds with other competitors wouldn't do large transfer, some didn't convert to baht and I not residing in the U.S.

 

I also have large holding at Charles Schwab a few month back after filling out some forms Online was able to have them wire a very large sum to my Bangkok bank account. I process the amount online waited a few hours called a special number to confirm my identity by morning the money was in the bank. Schwab doesn't convert money to baht, it was wired to Bangkok bank they converted it at a pretty good rate and charge me 500 baht.

 

Good day and good luck my experience with TW was better?

 

 

I think you have misunderstood the need for a transfer to be foreign, that means showing up in the bank book as FTT. When using the >800k method in the bank, it's not needed, and never have been. BUT, when using the >65k monthly method, the transfers have to be foreign,meaning they should show up as FTT in the bank book. This will probably not be a problem in the future, because immigration is starting to learn that transfers don't show up as foreign every time depending on type of transfer. You have to choose the correct reason ("Funds for long term stay in Thailand") for the transfer to look like foreign in the bank book. This is a well known fact if you're used to TW. TW hasn't changed bank in Thailand as you wrote, they have 3 banking partners, Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Thai Military Bank. About problems transferring larger sums, that's because of regulations in the US and probably in other countries, too. The main reason for using TW is lower fees,higher rates and fast transfers. TW wasn't designed for retired expats in Thailand,try to remember that,and in your case you don't need the transfers to be foreign,right? 

[3 minus 2]

hi,, apologies for being slightly off the orig topic,, i've had an siam account for 10 years with a payment book and debit card , just pre brexit i  bought  thai bhat, now i want to transfer the bhat back to sterling  i'm in the uk at the mo but will be over in a few weeks  i presume i'll have probs   anything i could do b4  to make things easier? any  helpful advise would be welcome

Edited October 31, 2019 by 3 minus 2

[sikishrory]

In my offshore line of work I know a lot of people that use and speak very highly of TransferWise and revolut. More so revolut it seems. 

So anyway I signed up with transferwise and attempted to transfer some cash over to an investment. There was an issue. So I contacted customer service.

I asked a simple question and don't think I got a reply. 

Also I may be wrong but I don't think they had a phone number.

Unable to resolve the simplest issue it made me wonder what would happen if there was an issue with a transfer. That turned me off.

Also there were a lot of stories of transfer problems when I checked...

But lots of people swear by it so there is some good also.

[john terry1001]

4 hours ago, sikishrory said:

In my offshore line of work I know a lot of people that use and speak very highly of TransferWise and revolut. More so revolut it seems. 

So anyway I signed up with transferwise and attempted to transfer some cash over to an investment. There was an issue. So I contacted customer service.

I asked a simple question and don't think I got a reply. 

Also I may be wrong but I don't think they had a phone number.

Unable to resolve the simplest issue it made me wonder what would happen if there was an issue with a transfer. That turned me off.

Also there were a lot of stories of transfer problems when I checked...

But lots of people swear by it so there is some good also.

There are/have been various threads here concerning various ways to transfer money to Thailand, some good, some not so good.

 

The ease of making transfers can vary a great deal, depending on where people are transferring the money from. The UK (and most of Europe), for example is very straight forward and quick with a transfer being completed in minutes. However the US banking system is different and can create problems with a similar transfer taking several days.

 

It would therefore be helpful if people posting about good or bad issues would simply add the country they're transferring money from. Just saying there was an issue doesn't say whether the problem was with TW's system, with your home country's own process or a problem at the Thai banking end, or even what the issue was.

 

Transferwise do have phone numbers for all their offices around the world, in the UK, US, Aus, etc. The UK number for example is +44 203 695 0999, Aus is +61 2 80466244. If you want to contact them out of hours for your home country, you can phone one of the offices in another country and they can access your account to (hopefully) resolve any issues. When I needed to contact them urgently, out of UK office hours, I just phoned their Australian office and they resolved things for me.

 

After being recommended, I have looked at Revolut in the past. They seem quite good but, they told me, they can't guarantee that money will arrive in your Thai bank account with the required International coding. Transfers will arrive via a local Thai bank so will have a local transfer code. Also, they say using their ATM card is free but (220 baht) charges in Thailand still apply, they don't refund any charges incurred in the same way some other banks do. 

[Sheryl]

I don't think Transferwise and similar services saves much, if anything, over normal bank  transfer for transfers of amounts in the 800K baht range. It is small transfers where there is notable savings, especially for those who do monthly transfers.

 

If just bringing in 800K or so once a year, may as well just do a direct bank transfer in my opinion.