Transfer money from Thailand to Europe

[Lenaerts]

How can I best transfer money from Thailand (in THB) to Europe (EUR)?

An obvious solution would be Transferwise, however they do not do (yet) transfers from Thailand to Europe.

Another obvious solution is Western Union, but their charges are prohibitive, certainly for smallish amounts.

 

Is there a service that transfers money at a reasonable charge?

 

Alternatively, can I, from Europe, open an internet bank account in THB to which people from Thailand can transfer money (in THB)?

Can I then withdraw money from this account, whilst in Thailand?

 

Any suggestions are welcome!

 

Thanks!

 

Danny

 

[Dinand]

You can check out deemoney, a new startup for transferring money from Thailand. If you have a Thai bank account maybe you can top up TransferWise via Mastercard or visa? Although I am not sure if TransferWise will do the conversion or the Thai bank will

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Banking

[saengd]

You cannot transfer THB outside of Thailand, any bank you instruct will first exchange it to the currency of the receiving bank. THB is a restricted currency, only very limited amounts can be exported as THB, except by Chinese to two specific provinces and even this is limited also.

 

Your best approach to the transfer is using the SWIFT system via a Thai bank, that requires you to have a Thai bank account and proof that the money you want to transfer was not earned inside Thailand or if it was, that tax was paid on it.

 

[justin case]

55 minutes ago, saengd said:

Your best approach to the transfer is using the SWIFT system via a Thai bank, that requires you to have a Thai bank account and proof that the money you want to transfer was not earned inside Thailand or if it was, that tax was paid on it.

what if the money is on the account of your underage child ?

will a bank make any problem ?

if you claim the money needs to move as the child will move to the home country ?

[saengd]

3 minutes ago, justin case said:

what if the money is on the account of your underage child ?

will a bank make any problem ?

if you claim the money needs to move as the child will move to the home country ?

I'm pretty sure that money in the account of an underage child requires a parent or guardian to manage the account, the child couldn't open the account without that. Probably best to talk to the bank about those circumstances and see what they say, in a worst case scenario the parent/guardian can sign or withdraw the funds as cash and then transfer via different means.

[Dinand]

1 hour ago, saengd said:

You cannot transfer THB outside of Thailand, any bank you instruct will first exchange it to the currency of the receiving bank. THB is a restricted currency, only very limited amounts can be exported as THB, except by Chinese to two specific provinces and even this is limited also.

 

Your best approach to the transfer is using the SWIFT system via a Thai bank, that requires you to have a Thai bank account and proof that the money you want to transfer was not earned inside Thailand or if it was, that tax was paid on it.

 

The local conversion rates are not good, Deemoney gives you the official rate. Swift transfers usually cost money too. If I can avoid them I will. There's many ways to get around proving the money wasn't earned here or that you paid taxes on it, you can use cryptocurrencies for example

[saengd]

1 minute ago, Dinand said:

The local conversion rates are not good, Deemoney gives you the official rate. Swift transfers usually cost money too. If I can avoid them I will. There's many ways to get around proving the money wasn't earned here or that you paid taxes on it, you can use cryptocurrencies for example

The spread on foreign currency exchange in Thailand is one of the lowest anywhere, far smaller than in the UK for example. There are companies such as Dee money and for inbound funds only, Transferwise, who offer attractive rates but this depends on the amount of the transfer. The bottom line is that no company or bank offers this service for free, they either make money on the exchange rate, on a sending fee, a receiving fee of just a plain old fee, sometimes on all those things. If I transfer between my Thai and UK banks I usually transfer upwards of 1 mill. Baht at a time, on that amount I have yet to see anyone beat HSBC UK and their fixed price of four Pounds. 

[Dinand]

23 minutes ago, saengd said:

The spread on foreign currency exchange in Thailand is one of the lowest anywhere, far smaller than in the UK for example. There are companies such as Dee money and for inbound funds only, Transferwise, who offer attractive rates but this depends on the amount of the transfer. The bottom line is that no company or bank offers this service for free, they either make money on the exchange rate, on a sending fee, a receiving fee of just a plain old fee, sometimes on all those things. If I transfer between my Thai and UK banks I usually transfer upwards of 1 mill. Baht at a time, on that amount I have yet to see anyone beat HSBC UK and their fixed price of four Pounds. 

4 pounds is good if they offer a good exchange rate as well. Deemoney asks 150THB for any transfer, with a maximum of 800000THB

[landosmiles]

13 hours ago, Dinand said:

The local conversion rates are not good, Deemoney gives you the official rate.

Pretty much every single Thai bank's current SWIFT exchange rates are better than DeeMoney at present, and I am not sure which number you are referring to by the 'official' rate. However, for non-large transfers, DeeMoney might be a better option because of SWIFT fees - you'd have to run the calculation. http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/

[DeeMoney]

On 2/9/2020 at 11:51 PM, landosmiles said:

Pretty much every single Thai bank's current SWIFT exchange rates are better than DeeMoney at present, and I am not sure which number you are referring to by the 'official' rate. However, for non-large transfers, DeeMoney might be a better option because of SWIFT fees - you'd have to run the calculation. http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/

That depends on time of day due to currency fluctuations. We can assure that at around 9 AM and 10 AM of every work day, DeeMoney offers the best rate. However, as a kind user has calculated previously, even at 1 million baht the difference still favors DeeMoney.

 

As for speed. For marketing and legal purposes we cannot advertise this, other than our guarantee service to Europe which guarantees within the next working day. But on average, transfers to Europe made on a working day are taking less than 3 hours.

Edited February 11, 2020 by DeeMoney

[Pib]

On 2/9/2020 at 11:51 PM, landosmiles said:

Pretty much every single Thai bank's current SWIFT exchange rates are better than DeeMoney at present, and I am not sure which number you are referring to by the 'official' rate. However, for non-large transfers, DeeMoney might be a better option because of SWIFT fees - you'd have to run the calculation. http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/

When using above website be sure to select THB to USD (or whatever home country currency) along with TT.  This will then give you the TT "Selling" Rate which is what Thai banks use for "outgoing" SWiFT transfers.  You were probably doing that but your link didn't indicate that. 

 

If selecting USD to THB along with TT then you are seeing the TT "Buying" Rate used for "incoming" incoming SWIFT transfers.  Don't use that for an outgoing transfer.

 

For sending money out a lower rate is better as a person needs to fork-out less baht to buy each unit of outgoing foreign currency.

 

And of course Sending fees and ease of transfer must be considered.  Really no comparison there as the Thai bank sending fee will be around Bt1,200 compared to DeeMoney's Bt250.  Regarding ease of transfer, well, we'll all seen the many ThaiVisa posts where people run into many hassles/no-can-do's at Thai banks....haven't seen any for DeeMoney yet.

 

 

In the comparisons/snapshots I just did at this moment in time most Thai banks did have a better (lower) Sending/TT Selling Rate than DeeMoney....but, as mentioned, the sending fee and ease of transfer needs to be consider also.  And I've checked at other times  where DeeMoney's rate is better than most Thai banks...time of day can make a difference.  

 

Setup to reflect TT "Selling" Rate used for ongoing transfers.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/

 

 

DeeMoney Sending Exchange Rate (a.k.a., equates to Thai bank TT Selling Rate)