Any issues transferring money out of Thailand?

[griffon2011]

I will be leaving Thailand soon and presently liquidating my assets.  I plan to deposit the cash into my Bangkok bank account and then wire transfer some to the US and the remainder to Ecuador.  Is there anything I should be aware of before I attempt to do this or will this be a straight forward transfer?  It seems that there is always a requirement for this or that document etc.  Also, any issues carrying out cash.  It will be in US dollars and I know about declaring over $20,000 and I will avoid transiting the US due to the asset forfeiture scam.  

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

I will be leaving Thailand soon and presently liquidating my assets.  I plan to deposit the cash into my Bangkok bank account and then wire transfer some to the US and the remainder to Ecuador.  Is there anything I should be aware of before I attempt to do this or will this be a straight forward transfer?  It seems that there is always a requirement for this or that document etc.  Also, any issues carrying out cash.  It will be in US dollars and I know about declaring over $20,000 and I will avoid transiting the US due to the asset forfeiture scam.  

Are you sure about the US$20,000 you mention? Is that a US regulation? Maybe the Thai regulations(amount) on what you carry out is less (or more)? 

 

Perhaps call the BBL call centre.

 

Other members have mentioned it's much easier to transfer funds abroad if you use the Dee Money facility to do the transfer. In other words do a domestic transfer of your your funds from BBL to Dee Money, then Dee  money to transfer to other countries.  

[griffon2011]

I just checked the Thai Embassy and the regulation is to declare anything over $20,000 USD or its equivalent in other foreign currencies into or out of Thailand.  I have a stack of old bankbooks from the 10 years that I have been here and the amount of foreign transfers in far exceed what I want to take out but I don't want any last minute surprises.  I will look into Dee money. Thanks

[rupert the bear]

dear sir,i dont know how  large a sum u speak of but its like this,you can transfer it out thru the bank system if its from property transaction in your name,by and large that is.if you have a lump of cash left over you can take it out legally,you must declare anything over 20k USD at the airport ,theres an office there to do so,it takes a short time and thats it,any amount basically.when i did it i saw 2 people with extraordinary amounts,100k plus,i had 30k,but so long as u declare it your fine,you can take the declaration slip with you as the pc low life at eu and USA airports will try to steal ur money on arrival.

[natway09]

I cannot give you any help without knowing how much & more importantly as in every country, source of the funds

[Jen65]

If you wish to transfer monies out of Thailand ( above a certain amount - not sure if this is 20,000USD ) then for any large amounts you have to show the money was brought in ( we're talking about foreign money transferred to Thailand to buy property or even a vehicle ) . Up to about 2010 the Bank of Thailand issued something called an FET ( foreign exchange transaction document ) but since then after change of government it was scrapped and the bank just issues a normal letter/statement . However , to repatriate funds from sale of property or other large amounts you need this document and also the document from the land office / tax receipt to show you sold the property and paid the tax due .For anything else - car/boat then I would expect just a Bill of Sale would do and maybe a copy of the transfer document .

   

[topt]

23 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

It will be in US dollars and I know about declaring over $20,000

 

5 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

I just checked the Thai Embassy and the regulation is to declare anything over $20,000 USD

Interesting as there was a post on here a while back that stated the reporting amount was now only $15K USD.

Just found this - https://www.bot.or.th/English/FinancialMarkets/ForeignExchangeRegulations/FXRegulation/Pages/default.aspx

Quote

Any person bringing into or taking out of Thailand Thai baht bank notes, foreign currency bank notes or negotiable monetary instruments in an aggregate amount exceeding 450,000 Baht or USD 15,000 or its equivalent must declare to a customs officer.

 

[griffon2011]

1 hour ago, Jen65 said:

If you wish to transfer monies out of Thailand ( above a certain amount - not sure if this is 20,000USD ) then for any large amounts you have to show the money was brought in ( we're talking about foreign money transferred to Thailand to buy property or even a vehicle ) . Up to about 2010 the Bank of Thailand issued something called an FET ( foreign exchange transaction document ) but since then after change of government it was scrapped and the bank just issues a normal letter/statement . However , to repatriate funds from sale of property or other large amounts you need this document and also the document from the land office / tax receipt to show you sold the property and paid the tax due .For anything else - car/boat then I would expect just a Bill of Sale would do and maybe a copy of the transfer document .

   

All the money I am trying to get out passed through the BKK bank and came from mystical security, pensions and my Vanguard mutual fund account.  These were after tax dollars. I have all the bankbooks for 10 years.  The amount I transferred in far exceeds what I am trying to take out.  I  have the 800K+ deposit for my retirement visa and I am selling some precious metals, furniture etc. I sort of expected that there might be some issues which is why I asked for your help.   Maybe I will start to move some smaller amounts first and see what happens.  Thank you everyone for your help.  

[Tapster]

A comment about Dee Money:

 

I looked into them for moving money internationally, and my impression was that the fees for moving money might end up being significantly higher than a one-off international bank transfer. There were limits to the amount one could transfer.

 

I'm a bit short on detail, as you can see, but take a hard look at Dee Money.

 

Bon voyage!

[DaLa]

I trade here, that is I import and then sell whatever my Thai partner orders. I've had nightmares transfering money back home to re-purchase stock.  I now split my invoices into sums less than 1M baht otherwise its the Spanish Thai inquisition. I once presented an invoice for £18k that reconciled 50 pence out and they wouldn't accept it.

[griffon2011]

9 hours ago, Tapster said:

A comment about Dee Money:

 

I looked into them for moving money internationally, and my impression was that the fees for moving money might end up being significantly higher than a one-off international bank transfer. There were limits to the amount one could transfer.

 

I'm a bit short on detail, as you can see, but take a hard look at Dee Money.

 

Bon voyage!

You are right, it is more expensive.  I made a test transfer of only $3000 USD at BKK bank and then checked Dee and the fee was 3000 baht higher.  

[EdrigoSalvadore]

I highly recommend using bitcoin transfer. You can sell thai baht easily on hodlhodl website. There are many buyers and sellers of thai baht there, with great reviews. I traded there almost a hundred times. Very easy and fast, with almost no fees. You can then trade BTC to any other currency on the same site, without any need for identification.

[griffon2011]

9 hours ago, DaLa said:

I trade here, that is I import and then sell whatever my Thai partner orders. I've had nightmares transfering money back home to re-purchase stock.  I now split my invoices into sums less than 1M baht otherwise its the Spanish Thai inquisition. I once presented an invoice for £18k that reconciled 50 pence out and they wouldn't accept it.

I have all my BKK bankbooks showing about $500K USD of transfers in, not to mention ATM withdrawals from my US account and credit card use for medical.  Maybe I will take the books to the bank and see what happens if I tell them I want to transfer $50k USD.  Before I leave here I want to terminate all financial ties and leave with just some US dollars. 

[Tapster]

@griffon2011

 

I'm planning to leave soon, and to do exactly what you're going to do: leaving no Thai accounts open, nor any assets at all in LOS.

 

I spoke to Kasikorn Bank, with whom I have an account, and they seemed pretty happy with an international transfer, so long as I could prove that the money originally came from abroad (bankbook proof, as you say), or from a property sale in Thailand, with again, the original purchase price having come from abroad.

 

They made it sound easy. I'll be looking into it in a lot more detail before we leave, though. The guy's English was far from 100%. (My fault for not learning Thai!)

 

????

Edited December 8, 2020 by Tapster

[DaLa]

17 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

I have all my BKK bankbooks showing about $500K USD of transfers in, not to mention ATM withdrawals from my US account and credit card use for medical.  Maybe I will take the books to the bank and see what happens if I tell them I want to transfer $50k USD.  Before I leave here I want to terminate all financial ties and leave with just some US dollars. 

OK, however from personal experience I would try multiple transfers of a lower amount from multiple banks. I found Kasikorn were reasonable, BB have a branch in the UK so they have been reasonable too, SCB were a pain in the but.