Posting cash in Thailand for family

[Lee3311]

I have to send monthly money for my elderly in-laws. Problem is that they do have a bank account and a debit card, but Mother in law can't walk to the bank and Father in law is not so good with an Atm machine.

Basically we have to send the money to the relatives and they do give them the cash in person. I need to send them the money in  cash from a thai bank to their house so they will be able to receive it in person. Any suggestion will be appreciated.  Thank you!

Edited May 8, 2021 by Lee3311
error

[CharlieH]

Send it Western Union, father in law gets it from nearest Post Office in cash with his ID card.

[kingofthemountain]

The best way is to send the money on their bank account

and then a relative can help your father in law with the card to the ATM

 

The main problem is to have a relative in wich you can have a total trust

even with trust, in your case i will ask to the relative to take a photo showing him\her giving the money to your father in law, basically a lot of delivery services do that in Thailand to be sure the product has been really delivered to the customer.

 

Be sure it's not the same photo send to you every month lol

 

I don't know if you speak thai or if your Thai wife can do it, but you or your wife\gf could also talk to the father in law after the transaction to be sure the money has been really handed to them with the right amount

Edited May 8, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[kingofthemountain]

8 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Send it Wextern Union, father in law gets it from nearest Post Office in cash with his ID card.

If the in laws are in a small village, the nearest post office could be at few kilometers from their house then unreachable for them

The OP doesn't precise if they are located in a city or a rural village

Edited May 8, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[srowndedbyh2o]

4 hours ago, Lee3311 said:

Father in law is not so good with an Atm machine.

If Father in law can get to the bank, can't he just go inside the bank and get the money over the counter? No need to use the ATM.

Quote

...we have to send the money to the relatives and they do give them the cash in person

If the relatives can get from their own bank to your in-laws house, couldn't they just take your in-laws to their own bank? Then your in-laws can go inside the bank to get the funds over the counter.

[Crossy]

Cash through the post is always an iffy option no matter where you are in the world ???? 

 

Have a look here for a postal solution https://www.thailandpost.co.th/un/article_detail/product/122/927

 

What sort of $$$ numbers are we looking at?

 

EMS with the optional insurance could be a good option if cash really is the only way to go.

[jackdd]

I think the delivery companies all say that you may not send cash.

About what amount are we talking?

If you make sure that it doesn't look like cash (use some small box, so it just looks like some random item you ordered online), I guess there won't be a problem. Parcels hardly ever get lost.

 

Is there a 7/11 nearby? It's possible to withdraw cash at the cashier, and the cashier would handle it for your in laws.

Edited May 9, 2021 by jackdd

[elgenon]

11 hours ago, jackdd said:

I think the delivery companies all say that you may not send cash.

About what amount are we talking?

If you make sure that it doesn't look like cash (use some small box, so it just looks like some random item you ordered online), I guess there won't be a problem. Parcels hardly ever get lost.

 

Is there a 7/11 nearby? It's possible to withdraw cash at the cashier, and the cashier would handle it for your in laws.

You can withdraw money from a bank account at a 7/11? Is there a charge?

[jackdd]

23 minutes ago, elgenon said:

You can withdraw money from a bank account at a 7/11? Is there a charge?

Yes, but only at certain banks, here the info graphic from 7/11:

ฝาก = deposit

ถอน = withdraw

 

Should be the standard 15THB service charge.

I never used this, but upon second thought it might be one of the services where you need a Thai ID card to put into their card reader, so this service might not be available to foreigners, thus don't be surprised if they tell you that it's not possible.

[DiDiChok]

Before getting up country Thais to open a Bank Account, we always used EMS Money at the Thailand Post Office to send money.  You just ask at the counter and they fill in the details: who, where and how much and then give them the cash.  At the other end, they go to the Post Office with their ID card and get the cash.  Like using an ATM, this doesn't solve the problem of how to get to the Post Office when they are too infirm.  That was the problem we had.

 

Our answer was to get the relative to open a Bank Account with ATM card especially for the purpose of getting money we transfer.  Then one of the kids is sent on his bike to get the money and keeps ฿300 as a 'Thank you' for his/her efforts.  There's always a queue of kids wanting the job.  They usually go in pairs and split the ฿300 between them and we never send more than ฿2,000 to limit any loss.  The account contains less than ฿100 most of the time and we know when the annual charge is due and simply add that on to a transfer.

[BananaGuy]

Send it in small parcel clearly marked in English and Thai with something yucky like ‘Returned colostomy bags’ or ‘Urgent - urine samples’.

 

May even get there faster.

 

or binned. that happens.

[Burma Bill]

On 5/9/2021 at 1:22 AM, CharlieH said:

Send it Western Union,

Coincidentally that is exactly what I did earlier this morning to send 200 US$ to a Thai friend in Chiang Mai from here in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to help with Covid-19 relief (no current income). For reference, the process is simple and convenient at any Western Union outlet (look for the sign) - just a small slip I had to complete. Need to have your passport or ID card which is copied. Despite the easy processing, on the down side was the exchange rate offered - 29.66 baht to 1 US$ rather than 31. There was a service charge of 22 US$. The recipient can collect the same day (in Thai baht) at any WU outlet once he/she receives the MTCN code.

[kingofthemountain]

7 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Coincidentally that is exactly what I did earlier this morning to send 200 US$ to a Thai friend in Chiang Mai from here in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to help with Covid-19 relief (no current income). For reference, the process is simple and convenient at any Western Union outlet (look for the sign) - just a small slip I had to complete. Need to have your passport or ID card which is copied. Despite the easy processing, on the down side was the exchange rate offered - 29.66 baht to 1 US$ rather than 31. There was a service charge of 22 US$. The recipient can collect the same day (in Thai baht) at any WU outlet once he/she receives the MTCN code.

imo the 22$ service charge on a 200$ transfer is abusive

plus on the top of that the bad xchange rate

there is a reason you don't use Azimo, Wise or Deemoney?

For 200$ the fee should be around 2$ plus a good xchange rate

 

Anyway the OP doesn't seem to be realy intersted in the answers he had

since he didn't bother to be back on his topic since his first post

[Caldera]

Can't you send it by bank transfer to another relative, trusted neighbor or something? Or couldn't they use the in-laws' ATM card to withdraw money for them from their own account?

 

With Thai families I know who live in small villages, someone will usually make an ATM-slash-shopping run to the district capital every once in a while. Often with a stack of half a dozen ATM cards.

 

In my opinion, that's one of these problems that are best solved locally. Surprisingly, when you put money in someone's bank account, they will quickly find a way to access it. I wouldn't get involved or go through the pains of finding other transfer options. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Caldera
Typo

[Burma Bill]

26 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

there is a reason you don't use Azimo, Wise or Deemoney?

Sorry, never heard of them. I do money transfers from my account through my Cambodian bank or by cash via Western Union.

[aboctok]

On 5/9/2021 at 1:28 AM, kingofthemountain said:

The best way is to send the money on their bank account

and then a relative can help your father in law with the card to the ATM

 

The main problem is to have a relative in wich you can have a total trust

even with trust, in your case i will ask to the relative to take a photo showing him\her giving the money to your father in law, basically a lot of delivery services do that in Thailand to be sure the product has been really delivered to the customer.

 

Be sure it's not the same photo send to you every month lol

 

I don't know if you speak thai or if your Thai wife can do it, but you or your wife\gf could also talk to the father in law after the transaction to be sure the money has been really handed to them with the right amount

They need to earn your 'total' trust, but you require them—a so-called relative—to submit photo proof of delivery?? Lmao. I'm glad you're no "relative" of mine.

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, jackdd said:

Is there a 7/11 nearby? It's possible to withdraw cash at the cashier, and the cashier would handle it for your in laws.

Can you enlarge on that service and how it works?  Where does the cash come from, how is it deposited?   Genuine question before anyone jumps down my throat.

 

Edit:  It's ok, I've just read your subsequent post.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, kingofthemountain said:

Anyway the OP doesn't seem to be realy intersted in the answers he had

since he didn't bother to be back on his topic since his first post

It's only been 36 hours since he posted, give him a break!

 

But his lack of response could be because no one has been able to answer his unanswerable question which was...

"I need to send them the money in  cash from a thai bank to their house so they will be able to receive it in person".

Edited May 10, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

On 5/9/2021 at 1:18 AM, Lee3311 said:

I need to send them the money in  cash from a thai bank to their house so they will be able to receive it in person

Unfortunately, services such as that do not exist, except by, as you said in the title, using Thailand Post (or a courier company).   

 

Then there's the problem that couriers won't accept packages if they know that there is cash inside.   And that means that the courier delivery will not be insured. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, aboctok said:

They need to earn your 'total' trust, but you require them—a so-called relative—to submit photo proof of delivery?? Lmao. I'm glad you're no "relative" of mine.

They are the OP's Thai in law ''family'' 

 

they aren't from the same country nor from the same direct family

they don't talk the same language and they don't have the same culture nor the same principles, they probably even not meet together since ages (If never)

 

if you trust someone you barely meet and know and you send money to him\her with total trust be prepared for some sort of disapointment

 

On a more general thinking you will be surprised by the number of scams happening even between direct family members everywhere in the world.

 

Maybe you are living in a bubble where for some reasons you are very protected from the reality, or maybe you are too young and still unexperienced, that could explain your silly comment

 

Do you have any decent solution to solve the OP problem?

I remind you it's the matter of this topic

sometime if you have nothing interesting to post

well, it's just better to post nothing

Edited May 10, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[aboctok]

4 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

They are the OP's Thai in law ''family'' 

 

they aren't from the same country nor from the same direct family

they don't talk the same language and they don't have the same culture nor the same principles, they probably even not meet together since ages (If never)

 

if you trust someone you barely meet and know and you send money to him\her with total trust be prepared for some sort of disapointment

 

On a more general thinking you will be surprised by the number of scams happening even between direct family members everywhere in the world.

 

Maybe you are living in a bubble where for some reasons you are very protected from the reality, or maybe you are too young and still unexperienced, that could explain your silly comment

 

Do you have any decent solution to solve the OP problem?

I remind you it's the matter of this topic

sometime if you have nothing interesting to post

well, it's just better to post nothing

Thanks for the load of blather that neatly ignores the simple point I made (which btw was not a generic rant attacking your solution, so there's no need to expend energy in a blow-by-blow defense.) You talk about the need for the relatives to demonstrate 'total' trust, which you intend to reward by treating them with total suspicion. If you can't see that after two explanations, I... well actually, I'm not surprised. ????

[Moonlover]

Would this service be any good to you @Lee3311?

 

Thailand Post On Line Money Orders

[kingofthemountain]

2 hours ago, aboctok said:

Thanks for the load of blather that neatly ignores....

Talking about ignore, welcome to my list

 

And of course still not the begining of a solution from you to the OP's problem

why i am not really surprised....

[aboctok]

5 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

Talking about ignore, welcome to my list

 

And of course still not the begining of a solution from you to the OP's problem

why i am not really surprised....

Now I hope you don't let me down, you are being trusted... [turns on camera hidden in the flowers]

[marc26]

Transferwise is the best system I have used, by far

 

Hell, I have sent money to my wife's Thai bank and it has hit her bank in seconds

[FritsSikkink]

Father in law is not good with the ATM, unless he is totally stupid he could be taught:

Take pictures for each screen  he has to go through with text what to do.

[kingofthemountain]

On 5/10/2021 at 1:17 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

It's only been 36 hours since he posted, give him a break!

It has been a pretty long break now 

 

????

[Liverpool Lou]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:24 PM, marc26 said:

Transferwise is the best system I have used, by far

 

Hell, I have sent money to my wife's Thai bank and it has hit her bank in seconds

Hell, before he disappeared, he wanted cash delivering to their home, he explained the situation and the difficulty of using a bank very clearly.   So Transferwise would, in fact, seem to be one of the worst systems for the OP.