Transfer Money from UK to Thailand

[pixelaoffy]

I cant find the thread about transferring a large sum of money from UK to Thailand. I am looking to transfer around 60,000-70,000UK Pounds   about 2.5 million baht . What is the best way and best rate method to use. I have a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand and see that Bangkok bank have a branch in London.  would this be a good method to use? If any one has any experience of transferring please reply, and any help to find a thread on this on the forum.. Thanks 

[howerde]

I transfer direct from Lloyds  bank in uk  to bangkok bank in Thailand,  flat fee 9.50 from lloyds, never been charged by bangkok bank, takes about 3 days,

[pixelaoffy]

14 minutes ago, howerde said:

I transfer direct from Lloyds  bank in uk  to bangkok bank in Thailand,  flat fee 9.50 from lloyds, never been charged by bangkok bank, takes about 3 days,

Ok Guess only way is have to open lloyds bank account . Others must be similar  I have Nationwide Bank 

[Greenwich Boy]

People will be on to recommend firms like Transferwise etc. I would add if comparing companies then look at the rate not just the fees. A low fee is worthless if the rate is lousy, just a fee by another name.

Also tell your UK bank before you transfer. I have the misfortune to have HSBC as my bank and regularly get relatively small transfers blocked due to 'possible fraud' A real ball ache to get fixed.

[Kwasaki]

Wise I would use. 

Not necessarily all at once though up to you. 

[pixelaoffy]

there was a thread on this few weeks ago .. specially for large amounts 

[DanWill]

7 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

Ok Guess only way is have to open lloyds bank account . Others must be similar  I have Nationwide Bank 

Then it is £20.

[lelapin]

I have a Nationwide account in UK. I set up a sterling account at Bangkok Bank and transfer my money in sterling from there to it. I think the charge in the UK is about 20 pounds. I can then transfer money from my Bangkok Bank sterling account here to my ATM a/c. This way you can transfer the money into baht as and when you need it or when the rate looks good. I do it online and it works very well.

[pixelaoffy]

Just now, DanWill said:

Then it is £20.

Ok so its a twenty pound fee by nationwide. And its transferred as UK pounds and then changed to baht when arrives?

[DanWill]

3 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Wise I would use. 

Not necessarily all at once though up to you. 

Wises' charges are a percentage of what you send, so up to a limit it is cheaper.

A SWIFT from say Nationwide is £20 however much you send.

[pixelaoffy]

Just now, lelapin said:

I have a Nationwide account in UK. I set up a sterling account at Bangkok Bank and transfer my money in sterling from there to it. I think the charge in the UK is about 20 pounds. I can then transfer money from my Bangkok Bank sterling account here to my ATM a/c. This way you can transfer the money into baht as and when you need it or when the rate looks good. I do it online and it works very well.

I am in the UK so guess I cant set up a sterling account for me account in Thailand.  I can still transfer though?

[DanWill]

3 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

Ok so its a twenty pound fee by nationwide. And its transferred as UK pounds and then changed to baht when arrives?

Up to you, if you have a Foreign Currency Account, you can do it in GBP and then exchange as and when you want. The rate from UK Banks will not be as good.

I have got a Bkk Bank Foreign Currency Account, so if you want to send your GBP to it, then I shall send the appropriate THB to your Thai Bank........555

[DanWill]

1 minute ago, pixelaoffy said:

I am in the UK so guess I cant set up a sterling account for me account in Thailand.  I can still transfer though?

But at the rate set by the UK bank.

[johng]

10 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

And its transferred as UK pounds and then changed to baht when arrives?

Yes always send the money in pounds sterling..the banks will often try tricky methods to try and fool you into letting them to do the currency conversion their end  so check carefully also pay any

"other charges" at the receiving end.

[Chris.B]

The Op seems transfixed on the Swift transfer fee while ignoring the exchange rate. ☹️

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but most banks charge a transfer fee based on sending foreign currency not GBP.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Wise will give you the best rate most likely even if you take account of fees. Max is 2m per transaction.

 

Be very careful when you transfer if its for "International" purposes i.e. for a condo, important you pick the correct "reason for transfer"

 

Send a small test amount first to ensure it goes to the correct account with the correct coding

 

[cyril sneer]

what's it for?

[Bruno123]

45 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

Ok so its a twenty pound fee by nationwide. And its transferred as UK pounds and then changed to baht when arrives?

Unfortunately some slightly dodgy advice here, such as;

 

Quote

I transfer direct from Lloyds  bank in uk  to bangkok bank in Thailand,  flat fee 9.50 from lloyds, never been charged by bangkok bank, takes about 3 days,

 

If he is not charged by Bangkok Bank it means that Lloyds did the conversion at a poor rate.

If he was charged by Bangkok Bank it means that it was sent in Pounds and Bangkok Bank did the conversion at their TT rate and took up to 500 baht.

 

So also send in Pounds and let the Thai bank do the conversion or use something like WISE as suggested.

Though do reply to questions asked as there might be other things to be considered.

 

 

[DanWill]

1 hour ago, lelapin said:

I have a Nationwide account in UK. I set up a sterling account at Bangkok Bank and transfer my money in sterling from there to it. I think the charge in the UK is about 20 pounds. I can then transfer money from my Bangkok Bank sterling account here to my ATM a/c. This way you can transfer the money into baht as and when you need it or when the rate looks good. I do it online and it works very well.

That's great if you do not need the deposit in your Bkk Bank to show as a FTT = Foreign Transfer as you do for Immigration extensions. But you are still tied to Bkk Bank's exchange rate which is well below Wises'.

[sanuk711]

2 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

I cant find the thread about transferring a large sum of money from UK to Thailand. I am looking to transfer around 60,000-70,000UK Pounds   about 2.5 million baht

Do you have an account in Thailand ? -- "Wise" is worth looking at, but they have a limit of 2 Million Baht.... so you would have to do 2 transfers. If you have an account in Thailand then talk to that bank...BKK Bank gave me a rate better than wise for a large amount, and Transferred n 26 hours. They are all trying to Improve since Wise came into the game.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, DanWill said:

Wises' charges are a percentage of what you send, so up to a limit it is cheaper.

A SWIFT from say Nationwide is £20 however much you send.

As I said up to you if I want money I use 'Wise'.

[lelapin]

Just now, DanWill said:

That's great if you do not need the deposit in your Bkk Bank to show as a FTT = Foreign Transfer as you do for Immigration extensions. But you are still tied to Bkk Bank's exchange rate which is well below Wises'.

It may be at the time that the money is being transferred but not if you can choose when you can convert from sterling to baht. I have made more than 3 % recently by waiting 3 weeks after I  transferred the money to convert it  to baht.

[pixelaoffy]

2 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

what's it for?

to buy a small house, Do I need to have some proof?

[pixelaoffy]

1 hour ago, sanuk711 said:

Do you have an account in Thailand ? -- "Wise" is worth looking at, but they have a limit of 2 Million Baht.... so you would have to do 2 transfers. If you have an account in Thailand then talk to that bank...BKK Bank gave me a rate better than wise for a large amount, and Transferred n 26 hours. They are all trying to Improve since Wise came into the game.

yes I have two bank accounts , bangkok and K, but its Thai baht . So is it better to do direct to thai bank and in sterling and then exchange to Thai baht? or have to monitor rates compared with transferwise ?

[sanuk711]

35 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

to buy a small house, Do I need to have some proof?

If its a house it wont be in your name---but a condo you do need proof. Also keep the Exchange print out from the bank-- you may decide to move on at a latter date. You would need that to take money out of Thailand.

[pixelaoffy]

3 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

If its a house it wont be in your name---but a condo you do need proof. Also keep the Exchange print out from the bank-- you may decide to move on at a latter date. You would need that to take money out of Thailand.

really? A house cannot be in my name ? I thought it could be joint ownership, actual land cant be in a foreigners name?

[howerde]

5 hours ago, Bruno123 said:

Unfortunately some slightly dodgy advice here, such as;

 

 

If he is not charged by Bangkok Bank it means that Lloyds did the conversion at a poor rate.

If he was charged by Bangkok Bank it means that it was sent in Pounds and Bangkok Bank did the conversion at their TT rate and took up to 500 baht.

 

So also send in Pounds and let the Thai bank do the conversion or use something like WISE as suggested.

Though do reply to questions asked as there might be other things to be considered.

 

 

Rubbish, you have no idea, 

[cyril sneer]

9 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

to buy a small house, Do I need to have some proof?

No, just checking you weren’t buying gold for your partner 

[Bruno123]

7 hours ago, howerde said:

Rubbish, you have no idea, 

That statement covers your original post. You can always come back to apologise once you have gone away to re-check your facts.

[DanWill]

22 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

yes I have two bank accounts , bangkok and K, but its Thai baht . So is it better to do direct to thai bank and in sterling and then exchange to Thai baht? or have to monitor rates compared with transferwise ?

Current Bkk Bank GBP-THB = 44.665. Wises' rate is 45.028. So on GBP1000 its only THB 350 different. How many beers is that?

But if you need it for Immigration, Wise is the way to go.