Large money transfer.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

And this is where a SWIFT would be cheaper, at Nationwide it is £20 for any amount.

yes. most banks will be much cheaper for this amount, and SWIFT will be much cheaper, even

after the exchange rate benefits.

however, need to check the exchange rate the bank in thailand will give. and see the difference.

[scubascuba3]

13 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

yes. most banks will be much cheaper for this amount, and SWIFT will be much cheaper, even

after the exchange rate benefits.

however, need to check the exchange rate the bank in thailand will give. and see the difference.

The problem with SWIFT is you won't know the exchange rate until settlement day, usually a few days later

[khunPer]

15 hours ago, ray richards said:

Is it possible for me to transfer £100,000 from my UK bank to my Bangkok Bank in Thailand in 1 transaction for a condo purchase as I am coming to Thailand to live when I am permitted to do so.

I've done large transfers from Denmark to Thailand.

 

You might have a transfer limit by your bank, so contact them to get an Okay for £100,000 transfer, and eventuel needed registration.

 

It's a benefit to do it in one transfer, and get it registered by Bank of Thailand when arriving, as you then will be eligible to transfer similar amount out of Thailand, should that be needed.

 

Transfer in foreign currency for best exchange rate, and check fees with your bank. Wise might be too expensive to consider due to their fees; Wise is however Okay for small amounts, but often too expensive with larger amounts...????

[matchar]

Thai banks offer terrible exchange rates. Even after the fees Wise will probably be cheaper.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

And this is where a SWIFT would be cheaper, at Nationwide it is £20 for any amount.

But the exchange rate at N'wide will not be as good as Wise. So it needs application of your O Level maths to determine which is the better option.

And in the end you will probably save a tenner!

Edited September 27, 2021 by KannikaP

[Thalueng]

On 7/28/2021 at 12:51 PM, inThailand said:

 

 

3 hours ago, skorts said:

Any foreigner planning to purchase a property in Thailand must follow the correct procedures for Transferring Money into Thailand. If the proper steps are not taken it may prove impossible to repatriate the money when it comes time to sell the property and/or leave Thailand.

If more than US$ 50,000 is being remitted for the purchase of a condominium, a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FETF) must be requested from the receiving bank.

The Condominium Act states that any non-resident of Thailand who wishes to buy a condominium, must transfer the requisite funds from overseas specifically for that purpose.
Regardless of the buyer’s country of origin, the funds must be sent in a foreign currency, to be converted into Thai Baht (THB) by the receiving bank upon arrival in Thailand.

In order to register the condominium with the Land Department, the FETF documentation must be presented to prove that the full purchase price was transferred into the Kingdom from abroad. (The instruction on the bank transaction form should also state that the payment is for the sole purpose of purchasing a condominium.).

 

Mostly correct. If you buy property reserved for foreign ownership (49% of a building on land owned by Thai majority) you must prove the origin of the funds. If you buy as Thai (eg your wife who is Thai, or throughsome other Thai representative), or if you build a house on leasehold land you don't need to. If you do it does not matter what you state when sending the money, the Thai bank will confirm with you the purpose of transfer anyway after receiving the money and before crediting your account, where you would need to state purpose and intended property.

 

Transfer any amount, one time transfer imposes slightly smaller fees. My foreign bank would heavily limit the amount transferred online, so for me going to the counter would be the better option. In any case you should have your Thai bank issue a FETF, which will facilitate sending money back if you ever need to, even smaller amount. In Thailand you cannot remit to abroad online. Thai banks keep records, but after years or if you change your bank it will be more difficult to trace back. This also applies if beneficiaries of your last will are outside of Thailand. 

[skorts]

45 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

But the exchange rate at N'wide will not be as good as Wise. So it needs application of your O Level maths to determine which is the better option.

And in the end you will probably save You need to apply O level in logic to determine what is the best option. If you are purchasing a condo as a foreigner in your own name you have to transfer the funds in to Thailand foreign currency. 

If you are purchasing a condo as a foreigner in your own name you have to transfer the funds in to Thailand in foreign currency. 
The currency conversion is done by the Thai receiving bank not by Nationwide (in my case).
if you use Wise and get them to do the currency conversion you might save £10 but you will presumably be transferring Thai Baht into Thailand which breaches the rules.

My Thai lawyer avoided me doing exactly that when I purchased my condo. I wanted to use Wise for the transfer!
By all means use Wise (I have been a customer for many years and use them for all of my other transfers) and save your £10. 
But I would rather pay £10 more , transfer the funds in to Thailand in foreign currency. and get the FETF and know I will be able to transfer my money out of Thailand if and when the time comes. 
 

[Jen65]

Foreign exchange transaction document was scrapped about 5 or 6 years ago .  I got one with my first property purchase here about 10 years ago but recently when I asked for one for a new property purchase and showed the form - the bank said it was no available and had been done away with !  So just keep a record of of the transaction .

Also , why don't you set up two accounts - a savings account in Thai baht and a sterling deposit account .   You can transfer all the sterling to the foreign currency deposit account and then take out the amounts you need / change into Thai baht at the current TT rate and put into your savings account .   This way you can just draw what you need and have the opportunity to benefit from the exchange rate when it suits you .    

[skorts]

9 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

Foreign exchange transaction document was scrapped about 5 or 6 years ago .  I got one with my first property purchase here about 10 years ago but recently when I asked for one for a new property purchase and showed the form - the bank said it was no available and had been done away with !  So just keep a record of of the transaction .

Also , why don't you set up two accounts - a savings account in Thai baht and a sterling deposit account .   You can transfer all the sterling to the foreign currency deposit account and then take out the amounts you need / change into Thai baht at the current TT rate and put into your savings account .   This way you can just draw what you need and have the opportunity to benefit from the exchange rate when it suits you .    

That is very interesting. 
This article was published last month. 
The FETF is apparently is still a requirement.

 

https://freshbangkok.com/foreign-exchange-transaction-form-thailand-real-estate/

[Jen65]

5 minutes ago, skorts said:

That is very interesting. 
This article was published last month. 
The FETF is apparently is still a requirement.

 

https://freshbangkok.com/foreign-exchange-transaction-form-thailand-real-estate/

appears the article was produced by a property company -  you will get the correct answer from your Thai bank .  

[natway09]

Via swift from your UK bank to BKB should be fine.

Do not let them talk you into changing into Thai Baht at your  end.

The local Thai big 5 banks will give you a better rate

[skorts]

1 hour ago, Jen65 said:

appears the article was produced by a property company -  you will get the correct answer from your Thai bank .  

GPS Legal also confirm the FET form is required (Jan 2021) if you are not a permanent resident or are not validly working for a BOI company, you may have to transfer locally parked funds out of Thailand and back in again to receive a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) letter from the bank.

https://gps-legal.com/family-individual/buying-a-condo-in-thailand/

 

I wouldn’t rely on what a bank says but take the advice of a Thai property lawyer. 
 

it seems the FET is still in existence and required. 
 

I was told by my lawyer without this FET form I may have problems trying to get the money out of Thailand if I sold my condo and wanted to repatriate my funds. 
 

I have FET forms so not a problem for me. 

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

The problem with SWIFT is you won't know the exchange rate until settlement day, usually a few days later

When I do a SWIFT transfer from abroad to my BKB, it shows up the same day if the business hours coincide, or the next day at the latest.

At my BKB branch, I can request a detailed document that will show incoming amount, the Baht equivalent, and the commission applied by the bank.

The exchange rate is usually the official interbank exchange rate (cfr e.g. oanda.com). BKB levies an amount which I believe is 500THB. Then there is a fee at the origin, that depends on the bank and it might show up days after the transaction.

 

[The Hammer2021]

You don't need to go to the UK even if you have to move it in smaller amounts. Save on paperwork by moving it in 10 tranches..Use swift bank Transfer or Wise

[The Hammer2021]

30 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

When I do a SWIFT transfer from abroad to my BKB, it shows up the same day if the business hours coincide, or the next day at the latest.

At my BKB branch, I can request a detailed document that will show incoming amount, the Baht equivalent, and the commission applied by the bank.

The exchange rate is usually the official interbank exchange rate (cfr e.g. oanda.com). BKB levies an amount which I believe is 500THB. Then there is a fee at the origin, that depends on the bank and it might show up days after the transaction.

 

I used to use swift until switching to wise. Swift could take a few days but anyway wise is faster and a better rate of exchange.

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, arithai12 said:

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

The problem with SWIFT is you won't know the exchange rate until settlement day, usually a few days later

When I do a SWIFT transfer from abroad to my BKB, it shows up the same day if the business hours coincide, or the next day at the latest.

At my BKB branch, I can request a detailed document that will show incoming amount, the Baht equivalent, and the commission applied by the bank.

The exchange rate is usually the official interbank exchange rate (cfr e.g. oanda.com). BKB levies an amount which I believe is 500THB. Then there is a fee at the origin, that depends on the bank and it might show up days after the transaction.

Is this "closure" by Krung Thai Bank only from their website? (They say "on".)

I've been transferring from the UK to this bank for decades (nearly).

 

 

 

 

 

[Scouse123]

I have done these transactions many times, back and forth.

 

Right now and for the foreseeable I recommend you to use the Wise transfer, excellent exchange rates and you can do this each day for three days as they have a daily limit, three transactions in total. It takes seconds once you are set up. Far better than banks.

 

Do a small amount of 500 GBP to test you have set it up properly and away you go.

[scubascuba3]

5 hours ago, arithai12 said:

When I do a SWIFT transfer from abroad to my BKB, it shows up the same day if the business hours coincide, or the next day at the latest.

At my BKB branch, I can request a detailed document that will show incoming amount, the Baht equivalent, and the commission applied by the bank.

The exchange rate is usually the official interbank exchange rate (cfr e.g. oanda.com). BKB levies an amount which I believe is 500THB. Then there is a fee at the origin, that depends on the bank and it might show up days after the transaction.

 

Surprised you say it's the interbank rate, Wise use interbank rate and is better than Bangkok Bank, their rate is usually their TT rate on their website?

 

If it was interbank rate people wouldn't use Wise as their charges are far higher unless a small transfer

[scubascuba3]

3 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

Is this "closure" by Krung Thai Bank only from their website? (They say "on".)

I've been transferring from the UK to this bank for decades (nearly).

 

 

 

 

 

This came up before and i think it's referring to transfers to abroad, so transfers to Thailand should be same as usual

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, skorts said:

If you are purchasing a condo as a foreigner in your own name you have to transfer the funds in to Thailand in foreign currency. 
The currency conversion is done by the Thai receiving bank not by Nationwide (in my case).
if you use Wise and get them to do the currency conversion you might save £10 but you will presumably be transferring Thai Baht into Thailand which breaches the rules.

My Thai lawyer avoided me doing exactly that when I purchased my condo. I wanted to use Wise for the transfer!
By all means use Wise (I have been a customer for many years and use them for all of my other transfers) and save your £10. 
But I would rather pay £10 more , transfer the funds in to Thailand in foreign currency. and get the FETF and know I will be able to transfer my money out of Thailand if and when the time comes. 
 

Your lawyer wasn't totally correct, with Wise if you process correctly it will be classed as International and is fine for property purchases and Immigration

[inThailand]

9 hours ago, skorts said:

GPS Legal also confirm the FET form is required (Jan 2021) if you are not a permanent resident or are not validly working for a BOI company, you may have to transfer locally parked funds out of Thailand and back in again to receive a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) letter from the bank.

https://gps-legal.com/family-individual/buying-a-condo-in-thailand/

 

I wouldn’t rely on what a bank says but take the advice of a Thai property lawyer. 
 

it seems the FET is still in existence and required. 
 

I was told by my lawyer without this FET form I may have problems trying to get the money out of Thailand if I sold my condo and wanted to repatriate my funds. 
 

I have FET forms so not a problem for me. 

The only Thai entity that wants a FET document is the Land Dept and you, if you want to one day sell and transfer the money out of LOS. 

[skorts]

32 minutes ago, inThailand said:

The only Thai entity that wants a FET document is the Land Dept and you, if you want to one day sell and transfer the money out of LOS. 

Exactly!

[brianthainess]

16 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Just went into my wise account if I was sending 100 k this is what I would get the transfer charge is just over£500

This is why I can never understand people raving about Wise, My UK bank has a set fee of just 20 pounds for any transfer, I only transfer once a year and don't need it the same day. 500 bht max fee from BKB.

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

but you will presumably be transferring Thai Baht into Thailand

Why would anybody do that when Thai banks give a better Ex-rate ? Always send in pounds and to be extra sure but in a message 'DO NOT EXCHANGE FUNDS" that prevents any money being exchanged by a thai 'holding' bank. it happened to me twice from OZ.

[matchar]

9 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

This is why I can never understand people raving about Wise, My UK bank has a set fee of just 20 pounds for any transfer, I only transfer once a year and don't need it the same day. 500 bht max fee from BKB.

Because the Wise exchange rate is much better. Your BKB fees are hidden in the bad exchange rate.

[scubascuba3]

24 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Why would anybody do that when Thai banks give a better Ex-rate ? Always send in pounds and to be extra sure but in a message 'DO NOT EXCHANGE FUNDS" that prevents any money being exchanged by a thai 'holding' bank. it happened to me twice from OZ.

You've quoted the wrong person

[JetsetBkk]

9 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

This came up before and i think it's referring to transfers to abroad, so transfers to Thailand should be same as usual

Thanks. I just did a £10,500 transfer without apparent problems. Let's see what happens!   ????

 

Maybe someone else can do a £10,500 transfer using WISE, and see how much they get? My bank is Nationwide. Any other Nationwide account holders willing to give it a go? Just as an "academic exercise"?   ????

[matchar]

1 hour ago, JetsetBkk said:

Thanks. I just did a £10,500 transfer without apparent problems. Let's see what happens!   ????

 

Maybe someone else can do a £10,500 transfer using WISE, and see how much they get? My bank is Nationwide. Any other Nationwide account holders willing to give it a go? Just as an "academic exercise"?   ????

The exchange rate is constantly changing but WISE tell you exactly how much baht you will receive before you make the transfer. It will be interesting to see how much baht you receive from your SWIFT transfer, I expect it will be less than WISE though. Your local Thai bank will decide the exchange rate.

[Knocker33]

On 9/27/2021 at 3:21 PM, crazykopite said:

Set up a wise account the first two transfers are free if I’m correct plus they give the best rate best way would be to transfer your 100k into you new wise account and when your happy with the exchange rate send it to your Thai bank account there is a charge 

Just tried to transfer £50 k with wise for a land purchase. They wanted the proof of the purchase ie copy of land tile ect

[Jen65]

21 hours ago, skorts said:

GPS Legal also confirm the FET form is required (Jan 2021) if you are not a permanent resident or are not validly working for a BOI company, you may have to transfer locally parked funds out of Thailand and back in again to receive a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) letter from the bank.

https://gps-legal.com/family-individual/buying-a-condo-in-thailand/

 

I wouldn’t rely on what a bank says but take the advice of a Thai property lawyer. 
 

it seems the FET is still in existence and required. 
 

I was told by my lawyer without this FET form I may have problems trying to get the money out of Thailand if I sold my condo and wanted to repatriate my funds. 
 

I have FET forms so not a problem for me. 

Changes in Reporting Requirements of Foreign Exchange Transactions (2004)

In order to reduce the paperwork required for foreign exchange transactions (buying, selling, depositing, withdrawing foreign currencies) between financial institutions and their non-interbank customers, the Bank of Thailand has consolidated and simplified all relevant Notices into a new Notice of the Competent Officer effective from April 1, 2004 Changes are summarized as follows:

1. Revoke all Notices of the Competent Officer and related circulars by issuing a new Notice for easy reference.
2. All types of transactions are to be reported in a single foreign exchange transactions forms replacing Thor.Tor 3, Thor.Tor 4, and Thor.Tor 5.
3. Foreign exchange transactions amounting to an equivalent of USD 20,000 or over have to be reported in the Foreign Exchange Transaction Form.
4. SWIFT documents that have all the information according to the Foreign Exchange Transaction Form can be used as the Foreign Exchange Transaction Form in order to facilitate nonresident customers.
5. Exporters and importers are no longer required to submit Thor.Tor 1 and Thor.Tor. 2 as the information are already reported in the Custom Declaration Form.
6. Foreign exchange transactions of exporters and importers arising from trade amounting to an equivalent of USD 20,000 or over have to be reported.
7. Financial institutions will submit report on foreign exchange transactions and data to the Bank of Thailand in electronic forms instead of paper form.
8. Reduce paperwork on foreign exchange transactions of government and government agencies.

Source: Bank of Thailand