Report on Successful Transfer to US - 300k

[Jeffr2]

We sold our house this week and were very nervous about being able to transfer the money out of the country.  Especially this large of an amount.  Luckily, it happened!  Here's the details.  It won't apply to everyone, but this worked for us.

 

We've been with Bangkok Bank for over 10 years, transferring money in every year, about 1MM Baht or so.  We went to the head office in Pattaya.  I think that made a huge difference as the people there knew exactly what to do.  Doubt that would be the case at a smaller branch.

 

My wife is also a US citizen with her own bank account.  We initially were going to do it into a joint account, but the head office recommended doing it in her name only, to an account that's only hers.  They were on the phone with the head office in Bangkok for around 30 minutes sorting things out.

 

We had to bring the paperwork from the Land office showing the sale, etc.

 

It worked!  Initiated the process at 11am yesterday, money is in our account today.  Cost was 1,400 Baht for the wire fee.

 

They also recommended doing it all at once.  I guess doing smaller amounts numerous times raises a red flag????

 

Anyway, FYI.

[cmarshall]

You left out the all important currency symbol.

[mtls2005]

10 mm baht is my guess.

 

I guess I'm surprised anyone unconnected can transfer that much out of thailand.

 

 

[meechai]

No Surprise

 

It was never a problem for a Thai to trans out any amount period

That she has dual citizenship is irrelevant

Which is why this was suggested to you folks by BKB

 

Quote

We initially were going to do it into a joint account, but the head office recommended doing it in her name only, to an account that's only hers. 

My wife who is also a Thai/USA citizen has also transferred more than 50k USD at a time no questions asked

 

In any case even a US citizen living in Thailand can transfer out up to 50k USD without any questions with Bangkok Bank as I have done it many times  & all you have to say is repatriating the money. I usually kept it under 1.4 million baht to make sure it was easy

 

Lastly, As to them suggesting all at once in her name was just to save her the 1400 baht fee for each transfer

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by meechai

[Jeffr2]

Sorry, $300k USD.  I wasn't worried about $50k.  But $300k worried me.  Luckily, it worked out.  Money's in the bank!

[higgy88]

3 hours ago, meechai said:

No Surprise

 

It was never a problem for a Thai to trans out any amount period

That she has dual citizenship is irrelevant

Which is why this was suggested to you folks by BKB

 

My wife who is also a Thai/USA citizen has also transferred more than 50k USD at a time no questions asked

 

In any case even a US citizen living in Thailand can transfer out up to 50k USD without any questions with Bangkok Bank as I have done it many times  & all you have to say is repatriating the money. I usually kept it under 1.4 million baht to make sure it was easy

 

Lastly, As to them suggesting all at once in her name was just to save her the 1400 baht fee for each transfer

 

meechai,  what exactly does your wife use for the reason for the transfer, and does she transfer it directly into her own account in her own name?

[meechai]

16 hours ago, higgy88 said:

meechai,  what exactly does your wife use for the reason for the transfer, and does she transfer it directly into her own account in her own name?

She says the same as I do..."repatriating money". The account she sent it to was actually our joint account back in the USA, but that was never questioned

as form just asks acct number routing etc & she gave her name on account

(although that account as I said has both names as it is a joint account)

 

The only question they ever had for her was to bring her US passport to show she was in fact a dual citizen US/Thai

 

At no time were either her or I ever asked for inbound proof of funds originating in US etc

 

But if they do not have a dual citizenship then yes they will question why they are sending money out of country

Usual answers for Thai only citizens are things like supporting family abroad or child in school abroad etc

Edited February 10, 2022 by meechai

[EricTh]

18 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Sorry, $300k USD.  I wasn't worried about $50k.  But $300k worried me.  Luckily, it worked out.  Money's in the bank!

Cost is not 1,400 baht, transferring via a bank gave you poor exchange rate because they markup the exchange rate. Bangkok Bank must have earned quite a bit from your money transfer from exchange rate difference.

 

If you had used Transferwise, you could have saved much more money. Unluckily Transferwise aren't allowed to transfer out of Thailand (only into Thailand)

 

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

Edited February 11, 2022 by EricTh

[Yellowtail]

11 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Cost is not 1,400 baht, transferring via a bank gave you poor exchange rate because they markup the exchange rate. Bangkok Bank must have earned quite a bit from your money transfer from exchange rate difference.

 

If you had used Transferwise, you could have saved much more money. Unluckily Transferwise aren't allowed to transfer out of Thailand (only into Thailand)

 

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

It's been my experience that services like TransferWise/Wise are only cheaper for small transfers. 

 

 

[EricTh]

50 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

It's been my experience that services like TransferWise/Wise are only cheaper for small transfers. 

The exchange rate is poor for SWIFT bank transfer, the bigger the transfer, the more money the bank gets.

 

1400 is only the fixed fee, the other profit comes from the exchange rate difference.

 

So the bigger the transfer, it's better to use Wise/Instrarem/Moneydee

[higgy88]

2 hours ago, meechai said:

She says the same as I do..."repatriating money". The account she sent it to was actually our joint account back in the USA, but that was never questioned

as form just asks acct number routing etc & she gave her name on account

(although that account as I said has both names as it is a joint account)

 

The only question they ever had for her was to bring her US passport to show she was in fact a dual citizen US/Thai

 

At no time were either her or I ever asked for inbound proof of funds originating in US etc

 

But if they do not have a dual citizenship then yes they will question why they are sending money out of country

Usual answers for Thai only citizens are things like supporting family abroad or child in school abroad etc

Thank you very much.  That's good information for me.

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

The exchange rate is poor for SWIFT bank transfer, the bigger the transfer, the more money the bank gets.

 

1400 is only the fixed fee, the other profit comes from the exchange rate difference.

 

So the bigger the transfer, it's better to use Wise/Instrarem/Moneydee

I can't speak to "Instrarem" or "Moneydee", and perhaps it is different with other banks and or other countries, but I have used TransferWise/Wise any number of times, and I know with absolute certainty that for larger transfers (over ~US$10K) , doing an online transfer from Chase bank in the US to a Thai account is cheaper. 

 

But yes, if you select Chase's "free" default option and transfer in THB rather than selecting the flat-fee, and transfer in US$, you will get raped on the transfer rate.

 

 

 

 

[Neeranam]

On 2/10/2022 at 10:25 AM, meechai said:

No Surprise

 

It was never a problem for a Thai to trans out any amount period

That she has dual citizenship is irrelevant

Which is why this was suggested to you folks by BKB

 

My wife who is also a Thai/USA citizen has also transferred more than 50k USD at a time no questions asked

 

In any case even a US citizen living in Thailand can transfer out up to 50k USD without any questions with Bangkok Bank as I have done it many times  & all you have to say is repatriating the money. I usually kept it under 1.4 million baht to make sure it was easy

 

Lastly, As to them suggesting all at once in her name was just to save her the 1400 baht fee for each transfer

 

Any idea the limit for a dual citizen sending out of Thailand?

[cyril sneer]

not sure whether this thread was to help people or gloat about money...

[Pib]

9 hours ago, EricTh said:

Cost is not 1,400 baht, transferring via a bank gave you poor exchange rate because they markup the exchange rate. Bangkok Bank must have earned quite a bit from your money transfer from exchange rate difference.

 

If you had used Transferwise, you could have saved much more money. Unluckily Transferwise aren't allowed to transfer out of Thailand (only into Thailand)

 

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

Don't know why you even mention Wise (Transferwise) to transfer money out of Thailand because like you said you can't use Wise to transfer money out of Thailand; only into Thailand.

 

The OP made the right decision is SWIFTing the money from Bangkok Bank....SWIFTing from a Thai bank....due to the amount he was sending.    Thai banks use their TT Selling Rate when transfer funds out of Thailand....not to be confused with their TT Buying Rate which is used for incoming funds.   A "lower" selling rate is better because it means you must fork-out less baht to buy the currency, like USD, that you are sending out.

 

Taking a look at the Bangkok Bank TT Selling Rate and the Deemoney Money Transfer rates as of the date/time of my post, the Bangkok Bank rate is 32.87 THB/USD with a Bt1400 sending fee and the DeeMoney Rate is 33.15 THB/USD with a Bt125 sending fee.  Bangkok Bank fee is better/lower for sending out money.  That exchange rate difference is approx 0.85% which is going to make a BIG difference in how much money arrives the U.S. bank acct.  While the DeeMoney fee is lower their "worst" exchange rate in this case is going to make a big difference for this BIG transfer.

 

The difference between a 32.87 and 33.15 rate is approx 0.85% (remember a lower rate is better when sending money out of Thailand...it's the reverse of sending in).  For a transfer of around $300K worth of baht using above two rates the result is a difference of of approx $2,550 (Bt83.8K),   Taking in the sending fee difference that means around $2,511  more arriving the OP's U.S. bank account by using Bangkok Bank vs DeeMoney.

 

Yeap...exchange rate can make a very big difference when transferring money out or or into Thailand.....while money transfer services like Wise, DeeMoney, etc., are excellent choices for smaller/certain amounts, for large amounts their exchange rate/sending fee may start taking a big bite.  So always do a complete transfer cost analysis which takes into account both exchange rate and fees to see which way is best/cheaper for the sender.

 

 

[KannikaP]

10 hours ago, EricTh said:

If you had used Transferwise, you could have saved much more money. Unluckily Transferwise aren't allowed to transfer out of Thailand (only into Thailand)

Rather a silly staetment then!

[Yellowtail]

10 minutes ago, Pib said:

Don't know why you even mention Wise (Transferwise) to transfer money out of Thailand because like you said you can't use Wise to transfer money out of Thailand; only into Thailand.

 

The OP made the right decision is SWIFTing the money from Bangkok Bank....SWIFTing from a Thai bank....due to the amount he was sending.    Thai banks use their TT Selling Rate when transfer funds out of Thailand....not to be confused with their TT Buying Rate which is used for incoming funds.   A "lower" selling rate is better because it means you must fork-out less baht to buy the currency, like USD, that you are sending out.

 

Taking a look at the Bangkok Bank TT Selling Rate and the Deemoney Money Transfer rates as of the date/time of my post, the Bangkok Bank rate is 32.87 THB/USD with a Bt1400 sending fee and the DeeMoney Rate is 33.15 THB/USD with a Bt125 sending fee.  Bangkok Bank fee is better/lower for sending out money.  That exchange rate difference is approx 0.85% which is going to make a BIG difference in how much money arrives the U.S. bank acct.  While the DeeMoney fee is lower their "worst" exchange rate in this case is going to make a big difference for this BIG transfer.

 

The difference between a 32.87 and 33.15 rate is approx 0.85% (remember a lower rate is better when sending money out of Thailand...it's the reverse of sending in).  For a transfer of around $300K worth of baht using above two rates the result is a difference of of approx $2,550 (Bt83.8K),   Taking in the sending fee difference that means around $2,511  more arriving the OP's U.S. bank account by using Bangkok Bank vs DeeMoney.

 

Yeap...exchange rate can make a very big difference when transferring money out or or into Thailand.....while money transfer services like Wise, DeeMoney, etc., are excellent choices for smaller/certain amounts, for large amounts their exchange rate/sending fee may start taking a big bite.  So always do a complete transfer cost analysis which takes into account both exchange rate and fees to see which way is best/cheaper for the sender.

 

 

And it is worth nothing that when transferring a larger amount into Thailand from Chase in the US, when Krungsri receives the dollars they will call you and tell you the rate, and they will hold it in dollars until you like the rate. 

[CANSIAM]

Citibank Thailand to any Citibank globally online transfer - 45,000 USD per day, no fee, remittance time is instant, had to call the bank to confirm the payee, just made several last week........

[Yellowtail]

9 minutes ago, CANSIAM said:

Citibank Thailand to any Citibank globally online transfer - 45,000 USD per day, no fee, remittance time is instant, had to call the bank to confirm the payee, just made several last week........

We used Citibank at work and had a zero balance account. Whenever you drew on the account (or deposited) it just went through the account from/to the overseas account. 

 

When they set it up, Citi had staff in our office for a few days installing the software and training and whatnot. While they were there they let everyone that wanted one sign up for the Citibank Mastercard as well.

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Don't know why you even mention Wise (Transferwise) to transfer money out of Thailand because like you said you can't use Wise to transfer money out of Thailand; only into Thailand.

 

The OP made the right decision is SWIFTing the money from Bangkok Bank....SWIFTing from a Thai bank....due to the amount he was sending.    Thai banks use their TT Selling Rate when transfer funds out of Thailand....not to be confused with their TT Buying Rate which is used for incoming funds.   A "lower" selling rate is better because it means you must fork-out less baht to buy the currency, like USD, that you are sending out.

 

Taking a look at the Bangkok Bank TT Selling Rate and the Deemoney Money Transfer rates as of the date/time of my post, the Bangkok Bank rate is 32.87 THB/USD with a Bt1400 sending fee and the DeeMoney Rate is 33.15 THB/USD with a Bt125 sending fee.  Bangkok Bank fee is better/lower for sending out money.  That exchange rate difference is approx 0.85% which is going to make a BIG difference in how much money arrives the U.S. bank acct.  While the DeeMoney fee is lower their "worst" exchange rate in this case is going to make a big difference for this BIG transfer.

 

The difference between a 32.87 and 33.15 rate is approx 0.85% (remember a lower rate is better when sending money out of Thailand...it's the reverse of sending in).  For a transfer of around $300K worth of baht using above two rates the result is a difference of of approx $2,550 (Bt83.8K),   Taking in the sending fee difference that means around $2,511  more arriving the OP's U.S. bank account by using Bangkok Bank vs DeeMoney.

 

Yeap...exchange rate can make a very big difference when transferring money out or or into Thailand.....while money transfer services like Wise, DeeMoney, etc., are excellent choices for smaller/certain amounts, for large amounts their exchange rate/sending fee may start taking a big bite.  So always do a complete transfer cost analysis which takes into account both exchange rate and fees to see which way is best/cheaper for the sender.

 

 

Like I said, I haven't used Deemoney before.

 

Wow!  I didn't know that sending via Bangkok Bank is much better than Deemoney.

 

Deemoney is obviously a rip-off, I think that's why Thailand won't allow Transferwise or Instarem to transfer money out.

 

So the best option to transfer money out of Thailand is Bangkok Bank? I will keep this in mind should I need to do the same in the future.

Edited February 11, 2022 by EricTh

[Pib]

DeeMoney can still be a good deal...but it depends on the amount you send,  where you are sending it, etc.   It's definitely easy and quick to use.....but with Thai banks easy and quick does not always apply when trying to send money out of Thailand.    I have a DeeMoney acct and have used it a few times in the past to send money to the U.S....do it from the comfort of your keyboard....works as advertised....arrives quickly.  

[gargamon]

One of my US banks has a novel way to deposit foreign funds. They accept checks in foreign currency, deposit the face value into your account(frozen of course) and then send the transfer to the feds I think, where you get the real exchange rate. No fees anywhere, but it takes a couple of weeks to actually unfreeze the funds.

 

So if you gave a check for 800k baht, your account balance would show $800k, in dollars. After the exchange was done, it would be unfrozen and the balance adjusted accordingly.

 

The bank I use for this is First Internet Bank of Indiana(firstib.com)

[meechai]

22 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Any idea the limit for a dual citizen sending out of Thailand?

I do not think there is a limit ( for Thai/dual citizens) but in my wife's case i think the most she sent was 3 million baht

....But as OP stated his dual citizen Thai wife transferred out 300k USD or roughly 9.8 million baht

 

But for folks such as myself US citizen I have always heard under 50k USD will raise no questions & that is what I followed & never was questioned

[higgy88]

I've found some very interesting information for those who may be interested.  Apparently Kasikorn Bank does not send money to the US using the SWIFT method,   but rather uses  the ACH direct deposit method.  So at least theoretically you can transfer money from Kbank in Thailand to your USD account in Wise.

This is a screenshot from their web page.

 

 

[Jeffr2]

On 2/11/2022 at 7:03 AM, EricTh said:

Cost is not 1,400 baht, transferring via a bank gave you poor exchange rate because they markup the exchange rate. Bangkok Bank must have earned quite a bit from your money transfer from exchange rate difference.

 

If you had used Transferwise, you could have saved much more money. Unluckily Transferwise aren't allowed to transfer out of Thailand (only into Thailand)

 

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

To be honest. I'm just happy to get the money out easily! I did check the exchange rates. Not the best but not terrible.

 

I registered with Deemoney. Just didn't feel comfortable with such a large amount.

[EricTh]

On 2/12/2022 at 11:24 AM, higgy88 said:

I've found some very interesting information for those who may be interested.  Apparently Kasikorn Bank does not send money to the US using the SWIFT method,   but rather uses  the ACH direct deposit method.  So at least theoretically you can transfer money from Kbank in Thailand to your USD account in Wise.

This is a screenshot from their web page.

 

 

 

I am wondering which money transfer service has the best exchange rate to send money OUT of Thailand as there are less options than sending money IN to Thailand.

 

 

[whiteman]

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

 

 

Dee Money and  Transferwise do not transfer to N.Z. for those that are interested

Edited February 15, 2022 by whiteman

[Puccini]

On 2/10/2022 at 2:57 AM, cmarshall said:

You left out the all important currency symbol.

In the title, he uses US, which is two-thirds of the currency symbol USD, which he obviously means.

 

In the body of his post, he used Baht, the name of the Thai currency, which has the symbol THB.

 

Of course, it would be better to use either the symbols or the names consistently, but we are not all financial wizards.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Puccini

[Puccini]

On 2/11/2022 at 1:03 AM, EricTh said:

Why didn't you use Deemoney instead? I am not sure about how Deemoney exchange rate compare with Transferwise

Pointless to mention Transferwise ( now named Wise), since it would not have been possible to use Wise.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Puccini

[Puccini]

On 2/11/2022 at 1:16 AM, Yellowtail said:

It's been my experience that services like TransferWise/Wise are only cheaper for small transfers. 

 

 

Pointless to mention Transferwise ( now named Wise), since it would not have been possible to use Wise.