Cost of remitting funds UK to Thailand

[jayboy]

Over many years I have regularly remitted funds from Jersey to my account with Bangkok Bank here in Thailand.The Jersey account I tend to use is denominated in Thai Baht.I haven't paid much attention to charges until recently but always stipulate that both sides should charge for their costs separately. My last remittance was for Bt 400,000 from which my Jersey bank netted off about Bt 11,000 for their costs.Is this normal or outrageous?

[KannikaP]

WISE !

[freedomnow]

Yes, use wise.com up to a certain point (it gets more expensive with wise only with very,very large amounts) and as you are wiring to Bangkok Bank

it will be fine over 50,000 Baht asthey are in the allowed system for over 50k remits...

 

Also another member might tell you what reason to choose in wise in the drop-donwn menu for the transfer as you need certain remit codes in your bank book for retiree money etc.

[DaLa]

I have an export (from the UK) business and send close to a million back for each (part) invoice. Using Kasikorn costs us less than 1500 baht.  It's also worth checking exchange rates as well.  This morning opening ex rate on £1 GBP (cash)  was KAS 45.28, SCB 44.75 and Superrich 43.9.  Maybe it's because you are using Thai Baht funds and thus they aren't making any profit on the sell/buy difference.

 

Also try looking at other UK Forex companies such as Currencies Direct and TorFx.

[Pmbkk]

4 minutes ago, DaLa said:

Also try looking at other UK Forex companies such as Currencies Direct and TorFx.

 

I've used both of these when buying properties in Thailand(Sterling to Baht) - good rates, fast and competitive.

 

I use DeeMoney to transfer money back.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Pmbkk

[GrandPapillon]

30 minutes ago, jayboy said:

my Jersey bank netted off about Bt 11,000 for their costs.Is this normal or outrageous?

are you joking? of course it's outrageous ????

 

You can't send THB from overseas, it's a restricted currency. So what happens is they change your THB to GBP first, charging a spread fee and transactions fees, and then send your GBP to your overseas accounts, and they are charge some ridiculous transfer fees on the top of that.

 

You are getting the worst deal ever ????

[scubascuba3]

Wise would charge about £50 for 400k baht so yes you were ripped off, plus exchange would have been better

[jayboy]

42 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

are you joking? of course it's outrageous ????

 

You can't send THB from overseas, it's a restricted currency. So what happens is they change your THB to GBP first, charging a spread fee and transactions fees, and then send your GBP to your overseas accounts, and they are charge some ridiculous transfer fees on the top of that.

 

You are getting the worst deal ever ????

Many thanks.I'm sure what you set out is exactly what happened.In a way it's my own fault for naively assuming remitting between two accounts in the same currency would make transfers cheaper.It would be cheaper to remit in $ or £.I didn't know THB was a restricted currency.

[worrab]

 £,9,000 equates to nearly 400,000 THB at today's rate of 44.0365 would have incurred costs of £,42 using Wise.

Edited March 21, 2022 by worrab
Reword

[phetphet]

Register for Wise.

 

Even if you don't use it all the time, It's handy to have it for sending money because of the good exchange rate and the speed of transfer. the time of day you make the transfer can affect the spped, but get it right and it is in seconds.

 

https://wise.com/register/?redirectUrl=%2Fsend%23%3Famount%3D1000%26sourceCurrency%3DUSD%26targetCurrency%3DTHB%26fixedTarget%3Dfalse%26guaranteedFixedTarget%3Dfalse%26paymentOptionType%3DDIRECT_DEBIT&country=TH#/email

 

Here is a screen shot taken just now to transfer GBP10,000 to THB. Obviously the exchange rate will be changing all the time, but this was just now. You can lock in a rate for two hours as well.

 

Edited March 21, 2022 by phetphet

[topt]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

The Jersey account I tend to use is denominated in Thai Baht

Sorry but what do you mean by denominated in? 

Why would you have Thai baht held outside Thailand if that is what you mean? 

[KannikaP]

6 minutes ago, topt said:

Sorry but what do you mean by denominated in? 

Why would you have Thai baht held outside Thailand if that is what you mean? 

You could have a WISE Borderless account with a THB account, into which accumulate THB as and when the rate is good, and then transfer to your Thai bank whenever YOU want to, regardless of the exchange rate at that particular time.

[topt]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

You could have a WISE Borderless account with a THB account, into which accumulate THB as and when the rate is good, and then transfer to your Thai bank whenever YOU want to, regardless of the exchange rate at that particular time.

Yes and where does the Thai Baht come from in the first place? 

You still have to exchange another currency to buy it in the first place so I still don't really see any benefit - I admit I could be missing some subtlety here.........

[KannikaP]

4 minutes ago, topt said:

Yes and where does the Thai Baht come from in the first place? 

You still have to exchange another currency to buy it in the first place so I still don't really see any benefit - I admit I could be missing some subtlety here.........

Dunno, and don't really care. I change GBP to THB and save it in my WISE account. 

[jayboy]

18 minutes ago, topt said:

Sorry but what do you mean by denominated in? 

Why would you have Thai baht held outside Thailand if that is what you mean? 

Because my Jersey Bank offers accounts in various currencies including Thai Baht.For various reasons it seemed sensible part of my overseas cash reserves in the currency of the country where I live.Few of those reasons really apply now.

[Whale]

22 hours ago, jayboy said:

My last remittance was for Bt 400,000 from which my Jersey bank netted off about Bt 11,000 for their costs.Is this normal or outrageous?

Interesting, my J bank charges me to send same amount (in USD though) to Thailand just 19.99 (which I think is expensive). I have never looked at what the Thai bank charges to the conversion to Baht though.

 

[topt]

5 hours ago, Whale said:

Interesting, my J bank charges me to send same amount (in USD though) to Thailand just 19.99 (which I think is expensive). I have never looked at what the Thai bank charges to the conversion to Baht though.

 

Mine is £20 equivalent in $US whatever the amount of USD. 

However, saying that I would pay all charges meant that £20 is all I paid in commissions in total - so nothing extra when it hit my baht account which surprised me as I used to get charged a further 520 baht at the Thai end.

[theoldgit]

Another option is to transfer funds via Bangkok Bank in London, you can choose to send in Sterling or Thai Baht.

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-UK-to-Thailand-via-London-Branch

[delboy]

I transferred 10,000 pounds from Barclays in Jersey last Weds.  Cost was 15 pounds, plus 10 Pounds to cover Thai bank cost (Thai bank would charge 500 baht).  Funds took 1 minute to be credited to Thai bank account.