How do retiree expats on retirement visa extensions repatriate their money back home?

[RubenRemus]

Just curious. Let's say after 2-3 years you feel that Thailand isn't the place for you. What happens to the 800,000 baht you've been sitting on at the bank? Is it easy to request a wire transfer back to your home country? Or do you generally need to pay it down before you leave? 

[kwonitoy]

I transferred mine back by wire transfer for the bulk of it and spent the remaining with my ATM card.

No issues transferring in Oct 2021, don't know about now.

[DrJack54]

DeeMoney.

Mind you if you have a plan then imo does not take long to run down 800k.

Also covert some to your home currency and walk out with it.

You will obtain best advice in other forum .

Been asked many times

[Lacessit]

Withdraw the money, and convert to another currency. Thai baht can't be taken out of Thailand, anything else can.

I hear one can get a lot of Russian rubles for 800K baht.

[FriendlyFarang]

You could withdraw it, convert it to your home country currency and take it back in cash. Upon arrival in your home country you will probably have to declare it (over 10k), so prepare some evidence from when you transferred it to Thailand, then you can easily show to customs in your home country that it's your own money.

Edited May 26, 2022 by FriendlyFarang

[The Hammer2021]

Just transfer it as you would normally  via your bank  though people reccomend Dee money

[JoseThailand]

1 hour ago, FriendlyFarang said:

You could withdraw it, convert it to your home country currency and take it back in cash. Upon arrival in your home country you will probably have to declare it (over 10k), so prepare some evidence from when you transferred it to Thailand, then you can easily show to customs in your home country that it's your own money.

Not a smart idea. Cash can easily be stolen.

[dj230]

I thought about this before doing a marriage visa and the amount of money you might end up losing to foreign exchange + currency price fluctuations makes it more enticing to just do an elite visa or use an agent.

 

That being said I dont see why you'd have any issues wiring the money out

[mvdf]

I know there are restrictions for the exportation of THB in cash but does anyone know if similar restrictions exist for the reverse (importation of THB)? I'm asking because a friend of mine is selling me his baht and I intend to take it with me when I return to BKK next month. It's about 180k baht.

[petertucker48]

Check out:

https://wise.com 

I use from UK bank to Thai bank with UK debit card time taken Very short (last transaction 60 seconds)

 

[Sheryl]

11 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Just transfer it as you would normally  via your bank  though people recommend Dee money

Dee money is fine but has some transaction limits (I forget offhand what they are) and also does not send to all countries, only some

 

No problem at all making a wire transfer (other than the fee) to most countries

[norfolkandchance]

12 minutes ago, petertucker48 said:

Check out:

https://wise.com 

I use from UK bank to Thai bank with UK debit card time taken Very short (last transaction 60 seconds)

 

No can do from Thailand.

[theoldgit]

12 minutes ago, petertucker48 said:

Check out:

https://wise.com 

I use from UK bank to Thai bank with UK debit card time taken Very short (last transaction 60 seconds)

 

 

Yes, but the OP is wishing to move funds in the opposite direction, which Wise cannot do.

[DrJack54]

OP, plenty of reading material on your options here......

 

 

 

[bbko]

SWIFT transfer it.  Another option is to travel with it, in the past I've flown with a chunk of crisp new $100 bills in a sealed envelope just under the customs limit, never had a problem.  Easy to take care of it,  unless you're feeble.

[Satcommlee]

Any person who brings or takes an aggregate amount of foreign currency exceeding USD20,000 or its equivalent out of or into Thailand shall declare such amount of foreign currency to a Customs Officer.

 

Same goes for most countries.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Satcommlee

[PumpkinEater]

As my annual USA trip is coming up, I tried to convert THai Baht to USD (carry with me) but seems that it was not possible since the banks on Samui at least do not deal in USD anymore since Covid fear…

So I wired the funds from my K bank normally to my bank in the USA, for minimal fee.

 

I had a Dee money account but when I did a “test run” on a small amount transfer to the US, I received a TAX statement on the transfer. I called Dee Money and asked why a tax statement and if the transfer is reported to the IRS in the States with no satisfactory response, so I cancelled the Dee money account. Beware…

 

Cheers!

[The Hammer2021]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Dee money is fine but has some transaction limits (I forget offhand what they are) and also does not send to all countries, only some

 

No problem at all making a wire transfer (other than the fee) to most countries

Is a 'wire' what my bank call 'Swift'

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Is a 'wire' what my bank call 'Swift'

Yes

[Sheryl]

14 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Is a 'wire' what my bank call 'Swift'

Yes. Typically costs a fee at both ends. The fee is usually a blanket charge, same regardless of amount of the transfer.

[RubenRemus]

Thanks for the helpful comments everyone. Seems far easier than my last country of posting, where you couldn't convert the local currency to USD and the banks were not well set up for international fund transfer. I can live with a small % fee. Cheers. 

[BonMot]

Stick around and spend 500k, travel the region you'll probably never get a chance again if going home. Convert the rest to cash at super rich central rajadamri.

[GinBoy2]

When we sold our condo's, did a wire transfer from SCB to BoA. Yes there was a fee but it was minimal as I recall.

 

I think there was also a declaration about where the funds came from, never heard anything from the IRS etc.

 

Non issue as far as I can see

[JustThisOnePostOnly]

An interesting detail is that when you open up the account and the money is being sent into Thailand, the bank officials are happy to fill out all of the forms for you.

 

Not so when pulling the money out and sending it back home. Never did so much work writing with a pen!

[Pond Life]

My Bankok Bank ATM card worked fine overseas.
I withdrew the max daily allowance until I had run down my balance.
I never had enyone question it from either end.
Make sure to call your Thai bank before you leave & make sure your card is set up for overseas withdrawals.

[a977]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:05 PM, DrJack54 said:

DeeMoney.

Mind you if you have a plan then imo does not take long to run down 800k.

Also covert some to your home currency and walk out with it.

You will obtain best advice in other forum .

Been asked many times

the only problem is the lousy exchange rate