I And Wife Leaving Thailand

[tahitiboy]

I discovered this site a bit too late. Just ran across this site a few days ago after living in Thailand for 3 years. Missed out a lot of infos.

I and my wife and our new born daughter 8 months old are leaving Thailand. To go back to Amsterdam for a while then to Tahiti where I grew up and start a new family life there.

I still have 3 million in my Thai bank and my wife has 1.5 million of her own. So we went to change at Super Rich the other day. Very impressive with many auto money counting machines and amazing they have any quantity of banknotes any time. so we got over 1000 banknotes of Euro 100.

And today some friend told me that airport staff here are very corrupted and they will try to give me trobles with this big sum if they see it. My Thai wife told me there is no problem at all. But I am still a bit worried that airport staff may give me some bogus rule that I have to surrender to them my own money. My wife told me I am too neurotic, but maybe a little bit, because this is Thailand after all. Does any one of the old timers here know if we foriegners can take our money home freely or we have to leave it here as donation to the country. Or can Thai themselves take their own money out?

[cclub75]

My wife told me I am too neurotic, but maybe a little bit, because this is Thailand after all. Does any one of the old timers here know if we foriegners can take our money home freely or we have to leave it here as donation to the country. Or can Thai themselves take their own money out?

A "donation" ? That's a funny idea.

Anyway, why bother (and taking risk) with cash ? Why don't you make a wired transfert to a bank account outside Thailand, in Holland for instance ?

[Carmine6]

I discovered this site a bit too late. Just ran across this site a few days ago after living in Thailand for 3 years. Missed out a lot of infos.

I and my wife and our new born daughter 8 months old are leaving Thailand. To go back to Amsterdam for a while then to Tahiti where I grew up and start a new family life there.

I still have 3 million in my Thai bank and my wife has 1.5 million of her own. So we went to change at Super Rich the other day. Very impressive with many auto money counting machines and amazing they have any quantity of banknotes any time. so we got over 1000 banknotes of Euro 100.

And today some friend told me that airport staff here are very corrupted and they will try to give me trobles with this big sum if they see it. My Thai wife told me there is no problem at all. But I am still a bit worried that airport staff may give me some bogus rule that I have to surrender to them my own money. My wife told me I am too neurotic, but maybe a little bit, because this is Thailand after all. Does any one of the old timers here know if we foriegners can take our money home freely or we have to leave it here as donation to the country. Or can Thai themselves take their own money out?

I'd be wary of traveling with that much cash to or from anywhere, but here's a quote from what appears to be the Thai Customs website. Should be something similar in the Thai version that you could print out and carry with you to the airport just in case someone wanted to make up regulations.

"Outbound passengers: Unlimited amount of foreign currencies are permitted to carry out of Thailand. However, the amount of Baht 50,000 or more in Thai currency must be reported on departure, except those traveling to Lao PDR., Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam are allowed to take out Thai currency not exceeding 500,000 Baht."

Customs Website link

What about traveler's cheques or something similar? Some fees involved, but not as likely to go missing.

[naka]

Should not be a problem, but you should also consider travelers cheques, or a

bank transfer could also be considered.

Naka.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I discovered this site a bit too late. Just ran across this site a few days ago after living in Thailand for 3 years. Missed out a lot of infos.

I and my wife and our new born daughter 8 months old are leaving Thailand. To go back to Amsterdam for a while then to Tahiti where I grew up and start a new family life there.

I still have 3 million in my Thai bank and my wife has 1.5 million of her own. So we went to change at Super Rich the other day. Very impressive with many auto money counting machines and amazing they have any quantity of banknotes any time. so we got over 1000 banknotes of Euro 100.

And today some friend told me that airport staff here are very corrupted and they will try to give me trobles with this big sum if they see it. My Thai wife told me there is no problem at all. But I am still a bit worried that airport staff may give me some bogus rule that I have to surrender to them my own money. My wife told me I am too neurotic, but maybe a little bit, because this is Thailand after all. Does any one of the old timers here know if we foriegners can take our money home freely or we have to leave it here as donation to the country. Or can Thai themselves take their own money out?

How did you acquire the money ? Earnings or did you bring it in from abroad ?

[Gary A]

Most expats have a bank account in their home country. The last time I moved a substantial amount of money out of Thailand I went to my Thai bank and had them make a bank check out in US dollars to my US bank. I then sent it via Thai EMS to my US bank and made sure the check cleared before I went home. Cheap and very easy.

[tahitiboy]

I don't have active bank account in Holland or Tahiti anymore, we will open new ones when we go back there. The money is from overseas from my own money transfered by my father 3 years ago, about 5 million bahts, spent 2 mil here and have 3 mil left, but my Bangkok Bank do not have my transfer letter anymore, because they said its 3 years ago too old.

I am a worrier so I checked again with my bank manager, they told me there is no limit of foregn currency a person can take in or out. My wife also confirmed to me calling her bank friend also got the same reply. Hope this is true, but in Thailand any situation can happen out of the blue, and unexpected happening can happen. My wife sees me a little worried and she said she will take the money for me to relieve my worry, haha, actually 100000 euro is not big at all.

[tijnebijn]

I don't have active bank account in Holland or Tahiti anymore, we will open new ones when we go back there. The money is from overseas from my own money transfered by my father 3 years ago, about 5 million bahts, spent 2 mil here and have 3 mil left, but my Bangkok Bank do not have my transfer letter anymore, because they said its 3 years ago too old.

I am a worrier so I checked again with my bank manager, they told me there is no limit of foregn currency a person can take in or out. My wife also confirmed to me calling her bank friend also got the same reply. Hope this is true, but in Thailand any situation can happen out of the blue, and unexpected happening can happen. My wife sees me a little worried and she said she will take the money for me to relieve my worry, haha, actually 100000 euro is not big at all.

Not a big amount at all ??? If I were you I should insure your money by travelling checkes. If someone is going to rob you, could be in A'dam , you would be very sorry .

[bendix]

Why not just get a foreign currency bankers draft?

[wasabi]

Why are you leaving Thailand?

[PCA]

If you want to get out of the country with such an amount of cash and after living there for years, retracable in your passport and they find the cash without papers of declaration you definitely have a problem!

[damian5000]

Are there such things as Cashier's Checks in Thailand? Might be worth a look. Fold it up in your wallet. Deposit it at the bank when you get home.

[tahitiboy]

The biggest headache in this country is no one seems to know whats going on even the rule makers themselves. Just out of curiosity, my wife called the custom office in Bangkok, she said finally someone to answer her question, again, the custom's reply is unlimited amount of foreign currency in and out of Thailand for Thais and foreigners, also said "foriegners do not required to declare foregn currency anymore", but there is limit for Thai bahts which the person does not know either. This is the reply from BKK customs department. And I just to kill sometime for fun, I called around asking the same question, i called the port authority customs, and no one seems to speak English so I gave fone to my wife, and finally a person from the port customs told her, no limit for foreign currency and 500000 bahts for Thais, and 20000USD worth of foreign currency and 50000 bahts for foreigners. And the person asked around his colleague, and came back said to my wife just put in the bag don't worry.

So after all the asking the authority, we still do not know whats the situations, typical Thailand i guess. But conclusion is it seems like there is no limit for foriegn currency for both Thais and foriegners, but there is some limit for Thai bahts for both Thais and foriegners.

[teejay]

From my own experience, you can carry as much of any currency out of thailand as you please -- unless you look like a shady character. I've carried anything ranging from 500K baht to 2Mil baht to 100k USD from here to Hong kong. 100K Euros is just the size of 2 small bricks, so it's not like you'll be putiing bags of cash thru the scanner.

Last time I went, I carried 2million baht, broken down into 1/4 HKD, 1/4 USD, and 1/2 THB. X-ray scanner could not scan thru one of the stacks of USD (thanks for packing it so tightly SUperRich) so they made me remove the envelope from my bag (brown envelope). She asked me what was in there because it didn't scan. I said "ngeun rien" which translates into "money" or "USD" depending on the way you choose to translate. She didn't even open it, asked me "rien?" and I said "krup" and I was on my way.

So I'm not sure if she asked me "rien?" out of curiosity as to whether it was USD or THB or just because she was surprised that I was carrying that much cash (The questions, "dollars?" and "dollars?!?" are different, you see). I myself wondered what would have happened had I answered "ngeun thai" aka THB.

As for the HKD and the THB, nobody asked about it or to see it (maybe it doesn't pack as tightly as USD!). In addition, during the pat-down, I had 10K USD in the pocket of my cargo pants, and the officer felt it and said, "money?" and I replied "yes" and that was it, didn't ask to see it.

Just my experience. As in many things in Thailand, the Law may be written down somewhere, but rarely practiced. If, however, you are caught in the few cases that the Law is upheld, you and your money may be royally Screwed.

For a foreinger to carry cash thru and experience the check that I did, the outcome may have been very different, or it may have been the same, I cannot say. I speak thai, look Thai enough, carry 2 passports, and because of my line of work (entertainment), am known to a few Thais. All of these things may have expedited the entire process and have played into the final outcome, as the security ladies were more concerned about my last tv drama than the money I was carrying... but as the entire even took less than 30 seconds, I'd say as long as you don't look like a criminal, you should be ok. Caveat Emptor!

[Kf6vci]

Well, German customs frisked me and even opened sealed letters. So I would be concerned about arriving with this much cash and useTCs or wire funds instead.

[lannarebirth]

I would be less concerned with what Thai authorities may do and more concerned about European authorities. That amount of money is WAY over what you may carry undeclared. You had better declare it, and you may still have problems. At the very least I expect you'll get a very uncomfortable grilling as you travel between two notorious drug marketing countries.

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:AtavFh...;cd=1&gl=th

Edited June 21, 2007 by lannarebirth

[Larsbo]

I think thay you got a lot of very good informations.

Just wanted to tell you that teen years ago I had to trawel with app. 20.000 Us to Europe to buy some iterms you could not buy here at that time.

There was a problem with my airticket, it was made to a wrong distanation ( actualy Amsterdam ) They send me back to the agent who sold me the ticket and in the end, I lost my plane.

Went back to Banglampoo, got a cold beer while I was thinkink about what to do now, was invited to se a piratemovie = " The Beach " A week before it was given free on the worlds marked, someone put some powerfull dobe in my beer .... woke up 24 hours laiter in a wet dirty soi , where I never had been before. All was gone - allso my passport , my cridit card, wach and glasses and my flyticket. Had to live in Bangkok for a week for 20 bath until I got some money transfered.

That Month, was not the bedst in my life.

So the morale and my advise is: - better make a banktransfere or get some traveler cheks.

[blizzard]

some people just dont deserve to have money.

in this day and age it is not necessary to carry large amounts of cash around.

ps if you drug smeggler , this doesnt apply to you!

[Moonfruit]

As said above, who would carry such a large amount of cash with them, unless it was needed for dubious reasons.

There are so many, much safer options that would cost so little.

I wish you luck Tahitiboy! Theres a place i would like to visit!

[teejay]

some people just dont deserve to have money.

in this day and age it is not necessary to carry large amounts of cash around.

ps if you drug smeggler , this doesnt apply to you!

Ever consider that what you consider to be 'large amounts of cash' my be a pittance to others?

[qualtrough]

some people just dont deserve to have money.

in this day and age it is not necessary to carry large amounts of cash around.

ps if you drug smeggler , this doesnt apply to you!

Ever consider that what you consider to be 'large amounts of cash' my be a pittance to others?

That may be, but the OP sure is fretting about it. He is nuts to travel with that amount of cash when there are so many much safer alternatives.

[TBWG]

some people just dont deserve to have money.

in this day and age it is not necessary to carry large amounts of cash around.

ps if you drug smeggler , this doesnt apply to you!

Ever consider that what you consider to be 'large amounts of cash' my be a pittance to others?

That may be, but the OP sure is fretting about it. He is nuts to travel with that amount of cash when there are so many much safer alternatives.

Hi

My 4pennoth.......In this day and age of money laundering legislation, terrorism fears and drug smuggling problems. I personally would be very wary of carrying even modest amounts of cash internationally.

Regardless of problems in Thailand you are likely to attract the attention of revenue officials

even more so in Europe who are better organised and could face serious problems unless you can prove legally obtained ownership.

Conclusion avoid cash at all costs unless you like problems.

TBWG

[Harry Potter]

Well, German customs frisked me and even opened sealed letters. So I would be concerned about arriving with this much cash and useTCs or wire funds instead.

No problem taking it out of Thailand just pack it in your suitcase.

But at amsterdam you will have to declare it.

Due to money laundring and tax all sums over Euros 10,000 have to be declared.

Then you will have to prove the monies movements so take your bank books.

[RAZZELL]

At the very least I expect you'll get a very uncomfortable grilling as you travel between two notorious drug marketing countries.

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:AtavFh...;cd=1&gl=th

Exactly...what would you think if you were a customs officer???

It's crazy to carry that amount of cash in this day and age...

RAZZ

[tahitiboy]

Blizzard said you have to be a drug smuggler to bring big sum of cash, not true. My half brother in Holland deals with antique watches, he make frequent buying trips or auction trips to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt, and all over the world. He has to carry big cash to make deposits or buy on the spot, especially auction in HK or China only accept cash on the spot. I see him carry more cash than this 1000 sheets of euro paper.

Actually we went to Super Rich again to exchange my wife's last 500000 bahts, this time we asked for 500 euro bill, and amazing they have it, rarely used but they siad they have as many as we can exchange. So only 22 sheets or so. We should have ask the 500 bill at first place, so quantity would shrink to just a small bundle. But serious to me this is not such incredible amount of money.

My wife chatted with Super Rich clerk, clerk said there are many people a day, exchange 20 to 50 million bahts to foriegn currency in a single day, so our amount is still very small. She said just before we came, an old Thai lady came to exchange 12 million bahts to HK dollars, and she does not want to wait, she will send her driver to pick up in the afternoon, for shopping in HK??

[bkkandrew]

Blizzard said you have to be a drug smuggler to bring big sum of cash, not true. My half brother in Holland deals with antique watches, he make frequent buying trips or auction trips to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt, and all over the world. He has to carry big cash to make deposits or buy on the spot, especially auction in HK or China only accept cash on the spot. I see him carry more cash than this 1000 sheets of euro paper.

Actually we went to Super Rich again to exchange my wife's last 500000 bahts, this time we asked for 500 euro bill, and amazing they have it, rarely used but they siad they have as many as we can exchange. So only 22 sheets or so. We should have ask the 500 bill at first place, so quantity would shrink to just a small bundle. But serious to me this is not such incredible amount of money.

My wife chatted with Super Rich clerk, clerk said there are many people a day, exchange 20 to 50 million bahts to foriegn currency in a single day, so our amount is still very small. She said just before we came, an old Thai lady came to exchange 12 million bahts to HK dollars, and she does not want to wait, she will send her driver to pick up in the afternoon, for shopping in HK??

Yep - I am one of them. Once saw a guy witn a rucksack FULL of €500 notes to change to THB.

I would still caution about entry to EU with undocumented cash over €10K

[blizzard]

i didnt say you have to be a drug smuggler to carry large amounts of cash. they are famous fore dealing in cash though. my thai crack dealer wont take american express gold card where i get cash back............

what i and most of us are saying is you unwise to carry large amounts of cash............duh!

like bruce springsteen says "what good are banks for" his response "absolutely nothing" lol.

Edited June 25, 2007 by blizzard

[Phil Conners]

Blizzard said you have to be a drug smuggler to bring big sum of cash, not true. My half brother in Holland deals with antique watches, he make frequent buying trips or auction trips to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt, and all over the world. He has to carry big cash to make deposits or buy on the spot, especially auction in HK or China only accept cash on the spot. I see him carry more cash than this 1000 sheets of euro paper.

Of course it is possible to travel with cash legally but your half brother surely would have all his paperwork in order.

My wife chatted with Super Rich clerk, clerk said there are many people a day, exchange 20 to 50 million bahts to foriegn currency in a single day, so our amount is still very small. She said just before we came, an old Thai lady came to exchange 12 million bahts to HK dollars, and she does not want to wait, she will send her driver to pick up in the afternoon, for shopping in HK??

Absurd in a country where most of the population lives in poverty and many have to sell their children into prostitution to survive.

[wcr]

OK, I'll ask the question. What and where is Super Rich?

[teejay]

many have to sell their children into prostitution to survive.

One NEVER HAS TO SELL THEIR CHILDREN INTO PROSTITUTION TO "SURVIVE". EVER. PERIOD.

What is absurd about people having money? Absurd to me is a lazy hillbilly <deleted> who sells his/her children into prostitution for reasons quite certainly other than 'surviving.' That's absurd. A woman bringing tons of cash to HK to shop? That's just the way HK works... it's a money machine over there, which could explain it's status among the world's financial capitals...

Super Rich, to the poster who asked, is a currency exchange in the pratunam district of bangkok. Very professional, good rates, can exchange any amount of money within reason (and sometimes more), even does deliveries.... great service.