Transferring Money From Bank Account In Thailand Back To Bank Account In USA

[sidleonard]

My wife (Thai) and I have a joint savings account at Bangkok Bank and would like to transfer funds back to our account at Bank of America in the US without having to come to Bangkok to do so. Because we do not have a Thai mobile number to receive an OTP verification I know we cannot make the wire transfer from our online Bangkok Bank account. Is there another way to transfer the funds without coming to Bangkok and doing so in person at the bank; if not, will my wife be able to do the transfer (by wire) from our joint savings account without me being there? Thank you.

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by metisdead
ALL CAPS removed from topic title.

[bkk6060]

Have you told your wife to call Bangkok bank and ask them?

[sidleonard]

Yes, we have attempted to call, but at $4.00 per minute we found the wait time unacceptable.  I was hoping that someone with a similar situation might be kind enough to share their knowledge of same.

[Tom Parkinson]

There are two issues here. The first has to do with BB policies on moving money. I don’t know of any way you could wire money to the US remotely, unless you have previously executed a wire transfer authorization (for example, I have one in place at Fidelity). It may be possible, but given how hard it is to do any banking here, I would guess not. 
 

if you wife is here, she should be able to withdraw cash from your joint account. I don’t know whether she could wire transfer from the joint account (but I don’t see why not). But she should be able to wire cash via a service like DeeMoney or open a bank account in her name and wire from there. 
 

The other issue has to do with restrictions on transfers out of Thailand imposed by the Bank of Thailand. I had to look into these when sending money to Dubai last year. To send money out of Thailand, a foreigner must be able to show that he previously moved an equal or greater amount into Thailand. A Thai person has to state the use of the money to be transferred. I don’t know if some uses prohibit transfer. 
 

Good luck!

[philisok]

If you know someone in Thailand, get them to get a Thai Simcard for you, activate it and set it on roaming and send it to you then no problem with OTP

You may have to extend the cards validity when expiring but cost is not much

[Pink Mist]

Two non English post have been removed.

 

English is the only allowed forum language except on the Thai language forum.

 

Please use English

[pjuk]

My bank K-Bank tells me if you brought the money in to Thailand electronically you can transfer back out to the same account.

If you don't have a recognized phone number, you have a problem and must go into the branch where the account is held.

It's probably makes sense to go into the branch anyway so they can assist with any problems. 

 

Good luck.

 

[lopburi3]

9 hours ago, sidleonard said:

Yes, we have attempted to call, but at $4.00 per minute we found the wait time unacceptable.  I was hoping that someone with a similar situation might be kind enough to share their knowledge of same.

Surely there are better options than that?  My call last week to bank in USA from Thailand using 004 on DTAC  (very high quality) was less than 10c (3 baht) a minute including tax.   But in any event do not believe you can do such a transfer without being here in person but have never tried.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by lopburi3

[cardinalblue]

Is it true one can transfer up to 800,000 baht at a time out of thailand w/o the need for additional gov interference?

[Liverpool Lou]

23 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

Is it true one can transfer up to 800,000 baht at a time out of thailand w/o the need for additional gov interference?

Your bank can tell you.

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, sidleonard said:

we have attempted to call, but at $4.00 per minute we found the wait time unacceptable. 

The transfer doesn't seem to carry that much importance, then.  Does your wife's travelling here to do the transfer work out cheaper than the phone call?

 

If you can't do the transfer online your only alternative is to do it in person.  

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, philisok said:

If you know someone in Thailand, get them to get a Thai Simcard for you, activate it and set it on roaming and send it to you then no problem with OTP

I don't see how you would be able to link such a new SIM card to your Thai bank account without being in Thailand.

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Surely there are better options than that?  My call last week to bank in USA from Thailand using 004 on DTAC  (very high quality) was less than 10c (3 baht) a minute including tax.   But in any event do not believe you can do such a transfer without being here in person but have never tried.

 

 

Of course there are.. Google voice, available to every USA google account, calls Thai numbers for cents. 

Lifes just hard for the techphobic.. 

[DrJoy]

2 hours ago, philisok said:

If you know someone in Thailand, get them to get a Thai Simcard for you, activate it and set it on roaming and send it to you then no problem with OTP

Bank will send OTP only on the last registered mobile number with the Bank.

 

Buying a new sim wont help, as new number can be updated only at the branch in person.

[DrJoy]

13 hours ago, sidleonard said:

Is there another way to transfer the funds without coming to Bangkok and doing so in person at the bank; if not, will my wife be able to do the transfer (by wire) from our joint savings account without me being there? Thank you.

Nope.

 

You both have to personally attend a Branch in Thailand.

[Confuscious]

I posted on a similar thread a few days ago about the hidden costs of DeeMoney (and most of these packages).
It;s a lot of money which is lost on the transferts!!!!!

I did not yet asked the bank, but maybe they would accept to wire the funds from bak to bank without changing it first to Thai Baht and then again to EUR/US Dollar.

 

What is FCD Account for Non-Residents?

FCD Account for Non-Residents is Bangkok Bank’s foreign currency deposit service that enables you to deposit foreign currency in 14 main currencies. You can deposit, withdraw or transfer the money in the account without converting money into local baht suitable for non-residents who would like to save foreign currency earned from overseas and convert them to baht whenever they prefer the exchange rate and for non-residents who work in Thailand and would like to save money in foreign currency in the account.

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Save-And-Invest/Save/FCD-Account-for-Non-residents

[fceligoj]

Even though the Bangkok Bank Branch is a wholesale bank in the US, maybe if you contact them, they might be able to assist you in resolving this issue:

 

29 Broadway, 19th Floor

New York, New York 10006

(212) 422-8200

 

When it was a viable alternative for transferring money to Thailand, I was able to connect to the right person to assist me.

 

[dingdongrb]

14 hours ago, sidleonard said:

Yes, we have attempted to call, but at $4.00 per minute we found the wait time unacceptable.  I was hoping that someone with a similar situation might be kind enough to share their knowledge of same.

Skype......

[ianguygil]

Please contact me via PM if you need help and I can get somebody in NY or in Bangkok to advise you of what is possible. Clearly you would not want us just to allow anybody to say they own your funds and wire it out of Thailand so we would need some proof of identity.

 

So as I said, PM me and I will get somebody to help. Strangely I am on a flight to the US and I will be in NY the middle of next week, so I can always talk to the Branch Manager if needed. Thank you for your business. 

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, ianguygil said:

Please contact me via PM if you need help and I can get somebody in NY or in Bangkok to advise you of what is possible.

Believe above poster is employed by BBL and offering his service - at first read can be suspect if not knowing this and once a post is reported it can not be again reported/updated so ask my report be ignored as was in error.

[kimothai]

Posted Friday at 04:58 AM

Yes, we have attempted to call, but at $4.00 per minute we found the wait time unacceptable.  I was hoping that someone with a similar situation might be kind enough to share their knowledge of same.

 

This doesn't help you with your banking problems but I recently subscribed to Mint mobile for calling when in USA and OTP service (via roaming).  A call to Thailand is $0.01/minute (not a typo-1 cent).  I tested it when I was in USA -talked 4 minutes and paid 4 cents.  Just FYI