Bangkok Bank statement saying where funds are from?

[jerrymahoney]

I am just relaying MY experience not telling others what to do.

 

I made one of the classic mistakes in 2005 when I had a multiple-entry B visa good through AUG 01 and my current stay was AUG 03. I crossed the border at the bridge Nong Khai AUG 02 thinking I had one more day and they voided my Multi entry visa and gave me 30 days instead of the 90 days I was expecting and on which I had made plans

 

From that day on, I do nothing within my control regarding Immigration and extension of stay that can cause a problem and -- while some I guess have no problems -- using WISE to me is just waiting for a problem.

Edited July 26, 2023 by jerrymahoney

[Headgame]

Whether long stay or whatever, that has zero effect with BKK Bank. Any foreign funds transfer  will always be called an "International Transfer" which is exactly the phrase Immigration want to see. Doesn't matter what the funds are used for but rather where the funds come from.

 

I haven't found another TH bank that does precisely what the BKK bank does - not saying there are not.

[lopburi3]

17 minutes ago, Headgame said:

Whether long stay or whatever, that has zero effect with BKK Bank. Any foreign funds transfer  will always be called an "International Transfer" which is exactly the phrase Immigration want to see. Doesn't matter what the funds are used for but rather where the funds come from.

 

I haven't found another TH bank that does precisely what the BKK bank does - not saying there are not.

The issue is Wise transfers from a Thai account to your account so unless they use the account with Bangkok Bank the receiving account will be listed as a local transfer - only when they use their account at Bangkok Bank as source will it be listed as international (as that account is known as funded by international transfers).

[bamboozled]

So everything is as clear as mud; par for the course. What's frightening is one can do his/her best to adhere to the rules but not everything is in our control. It comes down to the moment the Immi officer yeas or nays an application. And a nay can have drastic consequences. For example, as mentioned, I had done the monthly transfers and gotten the credit advices and printed out the Wise transfers, etc... Immi officer wasn't having it. Luckily, I could get a visa in Savannakhet but a year prior, due to Covid, that wasn't an option. I would have been...up <deleted>'s crick without a paddle.

[Headgame]

12 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

The issue is Wise transfers from a Thai account to your account so unless they use the account with Bangkok Bank the receiving account will be listed as a local transfer - only when they use their account at Bangkok Bank as source will it be listed as international (as that account is known as funded by international transfers).

That is 100% correct. 

[Jumbo1968]

On a different topic if using the monthly income for an Extension can you withdraw money as soon as you obtain the Extension or do you have to leave a balance similar the the ฿800k ?

[bamboozled]

6 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

On a different topic if using the monthly income for an Extension can you withdraw money as soon as you obtain the Extension or do you have to leave a balance similar the the ฿800k ?

Yes, you don't have to hold the money in the account. Spend as you see fit, when you see fit.

[SmokeandIce]

On 7/24/2023 at 10:54 PM, jerrymahoney said:

At risk of (again) of being called profligate, I don't see how anyone would bother with WISE for their 65K monthly deposit when one can without fail get the FTT on their monthly transfer by not using WISE.

If you contact WISE and have them tag your account and select "longterm stay", it shows as a foreign transfer.  If there is a glitch, then you can get a statement from the intermediary bank (FET) which Thai immigration will accept for yearly extensions.

 

There is a WISE forum on Facebook which can answer specific questions.  Just search "WISE (former Transferwise)"

Edited July 26, 2023 by SmokeandIce

[SmokeandIce]

On 7/24/2023 at 11:20 PM, bamboozled said:

Oh right, sorry, mixed up my posters! Really, only $10 for a foreign transfer? From which country? That is very cheap, I'm surprised. I will look into it, for sure! Thank you.

You should also check the exchange rate, it is often 3% or lower than WISE resulting in higher fees

[jerrymahoney]

8 minutes ago, SmokeandIce said:

If there is a glitch,

Thank you. I am not interested in dealing with glitches.

[khunPer]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:09 AM, scubascuba3 said:

This only applies to Bangkok Bank but with Wise you must say reason for transfer "long term stay" or buying a property" for it to show as International. There have been reports of this still not working so test it, if it fails maybe transfer from UK bank to Bangkok Bank for that month

I've been using it with TransferWise/Wise for Bangkok Bank and it works with the "FTT"-code (Foreign Telegraphic Transfer) in both statements and bank book.

 

Other Thai banks may use different codes and might not register it as foreign transfer when done by Wise.

[SmokeandIce]

16 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Thank you. I am not interested in dealing with glitches.

Life is never perfect, glitches and complexity are inevitable.

[treetops]

9 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

. . . . . using WISE to me is just waiting for a problem.

Send it via Wise early enough in the month that if it doesn't get coded correctly you have time  to use a Swift transfer as a fall back.  Win-win.

[jerrymahoney]

58 minutes ago, SmokeandIce said:

Life is never perfect, glitches and complexity are inevitable.

Fine. I just do my best to see that my requisite glitches in life occur somewhere other than in my annual 65K baht per month method for extension of stay. And so far so good for the 4 years of the current extension rules.

[soisanuk]

11 hours ago, treetops said:

Send it via Wise early enough in the month that if it doesn't get coded correctly you have time  to use a Swift transfer as a fall back.  Win-win.

That is assuming one has sufficient funds to make a second transfer of 65k for that month. I suspect that many may not be able to do this.   However, if you can do two such transfers in a month, it is good advice. 

 

I use the 65k per month method for my annual retirement extensions, have a Bangkok Bank account, and have been using Wise ever since the Bangkok Bank New York Branch had to quit accepting domestic ACH transfers which they forwarded on to Thai accounts, leaving only international ACH transfers as acceptable (most US banks do not provide for retail customers to send international ACH transfers). As mentioned, Bangkok Bank, if Wise sends the transfer through them, records the transaction as FTT (foreign source). 

 

On two separate occasions, one a few years ago, Wise did send my transfer through Kasikorn - not only mine, but many others. Based on the uproar that caused, Wise added the Long Stay Thailand option in the reason for the transfer drop down menu. This was supposed to assure that the transfer went through Bangkok Bank.  And it did for a long period of time. Then, a about a year or so ago, there was a glitch and one month many using that reason, including myself, received the transfer through their other partner bank, Kasikorn, and it was recorded by Bangkok bank as being domestic.  It was apparently fixed after a month or so and since then all my transfers from Wise have been recorded FTT.

 

When the glitch happened this last time, I still had sufficient funds to send a second transfer. To ensure FTT coding, I used Bangkok Bank New York Branch's "Baht remittance service" (does not involve ACH transfer and you transfer funds by snail mail). You email an application to the NY Branch and send a check using your USA bank online service - they will accept those, but not a personal handwritten check.  When they receive the check and it clears, they then transfer the funds in baht to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand - the exchange rate was the same as if converted by Bangkok bank here and the NY Branch fee was same as they charge for ACH transfers - in my case, US$10.  It took about 11 days to receive the funds in my account here, but it was guaranteed to have the much needed FTT code for Immigration. I usually receive my Wise transfers on the same or following day unless a weekend or Thai government holiday intervenes.

 

Because of the potential for another glitch, I choose to do two separate transfers through Wise - the first for at least 65k.  I then send a second transfer which may or may not be 65k depending on my need. But, if there is another glitch, I still have sufficient funds to send another 65k+ through Bangkok Bank's NY Branch.  

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by soisanuk

[CartagenaWarlock]

To avoid all these hassles, my friend buys his retirement visa from an agent and keeps his money at US invested that makes at least 10%. And he says his 12K agent fees help many people including the IOs who were unfortunate not to have have access to US market to earn in dollars. According to him it is a win win for both parties. He does not have to worry about how the transfer is coded and when it came, etc. etc. When he is is not in Thailand, he can also skip sending the money. He does not have to go to the IO office, stand in the queue or make an appointment etc. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by CartagenaWarlock

[jerrymahoney]

Other than the 65K per month and petty cash, all my money stays in the USofA.

 

And I like getting my annual extension of stay without paying a bribe.

[bamboozled]

5 hours ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

To avoid all these hassles, my friend buys his retirement visa from an agent and keeps his money at US invested that makes at least 10%. And he says his 12K agent fees help many people including the IOs who were unfortunate not to have have access to US market to earn in dollars. According to him it is a win win for both parties. He does not have to worry about how the transfer is coded and when it came, etc. etc. When he is is not in Thailand, he can also skip sending the money. He does not have to go to the IO office, stand in the queue or make an appointment etc. 

I suppose one could do the 65k per month and if unacceptable to Immi, for some reason, switch to an agent.

[nglodnig]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:56 AM, bamboozled said:

This is when I had opened the Bangkok Bank account and the first transfer showed as international. After that, only local.

I have been transferring 65k plus to Bangkok Bank for YEARS and they ALL show as international.

[bamboozled]

7 hours ago, nglodnig said:

I have been transferring 65k plus to Bangkok Bank for YEARS and they ALL show as international.

Yup. There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it. You're one of the lucky ones.

 

[Pappap]

Some interesting posts, thanks, have done three transactions since the first post, one for 20k one for 40k and one for 65k, all using wise and putting in "funds for long term stay" the 20 and 40 came through as a bank transfer with a few moments. The 65k came through as an International Transfer and took about 24 hours. This is from Barclays UK using Wise.

[ExPatInChiangMai]

I have only recently been having this problem with Wise/BKK bank account.  For the past year, ALL of my transfers have been identified as "FTT" on the BKK statement.  But, for August I transferred 60,000 baht initially and it showed correctly.  Then, I subsequently have done two smaller transfers, 6,000 and a 10,000 (to get my total for the month over 65K).  Each of these were transferred "in seconds" and neither showed FTT.

 

Today, I'm playing around with Wise transfers.  Without actually processing the transfer, I put in various amounts.  Everything below 51,000 showed "should arrive in seconds" while greater than 51,000 showed "will deliver Monday" (today is Sunday).

 

My assumption is that for amounts which show "delivered in seconds" are going to marked as "local", whereas if delivery is later, will be FTT.

 

Anyone else able to test this?

[ExPatInChiangMai]

Replying to my test — the 51,000 transfer from Sunday was posted to BKK on Monday as INTERNATIONAL FUNDS TRANSFER. 

 

so it appears if you get the message “transfer in seconds” it will be local transfer. 
 

In Wise, just play with the amount until you get the message it will take several days. 

[Pappap]

20 hours ago, ExPatInChiangMai said:

Replying to my test — the 51,000 transfer from Sunday was posted to BKK on Monday as INTERNATIONAL FUNDS TRANSFER. 

 

so it appears if you get the message “transfer in seconds” it will be local transfer. 
 

In Wise, just play with the amount until you get the message it will take several days. 

Yep my conclusion as well...

[bamboozled]

On 8/7/2023 at 2:53 PM, ExPatInChiangMai said:

Replying to my test — the 51,000 transfer from Sunday was posted to BKK on Monday as INTERNATIONAL FUNDS TRANSFER. 

 

so it appears if you get the message “transfer in seconds” it will be local transfer. 
 

In Wise, just play with the amount until you get the message it will take several days. 

I will give it a try, thanks!

[bamboozled]

I sent 69k on Aug. 9 and it arrived via local. But I did not play around seeing if anything would change. I will next time.