Transferring money into Thailand

[jayboy]

I need to transfer about Baht 2 million from my UK bank account to my Thailand account to cover a car purchase, school fees and some home improvement work.

 

I have obviously made many transfers over the years but not as large as this.I expect to be asked by my Thai bank the purpose of the funds which I think is a BOT requirement.

 

I was wondering whether there is any point in making a number of smaller remittances, say Bt 700,000 pm over 3 months.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[phetphet]

If you send it by Wise, it might be worth checking with them about which is the cheapest way to send it.

 

I think for larger sums their fees tend to be higher, so maybe sending in three or four smaller tranches, could possibly be cheaper. Obviously more exposure to exchange rates, but best to check with them.

 

Another thought to consider if it concerns you:  Gifting some of it (say school fees) to your partner, by sending it directly to their account, and letting them pay the school could possibly reduce any tax liability for this year. 

 

Others might be able to chip in here with more info. on this.

 

 

[khunPer]

3 hours ago, jayboy said:

I need to transfer about Baht 2 million from my UK bank account to my Thailand account to cover a car purchase, school fees and some home improvement work.

 

I have obviously made many transfers over the years but not as large as this.I expect to be asked by my Thai bank the purpose of the funds which I think is a BOT requirement.

 

I was wondering whether there is any point in making a number of smaller remittances, say Bt 700,000 pm over 3 months.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions?

To my knowledge it's now equivalent to $50,000 (around 1.7 million baht) you need to give a statement in the bank. It might actually be a benefit to do it and keep the receipt from Bank of Thailand, as you will be eligfible to later transferring same amount out of Thailand. I've for example done it with fund for my house construction.

 

You might also need a declaration when transferring out of your UK home country (I don't know the UK limit, but other European countries have limits).

 

Otherwise you can do two or more transfers separated by some weeks, as you suggest yourself.

 

Check the cost and exchange rate with your own bank and compare with Wise. Normally it's advised to transfer into to Thailand in foreign funds and let the receiving Thai bank do the currency exchange, but your own bank's rate might give you an idea when comparing to Wise.

 

Be aware of the 2024 income tax rules, if you stay in Thailand more than 180 days in the calendar year. You need to be able to prove that the 2 million baht is savings from before 1st January 2024, as they otherwise will be income taxed in Thailand.

[The Fat Controller]

You can send 2 million THB with WISE in a single transaction to certain (3) Thai banks, that is a WISE limit.

Other banks have incoming limits (Thai regulations), it's all on the WISE FAQs.

You have to give a reason for the transfer on the WISE site.

I have a Bangkok Bank account and sent 8 million to myself from the UK in one day, they did not contact me for any kind of declaration and I moved the money out to my wife without issue.

It is not cheaper to split into smaller transactions with WISE.

Fees for funding the GBP amount to WISE vary by method, Debit Card, Bank Transfer etc

The WISE fees may seem large but as they use the mid-market rate it was still cheaper than any other method and I believe it is still so.

This information is specific to the OP's requirements, GBP to THB, fees with with other currencies are different and there may be cheaper alternatives.

 

[J Branche]

If you do a bank wire the reason is usually submitted.  The Thai Bank may charge an additional wire receiving fee. The Exchange rate maybe less favorable so worth asking.

 

Otherwise understand the money may take longer than displayed on Wise other similar companies arrive and be available for use in Thailand

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

 It might actually be a benefit to do it and keep the receipt from Bank of Thailand, as you will be eligfible to later transferring same amount out of Thailand. 

 

You might also need a declaration when transferring out of your UK home country (I don't know the UK limit, but other European countries have limits).

I don't think Thai banks limit your outbound transfers to the same amount that you previously transferred in.  I assisted my good friend in sending funds out of Thailand using Bangkok and Kasikorn banks.  Those banks simply wanted a reason for the outbound transfer.  Those two banks allowed up to 2M baht per outbound transfer and it could be done using their phone app.  The banks never asked for any proof of an inbound transfer.

1 hour ago, The Fat Controller said:

You can send 2 million THB with WISE in a single transaction to certain (3) Thai banks, that is a WISE limit.

Other banks have incoming limits (Thai regulations), it's all on the WISE FAQs.

You have to give a reason for the transfer on the WISE site.
 

I only transfer from US funds from US bank so I can't give specifics for UK sourced transfers.  Wise transfers from the US are cheaper than a SWIFT transfer below about 22K US$.  Above that amount the fixed SWIFT transfer fee (25$)  beats the exchange rate+fees from Wise.

 

The OP can easily determine the best transfer result with some simple math.  Ask your UK bank for the SWIFT charges and get the current exchange rate from your Thai bank.  There is also a receiving fee charged by the Thai bank (200-500 B).

[kimothai]

About 6 or 7 years ago I transferred about 100k USD (3 million baht) via SWIFT to Thailand.  On the transfer document I simply put "living expenses" as reason for transfer.  The bank in Thailand also called and asked what the money was for, and I told them the same thing.  I've used this reason for a number of smaller transfers also.  Never a problem.

 

[BeastOfBodmin]

5 hours ago, The Fat Controller said:

You can send 2 million THB with WISE in a single transaction to certain (3) Thai banks, that is a WISE limit.

Other banks have incoming limits (Thai regulations), it's all on the WISE FAQs.

You have to give a reason for the transfer on the WISE site.

I have a Bangkok Bank account and sent 8 million to myself from the UK in one day, they did not contact me for any kind of declaration and I moved the money out to my wife without issue.

It is not cheaper to split into smaller transactions with WISE.

Fees for funding the GBP amount to WISE vary by method, Debit Card, Bank Transfer etc

The WISE fees may seem large but as they use the mid-market rate it was still cheaper than any other method and I believe it is still so.

This information is specific to the OP's requirements, GBP to THB, fees with with other currencies are different and there may be cheaper alternatives.

 

I am very sensitive to paying the money changers more than I need to. Consequently I have been using Wise (nee Transferwise) for years. Previously I used CurrencyFair. Before that I used xe.com. I have used Revolut on occasion.

 

As far as I know, Wise is the cheapest. Revolut are close, but in practice I found once that I got hit for a fixed bank charge on the Thai side (THB 300 or something [I told you I was sensitive to rates and charges]). Wise don't have this overhead. I suppose Wise have a THB account that they can transfer to internally somehow, else a deal with the target bank.

 

In any case, do your due diligence and try all the services I mentioned as they will usually tell you total charges on their web sites without having to sign up.

 

If you are nervous, use the in-app or website help to ask and they'll respond in good time. I once recommended a friend use them to transfer the profits from his house-sale out of Switzerland to Scotland. It was a six figure sum, so it made sense to ask in advance how to make it go smoothly and to understand any "unusual" charges or roadblocks he might encounter.

 

Just my THB 0.02 🙂

[sometimewoodworker]

For that kind of transfer I would check the SWIFT cost though there are other charges, it may be cheaper. 
 

There is also the point of where the funds are coming from, as you are certainly in the, requirement to pay Thai tax, bracket, your funds maybe exempt or you may owe the Thai tax man a fair bit. 

Edited November 9 by sometimewoodworker

[treetops]

On 11/9/2024 at 7:24 AM, The Fat Controller said:

You can send 2 million THB with WISE in a single transaction to certain (3) Thai banks, that is a WISE limit.

 

Only 2 banks - Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn.  SCB is 1,499,999 THB and the rest 49,999 THB.

[jayboy]

On 11/9/2024 at 8:42 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

For that kind of transfer I would check the SWIFT cost though there are other charges, it may be cheaper. 
 

There is also the point of where the funds are coming from, as you are certainly in the, requirement to pay Thai tax, bracket, your funds maybe exempt or you may owe the Thai tax man a fair bit. 

 

All from savings pre 31.12.23 therefore non assessable