How to get funds to my Thai bank account

[kevtheblue]

I will be moving from UK to Thailand in July, will be getting married as soon as possible, also have to daughters .

My problem is getting money to my Kasikorn  account. I have Wise account.

My funds are in Royal London pension and Prudential offshore, both have  said they will not pay into Wise or Resolute.

They will pay into Monzo, but with Monzo you need a UK address.

 

 

                             thanks  kevtheblue

[treetops]

Open an account with a regular High Street bank (more than one bank so you have a backup) and have your pension and any other income paid into it.  Then use it to fund Wise' transactions.

 

Get a cheap UK SIM to allow you to get OTPs when you're in Thailand.

[Keeps]

It would appear from the original post by the OP that having a UK address is going to be problematic. If that is the problem, there is little chance of opening an account with a UK High Street Bank.

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, Keeps said:

It would appear from the original post by the OP that having a UK address is going to be problematic. If that is the problem, there is little chance of opening an account with a UK High Street Bank.

Well he certainly has a UK address right now so that should be good enough to get him going.

 

[Keeps]

15 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Well he certainly has a UK address right now so that should be good enough to get him going.

 

His comment regarding Monzo would lead me to believe it is going to be an issue going forward otherwise I would not have mentioned it. 

[timendres]

For sufficiently large and not frequent transfers, I always just wired the money.

[mokwit]

You might be just as well off wiring direct to Kassikorn - onshore Thai bank rates are better than offshore rates. Is there any reason you can't? Are wise spread plus fees so much better? Remember, with FX it is the SPREAD where a counterparty makes it's money.

[arick]

Get a job 

[biggles45]

2 hours ago, mokwit said:

Are wise spread plus fees so much better

I have used wise to transfer MONEY to my K Bank for many years. I transfer from my local bank to wise, no transfer fee involved. Then I transfer from wise to my KBank? 

Yes, Wise fees are much higher BUT the exchange rate they give kills the bank. As an example, on a transfer of $A9,800 I am $300 better off with Wise

[WDSmart]

This post doesn't have to do with UK transfers but is about "How to get funds to my Thai bank account."

I just transferred my US Social Security payment from my US bank account to my Thai bank account (Krungsri). I'm always asked what the transfer is for, and I have always just put down a generic "Family Support" for" a long-term stay in Thailand." I'm on an O-type visa, which is a non-resident visa, and I have done this for about 20 years now. This time, however, the bank asked me to be more specific about the transfer, which was obviously specific to Thailand since it referenced Thai baht and non-resident accounts. There were many choices, and I finally decided on Non-Resident Transfers for "Other" Puposes, and further defined that as just "Personal Expenses."

Has anyone else seen this change in the information required to initiate a transfer of funds from a foreign bank account to Thailand?

[Liverpool Lou]

15 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

My problem is getting money to my Kasikorn  account.

Ask them to remit the funds to your Kasikorn account.    Or are you implying that they will not send to overseas banks?   

If you have two UK pensions how come you have not got a UK bank account to receive funds from which you could SWIFT transfer?

[Liverpool Lou]

12 hours ago, ukrules said:

Well he certainly has a UK address right now so that should be good enough to get him going.

 

Has he?

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, timendres said:

For sufficiently large and not frequent transfers, I always just wired the money.

He needs somewhere to wire it from once the insurers have released the money.

[In Full Agreement]

2 hours ago, arick said:

Get a job 

 

 

 

What the purpose of your brilliant post?

 

 

[Captain Flack]

A post making an unsupported claim has been removed for its anti Thai slur.

 

Forum rule 14. You will not post slurs, degrading, or overly negative comments directed towards Thailand, Thai people, Thai culture, Thai institutions such as the military, judicial or law enforcement system, or specific locations within Thailand.

 

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Has he?

 

16 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I will be moving from UK to Thailand in July

 

You can't move from the UK to Thailand without first living in the UK. So yes, he does have a UK address.

 

[Andycoops]

17 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I will be moving from UK to Thailand in July, will be getting married as soon as possible, also have to daughters .

My problem is getting money to my Kasikorn  account. I have Wise account.

My funds are in Royal London pension and Prudential offshore, both have  said they will not pay into Wise or Resolute.

They will pay into Monzo, but with Monzo you need a UK address.

 

 

                             thanks  kevtheblue

How do you receive money from your 2 providers, by courier and in cash?

What reason do they give to not allow you to transfer money to a UK Wise account?

Sad state of affairs it seems to me but at least you have 6 months to sort something out, best of luck.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

4 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Has he?

 

19 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I will be moving from UK to Thailand in July

 

You can't move from the UK to Thailand without first living in the UK. So yes, he does have a UK address.

Does he?...

19 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

They will pay into Monzo, but with Monzo you need a UK address.

That clearly suggests that he does not.  

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, Andycoops said:

How do you receive money from your 2 providers, by courier and in cash?

What reason do they give to not allow you to transfer money to a UK Wise account?

Sad state of affairs it seems to me but at least you have 6 months to sort something out, best of luck.

”How do you receive money from your 2 providers, by courier and in cash?"

Perhaps he has not started to receive funds yet?

"What reason do they give to not allow you to transfer money to a UK Wise account?"

They do not have to give any reason but it is probably set out in the pension schemes rules that payments have to be remitted to a bank, Wise is not a bank.

[kevtheblue]

I currently have a UK address and a UK bank account, the banks in UK are recently  clamping down and closing accounts on those who no longer live in the UK.  I therefore need to identify a financial outlet to deposit a large amount of capital which I then want interest to be paid into a recognised Thai bank.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where I can do this?

 

 

[Keeps]

2 minutes ago, kevtheblue said:

I currently have a UK address and a UK bank account, the banks in UK are recently  clamping down and closing accounts on those who no longer live in the UK.  I therefore need to identify a financial outlet to deposit a large amount of capital which I then want interest to be paid into a recognised Thai bank.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where I can do this?

 

 

Do you mind sharing which UK Bank you currently have an account with? I believe that some will allow you to maintain an account as long as a certain level of funds are held within certain products. For instance, Barclays have their International Banking arm:-

 

https://international.barclays.com/campaign/uk-bib/?cid=mm04soc_sc17bib_ppc_may_refreshppcgeneric_international_account&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5ZLsq8vmigMVkaRQBh2KTgZYEAAYAiAAEgJGsPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

It does not state anywhere that you need to be a UK resident to have this account. In fact, I noticed the following under the 'Important Information' section:-

 

For guidance on rules governing your use, please contact a legal adviser. In particular, this site is not directed to, or intended for use by, residents of the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan or India.

 

I would take from this that there is no problem if you are residing in Thailand. There is a minimum financial requirement of £100,000 but I would imagine they have some 'vanilla' low risk products which may match your income needs. You also mentioned a 'substantial' amount to be deposited.

 

Other UK High Street Banks probably have similar International banking divisions. Worth speaking to an alternative to your current bank so as to not put them on alert that you will be moving overseas until such time you have a suitable arrangement in place.

 

 

 

 

[Keeps]

HSBC seem to offer an expat bank account:-

 

https://www.expat.hsbc.com/international-banking/products/bank-account/

[Keeps]

Lastly, an article from Which? detailing which banks will allow you to keep your UK account as an overseas expat. It's a bit out of date (November2023) but I would imagine the majority of the information is still applicable:-

 

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/which-banks-allow-you-to-keep-your-account-as-an-expat-aIiEs1i49WTf

 

 

[timendres]

11 hours ago, WDSmart said:

This post doesn't have to do with UK transfers but is about "How to get funds to my Thai bank account."

I just transferred my US Social Security payment from my US bank account to my Thai bank account (Krungsri). I'm always asked what the transfer is for, and I have always just put down a generic "Family Support" for" a long-term stay in Thailand." I'm on an O-type visa, which is a non-resident visa, and I have done this for about 20 years now. This time, however, the bank asked me to be more specific about the transfer, which was obviously specific to Thailand since it referenced Thai baht and non-resident accounts. There were many choices, and I finally decided on Non-Resident Transfers for "Other" Puposes, and further defined that as just "Personal Expenses."

Has anyone else seen this change in the information required to initiate a transfer of funds from a foreign bank account to Thailand?

 

The sad truth is that your bank has little choice in collecting this information. It is mandated industry wide.

Just give them enough to satisfy their stupid request.

"Living expenses" is probably a better answer, as "Family Support" likely does not compute.

I entered "Buying a television". They were happy. Ridiculous.

[timendres]

11 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He needs somewhere to wire it from once the insurers have released the money.

 

I see. And I presume the insurers will only deposit into a UK account.

It is crazy to me how insanely difficult banking is becoming.

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I therefore need to identify a financial outlet to deposit a large amount of capital which I then want interest to be paid into a recognised Thai bank.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where I can do this?

Why don't you SWIFT the funds from your UK bank account to your Kasikorn account?     What is a "financial outlet" the the lack of which you seem to be making a stumbling block?   

 

The risk of your UK bank account being closed due to your residency is very slight unless you plan on telling them that you will no longer be UK resident or there is something else that makes it obvious to the bank that you will have moved overseas.

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I currently have a UK address and a UK bank account, the banks in UK are recently  clamping down and closing accounts on those who no longer live in the UK.  I therefore need to identify a financial outlet to deposit a large amount of capital which I then want interest to be paid into a recognised Thai bank.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where I can do this?

 

 

The easy answer is not to tell your UK bank you have moved. They don't check, even if the new house owner returns letters.

 

Been using my old UK address for the past 15 years, nobody seems to care.

 

Best not to use a UK debit/credit card from your UK bank in Thailand as they will notice that.

UK bank to WISE to Thai bank and nobody will ever know where you are really living.

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, Keeps said:

For instance, Barclays have their International Banking arm:-

 

https://international.barclays.com/campaign/uk-bib/?cid=mm04soc_sc17bib_ppc_may_refreshppcgeneric_international_account&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5ZLsq8vmigMVkaRQBh2KTgZYEAAYAiAAEgJGsPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

It does not state anywhere that you need to be a UK resident to have this account. In fact, I noticed the following under the 'Important Information' section:-

Barclays International accounts are not UK bank accounts, they are held in either the Isle of Man or Jersey, neither of which are in the UK, that is why UK residency is not a requirement.

[treetops]

15 hours ago, kevtheblue said:

I currently have a UK address and a UK bank account, the banks in UK are recently  clamping down and closing accounts on those who no longer live in the UK.  I therefore need to identify a financial outlet to deposit a large amount of capital which I then want interest to be paid into a recognised Thai bank.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where I can do this?

 

Open accounts with everyone you  can and don't tell them you're moving to Thailand.  You can then pick and chose how much to keep and where for maximum interest (not mentioned in the OP) and security before sending it using Wise or Swift or whatever to K Bank.

[treetops]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:03 AM, mokwit said:

You might be just as well off wiring direct to Kassikorn - onshore Thai bank rates are better than offshore rates. Is there any reason you can't? Are wise spread plus fees so much better? Remember, with FX it is the SPREAD where a counterparty makes it's money.

 

Wise use mid-market rates so no spread involved.  They make their money from their fees which in general are percentage based.  When sending currencies where the banks typically have a low spread, eg USD, there comes a point where Wise' percentage overtakes the costs of other methods.  I think another poster worked it out at around 20,000 USD in his case but not sure of his Swift fees.

 

For currencies where banks have a bigger spread (bigger than Wise %age fee), the total cost will be less with Wise.