I want to transfer the bulk of funds in Bank of America to my Bangkok Bank USD account.

Bangkok Bank tells me I am restricted to under $10k.

Is that a Thai govt regulation, AMLO, FINCEN?

If anybody knows, please point me to a URL. TIA!

You could do a few transactions if they aren't letting you do more than 10K. OFX or Wise with a new account also can work. Try talking to another person at Bangkok Bank, as you'll get different stories from different people in Thai banks. There shouldn't be a 10K limit anyway.

Best Options for Large Sums: Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) allow high-volume transfers, often up to 2 million THB per transaction, especially via services like Wise.

1. Thai Bank Limits: While Bangkok Bank states there is no limit on incoming international transfers, smaller Thai banks may impose lower limits (approx. 500,000 THB).

2. Foreigner App Limits: Reports indicate that for many foreigners, mobile app transfers are restricted to 50,000 THB per transaction, requiring in-branch visits to transfer larger sums.

3. Reporting Requirements: Transfers over USD 50,000 require a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FET) in Thailand. In the US, transactions over $10,000 are reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

4. Fees: Bangkok Bank New York charges USD 15 + 0.25% (minimum 200 THB) for transfers under $50,000, and $20 + 0.25% for higher amounts. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].....................................https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch.

Edited May 13May 13 by fredwiggy

MOVED TO BANKING FORUM

Just the ammunition I need. Thank you, Fred.

56 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Is that a Thai govt regulation, AMLO, FINCEN?

No, it's not. It's going to be some arbitrary anti fraud type limit on your type of account in the US. I suggest speaking to them and telling them that you want your money and this limit needs to be removed, even if you need to change account type.

You can send as much money as you want to any account anywhere in the world whenever you want using the international wire system (SWIFT).

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

No, it's not. It's going to be some arbitrary anti fraud type limit on your type of account in the US. I suggest speaking to them and telling them that you want your money and this limit needs to be removed, even if you need to change account type.

You can send as much money as you want to any account anywhere in the world whenever you want using the international wire system (SWIFT).

Yep, that's what I want to do. But also, I don't want to come to the attention of the rabid American FINCEN nor have to pay Thai taxes on money earned abroad. No, no limits on my BoA account.

You should be able to wire transfer from BofA and Bangkok Bank should just receive without objection.

You have no choice regarding the FinCen requirements and structuring transfers to avoid it is illegal. Just wire the money and file the form, or leave it in Bank of America.

4 hours ago, Everyman said:

You should be able to wire transfer from BofA and Bangkok Bank should just receive without objection.

You have no choice regarding the FinCen requirements and structuring transfers to avoid it is illegal. Just wire the money and file the form, or leave it in Bank of America.

That's a bummer of a choice. It's my legal money. Do you think FINCEN would freeze my account because I'm taking out $10k a month? Unbelievable if they have that kind of grip on our cojones.

On 5/13/2026 at 11:41 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

That's a bummer of a choice. It's my legal money. Do you think FINCEN would freeze my account because I'm taking out $10k a month? Unbelievable if they have that kind of grip on our cojones.

You can thank the united states congress and the commerce clause of the US constitution for these laws. I don’t like them either but i am resigned to transparency regarding my accounts.

The silver lining on these rain clouds is that there are numerous tax loopholes and legal ways to avoid paying uncle sam, if you can afford a good tax lawyer or are good at reading laws yourself.

I recently transferred $20,000 from a USA bank to dollar account at Bangkok Bank without any problems. Also checked baht daily transfer limit recently and it is still 100,000.

FINCEN requirements have been in place since 1970. This is no big deal. Have you ever bought a car, a house, paid out cash sums, paid tuition in a month's greater than $9,999? Someone filled out and submitted the appropriate documents for you. You're getting upset about nothing. Have sent amounts three and four million baht to Bangkok Bank several times from financial institution. Bangkok Bank wants a reason, tell them you are buying a house, a car, whatever is appropriate

Chase Bank has a hard $250,000 limit for online transfers - none if you present yourself with identification at a branch.

On the Chase wire instructions I have set up for my wife or myself we choose to identify purpose as Family Expenses

For recipient type select: Paying a friend, family, or trusted person.

In my case when I am transferring to myself I add in 'Message to recipient' to identify the exemption I am claiming

Exempt under Section 5 of Royal Decree 743 B.E. 2565 (2022). LTR-WP visa holder (No. xxx/65)

and under memo I confirm my visa number: LTR-WP visa holder (No. xxx/65).

As I have had no earned income since I retire 15-years ago an alternative route would be to claim exemption under the Thai/U.S. DTA for:

Social Security Benefit (Article 20) or my Government Pension (Article 21)

Upon my demise I direct my spouse or my executor to identify the transfer under purpose by selecting 'Other'

I have them add: 'Inheritance Transfer' to the popup if any.

In Message to recipient I ask them to identify the purpose and nature of our relationship and the exemption I am claiming by adding

'Inheritance from her spouse, xxx xxx xxx. Tax Exempt under Inheritance Tax Act Section 3.2   and Thai Revenue Code Section 42.10.

Under memo I ask my executor to add "Tax Exempt Inheritance from her spouse, xxx xxx xxx.

On 5/13/2026 at 6:45 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Yep, that's what I want to do. But also, I don't want to come to the attention of the rabid American FINCEN nor have to pay Thai taxes on money earned abroad. No, no limits on my BoA account.

On 5/13/2026 at 6:45 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Yep, that's what I want to do. But also, I don't want to come to the attention of the rabid American FINCEN nor have to pay Thai taxes on money earned abroad. No, no limits on my BoA account.

On 5/13/2026 at 6:45 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Yep, that's what I want to do. But also, I don't want to come to the attention of the rabid American FINCEN nor have to pay Thai taxes on money earned abroad. No, no limits on my BoA account.

well I suggest you query the NEW US banking rules that started this year or due to start and I believe it says anything over 10K will be reported to the US bank monitors - I think that they are trying to block any money laundering. But, if you do occasionally send over 10K USD to your foreign account then believe there will be no problem as they are looking for something out of the ordinary for US bank account holders.

Unblocktheplanet, looks like information of this nature is pretty sketchy on the Bangkok Bank website. I suppose with all the quickly changing banking regs and rules, they don't want to have to update their website constantly, so they just don't address it in detail.

I am assuming that you have an FCD savings account at BKB, and in that case you will only be required to open the account with a $1,000 minimum deposit, and you must maintain at least $250 to avoid the monthly service charge. I have SWIFT transferred-in as much as $65K at one time without any reporting and zero difficulty. The fees for deposit into the account from a SWIFT transfer would be a minimum of 200 Baht and a max of 500 Baht.

I would say that there is a miscommunication regarding the $10K limit to transfer in that you mentioned. If you deposit into a FCD Fixed Deposit Account, which is different from the standard FCD Savings Account, then there is a MINIMUM deposit amount of $10K.

As someone previously mentioned, talk to other staff at the bank and I guarantee you that you will get totally different information.

Edited May 18May 18 by fittobethaied

5 hours ago, Searat7 said:

I recently transferred $20,000 from a USA bank to dollar account at Bangkok Bank without any problems. Also checked baht daily transfer limit recently and it is still 100,000.

Sure, but...did you have to fill out any FINCEN or AMLO declarations?

13 minutes ago, fittobethaied said:

Unblocktheplanet, looks like information of this nature is pretty sketchy on the Bangkok Bank website. I suppose with all the quickly changing banking regs and rules, they don't want to have to update their website constantly, so they just don't address it in detail.

I am assuming that you have an FCD account at BKB, and in that case you will only be required to open the account with a $1,000 minimum deposit, and you must maintain at least $250 to avoid the monthly service charge. I have SWIFT transferred-in as much as $65K at one time without any reporting and zero difficulty. The fees for deposit into the account from a SWIFT transfer would be a minimum of 200 Baht and a max of 500 Baht.

I would say that there is a miscommunication regarding the $10K limit to transfer in that you mentioned. If you deposit into a FCD Fixed Deposit Account, which is different from the standard FCD Savings Account, then there is a MINIMUM deposit amount of $10K.

As someone previously mentioned, talk to other staff at the bank and I guarantee you that you will get totally different information.

Thanks. I’m trying to wrap my head around this.

I originally opened my USD acct with $1,000 minimum and a USD Fixed Deposit with $10k.

I just gave up the Fixed Deposit Certificate because my wife would not have access to it at check-out time.

Bangkapi Branch (now called Soi 8) has an extra services woman I’ve been dealing with for almost 30 years. Foreign deposits, currency exchange, Western Union, all of that.

It’s very unusual if she doesn’t know but she then has a contact in HQ on Silom.

The trouble with SWIFT is that there is no one in the US to initiate that for me. Any ideas how I can initiate from this end?

One last concern. I have a bunch of CND, too. Any strategies for that one? Should I open a CND account, or, deposit it into a) my USD account or b) my THB acct?

THB is way too strong these days. Or perhaps I got spoiled by its past poor performance.

3 hours ago, Presnock said:

well I suggest you query the NEW US banking rules that started this year or due to start and I believe it says anything over 10K will be reported to the US bank monitors - I think that they are trying to block any money laundering. But, if you do occasionally send over 10K USD to your foreign account then believe there will be no problem as they are looking for something out of the ordinary for US bank account holders.

Right. As I empty my BoA account, I definitely do not want to be suspected of 'structuring' and having the US acct frozen.

39 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Thanks. I’m trying to wrap my head around this.

I originally opened my USD acct with $1,000 minimum and a USD Fixed Deposit with $10k.

I just gave up the Fixed Deposit Certificate because my wife would not have access to it at check-out time.

Bangkapi Branch (now called Soi 8) has an extra services woman I’ve been dealing with for almost 30 years. Foreign deposits, currency exchange, Western Union, all of that.

It’s very unusual if she doesn’t know but she then has a contact in HQ on Silom.

The trouble with SWIFT is that there is no one in the US to initiate that for me. Any ideas how I can initiate from this end?

One last concern. I have a bunch of CND, too. Any strategies for that one? Should I open a CND account, or, deposit it into a) my USD account or b) my THB acct?

THB is way too strong these days. Or perhaps I got spoiled by its past poor performance.

UBTP, I suggest that you use Wise.com. Set up a Wise USD account online, then link it with your BOA account, then make USD ACH transfers from BOA to your Wise USD account. Once the money is there, go online and request to send USD from your Wise USD account to your BKB USD account using SWIFT. The fee will be about $10 from Wise, the intermediary bank fee will be about $16 and the deposit fee at BKB will be less than $16. It's the best possible way to send USD's to Thailand. Just make sure you accomplish this before Aug 3rd when the new Wise.com rules apply. If you opened the Wise account after Jan 2026, then you will have extra time to make those transfers.

Bangkok Bank has a standard form for you to give your wife Power of Attorney to any of your bank accounts. We had the Global Banking representative from the HQ in Bangkok tell a group of us expats about this. Normally, a POA is only good so long as you are alive, and it ceases to be valid upon your death. That representative told all of us publicly that if we die and our spouse needs to access the account without going through Thai Probate Court, let her go to the bank and withdraw it using the POA, but don't tell anyone that you are dead. Incredible, but true!

Edited May 18May 18 by fittobethaied

Can I link a Wise acct with my BoA acct remotely, IOW just give Wise my B0A acct number. Or do I somehow have to prep BoA to this development?

BTW, thanks very much for all your help, Fit.

I've wired over 200,000 USD no problems. If the wire is $20,000 or more they will contact you first just to ask if the wire is for personal use or to buy property.

Well, well, well. Just signed to to Wise.

Form process tells me I can only send not receive.

Any idea what's up with that?

3 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Can I link a Wise acct with my BoA acct remotely, IOW just give Wise my B0A acct number. Or do I somehow have to prep BoA to this development?

BTW, thanks very much for all your help, Fit.

That's exactly right. Wise will give you prompts on how to do that when you open your account. If you don't have an account already, I suggest that you give them a US address and phone number to set up the account. My credit union doesn't charge me anything to transfer USD to my Wise account by ACH transfer. I don't know about BOA. I think their online banking is more sophisticated, and you can probably request that ACH transfer directly with the BOA online banking account. Wise will give you the US Domestic account and routing number for the bank they use in the US to get that money to your Wise USD account by ACH transfer. Good luck!

10 hours ago, Searat7 said:

I recently transferred $20,000 from a USA bank to dollar account at Bangkok Bank without any problems. Also checked baht daily transfer limit recently and it is still 100,000.

I want to do something similar [some US$50,000 from a USD Acct in Spore to a BBL USD FCA - what were the fees at both ends?

3 hours ago, rwill said:

I've wired over 200,000 USD no problems. If the wire is $20,000 or more they will contact you first just to ask if the wire is for personal use or to buy property.

I want to do something similar [some US$50,000 from a USD Acct in Spore to a BBL USD FCA - what were the fees at both ends?

4 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

That's exactly right. Wise will give you prompts on how to do that when you open your account. If you don't have an account already, I suggest that you give them a US address and phone number to set up the account. My credit union doesn't charge me anything to transfer USD to my Wise account by ACH transfer. I don't know about BOA. I think their online banking is more sophisticated, and you can probably request that ACH transfer directly with the BOA online banking account. Wise will give you the US Domestic account and routing number for the bank they use in the US to get that money to your Wise USD account by ACH transfer. Good luck!

Dang! I opened it with my Thai address which is far more restrictive, I think. I'm locked out of BoA's online banking.

Get this. To restore it, BoA's fraud dept wants the phone number I used to open the account...in 1984! Must've had 20 phone numbers since then! So...I'm locked out.

12 hours ago, dinga said:

I want to do something similar [some US$50,000 from a USD Acct in Spore to a BBL USD FCA - what were the fees at both ends?

The fees depend on the banks you use at both ends.

In my case I use Schwab International and pay no fees to wire money. The only 'fee' I pay is the exchange rate SCB gives me which is around 20 satang lower than the median rate.