There are anti money laundering requirements when wiring money out of Thailand, which can make things a bit difficult. But if your money is already in British Pounds and is sitting in a foreign currency deposit account in Thailand, then things are relatively straightforward. If you originally transferred the GBP into that account from overseas, you should be able to tell the bank that the money was transferred into Thailand from abroad and that you now want to transfer it back out without having to deal with the same issues that can arise when transferring money out from a Thai Baht account. If, however, the money is currently sitting in an account in Thai Baht, then things become considerably more complicated. You cannot wire Thai Baht out of Thailand and have it converted into Pounds by your bank in the UK. The money would first need to be converted into GBP at whatever exchange rate the Thai bank is offering at the time. Thai banks also often charge wire transfer fees of around 2,000 Baht, possibly more depending on the amount being transferred. The bigger issue is that, unless you have a work permit, it may be difficult to transfer the money out at all. You will generally need to either prove that you earned the money legally in Thailand, which is why I mentioned the work permit, or provide evidence of a previous inbound transfer showing that the money was originally transferred into Thailand legally and deposited into your account. If you do not have documentation of a previous inbound transfer, the amount you can wire out may be limited by the amount you are permitted to earn annually in Thailand under your work permit. These are not simply requirements imposed by the bank itself. They stem from Bank of Thailand regulations, because banks have reporting obligations for outgoing international wire transfers and must comply with the Bank of Thailand’s anti money laundering requirements. There used to be some gray market money changers who could facilitate this kind of transfer, although I am not sure whether they still operate this way. The process was somewhat unnerving because you would hand them the cash without receiving an official receipt, and the money would then appear in your overseas account a day or two later. The funds were essentially exchanged and moved through unofficial channels. As I said, I am not sure whether this is still commonly done, and I would be very cautious about using such a service. So, as I mentioned, if the money is in GBP in an FCD account and was originally transferred into Thailand from overseas, it should be relatively straightforward. If the money is in Thai Baht, however, it becomes much trickier unless you have a work permit or other evidence showing that you earned the money legally in Thailand, or documentation showing that the money was originally transferred into your Thai bank account from overseas.
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