Banking

[thaistyle2728]

my wife and i will be moving to thiland soon...i have a bank account with the bangkok bank there....i also have an account with bank of america here in the u.s. i know that i can transfer money over before we leave...but what i need to know is this....has anybody there written a personal check from their bank account from a u.s. bank and then deposited it in their bank account with the bangkok bank....if you have were there any problems doing this and about how long did it take for the check to clear and the money to appear in you account...

thanks.......thaistyle

[Crossy]

Not actually tried it, I've not written a personal cheque for something like 10 years, we don't use them in the civilised world now, so 20th century

Paying a foreign currency cheque into a Thai account is possible, however, they are likely to charge a rediculous fee (like $30) and take up to 30 days before you can access the funds. Personally I would not use this route unless absolutely unavoidable.

Transfer before you leave home, arrange a means to initiate further transfers online, ensure your ATM and credit cards are enabled for international use. For belt and braces cover bring a few hundred in travellers cheques.

[chiang mai]

my wife and i will be moving to thiland soon...i have a bank account with the bangkok bank there....i also have an account with bank of america here in the u.s. i know that i can transfer money over before we leave...but what i need to know is this....has anybody there written a personal check from their bank account from a u.s. bank and then deposited it in their bank account with the bangkok bank....if you have were there any problems doing this and about how long did it take for the check to clear and the money to appear in you account...

thanks.......thaistyle

The obvious and cheaper route would be to transfer funds electronically but if you must use a personal check it will take time and there will a large commission charge as already pointed out to you. A better way to go may be to open an account with Bangkok Bank in the US (yes, they have one) and to draw a check on the US branch and this should improve clearing times and lower costs. For example, I have an account with Bangkok Bank in Thailand and in London and frequently use that route for funds transfers. Alternatively you can buy a counter check at BB in either of the two countries and deposit them in the other branch and incur only a three day clearing - note: you can buy foreign currency counter checks at BB in the US which can be deposited at BB in Thailand without any commission charges.

[loong]

Yes,

I have deposited personal cheques into my Bangkok bank account. Charge 10 dollars and takes between 3 to 6 weeks to clear. Will usually only do it at the branch where you have your account and some branches will tell you that it cannot be done.

You can also deposit funds using your ATm card and that clears instantly. I'm not sure what the maximum amount using the card, maybe there isn't, but I've deposited 100,000 Baht and was charged 200 Baht. Of course with some banks there is an additional charge for using the card.

[Jingthing]

If you did try this, would the baht conversion occur in Thailand or US? When you say commission, do you really mean a set fee (such as 30 dollars) or do you mean a percentage of the total amount? Also, does anyone know what code would show up if this was a deposit to a passbook account, would this be seen as a foreign transfer?

[JonnieB]

agree with all above...why would you want to deposit a usa check into a thai bank account to fund the thai account. just wire-transfer the money in or even bring it in cash and deposit it. i have also never actually done it but have heard it can take 4-6 weeks to clear. wire transfers take 24-48 hours. in over a hundred transfers never had a problem.

Edited October 10, 2007 by JonnieB

[Jingthing]

agree with all above...why would you want to deposit a usa check into a thai bank account to fund the thai account. just wire-transfer the money in or even bring it in cash and deposit it. i have also never actually done it but have heard it can take 4-6 weeks to clear. wire transfers take 24-48 hours at the most usually. in over a hundred transfers never had a problem.

Why? Here is why: You are in Thailand and you failed to set up a valid wire agreement before leaving the US, or your valid wire agreement for whatever reason has expired or becomes invalid. Flying to the US to do a wire transfer is quite a high commission fee, yes?

[nullx8]

The obvious and cheaper route would be to transfer funds electronically but if you must use a personal check it will take time and there will a large commission charge as already pointed out to you.

true .. also the exchange rates will be handled locally and not based on worldbank or central banks ..

if check then better use a cash check acepted by the bangkok bank ... issued in thai baht (but well this will be abit difficult but possible)

on the bottomline ...

a electronic transfer OR international Standard Transfer is the easyest way .. and as well cheapest if the amount is quite high.

as the exchange rate is then set by the bank in your country and not by some random values in between.

timing: a check takes already 10 days for clearance ... PLUS accounts times ...

a international transfer is faster as well .. and you not take the risc loosing the check ;-)

[Tywais]

Yes,

I have deposited personal cheques into my Bangkok bank account. Charge 10 dollars and takes between 3 to 6 weeks to clear. Will usually only do it at the branch where you have your account and some branches will tell you that it cannot be done.

That's the same experience I had. The charge was only a few hundred baht and it took 3 weeks for it to clear and show in my account. There was a significant amount of paperwork involved though. The conversion was on-shore (Thailand) rates and was reasonable. I used the check route due to the complexities of getting wire transfers working at my account in the US.

[chiang mai]

If you did try this, would the baht conversion occur in Thailand or US? When you say commission, do you really mean a set fee (such as 30 dollars) or do you mean a percentage of the total amount? Also, does anyone know what code would show up if this was a deposit to a passbook account, would this be seen as a foreign transfer?

If you write a USD check drawn on a US bank and deposit it into a Thai bank the conversion from USD to Thai Baht would be done in Thailand, unless you were depositing into a foreign currency account in which case the funds would be left in USD. Commission would be payable to the depositing bank and that will be a percentage of the deposited amount.

[Jingthing]

A commission could be really bad if you were depositing a large amount. Do people agree the charge is usually a commission rather than a set fee, because I find that hard to believe.

[JonnieB]

agree with all above...why would you want to deposit a usa check into a thai bank account to fund the thai account. just wire-transfer the money in or even bring it in cash and deposit it. i have also never actually done it but have heard it can take 4-6 weeks to clear. wire transfers take 24-48 hours at the most usually. in over a hundred transfers never had a problem.

Why? Here is why: You are in Thailand and you failed to set up a valid wire agreement before leaving the US, or your valid wire agreement for whatever reason has expired or becomes invalid. Flying to the US to do a wire transfer is quite a high commission fee, yes?

well the assumption is that the person has or will set-up such an agreement (as the op says)! usually said wire-transfer authorization agreement add-ons to a foreign account don't expire. i have been using my citi account (with separate wire-transfer agreement add-on) for almost 10 years with no problem). in any case, i assume one would have an ATM card for their foreign based account...still just better to withdraw money in baht from such account and deposit it in the thai account (if you just didn't want to use the foreign account exclusively).

[Jingthing]

I set up two of them (US bank wire transfer agreements). They both have expiration dates. So by my experience, they usually DO have expiration dates.

[JonnieB]

I set up two of them (US bank wire transfer agreements). They both have expiration dates. So by my experience, they usually DO have expiration dates.

maybe you need to switch banks

[Naam]

for the love of (insert preferred religious figure) please explain to a newbie what is a

wire-transfer authorization agreement

[chiang mai]

And whilst we are at it, in the interest of raising awareness, Thailand operates a Provincial banking system. That means that if you, for example, as a customer of say Bangkok Bank in Bangkok, attempt to deposit either cash or a cheque into a branch of Bangkok Bank in say Chiang Mai, you will be charged a commission which represents a percentage of the value of the deposit. Hence the commission issue is not unique to just overseas transactions.

[Jingthing]

I set up two of them (US bank wire transfer agreements). They both have expiration dates. So by my experience, they usually DO have expiration dates.

maybe you need to switch banks

A bit difficult now that I live in Thailand.

[chownah]

A commission could be really bad if you were depositing a large amount. Do people agree the charge is usually a commission rather than a set fee, because I find that hard to believe.

Its a set fee. I used a personal check a few months ago...the fee was in baht but was about $30US...it took about 3 weeks...the rate was the onshore Thai rate....it turns out that my banks in the US now have wire transfer fees that are higher than $30 so I'll probably be doing all my money tranfers by check since now it seems the cheapest option but I need to see if atm card transfers from one of my banks might be cheaper still. I usually only transfer money once per year so its not a big expense and I'm never sure what the rules and fees will be next year...until the time comes.

Edited October 10, 2007 by chownah

[Jingthing]

This method sounds like it is worth trying out. Anyone know what code would show up in a passbook doing this as immigration likes to see funds coming from abroad for some visas.

[jeepholt]

I haven't been paying much attention to the boards lately and I probably missed the answer to the following: Do they still withhold 30% when you transfer in more than $20,000? TIA

Edit reason: transfer funds in just for the heck of it, not to be used for condo purchase etc.

Edited October 10, 2007 by jeepholt

[JonnieB]

wire transfer agreements are usually separate forms you fill with your home bank wherein you request authorization to transfer money in and out of the account by wire. these wires can be done in person, by phone, fax, or over the internet (through their internet banking portals). basically it's just one of those legal CYA type forms you have to fill out for anything more than basic banking services. like when you have a brokerage account, if you want to trade options, you have to make a separate application for this and then it is tacked on to your brokerage account.