Moving Modest Savings To Thailand

[glasshock]

Can anyone help please? We are making our permanent move to Thailand in December and wish to transfer some savings. My wife has a Thai bank account and I have an account here in the UK with HSBC.

Can anyone recommend the best way to move this money? We are not talking many many thousands just a modest amount, but much more than I would wish to carry around with me (£10.00 is more than you want to carry with you if its all you have though!)

I have heard that HSBC in BKK are a different company than the UK outfit.... the worlds bank? Should we change the money here or in Thailand? .... you see I'm not so bright am I

Can you pleasent people give me a shove in the right direction or point me to an existing topic.

Sorry if this has been covered many times before but if it wasnt for annoying people like me you would have nothing to talk about and would just spend your time enjoying yourselves!!

Anyway, thanks in advance & all the best!

[chiang mai]

Can anyone help please? We are making our permanent move to Thailand in December and wish to transfer some savings. My wife has a Thai bank account and I have an account here in the UK with HSBC.

Can anyone recommend the best way to move this money? We are not talking many many thousands just a modest amount, but much more than I would wish to carry around with me (£10.00 is more than you want to carry with you if its all you have though!)

I have heard that HSBC in BKK are a different company than the UK outfit.... the worlds bank? Should we change the money here or in Thailand? .... you see I'm not so bright am I

Can you pleasent people give me a shove in the right direction or point me to an existing topic.

Sorry if this has been covered many times before but if it wasnt for annoying people like me you would have nothing to talk about and would just spend your time enjoying yourselves!!

Anyway, thanks in advance & all the best!

There's a fair amount of info on this type of subject already but, in a nutshell:

HSBC Bangkok is just OK but can be useful for making transfers from HSBC branches in other countries but their currency deposit rates are poor. If I were you I would open up an offshore easy access account in the Isle of Man or Guernsey and take advantage of the high short term interest rates on Sterling - you can easily get 6.5% (ish) currently and since you live in Thailand that will be tax free. Take a look at Nationwide International Tracker account in the IOM for example. As you need to transfer funds to Thailand you can withdraw from IOM via the Internet and send to HSBC in Bangkok (or indeed to any other bank such as Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn). Exchanges from Sterling to Baht should always be done in Thailand to take advantage of the onshore (better) exchange rates.

[qualtrough]

I live here permanently and keep a minimum amount locally because of poor interest rates, and because I have lived through two major currency devaluations. Although that doesn't seem likely at the moment, you never know. I get cash through a debit card connected to my US brokerage account. Exchange rate is very favorable and charge is something like one dollar.

[astral]

1. Ensure the exchange is done in Thailand, not in the UK. The rate is much better.

2. I cannot speak for HSBC Thailand, but I do have an account with them in Malaysia, and transfers from the UK are extremely speedy,

less than 24 hours

3. Bring over money as you need it. Interest rates on Thai accounts are not good.

Your money is much safer in an offshore account in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man

[glasshock]

Thanks for your help guys...... & sorry I posted twice!

[seonai]

The other thread is closed now

[cmsally]

Why would you want to transfer money here, the interest rates are awful.

Unless you want to have ready cash for a quick property purchase, either leave it in the UK or transfer it offshore. You can easily get 6% interest (and over). Set up a Nationwide acct and get a debit card.

Make sure you set up any UK bank accts before you leave. Think ahead about what services you might need and get it set up before you go. Once you are here you should do OK with internet banking and a Nationwide card. HSBC are fine if you want to do a bank to bank transfer, but I have never bothered with their BKK branch. You can easily transfer to SCB or any other bank.

[BalthazarBeefheart]

Why would you want to transfer money here, the interest rates are awful.

Unless you want to have ready cash for a quick property purchase, either leave it in the UK or transfer it offshore. You can easily get 6% interest (and over). Set up a Nationwide acct and get a debit card.

Make sure you set up any UK bank accts before you leave. Think ahead about what services you might need and get it set up before you go. Once you are here you should do OK with internet banking and a Nationwide card. HSBC are fine if you want to do a bank to bank transfer, but I have never bothered with their BKK branch. You can easily transfer to SCB or any other bank.

Yes I do things similarly to you. I was wondering though especially with all the posts relating to the weak dollar if any Brits or others do anything to hedge against exchange rate fluctuations. At present the difference between UK offshore rates and the low net interest received in Thailand is about 4.5% but that could soon be wiped out by exchange rate fluctuations - I hope that makes sense and would be grateful if anyone has any suggestions.

Cheers BB

[chicowoodduck]

I live here permanently and keep a minimum amount locally because of poor interest rates, and because I have lived through two major currency devaluations. Although that doesn't seem likely at the moment, you never know. I get cash through a debit card connected to my US brokerage account. Exchange rate is very favorable and charge is something like one dollar.

Have you ever tried to transfer money from your US account to your Thai bank account? I'm sure there is a limit on how much you can wire transfer (I know $10,000 is the max you can carry with you when travel to the LOS). The banks always seem to want to charge a sh** load when you wire cash anywhere. I'd like to have at least the minimum of 800,000 TBH in some Thai bank for retirement paperwork purposes, just have to figure out the smoothest / cheapest way to go about it.

[cmsally]

For a transfer to HSBC to local Thai bank it costs 15 UK pounds, whatever the amount. It takes one day (2 days max.) depending on timing.

[sfokevin]

Be very careful wire transferring from an offshore HSBC bank to the Thai branch of HSBC - They may use the offshore exchange rate... I know from actually experience that if you use an offshore HSBC ATM card at the BKK HSBC you get the offshore rate...

[cmsally]

Be very careful wire transferring from an offshore HSBC bank to the Thai branch of HSBC - They may use the offshore exchange rate... I know from actually experience that if you use an offshore HSBC ATM card at the BKK HSBC you get the offshore rate...

Transfer using fax or online and print off the datails from an online transfer. Don't do it by telephone.

Make sure to stipulate the currency the transfer is made in (not Thai Baht). You can write down in detail that you wish the currency to be exchanged at Thai onshore rates in Thailand. Even if they manage to mess up they will be paying for it.

For ATM do an online transfer to your Nationwide acct and withdraw from there.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Yes, open a Nationwide Flexaccount and the accompanying e-savings account. Also apply for their credit card.

Now you can manage your day to day finances on-line.

Keep a decent chunk in the e-savings account and just a little in the Flexaccount. That way, if there is a problem with the Debit card, no one can get to the bulk of your money, as it's in the seperate e-saving account.

The good bit, is whenever you need, you can go on-line and transfer money to the Flexaccount instantly with no penalty.

For your purchases, use the Credit Card and set it up to be paid via the Flexaccount via Direct Debit. The Debit Card is only to be used for cash withdrawals. Remember to limit the amount in the account a few days spending.

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

If you do need to move a lump sum to Thailand, you can take a look at a broker such as; http://www.hifx.co.uk/ and compare it to whatever the banks offer.

For banks, ask HSBC and Citibank for a quote.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

An offshore account would be useful to you if you were an expat being paid in your home currency. Don't bother, as the costs and hassle of transers may wipe out any potential saving. Just open the common or garden Nationwide BS Flexaccount.

[glasshock]

Many thanks for all of your replies.......been a great help!