K-bank Visa Debit Card In Oz Atms?

[wadsy]

Hi all,

I want to transfer around 750,000 baht back to Oz from my Kasikorn account. The exchange buy rate at St George Bank in Australia is 28.89 baht to the dollar whereas K Bank'sbuy rate today is 30.00 baht to the dollar. It doesn't sound like much difference but it equates to around $1,000 AUD. Some topics I have read suggest that banks in Thailand can't send baht only the foreign currency of the respective country. If that is the case, what about using my K Bank Debit card in an ATM in Australia to withdraw that amount over a couple of weeks. Does anyone know if that would be cost effective? Or even if it is feasible. Thanks in advance.

[Chang_paarp]

The ATM is the easiest way to do the transfer. You can run into all sorts of challnges if you want to transfer the funds out of Thailand to Oz if you do not have the paperwork to prove you brought it in. The fees may be a little bit of a nuisance but you it is less hassle.

Alternatively you can withdraw the money in Thailand and convert to Au$ there and then take the cash with you to Oz, this usually gets a better rate than the z banks and no transfer fees. The only problem is you are supposed to declare if you bringing more than a certain amount ($10K?) of cash into Oz. (Money laundering issues) Check with customs about the official line here. As with all of these things your milage may vary in reality.

[roskruge]

Briefly I have had a Kasikorn ATM card for 6 years (it was Thai Farmers Bank when I opened the account) I have made several trips to Western Australia where I have used my Kasikorn ATM card at Australian bank ATM's in Perth. My ATM card is just the standard no special account.