One Year On

[Mig15]

So we have been in the UK for a year. My wife and son have two year visas to stay in the UK. Things have gone well all in all. We are going back for a holiday.

I have a few questions that some of you may be able to answer.

1. My wife has been saving up to take some money back to the family to buy a plot of land so they can grow stuff and be self sufficient. This is mostly to help support her elderly mother. So my question is: what is the best way to move some money to my wife’s Thai bank? Can we get a bank check that we pay into her account or can she just pay in a personal check on her UK HSBC account? About £4500.

2. This may sound a bit strange, but do we need to take the TB free certificates we got last year with us again? I am imagining coming back through British Immigration and having to queue up for them to have chest x-rays again.

Any other problems we may come up against?

[the scouser]

I've no real idea about the money side of things, but why not send it through your bank to an account in Thailand? Alternatively, if you don't want to pay the transfer fee, take it in cash and change it in Thailand. I've never tried it, but I would think that if you present a UK bank draft or cheque, it'll take weeks to clear.

You don't need to carry the TB certificates with you.

Scouse.

[kiakaha]

So we have been in the UK for a year. My wife and son have two year visas to stay in the UK. Things have gone well all in all. We are going back for a holiday.

I have a few questions that some of you may be able to answer.

1. My wife has been saving up to take some money back to the family to buy a plot of land so they can grow stuff and be self sufficient. This is mostly to help support her elderly mother. So my question is: what is the best way to move some money to my wife’s Thai bank? Can we get a bank check that we pay into her account or can she just pay in a personal check on her UK HSBC account? About £4500.

2. This may sound a bit strange, but do we need to take the TB free certificates we got last year with us again? I am imagining coming back through British Immigration and having to queue up for them to have chest x-rays again.

Any other problems we may come up against?

Just do a SWIFT transfer to your bank ac in thailand.

[Maestro]

Mig15, regarding the money, I advise a bank transfer. It is risk-free and fast. When your wife gives the payment order to her UK bank she should make certain to specify that pounds should be remitted to Thailand, not Baht, so that the conversion from pounds to Baht will be made by her bank in Thailand. This way, she will get a better exchange rate.

She will need the SWIFT code for her Thai bank. If she does not know it, she can probably look it up on the bank’s website.

--

Maestro

[mariner29]

Is the limit £5000 per person cash through Bankok and you must declare it ?

Dont quote me as im not 100% sure but i believe its around that figure ?

[cophen]

I think Customs in the UK get quite interested if they know you're taking a big wodge out. I'm not quite sure how big big is but it's in the low thousands.

[giruz]

I think Customs in the UK get quite interested if they know you're taking a big wodge out. I'm not quite sure how big big is but it's in the low thousands.

Not sure which one is the cheapest way.

Nationwide gives you an ATM card without withdrawal fees/exchange fees. I believe that would be better than exchanging cash.

HSBC will charge you £20 for the transfer. I would think about asking how much other banks will charge you.

A friend of mine used a service similar to the one XE offers and got a better change than using the bank. You could investigate this as well.

Have a look on the Jobs-Economy section..I remember of a thread being posted months ago.

giruzz

[Boo]

my husband recently transferred 10k gbp from his lloydstsb account to his bangkok bank account using swift transfer, each one cost (I think) 15gbp & he had to do it in 2 lots of 5k gbp each. Took approx 3 working days to be received.

make sure you specify tat the exchange is done in thai baht & not sterling. Also split charges as usually works out cheaper (IME)

For smaller amounts then it is worth applying for a nationawide flex account as overseas transations are free. Good for day to day spending money when on holiday.

TB cert, no.

[Mig15]

Thanks for your responses. I have always used my HSBC Debit and Credit cards in Thailand but they are often restricted to 10,000 baht a day. Obviously I will be needing to draw money out for living expenses as well.

I have transferred money in the past to her daughters account. I think I may be best off doing a combination of all the things suggested. Transfer some, take some and ATM some.

Cheers

[cophen]

my husband recently transferred 10k gbp from his lloydstsb account to his bangkok bank account using swift transfer, each one cost (I think) 15gbp & he had to do it in 2 lots of 5k gbp each. Took approx 3 working days to be received.

make sure you specify tat the exchange is done in thai baht & not sterling. Also split charges as usually works out cheaper (IME)

I have to disagree with this. If you transfer baht you'll get the exchange rate valid in the UK which is usually approximately 10% worse than that in Thailand. Make sure you transfer sterling and you'll get the exchange rate available in Thailand.

[sumrit]

I know you can go into a Thai bank with your UK bank ATM card and use it to transfer money from your UK account into your Thai account. I'm not sure if there's a limit on doing it this way but as ATM withdrawals with a Nationwide Flex account card are free it might be worth looking into.

I should imagine if it is possible to transfer larger amounts this way you would have to inform the Nationwide of your intentions first.

[Boo]

I have to disagree with this. If you transfer baht you'll get the exchange rate valid in the UK which is usually approximately 10% worse than that in Thailand. Make sure you transfer sterling and you'll get the exchange rate available in Thailand.

waaa, sorry, you are 100% right, got my words mixed up there. Meant to say make sure you get the exchange done in thailand!!! Sometimes brain thinks one thing but fingers type another!!!

[egg6447]

ive posted this a few times now . it seems some posters choose to complicate there lives somewhat. just get a nationwide building society account. flex account. its all ive used in 10 yrs and transfered 6 mill bt in that time. 20k bt a day atm. go into your thai bank and transfer what you want if larger than atm required. all free and a excellent exchange rate too. simple as that.

[bread]

£10000 pounds is the legal amount you can move from the UK to the EU (a lot of EU countrys are 15000 euros) and I guess this will be the same out of the UK, I think the £10k mark is from the money lundering regs.

[PhilHarries]

£10000 pounds is the legal amount you can move from the UK to the EU (a lot of EU countrys are 15000 euros) and I guess this will be the same out of the UK, I think the £10k mark is from the money lundering regs.

Don't know where you get this limit because I just transferred 1 mill Baht (circa 16k GBP) no problemo. I asked what the limit was, out of interest, and was told 100k GBP.

The 10k "limit" is, as you say, to do with money laundering and it's not a limit as such but just a level at which the UK authorities may take an interest. A one off transfer is unlikely to ring the alarm bells unless the recipient is that famous old jazz player Al Quaeda.

[roygsd]

£10000 pounds is the legal amount you can move from the UK to the EU (a lot of EU countrys are 15000 euros) and I guess this will be the same out of the UK, I think the £10k mark is from the money lundering regs.

Spot on information, you to have to declare any amount above £10K when entering Thailand, but dont forget that is £10K per person not per family, if you wanted to expand on that sum I understand that there is noo age limit set so it would appear the kids are entitled to have the same allowance.

Personally I would advise the o/p to take the £4500 in cash and change it there, better exchange rate by far.

Roy gsd

[roygsd]

£10000 pounds is the legal amount you can move from the UK to the EU (a lot of EU countrys are 15000 euros) and I guess this will be the same out of the UK, I think the £10k mark is from the money lundering regs.

Don't know where you get this limit because I just transferred 1 mill Baht (circa 16k GBP) no problemo. I asked what the limit was, out of interest, and was told 100k GBP.

The 10k "limit" is, as you say, to do with money laundering and it's not a limit as such but just a level at which the UK authorities may take an interest. A one off transfer is unlikely to ring the alarm bells unless the recipient is that famous old jazz player Al Quaeda.

There is no "limit" as such on what amount you can take out of the uk, ( its your money I presume?) however there are legal obligations in place within the legal/banking/ financial world to report any "suspicious or unusual" transactions, and not specific to oversea's transactions.

Some supermarkets in the uk are now refusing to serve adults who are accompanied by under 18s with alcohol as they are afraid of falling foul of the new laws on the sale of alcohol to under 18s, similarly banks dont want to take any chances of falling foul of the financial regulations

As a result Wester Union have set a limit of 8k before refering the tranaction to their regulating Officers for further consideration, Alliance and bloody Leicester transfered £8k, £6k and another £6k to me in Thailand over a two month period yet refused to send any more from my account. I ended up having to get my Solicitor to draw up a Power of Attorney document in favour of my daughter in the uk so she could transfer my money out of my account to me in Thailand!

Pain in the arse I can tell you.

As a rule of thumb most bank staff refer an overseas transfer of over £10K to their monitoring officers for a decision and usually the transfer is delayed for a further day whilst a decision is made, usually the monitoring officer does not find it ncessary to refer the matter to a higher authority outside of the Bank.

Roy gsd