Advice Needed Move To Thailand, Move Money

[jbeck]

im in the US, in process of opening a citibank online account (NIGHTMARE!) that says international xfer is no problem, and I can initiate wire online (the only US bank I found that claims it's no problem)

i want to open a thai account with my OA visa, i'm not planning on returning to the us.

i need th 800000B each year to renew my visa, in a thai account. I also want my money out of the US. I don't wany a USD account but a Baht account.

if I can succeed in the wire, will it simply be converted at the exchange rate baht minus a fee levied by the thai bank?

Im talking 50,000 USD and considering siam or any bank, really with branches in chiang mai and phuket.

if i bring an inital amount of say 5000 cash with me, should I deposit it in thai bank, or would I get a significant benefit going to a money exchange service first?

Would a cashiers check (instead of cash) offer any advantage - other than the obvious? Is it no problem to deposit it?

also I will get 2 checks a month ($2000/ea) drawn on a US bank from my employer, mailed to me in thailand.

will the average thai bank not have a problem with depositing a US check into my account or will it be a pain the a**?

I dont care if there's a long hold before the funds are released. Well I care, but can deal with it.

I couldn't get ANY straight answers from the bank (siam) via email, other than I need to see the branch manager to allow me to even open an account without having a work permit - which I dont/wont have - regradless of the fact I pointed out to them that every OA visa holder wishing to renew must have a thai bank account.

thanks very much,

Jeff

[Soutpeel]

Jeff,

In your position, why dont you get an offshore account set up in Singapore or Hong Kong, which would alleviate your possible problems with US cheques being drawn on a Thai Bank. Singapore & HK Banks are better equipped in with dealing with international banking requirements over Thai banks, and they all speak English to boot...

You can open another account in Thailand SCB/K-bank etc for your day to day and transfer in from Singapore or HK.

If you look at Citibank International Personal banking in Singapore, they can get this set up for you, if you already bank with Citibank in the US, you should be able to do the Forex transfer Citibank to Citibank for free, if you maintain more than US$ 25,000 in your account then your banking is free...

[jbeck]

Jeff,

In your position, why dont you get an offshore account set up in Singapore or Hong Kong, which would alleviate your possible problems with US cheques being drawn on a Thai Bank. Singapore & HK Banks are better equipped in with dealing with international banking requirements over Thai banks, and they all speak English to boot...

You can open another account in Thailand SCB/K-bank etc for your day to day and transfer in from Singapore or HK.

If you look at Citibank International Personal banking in Singapore, they can get this set up for you, if you already bank with Citibank in the US, you should be able to do the Forex transfer Citibank to Citibank for free, if you maintain more than US$ 25,000 in your account then your banking is free...

Well, I dont want to go to singapore or hong kong, I dont know if there IS a problem depositing US checks into a thai bank. Are you saying there is? I'm not worried paying for one transfer 'fee' of the full amount. Citibakng charges only US $30. I'm worried about all the other things I asked. Are you saying theres a better exchange rate (how much better), or a better/no exchange 'fee'? Can transfers be done via computer? Can i open the account without leaving thailand? Thanks for your help.

[PennyFarthing123]

I bank with Ayudhya here in Hua Hin. Had no problem in opening an account and regularly transfer money in from New Zealand. If I request the transfer at 7:00am Thai time I have it in my account by 9:00am the same day.I also deposit my US Social Security checks with no problem. It takes about 10 days for the money to clear on the checks and the exchange rate is very close to the Bloomburg posted exchange for that day. There is a small service fee but it is in the acceptable range.

I do know that nothing is standard from bank to bank or even within the same bank. It is sort of up to the luck of the draw.

[jbeck]

I bank with Ayudhya here in Hua Hin. Had no problem in opening an account and regularly transfer money in from New Zealand. If I request the transfer at 7:00am Thai time I have it in my account by 9:00am the same day.I also deposit my US Social Security checks with no problem. It takes about 10 days for the money to clear on the checks and the exchange rate is very close to the Bloomburg posted exchange for that day. There is a small service fee but it is in the acceptable range.

I do know that nothing is standard from bank to bank or even within the same bank. It is sort of up to the luck of the draw.

cool.

what kind of transfer do you do - wire?

how do you - in your case- initiate the transfer - online - phone, etc..?

I was considering ayudhaya as well.

are you in the kingdom on an OA visa?

thanks,

jeff

[PennyFarthing123]

Hi Jeff

My husband and I each are here on an O visa for retirement purposes.

I bank with ANZ Bank in New Zealand and when I want to transfer money from there I call them and request an electronic transfer. I did advise them that I would be doing this so they could expect the requests. And I only transfer to accounts in my name. I also request that it be transferred in New Zealand dollars as we seemed to get a better exchange rate here.

I also would mention that as a non resident of New Zealand we only pay a 2% on the earnings. Although right now we are taking a beating on the exchange rate. Fortunately we transferred a chunk of money before the the current economic crisis.

We looked into having our Social Security checks from the US done as a direct deposit but ran into a few problems and decided to just have them mailed. They are mailed to the Embassy in Bangkok and then put into another envelope and sent to us. Over all we receive them on about the 15 to the 17 of each month rather than the first.

We have never had a problem with the mail although I have heard other say that they have not always received all their mail. Once again it probably depends on your location and who is doing the delivering.

Best of Luck.

PennyFarthing

[jbeck]

Hi Jeff

My husband and I each are here on an O visa for retirement purposes.

I bank with ANZ Bank in New Zealand and when I want to transfer money from there I call them and request an electronic transfer. I did advise them that I would be doing this so they could expect the requests. And I only transfer to accounts in my name. I also request that it be transferred in New Zealand dollars as we seemed to get a better exchange rate here.

I also would mention that as a non resident of New Zealand we only pay a 2% on the earnings. Although right now we are taking a beating on the exchange rate. Fortunately we transferred a chunk of money before the the current economic crisis.

We looked into having our Social Security checks from the US done as a direct deposit but ran into a few problems and decided to just have them mailed. They are mailed to the Embassy in Bangkok and then put into another envelope and sent to us. Over all we receive them on about the 15 to the 17 of each month rather than the first.

We have never had a problem with the mail although I have heard other say that they have not always received all their mail. Once again it probably depends on your location and who is doing the delivering.

Best of Luck.

PennyFarthing

thanks.

why do they they get mailed to the US embassy? A requirement. Did you request that for safety, and they don't mind forwarding to you?

you must have to pay them somehow? I wish I knew more about this.

thanks,

jeff

[PennyFarthing123]

Social Security suggest that they be deposited by direct deposit but it is required that you use Bangkok Bank and you have to have it into a savings account. The problems that causes is you can not have an ATM card or electronic bankin that it beg. In other words you have to go into the bank that you established your account with and withdraw the money or go in each month and have it deposited into another account with an ATM attached to it in the same branch.

When we requested it be a joint account they said could not do. I ask if it was a bank policy or US policy. They stated US policy. I then showed them that on the form from Social Security it has an a place for marking joint account. They then said that they would open the account as joint but if there was a problem they would close the account and open up separate accounts for us. They then proceeded to tell us if one of us should die the account would be frozen for up to a year, so we said OK open separate accounts. I then ask what happens if one of us becomes disabled and can not come into the bank to withdraw our funds. BLANK LOOKS. You have to come in. I then said lets go back to the joint account and I could worry about it being frozen later. Figured I could withdraw the funds before anyone could freeze the account. OK was the response but now said you both have to come in together to withdraw any funds. At this point we decided to leave things as they are and have them mailed to us.

There is no fee for this. When we put in a change of address there is a space where you state how you want to receive your checks. We then had to go into Bangkok US Embassy and have them certify a copy of our passport and the forms we filled out. We then mailed them to the Philippines. After that it was about 4 weeks before my husbands checks started arriving and after 4 months we went into the Embassy and ask if they could check on mine as it had been submitted at the same time. Shortly after that my checks also started arriving.

Sorry for the long saga. Hope you can wade through all of it.

[jbeck]

Social Security suggest that they be deposited by direct deposit but it is required that you use Bangkok Bank and you have to have it into a savings account. The problems that causes is you can not have an ATM card or electronic bankin that it beg. In other words you have to go into the bank that you established your account with and withdraw the money or go in each month and have it deposited into another account with an ATM attached to it in the same branch.

When we requested it be a joint account they said could not do. I ask if it was a bank policy or US policy. They stated US policy. I then showed them that on the form from Social Security it has an a place for marking joint account. They then said that they would open the account as joint but if there was a problem they would close the account and open up separate accounts for us. They then proceeded to tell us if one of us should die the account would be frozen for up to a year, so we said OK open separate accounts. I then ask what happens if one of us becomes disabled and can not come into the bank to withdraw our funds. BLANK LOOKS. You have to come in. I then said lets go back to the joint account and I could worry about it being frozen later. Figured I could withdraw the funds before anyone could freeze the account. OK was the response but now said you both have to come in together to withdraw any funds. At this point we decided to leave things as they are and have them mailed to us.

There is no fee for this. When we put in a change of address there is a space where you state how you want to receive your checks. We then had to go into Bangkok US Embassy and have them certify a copy of our passport and the forms we filled out. We then mailed them to the Philippines. After that it was about 4 weeks before my husbands checks started arriving and after 4 months we went into the Embassy and ask if they could check on mine as it had been submitted at the same time. Shortly after that my checks also started arriving.

Sorry for the long saga. Hope you can wade through all of it.

hmm I still dont get it - you still dont say -why- they get mailed to the embassy.

but i have to wait 12 years for SS. For now, I'm hoping my paychecks can be sent to a home thai address, and arrive safely.

if you're US citizens do you still have to pay state and fed tax on your SS income? (S/B separate topic..)

[garyh]

It won't help for the bigger amounts but you can use most ATM cards from your home country in ATM machines in Thailand. I have done this reguarly withdrawing 25,000 baht each time.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Social Security suggest that they be deposited by direct deposit but it is required that you use Bangkok Bank and you have to have it into a savings account. The problems that causes is you can not have an ATM card or electronic bankin that it beg. In other words you have to go into the bank that you established your account with and withdraw the money or go in each month and have it deposited into another account with an ATM attached to it in the same branch.

When we requested it be a joint account they said could not do. I ask if it was a bank policy or US policy. They stated US policy. I then showed them that on the form from Social Security it has an a place for marking joint account. They then said that they would open the account as joint but if there was a problem they would close the account and open up separate accounts for us. They then proceeded to tell us if one of us should die the account would be frozen for up to a year, so we said OK open separate accounts. I then ask what happens if one of us becomes disabled and can not come into the bank to withdraw our funds. BLANK LOOKS. You have to come in. I then said lets go back to the joint account and I could worry about it being frozen later. Figured I could withdraw the funds before anyone could freeze the account. OK was the response but now said you both have to come in together to withdraw any funds. At this point we decided to leave things as they are and have them mailed to us.

There is no fee for this. When we put in a change of address there is a space where you state how you want to receive your checks. We then had to go into Bangkok US Embassy and have them certify a copy of our passport and the forms we filled out. We then mailed them to the Philippines. After that it was about 4 weeks before my husbands checks started arriving and after 4 months we went into the Embassy and ask if they could check on mine as it had been submitted at the same time. Shortly after that my checks also started arriving.

Sorry for the long saga. Hope you can wade through all of it.

hmm I still dont get it - you still dont say -why- they get mailed to the embassy.

but i have to wait 12 years for SS. For now, I'm hoping my paychecks can be sent to a home thai address, and arrive safely.

if you're US citizens do you still have to pay state and fed tax on your SS income? (S/B separate topic..)

The US will not mail SS checks to your home address. They mail them in bulk to the Embassy who then forwards them, you have no choice in this. Doubt if there is any problem with getting your paychecks sent to your thai home address.

Sorry no comment on the taxes.

[Soutpeel]

To answers some of your questions....yes on-line, yes you can open an account without leaving Thailand takes about 7 days to get your ATM card through the post in Thailand, if you go in, in person, you can have the account set up and ATM card, and on-line banking in place in about 2 hours..better exchange rate ?...same as everywhere else.

If you deposit and maintain US$ 25,000 with Citbank IPB in Singapore there are no bank fees, in other words you can maintain a US$ account, draw in Thailand in THB and only pay any ATM fees imposed from the Thai bank...ie THB 20

You may or may not have problems with US cheques in a Thai bank...depends on the bank in question in Thailand.

As previously mentioned if you are already with Citibank in the US and open a Citi account with IPB in Singapore you should should be able to transfer your $'s out of the US to Singapore for free.

The biggest selling point in my opinion is the customer service you get, which you will never get in Thailand or even in the US/Uk for that matter.

[jbeck]

It won't help for the bigger amounts but you can use most ATM cards from your home country in ATM machines in Thailand. I have done this reguarly withdrawing 25,000 baht each time.

i know i can use an atm.

i wont help because i want my money out of the us.

Hence, the questions.

thanks.

[GuestHouse]

My advice is don't burn your bridges.

Move to Thailand by all means, open an account and transfer 'some of your money' by all means.

But do not Transfer all your money to Thailand until you have been living in Thailand for a couple of years (settled down and are sure you can go on living in Thailand) and do not close your US accounts, again until you have settled down in Thailand for a couple of years.

I'd aim for moving the minimum amount of money over to meet the Visa requirements and your income needs and then see how you go.

What ever you do, do not make a one off transfer of all your savings until you have established that the transfer works by testing it with a smaller amount.

[jbeck]

To answers some of your questions....yes on-line, yes you can open an account without leaving Thailand takes about 7 days to get your ATM card through the post in Thailand, if you go in, in person, you can have the account set up and ATM card, and on-line banking in place in about 2 hours..better exchange rate ?...same as everywhere else.

If you deposit and maintain US$ 25,000 with Citbank IPB in Singapore there are no bank fees, in other words you can maintain a US$ account, draw in Thailand in THB and only pay any ATM fees imposed from the Thai bank...ie THB 20

You may or may not have problems with US cheques in a Thai bank...depends on the bank in question in Thailand.

As previously mentioned if you are already with Citibank in the US and open a Citi account with IPB in Singapore you should should be able to transfer your s out of the US to Singapore for free.

The biggest selling point in my opinion is the customer service you get, which you will never get in Thailand or even in the US/Uk for that matter.

ok - in thailand, i can open an account in singapore, by mail/phone?

then, i have an account in singapore in addition to the one i need in thailand to renew my visa.

and just curious how they give great service if i'll never go to singapore - great phone service??

Sorry if i know so little about this.

Also like i said it's only $30 to transfer the money anyway - one wire - $30 - a free transfer isnt important

I just dont see the real benefit.

i have to have the thai account for the visa, and maintining another account is going to help me - how?...maybe IF the thai banks wont take my wire transfer or checks..maybe that's what you're trying to say.

sorry - I know you're trying to help - i'll look into it

[Soutpeel]

To answers some of your questions....yes on-line, yes you can open an account without leaving Thailand takes about 7 days to get your ATM card through the post in Thailand, if you go in, in person, you can have the account set up and ATM card, and on-line banking in place in about 2 hours..better exchange rate ?...same as everywhere else.

If you deposit and maintain US$ 25,000 with Citbank IPB in Singapore there are no bank fees, in other words you can maintain a US$ account, draw in Thailand in THB and only pay any ATM fees imposed from the Thai bank...ie THB 20

You may or may not have problems with US cheques in a Thai bank...depends on the bank in question in Thailand.

As previously mentioned if you are already with Citibank in the US and open a Citi account with IPB in Singapore you should should be able to transfer your s out of the US to Singapore for free.

The biggest selling point in my opinion is the customer service you get, which you will never get in Thailand or even in the US/Uk for that matter.

ok - in thailand, i can open an account in singapore, by mail/phone?

then, i have an account in singapore in addition to the one i need in thailand to renew my visa.

and just curious how they give great service if i'll never go to singapore - great phone service??

Sorry if i know so little about this.

Also like i said it's only $30 to transfer the money anyway - one wire - $30 - a free transfer isnt important

I just dont see the real benefit.

i have to have the thai account for the visa, and maintining another account is going to help me - how?...maybe IF the thai banks wont take my wire transfer or checks..maybe that's what you're trying to say.

sorry - I know you're trying to help - i'll look into it

My advice is along the lines of what Guesthouse is saying, dont bring all your cash into Thailand, just maintain what you need in an account here and stash the rest offshore, You have said you want all your cash out of the US, you have already seen that Thai banks are not the most "dynamic" at answering queries and SCB is one of the better ones, and there is possible issue with your pension checks in Thailand, therefore if you look at someone like Citibank IPB in Singapore, you should be able to arrange a direct deposit of your pension checks in a Singapore Citibank account, which will save one possible headache...based on personal experience with Thai banks, they are ok if you are withdrawing cash from an ATM, but as soon as you start needing to do things out the ordinary..ie depositing cheques, sending money out etc...then the problems start.....

[dannybrewer2000]

I am an american which lives in Chiang Dao. I have been in Thailand off and on since 1975. I own my own home. I draw 2 government check plus Social Security. I have all of my money go to an american bank in the US and use my debit card to withdraw money from my account with no problems.

I also have a bank account with Bangkok Bank. You can transfer money within the US to this bank with no problems. You must first open an account while you are in Thailand. Thre is a Bangkok Bank in New York. Please contact them and they can help you. Cashing Checks in Thailand is almost impossible. Take care of this and open an account in the US and get a debit card and send you money to them. Later you can transfer your money to Thailand if you decide to do so

You can bring $10.000 with you into Thailand. Make sure the are all new $100 dollar bills.

I am currently in the US and will return to Thailand on the 1st of April 09. Don't jump into opening an account into Thailand until you have been living there for a while and understand their banking system.

If you need any assistance contact me [email protected]

[Kf6vci]

Jeff, hold it. the Baht is falling... No need to rush in and convert your dollars yet.

I used to have a multi currency offshore account with a chequebook allowing me to write $, Euro and other cheques.

If you like wires without signing for them, I recommend HSBC Premier. I just sent 3 the last 36 hours, it was a piece of cake. But none of my U.S. banks even sends $ 1,000 even if I send them a fax or a written request and with me being the recipient.

A decent ATM might also take care of some issues.

Al said, I would rather trust a major bank in SIN or HKG... A broker doing ACH might be an alternative for you.

[SoCal]

Jeff,

You don't say where you are in the US, but I would look at opening a HSBC account rather than Citi.

I have a HSBC account in CA, and whenever I have checks from the US I just have them deposited in this account. I can access the account online so if I need to pay any bills in the US this is not a problem. I can use my debit card in any foreign branch with no fees, although some mostly minimal transaction loss. Later if you want, simply open a HSBC acct in Thailand, and wire whatever funds you need. Not a big plus, but their online savings acct pays around 3% right now, which is higher than most US banks anyways. Also I have my debit card only attached to my checking acct which only has a nominal amount as a security measure, and just transfer online from savings to checking when I need it.

Not exactly what you are asking, but a good alternative. No problem with Citi, but they seem more business oriented, where HSBC seems a little more savy and willing to work with consumers on international needs.

Good Luck.

[Soutpeel]

Not exactly what you are asking, but a good alternative. No problem with Citi, but they seem more business oriented, where HSBC seems a little more savy and willing to work with consumers on international needs.

Really, I found the exact opposite...HSBC has dire customer service and Citi IPB has the best service I had ever received from a bank anywhere in the world. I was with HSBC for many years and in the end closed the accounts and moved over to Citi IPB, best move I ever made.