$60,000 Enough To Start?

[thaistick]

I would like to relocate to Thailand and probably Pattaya.I have $60,000 USD in cash and was wondering if this amount is enough to get started with settling in and starting a small business or income investments.

I can sell properties and assets here in the US and have much more available but would prefer not to liquidate just yet.

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

I have Bank Of America bank accounts and ATM card and Visa card.Would these be OK there and are there branches there.How would one transfer US funds to Thailand and convert to bahts and would HSBC or other banks be good options.

Thanks and hope to see you on the beaches there!

[p_brownstone]

I would like to relocate to Thailand and probably Pattaya.I have $60,000 USD in cash and was wondering if this amount is enough to get started with settling in and starting a small business or income investments.

I can sell properties and assets here in the US and have much more available but would prefer not to liquidate just yet.

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any  business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

I have Bank Of America bank accounts and ATM card and Visa card.Would these be OK there and are there branches there.How would one transfer US funds to Thailand and convert to bahts and would HSBC or other banks be good options.

Thanks and hope to see you on the beaches there!

If you are serious about setting up a business here - and want to succeed - don't plan on spending much time on the beaches, at least not for the first 3 or 4 years.

Patrick

[ZOVOX]

I would like to relocate to Thailand and probably Pattaya.I have $60,000 USD in cash and was wondering if this amount is enough to get started with settling in and starting a small business or income investments.

I can sell properties and assets here in the US and have much more available but would prefer not to liquidate just yet.

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any  business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

I have Bank Of America bank accounts and ATM card and Visa card.Would these be OK there and are there branches there.How would one transfer US funds to Thailand and convert to bahts and would HSBC or other banks be good options.

Thanks and hope to see you on the beaches there!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The amount of money you have is more than enough to buy a small business in Thailand. Your atm and visa cards should have no problems using them here, but you should open a bank account here, with a bank like the bangkok bank or siam commercial, for the purposes of showing funds to get visas, as well as daily use. the hsbc only have one branch in thailand, so is not really good for your needs. to transfer funds, you just need to instruct you bank in america and give them your thai bank details, and the baht conversion is done automatically.

[duck]

Is there any other good banks? I plan to deposit some money in UOB or Citibank. Is it recommeneded? Which 1 is better?

Edited December 14, 2004 by duck

[ZOVOX]

Is there any other good banks? I plan to deposit some money in UOB or Citibank. Is it recommeneded? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Both are good, but the citibank normally require a work permit to open account. Not sure about UOB, but they do not have as many branches as the bangkok bank or siam commercial. The UOB atms are great for taking out cash, because you can take out 40,000 bht per transaction, rather than the usual 20-25k maximum. This does make a difference because overseas cards are charged per transaction. By the way, you do not have to have a UOB account to use their atms.

[duck]

Is there any other good banks? I plan to deposit some money in UOB or Citibank. Is it recommeneded? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Both are good, but the citibank normally require a work permit to open account. Not sure about UOB, but they do not have as many branches as the bangkok bank or siam commercial. The UOB atms are great for taking out cash, because you can take out 40,000 bht per transaction, rather than the usual 20-25k maximum. This does make a difference because overseas cards are charged per transaction. By the way, you do not have to have a UOB account to use their atms.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok. Tks ZOVOX.

[thaistick]

I would like to relocate to Thailand and probably Pattaya.I have $60,000 USD in cash and was wondering if this amount is enough to get started with settling in and starting a small business or income investments.

I can sell properties and assets here in the US and have much more available but would prefer not to liquidate just yet.

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any  business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

I have Bank Of America bank accounts and ATM card and Visa card.Would these be OK there and are there branches there.How would one transfer US funds to Thailand and convert to bahts and would HSBC or other banks be good options.

Thanks and hope to see you on the beaches there!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The amount of money you have is more than enough to buy a small business in Thailand. Your atm and visa cards should have no problems using them here, but you should open a bank account here, with a bank like the bangkok bank or siam commercial, for the purposes of showing funds to get visas, as well as daily use. the hsbc only have one branch in thailand, so is not really good for your needs. to transfer funds, you just need to instruct you bank in america and give them your thai bank details, and the baht conversion is done automatically.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the advice and the $60000 USD is literally in cash stacks of $100's,so I

think it would be wise to deposit most of it in my BOA account and have it transferred and converted there.

I also have a Scottrade account and trade forex with OandaFX and can I access and manage my portfolio and accounts with my laptop there?May it be wishful

thinking that I can continue using my MSN dialup account there?

[ZOVOX]

I would like to relocate to Thailand and probably Pattaya.I have $60,000 USD in cash and was wondering if this amount is enough to get started with settling in and starting a small business or income investments.

I can sell properties and assets here in the US and have much more available but would prefer not to liquidate just yet.

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any  business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

I have Bank Of America bank accounts and ATM card and Visa card.Would these be OK there and are there branches there.How would one transfer US funds to Thailand and convert to bahts and would HSBC or other banks be good options.

Thanks and hope to see you on the beaches there!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The amount of money you have is more than enough to buy a small business in Thailand. Your atm and visa cards should have no problems using them here, but you should open a bank account here, with a bank like the bangkok bank or siam commercial, for the purposes of showing funds to get visas, as well as daily use. the hsbc only have one branch in thailand, so is not really good for your needs. to transfer funds, you just need to instruct you bank in america and give them your thai bank details, and the baht conversion is done automatically.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the advice and the $60000 USD is literally in cash stacks of $100's,so I

think it would be wise to deposit most of it in my BOA account and have it transferred and converted there.

I also have a Scottrade account and trade forex with OandaFX and can I access and manage my portfolio and accounts with my laptop there?May it be wishful

thinking that I can continue using my MSN dialup account there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you access the services you mentioned via the internet, then there is no problem ! You can get both broadband and dialup here and it's cheap, but you'll probably have to use one of the local internet service providers.

[frenchFARANGbkk]

Is there any other good banks? I plan to deposit some money in UOB or Citibank. Is it recommeneded? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Both are good, but the citibank normally require a work permit to open account. Not sure about UOB, but they do not have as many branches as the bangkok bank or siam commercial. The UOB atms are great for taking out cash, because you can take out 40,000 bht per transaction, rather than the usual 20-25k maximum. This does make a difference because overseas cards are charged per transaction. By the way, you do not have to have a UOB account to use their atms.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

CAN I KNOW WHERE ARE UOB atms ??? I would like to try to withdraw more than 20 notes in 1 time. Thanks.

[TRIPxCORE]

Thanks for the advice and the $60000 USD is literally in cash stacks of $100's,so I

think it would be wise to deposit most of it in my BOA account and have it transferred and converted there.

I also have a Scottrade account and trade forex with OandaFX and can I access and manage my portfolio and accounts with my laptop there?May it be wishful

thinking that I can continue using my MSN dialup account there?

Literally in cash stacks eh? Tell me when you're flying in and i'll pick you up at the airport and we'll make sure that money gets taken care of. Just joking.

In all seriousness, you can access your online stock and forex accounts here to continue trading so thats not a problem. As for your MSN account, you can still keep it if your attached to having that as your e-mail address but MSN would be otherwise useless here. You would still need to pay monthly for a Thai ISP in order to get online and then sign into MSN to check your mail. That's kind of pointless unless you refuse to change your e-mail address or need it for some reason. Just get a free one with Yahoo or Hotmail.

It sounds as if you have never been here before or been here sparingly. Is that so?

The best move for your money would be to commence a bank-to-bank international transfer. There is a BOA branch here in BKK but it would be easier for you to have an account at a Thai bank and then transfer the money into there. What kind of business are you looking to open? 60K should be plenty for most ventures.

Good luck!

[thaistick]

Thanks for the advice and the $60000 USD is literally in cash stacks of $100's,so I

think it would be wise to deposit most of it in my BOA account and have it transferred and converted there.

I also have a Scottrade account  and trade forex with OandaFX and can I access and manage my portfolio and accounts with my laptop there?May it be wishful

thinking that I can continue using my MSN dialup account there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Literally in cash stacks eh? Tell me when you're flying in and i'll pick you up at the airport and we'll make sure that money gets taken care of. Just joking.

In all seriousness, you can access your online stock and forex accounts here to continue trading so thats not a problem.

Unfortunately I had to close out my Scottrade account as they only allow US residents with a US address to trade so I doubled my cash position.After my condo sells hopefully soon I should have $250000 to start.Most will be in bank accounts so I will transfer it to my new Thai accounts so will not need uzi-armed bodyguards to meet me at the airport.Just don't know about Thai customs allowing me to bring in about $10000 in gold and silver bullion coins and $50000 in Iraq dinars and various currencies. Probably will give up forex as my losses cancelled out my wins but may look into trading Thai stocks.Will buy a few businesses and look into real estate.

[Mr Red]

Personally, sounds like a troll to me, but ..

in case you are for real, I can't imagine not leaving the money in US banks and investments and simply transferring it when you need a fix. These days that is easy and simple -- you just need a session with a knowledgeable computer-literate trader to get the lowdown on how to work it.

[Khun ?]

Another one that bought the Iraq Dinars. By the time they are accepted worldwide in maybe 10 years you will do fine as long as you have the new currency that produce. Keep your money at home and use a family or friends address to keep your stateside bank account open. They can contact you by e-mail then if the bank needs you.

Use ATM which depending on your bank will charge you $1 per withdrawl or at least mine does up to 40,000 baht a day. If I need more just have to go inside the bank and fill out the withdrawl paper and show them the debit card. As far as buying a business don't even think of it til you been in country for a few years. You will most likely end up with someone elses mess. $250K in safe investments should bring you in about $1K a month maybe more if you are good at it or your advisor is. Don't use brokers in Thailand most of them are not worth the time of day and just proffesional salesman that could sell their grandma's underware. Stay away from them at all cost. Someone starts talking about making you money with your money run as fast as you can because they should of done it with their own. I don't think you have half enough cash if your younger than 60 years old or late 50's.

Good luck anyways.

[~G~]

I am also very excited about Vietnam's potential and does anyone have any  business experience or investment advice on Vietnam.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One advice: Stay away from Vietnam. Heard the worst horror stories about business there. In China they might give you a way out before they take over or crash your business, in Vietnam they go all the way without blinking.

Nothing personal. Just Business.