Bank Comedy Show.

[Spalpeen]

The current Mrs Spalpeen, who happens to enjoy dual Thai/UK nationality decided to send some money to her UK bank account. I knew this was going to be good.

The first bank she went to had great difficulty with the concept that she wanted to send money to herself. They said that such a thing could not be done and she would have to send it to someone else.

The next bank wanted to know why she was sending money abroad - what was she planning to buy? "Nothing" says she, "It's just spending money for the next time I'm over there". They weren't having that at all. Their forms demanded to know what she was planning to buy.

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

The UK bank she uses is a household name and part of HSBC. None of the banks had heard of it. One bank checked with their head office in Bangkok. "HSBC? No. never heard of it. Ask her to check the spelling" came back the answer.

Has anyone else ever tried to send money out of Thailand and how did you get on ?

[basjke]

I never tried to send money out of thailand but I had exactly the same experience once with my western bank when I wanted to send money to my account in thailand.They also asked for an invoice.At the end I had the money first transferred to another account of mine with another bank and then sent it over.

[syd barrett]

How about Western Union?

[RugbyMan]

The current Mrs Spalpeen, who happens to enjoy dual Thai/UK nationality decided to send some money to her UK bank account. I knew this was going to be good.

The first bank she went to had great difficulty with the concept that she wanted to send money to herself. They said that such a thing could not be done and she would have to send it to someone else.

The next bank wanted to know why she was sending money abroad - what was she planning to buy? "Nothing" says she, "It's just spending money for the next time I'm over there". They weren't having that at all. Their forms demanded to know what she was planning to buy.

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

The UK bank she uses is a household name and part of HSBC. None of the banks had heard of it. One bank checked with their head office in Bangkok. "HSBC? No. never heard of it. Ask her to check the spelling" came back the answer.

Has anyone else ever tried to send money out of Thailand and how did you get on ?

Just out of curiosity, how did she manage to get a UK bank account without a UK address? No bank would give me one without it and I'm a UK national.

[Beardog]

Getting money out off this country is a joke. I had to carry $9,990 U.S. dollars in U.S. currency to get money back for loans . You can either

(1) Western Union

(2) Mule it back home in a money pouch { making sure that the money is under the allowable amount for carrying on your person -or declare if over the amount with customs}

(3) Unlock your amount on your ATM card in Thailand SCB maximum is 200,000 baht- May very on different banks or accounts & withdraw in the UK each day (In Thai baht- so be aware you will pay hefty transfer commissions.

I do not believe it is an issue of sending money to your own account as all foreigners do the 800,000 baht shuffle for their first type O Visa. That & I have made many transfers from Me to Me.

It is definitely about the lame attempt to try to keep foreign money in Thailand once it is here. Both SCB & Citibank (in the U.S. told me if your going back to mule it home as the transfer rate is far less to convert to your currency & just deposit it.

I just went through this same same setup in June this year. If you mule it out if you are over the amount best to declare. I know in the U.S. customs -If you have over $10,000 Totaling With baht & other currencies the will confiscate (& you do not get the funds back + you get penalties as well for not declaring. They claim it is for drug smuggling & other laundering, but I think they want to be able to re tax the monies as usual. What a racket!

Good luck on your getting funds out. Now I know why it is best to run your account as slim as you can here & keep it home!

[rak sa_ngop]

The current Mrs Spalpeen, who happens to enjoy dual Thai/UK nationality decided to send some money to her UK bank account. I knew this was going to be good.

The first bank she went to had great difficulty with the concept that she wanted to send money to herself. They said that such a thing could not be done and she would have to send it to someone else.

The next bank wanted to know why she was sending money abroad - what was she planning to buy? "Nothing" says she, "It's just spending money for the next time I'm over there". They weren't having that at all. Their forms demanded to know what she was planning to buy.

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

The UK bank she uses is a household name and part of HSBC. None of the banks had heard of it. One bank checked with their head office in Bangkok. "HSBC? No. never heard of it. Ask her to check the spelling" came back the answer.

Has anyone else ever tried to send money out of Thailand and how did you get on ?

Just out of curiosity, how did she manage to get a UK bank account without a UK address? No bank would give me one without it and I'm a UK national.

Two ways I can think of:

Open an account with a UK address and then later change the address to your overseas address.

Open an offshore UK account (Channel Islands, Isle of Man etc.).

[RugbyMan]

[quote name='Spalpeen'

Just out of curiosity, how did she manage to get a UK bank account without a UK address? No bank would give me one without it and I'm a UK national.

Two ways I can think of:

Open an account with a UK address and then later change the address to your overseas address.

Open an offshore UK account (Channel Islands, Isle of Man etc.).

You have to prove that you have a UK address, i.e. utility bill showing your name or rental agreement etc. I was actually trying to deposit a cheque from a pension fund for quite a considerable amount of money and no bank would allow me to open an account because I didn't have an address, so they refused to let me deposit the money with them - crazy or what??? In the end I opened an off-shore account - no problem, but would still like to have a UK account to have my UK state pension paid into.

[PattayaParent]

Have her put the money into your Thai bank account and you can transfer the equivalent Sterling from your UK account to her UK account.

[moddeydhoo]

The current Mrs Spalpeen, who happens to enjoy dual Thai/UK nationality decided to send some money to her UK bank account. I knew this was going to be good.

The first bank she went to had great difficulty with the concept that she wanted to send money to herself. They said that such a thing could not be done and she would have to send it to someone else.

The next bank wanted to know why she was sending money abroad - what was she planning to buy? "Nothing" says she, "It's just spending money for the next time I'm over there". They weren't having that at all. Their forms demanded to know what she was planning to buy.

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

The UK bank she uses is a household name and part of HSBC. None of the banks had heard of it. One bank checked with their head office in Bangkok. "HSBC? No. never heard of it. Ask her to check the spelling" came back the answer.

Has anyone else ever tried to send money out of Thailand and how did you get on ?

Just out of curiosity, how did she manage to get a UK bank account without a UK address? No bank would give me one without it and I'm a UK national.

Two ways I can think of:

Open an account with a UK address and then later change the address to your overseas address.

Open an offshore UK account (Channel Islands, Isle of Man etc.).

I transfer money every couple months (Child support) I bank with Bangkok Bank and have an account in UK. Never had a problem. As long as she already has an account and quotes the IBAN and SWIFT codes should be easy. When asked why I am transferring out I say its either maintenance payments or for a credit card bill. Usually charge about 400baht for each transaction thats why I save up the amounts before sending.

Have to admit though, the first time I said I was transferring OUT of the country, they did look a little surprised.

[Spalpeen]

We have UK accounts since we were resident in the UK. When we left I just shifted the address to a close relative. If the bank wants to contact me they do so by e-mail or by calling me directly on my Thai mobile. I told the bank I would be living abroad for a while and they didn't have a problem with that.

As others have suggested here it is worth keeping an account in the Isle of Man. An overseas address is fine for this and if you are resident outside the UK the govt. can't charge tax on your savings.

The missus will probably end up using Western Union. Anyone know who charges the lowest fees for transferring money out?

Also, I suggested to her that the next time anyone asks her what she plans to spend her money on she should write "purchase of bicycle for use by goldfish".

[Baannok]

Internet banking?

[tropo]

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

If all that bank needed was a UK address, why didn't you just give them one (your mothers, a friends...etc). That would have been easy.

[Spalpeen]

Another bank wanted to know her address in the UK. "I live in Thailand" she pointed out. "Cannot cannot, need address UK".

If all that bank needed was a UK address, why didn't you just give them one (your mothers, a friends...etc). That would have been easy.

She tried that. Gave them our former address which was the only one she could remember off hand. Sure enough they phoned her later "Cannot cannot".

She showed me the receipt they gave her and I noticed that they had run the a/c number, lets call it 12345678, together with the sort code, lets say 99-88-77, to make one number like this - 12345678998877 - and called that the "a/c no." Little wonder that the UK clearing bank was bouncing it back.

They also seemed not to have heard of HSBC.

[foxxx]

ummm internet banking...

inside my SCB internet banking there's an 'introduction'

Welcome to International Fund Transfer System

We are pleased to provide International Fund Transfer service via SCB Easy Net only for the following purposes. For other purposes, please contact any SCB branches.

- Education (for Thai only)

- Family Support (for Thai only)

- Remittance of Savings (for foreigner only)

- Remittance of fund belonging to Thai who is permanent resident aboard (for Thai only)

[tropo]

They also seemed not to have heard of HSBC.

That's a worry. Haven't heard of the world's 6th largest company (1st last year).

[Chaimai]

They also seemed not to have heard of HSBC.

That's a worry. Haven't heard of the world's 6th largest company (1st last year).

I few years ago I went to San Francisco on a HSBC convention and the woman on Immigration had never heard of HSBC - talk about parachial minds.

[tropo]

They also seemed not to have heard of HSBC.

That's a worry. Haven't heard of the world's 6th largest company (1st last year).

I few years ago I went to San Francisco on a HSBC convention and the woman on Immigration had never heard of HSBC - talk about parachial minds.

At least she had the excuse that she's in a totally different line of work.

[Chaimai]

They also seemed not to have heard of HSBC.

That's a worry. Haven't heard of the world's 6th largest company (1st last year).

I few years ago I went to San Francisco on a HSBC convention and the woman on Immigration had never heard of HSBC - talk about parachial minds.

At least she had the excuse that she's in a totally different line of work.

I am not sure I would put Thai bank staff at the forefront of global banking though

[thaihome]

From the Bangkok Bank website:

Telegraphic Transfers

Walk into one of our Bangkok Bank branches providing Remittance Service and take advantage of the SWIFT/Telex services to transfer your funds to international destinations. Your funds will be deposited directly into the recipient's account quickly and efficiently.

With over 1,500 partner banks around the world and our own international branch network, we can ensure that your funds get directly to where they are going at a much lower cost.

And here are the branch offices in Pattaya that appears to offer Remittance Service:

Type of service : Province : Chonburi

Branch Name Branch Address

Muang Pattaya 78/47 Moo 9 Pattaya Sai 2 Rd. Nong Preu Bang Lamung Chonburi 20260

Tel : 0-3841-0425-7

Fax : 0-3836-1609

Bang Lamung 44 Moo 5 Pattaya-Na Klua Rd. Na Klua Bang Lamung Chonburi 20150

Tel : 0-3822-2370-4, 0-3822-2377

Fax : 0-3822-2376

Phra Tamnak-Pattaya Road (Sub-Branch) 115/17-18 Moo 10, Pattaya Tai Phra Tamnak Rd. Nong Preu Bang Lamung Chonburi 20260

Tel : 0-3841-1586-7, 0-3871-0562

Fax : 0-3871-0564