I've been living here for 18-odd months now, and paying my rent (36k THB) by withdrawing money from my UK account via the ATM in 12k packets (maximum daily withdrawl), and then dropping this off at the SCB where my landlady has her account.

This costs me £36-£40 total, when all's said and done. Another option would be SWIFT to my gf's bank account (I don't work in Thailand, and I'm in an O visa, so getting my own account has proved fruitless, where her workplace has set her up with an account) - that's going to cost me £20 up-front fees, + 500THB from Bangkok Bank = £28ish - I could get an expedited service for £35, but I think this is going to require paperwork that needs to be done in the UK...

So ... my options? Looks like if I went to the hassle of doing a money-transfer, I could save up to £12 ... which probably isn't incentive enough. Anyone got any smart ideas for a cheaper way that doesn't involve bringing a suitcase of money over the border next time I come back from the UK? :-)

-P

PS: Any good cutting comebacks for when the SCB girls make jokes about me paying my rent in to "Thai girlfriend account you!! hahah"? ;-)

I'm amazed you haven't been able to open some sort of bank account, particularly if you have an O visa. I've had a BKK Bank passbook account with an ATM card for the last 3 years, despite having nothing but 30-day visit stamps at the time. I load it up via a straightforward internet transfer (foc) from my UK bank to my account at Moneybookers (google it), and from there I download it to the BKK account. Last month I transferred 5000 sterling, it cost £2.99.

Doubtless you could register your g/f's account if you sign up with Moneybookers. But I'd have another go at opening your own - if you're out in the sticks, try in Bangkok.

SWIFT is a good solution, that's international wire, really, so you should wire it directly from your UK account to your landlady's account (using online banking).

Edited September 1, 200916 yr by manarak

bangkok bank internet account,easy to open transfer money on line to scb bank, cost 20bht,if g/f had a bangkok bank account cost nowt.

I agree the with member 'Eff1n2ret', you should be able to open you own bank account. While Moneybookers is somethings I've never heard of (I looked at the website, it looks good), you'd still be paying 36 pounds per year in charges (that's actually very reasonable and full credit to Eff1n2ret it is an ingenious solution).

Would the cheapest way not be to transfer one year's rent 432,000baht, all at once, and pay only one SWIFT charge - it would still 20 pounds, right?

While I've got my thinking cap on,

PS: Any good cutting comebacks for when the SCB girls make jokes about me paying my rent in to "Thai girlfriend account you!! hahah"? ;-)

If you are the victim of any rude or racist jokes, such as 'Why don't you have an account, foriegner?' etc, you could retort 'Why don't you have a nose?' It's an old one, but it works every time, truth be told, however I don't want to be banned from this forum so I'll apologize for making racist jokes now.

Would the cheapest way not be to transfer one year's rent 432,000baht, all at once, and pay only one SWIFT charge - it would still 20 pounds, right?

Almost certainly, but sadly don't have 432,000 THB lying around! :-)

I will look in to MoneyBookers - could be an awesome solution. I'll have another look at opening my own account, although if I can register my g/f's account, there's no real downside there