I am trying to raise funds for a young hilltribe girl who wants to study.

I already have lots of people mainly in the US who want to send money. My problem is how they will send this money without us both losing a lot in bank fees. They get charged in the US, and apparently Krung Thai charge 1,300bt just to receive the money!

We don't have non-profit status/are not a foundation as I'm doing this to help a friend.

I'm not sure if PayPal would work out better as PayPal Thai charge 3.4%.

Any ideas/advice much appreciated

PS Also we don't have a lot of time, as we need to raise funds by March 2010

Try moneybookers

Their max charge for one transfer is .75 USD.

Thay have several currency and withdrawal options.

Alternatively, have perhaps just one person in the U.S. gather up all the funds then do a SWIFT wire transfer from your U.S. bank to your Thai bank.

My credit union in the U.S. charges $40 for this, so I don't do it very often.

Your local bank will also have a charge, but NOTHING like baht 1,300! Unless you're moving a massive sum.

I use Siam Commercial Bank and their charge was minimal, forget exactly how much, but under 1%.

Alternatively, just write a personal check on your U.S. bank account for deposit in baht to your local Thai bank. SCB's charge for this is baht 203 ONLY, nothing more. However, there is a 45-day wait for access to the funds so if you want in March, depending on when in March, count backwards about 50 days to be safe. Exchange rate is fine, better than a $100 bill.

Then, of course, there's the ATM option. Most banks here are charging baht 150 per draw, and your U.S. bank may also have a charge. You'd need to check that too. I've drawn baht 30,000 from AEON ATMs recently.

Mac

I agree with the recommendation to concentrate the funds in the US and then remit them here. Tranferring funds incurs fees on a per transaction basis as well as % commission, so its best to minimise the number of transfers.

Sending via your US bank to BBL New York to BKK Bank in Thailand is the cheapest channel I know of for SWIFT, which is better than the cheque option which takes too loong to clear.