Not The Usual "how Do I Sent $" Question....

[idiot farang]

Yeah, i know, i'm really on a roll here living up to my user name (see my other thread for further stupidity).

I have plenty of $ in the US. Need to send money to myself. No Thai bank account. Did not bring my US ATM card. have plenty of credit cards, but i don't have a PIN for any of them because i know cash advances are stupid (well... they WERE stupid, sound pretty good right now).

i brought more money in traveler's cheques than a sane person would spend in my 6 weeks here. i decided to stay longer and, ran thru it all in 10 weeks. well, would not have, except for that nasty 20,000 baht overstay fine (told ya i'm on a roll), kinda threw the cash balance askew.

basically, i need something that will take 2 days or less. if i have to, i will bite the bullet and try to find someone in the US to send me some money via western union at extortion rates. i loathe putting someone thru that hassle, so i figure SOMEBODY on thaivisa must have been in this situation before and, possibly, found a solution. i've searched and pulled up lots of threads- none addressing sending money to self as per my situation.

thanks for any advise.

idiot farang

[neverdie]

You are having a SHOCKER!

[churchill]

I think you can draw cash on your credit card from a bank without a pin ,but with your passport ?

[Nio]

Give me a break man.

You claim you have tons of money in USA then complain about paying $35 to send as much as you need Western Union?

And putting someone through a hassle to spend 5 minutes filling out a form at Western Union?

[jackdawson]

how's the day trading going ?

[idiot farang]

Give me a break man.

You claim you have tons of money in USA then complain about paying $35 to send as much as you need Western Union?

And putting someone through a hassle to spend 5 minutes filling out a form at Western Union?

plenty and tons are 2 different words there mate. plenty= sufficient.

where i live- hardly a 5 minute cakewalk, more like minimum 2 hours. everyone i know works long hours and has family obligations. besides, nobody likes a 'can a borrow $2,000 US and, btw, do u mind heading to your bank and then to western union to get it to me' call. and, btw, per western union website, $140 to send it. 7%= high in my book.

thanks for all the help though. never understand why some people post- to vent the bad day they're having, perhaps....

[idiot farang]

how's the day trading going ?

actually, not too bad. internet connection has been a non-issue except for a couple hotels- one out in the sticks, so no surprise there.

biggest issue is time. i trade hong kong at night from teh US. opens at 8.45am here in bkk- makes for some brutal mornings. i think i average 4 hours of sleep a night here! missed more than a few morning sessions too. being on a HK server, my ping is much better than from teh US, adn so, overall, i would say my fills are faster than from the US.

never thought i'd stay this long for this trip. i brought way too much money in TC's and blew thru it all with my overstay. i remember looking at my ATM card when i was packing and concluding 'what for'. won't draw that conclusion again...

[markeewan]

You didn't say how much money you need or whether you have internet access to your bank accounts to transfer funds. Anyway you do this it probably will not be cheap. But here are my best thoughts to add to the others.

Amex will advance you cash if you have lost your credit card so probably they will advance you cash in other circumstances as well.

You should be able to Western Union money to yourself and charge to your credit card. You don't need someone else to do it for you. It is expensive though and they may limit the amount you can transfer.

Go buy a small gold bar on your credit card and sell it for cash. You will need passport to buy and they may charge 4% for use of credit card.

If you are staying in a hotel you can buy currency at the front desk so you should also be able to buy from a bank as previous poster suggested.

[sciack]

Hello,

I do this regular you can go in any BANK branch and ask money advance without using the pin it is common. Just give you passport and then you can get money. Very easy. 5 minutes, you get the cash with you.

[idiot farang]

You didn't say how much money you need or whether you have internet access to your bank accounts to transfer funds. Anyway you do this it probably will not be cheap. But here are my best thoughts to add to the others.

Amex will advance you cash if you have lost your credit card so probably they will advance you cash in other circumstances as well.

You should be able to Western Union money to yourself and charge to your credit card. You don't need someone else to do it for you. It is expensive though and they may limit the amount you can transfer.

Go buy a small gold bar on your credit card and sell it for cash. You will need passport to buy and they may charge 4% for use of credit card.

If you are staying in a hotel you can buy currency at the front desk so you should also be able to buy from a bank as previous poster suggested.

the gold option is creative.

now that my visa run to SIN is complete and i have a valid visa, i am going to western union and a couple of banks right now to see what is possible and the cost. i'll post back what i find out...

[idiot farang]

Hello,

I do this regular you can go in any BANK branch and ask money advance without using the pin it is common. Just give you passport and then you can get money. Very easy. 5 minutes, you get the cash with you.

i tried at a SBC and was shot down for not having a pin for the credit card. i will try another bank. what bank have you used with success?

thanks.

[namja74]

Hello,

I do this regular you can go in any BANK branch and ask money advance without using the pin it is common. Just give you passport and then you can get money. Very easy. 5 minutes, you get the cash with you.

i tried at a SBC and was shot down for not having a pin for the credit card. i will try another bank. what bank have you used with success?

thanks.

I remember my mate from the US came to visit and needed more cash. He made a cash advance on his credit card at a small currency exchange point on Khaosan Road. I don't believe he needed a pin number, but it was made out to be a charge on his credit card.

Mate, I would try one of these currency exchange points. I think it's pretty hassle-free! The only downside is the interest rate.

[sciack]

Hello,

I do this regular you can go in any BANK branch and ask money advance without using the pin it is common. Just give you passport and then you can get money. Very easy. 5 minutes, you get the cash with you.

i tried at a SBC and was shot down for not having a pin for the credit card. i will try another bank. what bank have you used with success?

thanks.

I did it also in some SCB branches. You can go in almost all the big bank branches around. I advise to use one in a big shoppig center they are used to this kind of operations.

[idiot farang]

i tried SCB and Kasikorn and was shot down without a pin. kasikorn told me to go to bangkok bank but not in branch, at the forex counter. went to bkk bank $ exchange on suk soi 11 and was very easy with no pin using an American visa card. i am very fuzzy on how this was coded and how they made their money on the transaction though. i asked that charge be done in Thai baht, as my card has very good forex rates and no forex charge. no problem- did 30,000 baht, that was what i signed for, and that is what i got in cash. maybe they are fine just getting the 2.2% (or whatever) they get from normal transaction fee.

i went online in advance of transaction and overpaid my visa bill by $1,000 to avoid any finance charges. the way it looks, i will only pay the cash advance fee on the card, which is fairly steep at 4%, but i will save a bit over 1% by getting the better exchange rate- no i'm thinking net cost ~3%- which i can live with. when i see it reflected online on my credit card, i'll post just to supply a data point for anyone in same situation in the future.

btw, opened a bank acct today at kasikorn, so as to avoid situation in the future, when i will just do a swift tfr from my US bank acct.

thanks to all for your help and input...

[idiot farang]

as promised, i'm back to put a bow on this thread.

net-net, it cost me $24, or 2.4%. the cash advance fee was 3.4%, but the exchange rate from my credit card saved me ~1% over what i'd have received in bkk. bkk bank did not charge anything extra (well, not to me, anyway). only fee was my credit card cash advance fee of 3.4%. recall, i paid my credit card before i did the CA so that i had a credit balance greater than the $1000 i took. this worked as planned, as i avoided having any finance charges. i highly recommend this to put a cap on total cost of doing this.

only regret is not checking my email. i had an offer from another credit card i had with me- no cash advance fees! oh well, missed that one, or, using the same procedure, i'd have had a zero fee transaction. actually, with the improved fx rate, i'd have come out ahead! next time i'll check first (well, hopefully, there won't be a next time).

all in all, given my situation at the time, 2.4% was quite acceptable.

Edited May 5, 2010 by idiot farang

[hawthorne]

Glad things worked out. But for someone that is so worried about a few bucks I think you need to get out of Thailand. I think you are headed for a lot more trouble by staying.

[smacko]

how much does it cost to withdraw via visa card at a bank?