Are Older Men in Thailand Trading Love for Financial Ruin

[damian5000]

Need my brother to send some of my money over from the States. I'm assuming all I need is my name, bank account # and the bank swift code. Is that correct?

Also, My bank is Kasikorn. What kind of rate should I expect?

Thanks..

[Jingthing]

The US bank may also ask for the street address of your K-bank branch in Thailand and perhaps a reason for the money. Unless it's to buy a condo or something, you can say personal expenses. Be sure to send DOLLARS, not baht, or you will regret it. K-bank will convert. You can call them or maybe check their website for the current rate. There will also likely be some additional nominal fees the Thai bank will add. Also, make sure the money is sent in exactly the same name as on your account, one letter wrong and it will likely be rejected.

Edited August 30, 2010 by Jingthing

[BillR]

also be aware if it is a larger transfer you might have to go to the bank and tell them what the $ is for before it will show up in your account.

[damian5000]

1) Thanks... Do you think it might be better to have him deposit it in my Bank of America in the States and withdraw it from the ATM here and then deposit it at Kasikorn? Maximum he sends will be 3k. I figure ATM and my bank fees to be about $60 if doing it that way. Though there's no BOA near him, so not sure if it's worth it to have him go through the trouble of travelling to one.

I'm assuming the wire transfer fee will be at least $40 if wiring to Kasikorn. Think Kasikorn fees will be substantially more than $20 on 3k?

2) Anything else I'm forgetting in the equations? Times are not exactly looking good with the dollar crashing the last week or so... every dollar counts...

3) Also, any sign the dollar might level out or come back up a bit? Would it be worth it to wait or does it look like it's going to get worse?

@Bill.. How large is large?

Edited August 30, 2010 by damian5000

[Jingthing]

3,000 U.S. dollars won't be considered large. Don't expect any issues with that.

[gotlost]

At the close today 3,000 USD is 90,931 baht. Just a few good nights out. It is going to get worst.

Edited August 30, 2010 by gotlost

[craigt3365]

My bank charges $35 for any amount and my Thai bank charges nothing on their end...that I know of! Takes 2-3 biz days, plus you might have to sign some forms from your bank then email them back...worst case, just use your ATM.

[cloudhopper]

@Bill.. How large is large?

Around 50,000 USD it seems. They don't appear to care what the funds are for.

[craigt3365]

@Bill.. How large is large?

Around 50,000 USD it seems. They don't appear to care what the funds are for.

Our first transfer here was around 30k USD. We got a call from Bangkok Bank asking what the funds were for...and my wife had to sign some papers at the bank when we were opening the account and setting it up for this transfer. After the initial call, we have done the same amount several times with no calls...easy as pie...just sad to see the final deposit amount with this strong Baht!

[lopburi3]

There are three charges involved on a SWIFT transfer. US Bank charge. intermediate bank Charge (normally $2-5 taken off the total transfer amount) and Thai bank change of .25% of the baht amount in the range 200-500 baht).

Name and full address of Thai bank and account number/holder. Best to supply SWIFT number but they can look it up if not too lazy.

There should not be any need to find a specific BOA bank if your brother has a bank account as transfers can easily be made inside the US and often cost nothing. This system can also be used for transfers to Bangkok Bank her in Thailand by using there New York branch number.

[SunSeek01]

Anyone been able to get a BOA to Kasikorn bank transfer done ? I thought I was there but at the end, BOA wanted me to register for the SafePass dual factor authentication scheme, which requires them to SMS to a Stateside phone. It will not accept a Thai phone.

I'll call them tonight but as has been mentioned, it is very hard to get anything done with BOA usually.