Are Older Men in Thailand Trading Love for Financial Ruin

[gerryBScot]

Hi I have ordered goods to the value of just below 500 USD and will pay by wire transfer. any idea how much it will cost and recommended bank?many thanks

[BigBikeBKK]

why do you want to pay by wire transfer? It's expensive and you will have no recourse if the goods are not delivered... Much safer to pay by credit card. Wire transfer fees vary from bank to bank. Up to you to check.

[gerryBScot]

why do you want to pay by wire transfer? It's expensive and you will have no recourse if the goods are not delivered... Much safer to pay by credit card. Wire transfer fees vary from bank to bank. Up to you to check.

cos I don't have a credit card!

[WarpSpeed]

Paypal or others?

[gerryBScot]

Paypal or others?

Company won't ship to Thailand with Paypal payment. No problem just thought some one out there might be able to advise on likely costs of the wire transfer. It'll cost whatever it costs.

[PoeDogg]

I did a wire transfer about a month ago from my Chase bank to HSBC and it was $40usd.

But, save yourself some possible heartach and use paypal.

The person I sent the money to turned out to be a scam artist and it took me two nerve wreaking weeks to get my money back.

If the person would have emptied his account of the funds, I would have never have gotten my money back.

Paypal offers "protection" to the consumer....wire transfers do not.

Oh, and I had to pay another $40 to get MY money BACK....so I was out $80.

[Pib]

Paypal or others?

Company won't ship to Thailand with Paypal payment. No problem just thought some one out there might be able to advise on likely costs of the wire transfer. It'll cost whatever it costs.

From my personal experience over recent years and reading what others post on ThaiVisa about wire/SWIFT transfers from their home countries (like the US), the costs seem to run in approx in the $13 to $50 range plus some additional fees sometimes...depends on the sending bank you are dealing with. But assuming you will wire money from a Thai bank, it will probably cost around 1250 Baht (approx $40 USD) and there could be some other sending/receiving bank fees involved. See the following weblink as to what Bangkok Bank would charge...expect most other Thai banks are in the same ballpark. http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Personal%20Banking/Transfering%20Funds/Transferring%20out%20of%20Thailand/Pages/Fee%20Options%20Sending%20funds%20abroad.aspx

[PoeDogg]

Sorry, didn't see that you had posted this....."Company won't ship to Thailand with Paypal payment."

[gregb]

I'm amazed nobody is being more helpful to this guy.

You'll need a few things for a wire transfer. Most importantly, a proforma invoice that details the items you purchased, has your name on it exactly as it is spelled in your passport, and your correct address in Thailand. Further, the invoice must clearly show the bank and account the money is to be transferred to in the USA, and the name on that bank account must exactly match the company name on the proforma invoice.

Once you have this, you are good to go. Simply head down to your bank. I did a transfer from TMB a few months back. Total charges for a transfer of around 40,000 baht were around 600 baht. The party in the US also had a charge from their bank to receive the wire of $25, but you don't pay that, they do. Make sure you clarify that with your vendor. If they want to charge you extra for this fee, they must include that fee on the invoice as well. The banks here in Thailand will not let you wire more than the total shown on the invoice.

Painless if you have the right paperwork. Very difficult if you do not.

[PoeDogg]

But, that could be a "red flag".

The "business" that I wired money to didn't use paypal.

I asked why and got a reply that said they were old fashioned and didn't trust paypal.

Money was wired and I never heard from them again.

Good luck...

[gerryBScot]

Many thanks for your posts and your assistance. I wired the money at a cost of 1150 baht, a 450b sending fee and a 700b receiving fee, via Bangkok Bank. I think if I was an account holder with Bangkok Bank I would have been charged less. That seemed ok, maybe a bit dear, but at the upper end of what I expected. I wired the money Monday and the goods were dispatched 9/9/10 and thanks to the joys of tracking they are in Hong Kong. Next issue will be what duty the Thai customs charge! I expect I will learn this early next week! Once more thanks .