Need Help Wiring Money To Thailand!

[sbaker8688]

Got an account at SCB. Got their SWIFT instructions, called my mother and told her to wire money to me and I would write her a check to cover it. She emailed and said that the bank in America needs a "stateside" bank, probably in New York, to handle the transaction. She needs the information for that bank.

Does anyone have the info for the Siam Commerical Bank in the states so I can do the transfer? Nobody at Siam here told me anything. I suppose I should have expected problems.

Time is of the essense - I ran out of money a few days ago! Help!

Thanks.

[donx]

When I transfer money to Thailand, all my bank needs is the information from the Thai bank account where the money will be deposited. Perhaps the bank your mother uses doesn't provide international wire transfers. The bank I use on a regular basis is a small bank that won't perform wire transfers. I had to get an account with a big bank just for the purpose of sending money to Thailand.

[simcity]

just would like to add :

i wire some money into my account from australia to thailand .

i ask to have the Australian currency sent , not in thai bahts ..

the chnage i got from Bangkok bank was 31.07, the change i will have get in australia was 29 something .

that is two bahts every dollars

[frequentatore]

For emergency transfers, Siam Commerical Bank has a service called MoneyGram. Ten minutes to get your money...

Google: MoneyGram US locations

Edited August 3, 2005 by frequentatore

[phormio]

Got an account at SCB.  Got their SWIFT instructions, called my mother and told her to wire money to me and I would write her a check to cover it.  She emailed and said that the bank in America needs a "stateside" bank, probably in New York, to handle the transaction.  She needs the information for that bank.

Does anyone have the info for the Siam Commerical Bank in the states so I can do the transfer?  Nobody at Siam here told me anything.  I suppose I should have expected problems.

Time is of the essense - I ran out of money a few days ago!  Help!

Thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As it so happens, I spent an hour today(yesterday now since its after midnight) talking to the one of the managers of SCB's wire transfer section at their main office.

The way things work with SWIFT is that ALL of these transactions go through New York City. There must be a bank in NYC that handles this transactions for SCB. In the terminology that banks use, it is called the NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT BANK. After much cajoling , this manager made a call and found at the New York Correspondent Bank for SCB is Citibank,

CITIBANK(Swift Code: CITIUS33)

Citibank N.A.

111 Wall Street

New York, NY 10043

Your bank may also need the telephone number - you'll have to look it up. You'll also have to give them the SWIFT code for the SCB branch in Bangkok where your account is, along with the account name/title and account number.

The other thing that is important is what type of account you have at SCB. If you have a baht account , my understanding is your bank will have to transfer in baht, meaning they will have to do the forex for you and then initiate the SWIFT transfer. I don't believe that there is a minimum amount and I did not ask what the fees are for transfers to this type of account since I'm probably going to use a forex acct(see below)

If you have/get a forex account at SCB then you can transfer the foreign currency in and then have SCB exchange it into baht. I believe that this option will get you the better exchange rate, but I only believe that because I read it on the forum last year; Anybody out there have an opinion on this issue?

The Forex Account minimum transfer to open an account, according to the manager, is $10,000 US, and then a maximum of $5000 per day may be transferred. They charge a .25% fee(minimum 300 baht and maximum 500 baht) to transfer money into a foreign exchange account from outside the country.

There are also charges/limitations on putting money into the account(to use the account for transferring forex out of thailand).

You may wish to use Western Union instead as a one time thing.

I hope this has helped you out.

Good Luck.

[lopburi3]

If you have a baht account the money can be sent in any currency of the world and should not be sent in Baht as that will not usually result in the best exchange rate. From the US your bank should always send US dollars where are then converted here in Thailand at the official exchange rate here.

All transactions go through a correspondent bank but it is not always Citibank - Bangkok Bank has their own branch in the US for example. You home bank should have only required the Swift number and your bank details here in Thailand to have made the transaction - they were lazy, clueless or whatever but you do not normally have to provide detailed point to point information to do a wire transfer when Swift is involved.

Forex accounts are used for business reasons when money has to be moved back and forth but not by normal customers. All you need and should have is the normal passbook savings baht account.

Edited August 4, 2005 by lopburi3

[phormio]

If you have a baht account the money can be sent in any currency of the world and should not be sent in Baht as that will not usually result in the best exchange rate.  From the US your bank should always send US dollars where are then converted here in Thailand at the official exchange rate here.

All transactions go through a correspondent bank but it is not always Citibank - Bangkok Bank has their own branch in the US for example.  You home bank should have only required the Swift number and your bank details here in Thailand to have made the transaction - they were lazy, clueless or whatever but you do not normally have to provide detailed point to point information to do a wire transfer when Swift is involved.

Forex accounts are used for business reasons when money has to be moved back and forth but not by normal customers.  All you need and should have is the normal passbook savings baht account.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for this info, but I want to restate to make sure I've got it right.

I instruct my bank to wire transfer lets say, $10,000 United States Dollars, to my Savings account at SCB(which is a baht account). When SCB receives the $10,000 USD they then automatically, without any action on my part, convert the $10,000 to thai baht at the going rate and deposit that amount(baht) into my savings account. Glad that I stumbled into this and cleared up my misperceptions.

[Firefan]

Yes that is how it worked for me. Good exchange rate given too. Cheers!

[lopburi3]

If you have a baht account the money can be sent in any currency of the world and should not be sent in Baht as that will not usually result in the best exchange rate.  From the US your bank should always send US dollars where are then converted here in Thailand at the official exchange rate here.

All transactions go through a correspondent bank but it is not always Citibank - Bangkok Bank has their own branch in the US for example.  You home bank should have only required the Swift number and your bank details here in Thailand to have made the transaction - they were lazy, clueless or whatever but you do not normally have to provide detailed point to point information to do a wire transfer when Swift is involved.

Forex accounts are used for business reasons when money has to be moved back and forth but not by normal customers.  All you need and should have is the normal passbook savings baht account.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for this info, but I want to restate to make sure I've got it right.

I instruct my bank to wire transfer lets say, $10,000 United States Dollars, to my Savings account at SCB(which is a baht account). When SCB receives the $10,000 USD they then automatically, without any action on my part, convert the $10,000 to thai baht at the going rate and deposit that amount(baht) into my savings account. Glad that I stumbled into this and cleared up my misperceptions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Correct and you receive that days TT rate of exchange as listed on the bank website and probably charge a few hundred baht for the exchange (believe Bangkok Bank is .0025%). At any rate very little and much, much better than having the exchange take place outside Thailand.

[lomatopo]

I have used a wire transfer to transfer USD from a bank in the U.S.A to my account at Bangkok Bank. So my U.S.A. bank uses a form, "Outgoing Funds Transfer Request - International". Up until May of this year I just needed to provide the "Beneficiary Bank" (Bangkok Bank, SWIFT Code: BKKBTHBK), "Benficiary Information" (account number, my name, and address in Thailand). For the "Intermediary Bank", I was instructed to use Bangkok Bank, PCL, 20 Broadway, 20th Floor, NY, NY 1006, telephone 212 422 8200.

I understood that my bank transfers USD to Bangkok Bank in NY, which then converts to THB and tranfers that into my Bangkok Bank account. Bangkok Bank in Thailand charges a fairly modest fee (min: 200 THB, max: 500 THB) for an incoming wire transfer.

For my most recent transfer, in May, 2005 I needed to provide the ABA routing number for Bangkok Bank in NY. I was told this was a new requirement. The ABA routing number for Bangkok Bank in NY is 026008691.

So it may be advisable to obtain the ABA routing number for the internediary bank in the U.S.A. in case your bank now requires it.

I also am under the impression that for banks in Thailand that do not have a presence in the U.S.A. they use third parties for intermediary or correspondent banks.

SCB's website has few details

BAngkok Bank's website has quite a bit of information.

[lopburi3]

I have used a wire transfer to transfer USD from a bank in the U.S.A to my account at Bangkok Bank. So my U.S.A. bank uses a form, "Outgoing Funds Transfer Request - International". Up until May of this year I just needed to provide the "Beneficiary Bank" (Bangkok Bank, SWIFT Code: BKKBTHBK), "Benficiary Information" (account number, my name, and address in Thailand). For the "Intermediary Bank", I was instructed to use Bangkok Bank, PCL, 20 Broadway, 20th Floor, NY, NY 1006, telephone 212 422 8200.

I understood that my bank transfers USD to Bangkok Bank in NY, which then converts to THB and transfers that into my Bangkok Bank account. Bangkok Bank in Thailand charges a fairly modest fee (min: 200 THB, max: 500 THB) for an incoming wire transfer.

For my most recent transfer, in May, 2005 I needed to provide the ABA routing number for Bangkok Bank in NY. I was told this was a new requirement. The ABA routing number for Bangkok Bank in NY is 026008691.

So it may be advisable to obtain the ABA routing number for the intermediary bank in the U.S.A. in case your bank now requires it.

I also am under the impression that for banks in Thailand that do not have a presence in the U.S.A. they use third parties for intermediary or correspondent banks.

SCB's website has few details

BAngkok Bank's website has quite a bit of information.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I use a one state bank in the USA to Bangkok Bank and do not have any of this requests for ABA numbers or correspondent bank information as it is not needed - your bank has full access to that information. And I did a transfer in June and was not asked for ABA number or bank routing. Also do not believe the baht is obtained in New York but that BBL merely transfers dollar (minus $5 commission) to Bangkok where the conversion takes place. In any case the conversion is done at Bangkok rate of exchange for the day received in Bangkok.

Will note the bank information in case am asked in the future however and thanks for posting it. I get the impression a lot of US bank personnel are less than professional.

[jimbbc]

When I had to transfer money for the purchase of my condo i had the same problems, that is, needing a New York bank to pass thru.

I solved it by opening an account at Bangkok Bank, then going to their website, New York branch, there was the number. I had my cash the next morning.

The branch was easy to deal with, although I cheated and brought a Thai lady as a helper.