Large Cash Withdrawal At Thailand Bank - Any Problems?

[excel1]

Hi,

I have transferred approximately 4 million baht from Australia to a friend of mine in Thailand (as I don't have a bank account in Thailand). He has received the money and plans to withdraw it and give it to me in cash as I need it in cash for a specific purpose. Having had a quick check on the web, I see that for cash transactions over 2 million, the banks have some extra reporting requirement to do with anti money laundering. My thai friend is somewhat poor and usually only has a little bit of money in his bank account and I am a little worried that the bank may cause him some problems when he goes to withdraw the cash. Can anyone tell me if there is likely to be any problem with him withdrawing the cash at the bank? Should I send him a copy of the transfer from the Australian bank?

[transam]

I was questioned at the bank and had to fill in a questionaire of what the money was for at the bank. Be careful.

[Pib]

Several years ago when I was finalizing the buy of my house, I did two 3M baht withdrawals from my Bangkok Bank account (withdrawals where turned into two cashiers checks for 3M baht each) and no questions were asked or additional forms required to the best of my memory. I did have the cashier checks memo/note coded with the phrase "For the Purchase of a Home."

But I also had some forms on file from the original transfer-in of the funds stating that their purpose was for the purchase of a home....and of course the "transfer was from me" and the "withdrawal was by me," which may have made a difference is why no questions were asked when I withdrew the money to make the cashier's checks.

Edited February 13, 2011 by Pib

[aurelius]

Better to split the transactions into smaller amounts (under 1m) over several days.

[gotlost]

In your post you said he was going to give you the cash so that means you will be in Thailand and be able to open an account at which time he can transfer the money from his account to yours and then you can deal withe the withdraw of funds.

[excel1]

In your post you said he was going to give you the cash so that means you will be in Thailand and be able to open an account at which time he can transfer the money from his account to yours and then you can deal withe the withdraw of funds.

Correct, but do you think it is necessary for me to open an account simply for this purpose? I don't live in Thailand and don't plan to return until a holiday maybe in 2 years time. I could open an account, withdraw the money and then close the account if I know he would have problems withdrawing, but it seems like a lot of extra work when I may face the same challenges in withdrawing?

[kennalder]

In your post you said he was going to give you the cash so that means you will be in Thailand and be able to open an account at which time he can transfer the money from his account to yours and then you can deal withe the withdraw of funds.

Correct, but do you think it is necessary for me to open an account simply for this purpose? I don't live in Thailand and don't plan to return until a holiday maybe in 2 years time. I could open an account, withdraw the money and then close the account if I know he would have problems withdrawing, but it seems like a lot of extra work when I may face the same challenges in withdrawing?

I would have responded quicker, but for some reason my monitor was full of red flags! Too much trouble to open an account?

The cash is for you and needs to be withdrawn 2 years before you return here? All I can say is bring some spending money with you.

I know, it's none of my business, but if you want ANY of your money when you get here, send it to me. PM me and I will send you my wiring instructions.

[excel1]

I would have responded quicker, but for some reason my monitor was full of red flags! Too much trouble to open an account?

The cash is for you and needs to be withdrawn 2 years before you return here? All I can say is bring some spending money with you.

I know, it's none of my business, but if you want ANY of your money when you get here, send it to me. PM me and I will send you my wiring instructions.

The reason for the money is that I am purchasing a business product which I will ship back to Australia. The seller wants cash. I want to do the transaction as quickly as possible so that is why I transferred the funds before I left Australia. I will arrive in Bankgok tomorrow. So do you think it is necessary for me to open an account, have the funds transferred to my account, withdraw the cash and then close the account? Or can my friend just withdraw it from his account? The only difference is that I am a foreigner and he is a Thai citizen.

[Langsuan Man]

It is too late now, get back to us tomorrow and let us know if you were able to find him

[excel1]

It is too late now, get back to us tomorrow and let us know if you were able to find him

lol...reading this thread again, I can see why it looks somewhat dodgy ...maybe because I did not want to fully explain the situation. Anyway I am not stupid and would not have transferred the funds to someone who I don't fully trust. Anyway the reason for this post in the first place was to see if anyone had experience withdrawing large amounts of cash (over 2 million) from the bank and if it causes any problems. It seems it may just be safer to do withdrawals over a few days, each less than 2 million as I don't want any unnecessary red tape from the tax department or whoever for my friend.

[clinique]

It will be interesting to see the outcome when you get here, so keep us all posted we will be interested to see.

There will be more paperwork for over 2m baht withdrawals. BUt anyway there will already likely have been questions asked of your freind who received the money as all amounts over US$20,000- are subject to Central Bank reporting - so the receiving bank asks the receiver what the money is for when it arrives, this is so the receiving bank can report to the Central Bank.

I tend to agreewith other posters as well; why dont you open your own account and then transfer to the person who you are buying the 'goods' from. Almost everyone uses the interbank transfer system, its instantaneous transfer and the seller receives cash - ie: there si no clearing required.

Obviously its your business and your money, but wouldnt recommend carrying around cash of 4m or paying for purchases in cash.

[thailandbluegrass]

The problem I see here is that not many Thai's use this forum so to ask farangs about this is not easy to reply.

If the money is in his account I would suggest that you get the person who you are purchasing whatever from and have him come into the bank and ask the bank for their security guard to watch the money being paid and received by the guy. YOU don't want to even THINK about walking out of any bank here with 4M baht in hand. To do so would be ludacrist not to mention insane.

Be very very careful. There is a law in Thailand where Business people are allowed to carry guns from their home to their busines and from their business or their home to a bank and back for protection. You however do not have this option. Good luck and I hope we are not going to see anothe statistic in the newspapers or here on TV. My sincere thoughts are with you.

[ianguygil]

I have been trying to stay away from this thread as it seems a rather unusual scenario to me..

But just an FYI, if you ever need to send funds to yourself at a bank where you do not have an account, you can do a SWIFT payment with your passport and other details as PUPID (Pay Upon Proper ID). You can specify the bank branch you will pick up the funds, when, and your contact details (hotel etc.). And then go into the bank, show your ID as specified in the SWIFT message and pickup the funds or open an account on the spot. Or get a Draft or Cashiers Cheque.

This seems to be a far more reliable way of achieving the stated goal than sending to a friend.

As for picking up millions of Baht in cash and walking around with it.......

Also, the person selling whatever it is should be fine with a Cashiers Cheque. If not I would question exactly what is being sold.

[fletchsmile]

I have been trying to stay away from this thread as it seems a rather unusual scenario to me..

But just an FYI, if you ever need to send funds to yourself at a bank where you do not have an account, you can do a SWIFT payment with your passport and other details as PUPID (Pay Upon Proper ID). You can specify the bank branch you will pick up the funds, when, and your contact details (hotel etc.). And then go into the bank, show your ID as specified in the SWIFT message and pickup the funds or open an account on the spot. Or get a Draft or Cashiers Cheque.

This seems to be a far more reliable way of achieving the stated goal than sending to a friend.

As for picking up millions of Baht in cash and walking around with it.......

Also, the person selling whatever it is should be fine with a Cashiers Cheque. If not I would question exactly what is being sold.

Spot on! Even with the best friend in the world, things could easily go wrong with OPs method. I hope OP's friend doesn't go crossing any busy roads without looking before OP gets here for example

I also wonder what sort of receipt for this THB 4mio OP might get in the eventuality the money might arrive where it is supposed to

Edited February 15, 2011 by fletchsmile

[justmaybe]

Your friend who has a record of small balances receives four million baht from you wired into his account from outside the country and it is removed in large pieces in short order for purposes not his own. It surely is on the up and up but is the sort of transaction these regulations are designed to be curious towards at both ends. I can see my business manager writhing on the floor at the paper trail. You are also purchasing the extended warranty, I hope .