How To Transfer Money From U.S. To Thailand?

[atsiii]

Simple Question: I want to transfer $1000 from my U.S. bank account (which is setup with a VISA Debit card) to my new Kasikorn ATM account for use here in Thailand.

But when I went to the K-bank branch in Koh Chang, they told me I should just use my Debit card in the ATM to withdraw funds from my U.S. bank until I had the +/- 30,000 baht I wanted, then bring that cash into the bank and deposit it into my K-bank account. Considering the daily limits and ATM fees, this seems totally ridiculous.

Can someone tell me how to accomplish this simple task, namely just pulling $1000 from my U.S. bank checking/debit account and having it deposited into my new K-bank ATM account?

Edited March 31, 2011 by atsiii

[CharlieH]

Why not just go into any bank and have them do it through your card, tell them its above the daily atm withdrawal limit and you want 1000 dollars in one payment. They should use there own machine inside the bank same as stores use and there is NO fee either for doing so, your own bank may charge you though for the transaction same as they would if you used the card in a store. Make sure you take your passport for ID. This facility "may" only be on available at larger branches and not every small bank outlet.Just ask them if they have the facility or not if they say no then move on to the next one. Larger Bangkok Bank branches have it for sure as I have used them.

Edited March 31, 2011 by CharlieH

[lopburi3]

Debit cards also have a limit for daily transactions which is often very little above that for ATM withdrawals so read your agreement.

Believe for non fee use people use Aeon ATM machines.

[atsiii]

Why not just go into any bank and have them do it through your card, tell them its above the daily atm withdrawal limit and you want 1000 dollars in one payment. They should use there own machine inside the bank same as stores use and there is NO fee either for doing so, your own bank may charge you though for the transaction same as they would if you used the card in a store. Make sure you take your passport for ID. This facility "may" only be on available at larger branches and not every small bank outlet.Just ask them if they have the facility or not if they say no then move on to the next one. Larger Bangkok Bank branches have it for sure as I have used them.

Thank you! That is exactly what I tried to do when I was told to go outside and use the ATM. I am back in BKK now, so perhaps I'll try again at a larger branch here.

[Yenoormit]

Why not just up your daily withdrawal to 200,000 baht? You can then take the 20,000 baht limit and then another 10k. I can do 10 withdraws every day of 20 k.

[Yenoormit]

I forgot to mention if you get the swift code of your bank here, your bank in USA can just wire it. My SCB bank just did a 4,000 USD transfer for 500 baht and it was here in 2 days

[Jingthing]

I forgot to mention if you get the swift code of your bank here, your bank in USA can just wire it. My SCB bank just did a 4,000 USD transfer for 500 baht and it was here in 2 days

Many USA banks require a prior wiring agreement signed in person at a branch in the USA. But the OP should check the specific policy of his USA bank.

[Bakseedaa]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank, they have a New York branch, so transfer through that branch...easy.. send from your own bank to Bkok B.. N.Y. and they put it straight to your Thai account..

[Pib]

I forgot to mention if you get the swift code of your bank here, your bank in USA can just wire it. My SCB bank just did a 4,000 USD transfer for 500 baht and it was here in 2 days

And what was the SWIFT fee the Sending bank charged? SWIFT fees by US banks are usually in the the $20 to $60 range. And then there is the Thai bank approx 200 to 500 baht receiving/currency exchange fee on the Thailand end...this may be the 500 baht fee your are referring to....then again it could just be SCB's fee to initiate the transfer and they still may have been another 200-500 baht receiving fee that was takin out of the $4000 sent to SCB during receipt/conversion of the dollars to baht. But you probably also had much larger SWIFT fee charged by your US sending bank that hit your US bank account separately. SWIFT transfers usually ain't cheap unless you have some type of premier/special US account. If we could do SWIFT transfers for only 500 baht and all of this initiated by Thai banks we wouldn't have all the thousands upon thousands of posts on how to cheaply send money to Thailand, how to avoid SWIFT/wire fees, etc.

Edited April 2, 2011 by Pib

[Pib]

Why not just up your daily withdrawal to 200,000 baht? You can then take the 20,000 baht limit and then another 10k. I can do 10 withdraws every day of 20 k.

This is withdrawals from a person's Thai bank account; the OP is talking about transfering money to his Thai bank account.

[Pib]

To the OP, I've never done the "debit card transfer method at the bank counter method" as suggested, but I have seen other posts where this has been done...but it seems the posters have mentioned costs all over the map from free to pricey....and rarely mention what their ATM/debit card/US bank charge was (they probably didn't know although you seem to know the foreign transaction fee on use of some ATM/debit cards is in the 1 to 4% range plus possibly a separate fixed dollar fee). Also seen numerous posts where Thai banks have suggested going to their ATM to pull the money (that gets the bank a 150 baht foreign card fee on every use unless it's an AEON machine)....maybe that bank suggestion implies the bank does make more money/fees by you pulling the money from their ATM and then depositing it, or it could imply they are just trying to help to minimize your fees by not using the at the bank teller method.

Since K-bank used the "should" word in giving you a recommendation on what to do, you probably should go back and ask specifically why that's the best way, "especially for you fee/cost wise." If you have zero fee/no foreign transaction fee US bank ATM/debit card and using an AEON ATM to avoid the Thai bank 150 baht foreign card transaction fee this would prevent any fees being applied by your home country bank and the Thai bank. But when it comes to transferring money directly into a Thai bank account at no additional charge above the transfer/base amount, it really depends on the fees charged by both the Sending bank and the Receiving bank....there ain't no standard cost answer since people have so many different banking/card arrangements and associated fees.