Transfer Money Out Of Thailand

[ikke]

A few years ago a friend of me did transfer money into a Thai bank account of another friend as a loan.

Now the man wants to pay back the 130.000 Euro on my account because the owner don't have a Thai account.

Somebody can tell me the best, cheapest and way to transfer this amount to the owners account in Europe (NL) without questions or problems with Thai government.

Any good advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

[sbergin]

Is it EU$130,000 or 130.00?

If 130, then just Western Union. No hassles, no fuss and not that expensive. Just front up with passport and the cash.

If 130,000 you will need a thai bank account and do a SWIFT transfer, will cost about 2000 baht. This is not without hassles though. I recently sent US20k to Aus and needed to take proof of income (where the money came from) and they also wanted copy of work permit. Without these two documents, darn near impossible to get the money out. No one bank better than the others for this, it always tends to be a branch by branch decision.

[LuukKoeyKorat]

Ditto the reply from Sbegin.

Its a real pain in the butt to transfer large amounts of money out of Thailand.

Only last week I tried to SWIFT transfer approx 70K USD from my SCB account abroad.....I was required to show Thai work permit, residency, proof of where this money came from AND work permit, business papers and residency for the DESTINATION country I was transferring to.

I suggest making SWIFT transfers of smaller amounts for several times (ie: 25K euros at a time). I know you will end up paying more transfer fees, but it should be without problems. As far as I know, a transfer under 1 million baht (approx 25K euros?) should be problem free.

[givenall]

<br />Is it EU$130,000 or 130.00?<br /><br />If 130, then just Western Union. No hassles, no fuss and not that expensive. Just front up with passport and the cash.<br /><br />If 130,000 you will need a thai bank account and do a  SWIFT transfer, will cost about 2000 baht. This is not without hassles though. I recently sent US20k to Aus and needed to take proof of income (where the money came from) and they also wanted copy of work permit. Without these two documents, darn near impossible to get the money out. No one bank better than the others for this, it always tends to be a branch by branch decision.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Don’t forget they NOW they also want passport or ID of the recipient of the money out side of Thailand

[ianguygil]

Just to be clear, Thai banks enforce the regulations from the Bank of Thailand. And please remember that many of these regulations are part of a global effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and I know all contributors to this site will agree that these are noble and valid goals.Without them you end up with this complex mix of criminals (drugs, people trafficing, extortion) and terrorism which become more intertwined every year.

If you have proof that you transferred these funds in to Thailand you should be able to transfer them back out again. Please ask your banks to look for the original transfer.

If you find a bank, or a branch of a bank, which is not following these rules they should be considered to be negligent. And they will not be able to get away with it as all Thai banks transfer funds internationally via their head office SWIFT interfaces.

So I would encourage you to try to find the original transfer details.

Ian

Edited July 15, 2011 by ianguygil

[PattayaParent]

Just to be clear, Thai banks enforce the regulations from the Bank of Thailand. And please remember that many of these regulations are part of a global effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and I know all contributors to this site will agree that these are noble and valid goals.Without them you end up with this complex mix of criminals (drugs, people trafficing, extortion) and terrorism which become more intertwined every year.

If you have proof that you transferred these funds in to Thailand you should be able to transfer them back out again. Please ask your banks to look for the original transfer.

If you find a bank, or a branch of a bank, which is not following these rules they should be considered to be negligent. And they will not be able to get away with it as all Thai banks transfer funds internationally via their head office SWIFT interfaces.

So I would encourage you to try to find the original transfer details.

Ian

My financial advisor reckons that if I have a few million dollars to move from drugs money or arms deals he can do it with no problem, but getting a bank account to pay my monthly salary into is a big problem.

Can you explain why so many branches of banks tell Farangs that they must have a work permit to open an account when it is not a requirement? And why one branch of say, Bangkok Bank, insists on a WP but the one down the road has no problem opening an account without one?

Should we report these branches to their head office as being negligent?

[12DrinkMore]

Can you explain why so many branches of banks tell Farangs that they must have a work permit to open an account when it is not a requirement? And why one branch of say, Bangkok Bank, insists on a WP but the one down the road has no problem opening an account without one?

Should we report these branches to their head office as being negligent?

Really! With 6,000 odd posts and presumably a wealth of experience in Thailand, surely you know the famous answer to that?

TIT

I would take the website reference along with a print out. Here it is for the Bangkok Bank

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Personal%20Banking/Foreign%20Customers/Pages/Opening%20an%20account%20new.aspx

There is an extremely clear table of requirements towards the end.

[ianguygil]

Just to be clear, Thai banks enforce the regulations from the Bank of Thailand. And please remember that many of these regulations are part of a global effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and I know all contributors to this site will agree that these are noble and valid goals.Without them you end up with this complex mix of criminals (drugs, people trafficing, extortion) and terrorism which become more intertwined every year.

If you have proof that you transferred these funds in to Thailand you should be able to transfer them back out again. Please ask your banks to look for the original transfer.

If you find a bank, or a branch of a bank, which is not following these rules they should be considered to be negligent. And they will not be able to get away with it as all Thai banks transfer funds internationally via their head office SWIFT interfaces.

So I would encourage you to try to find the original transfer details.

Ian

My financial advisor reckons that if I have a few million dollars to move from drugs money or arms deals he can do it with no problem, but getting a bank account to pay my monthly salary into is a big problem.

Can you explain why so many branches of banks tell Farangs that they must have a work permit to open an account when it is not a requirement? And why one branch of say, Bangkok Bank, insists on a WP but the one down the road has no problem opening an account without one?

Should we report these branches to their head office as being negligent?

Yes please. Either tell our Head Office or tell me, and we will ensure that they receive the required training so that they give customers the correct answer. Those who say no when it should be yes need to be corrected so we can offer customers the products and services they deserve. And those who say yes when it should be no also need special attention.

Ian

[PattayaParent]

Can you explain why so many branches of banks tell Farangs that they must have a work permit to open an account when it is not a requirement? And why one branch of say, Bangkok Bank, insists on a WP but the one down the road has no problem opening an account without one?

Should we report these branches to their head office as being negligent?

Really! With 6,000 odd posts and presumably a wealth of experience in Thailand, surely you know the famous answer to that?

TIT

I would take the website reference along with a print out. Here it is for the Bangkok Bank

http://www.bangkokba...ount%20new.aspx

There is an extremely clear table of requirements towards the end.

I asked the question as I know Ian works for Bangkok Bank and was curious as to why their managers seem to think Farangs need work permits to open an account when it's not a regulation, and apparently not an instruction from the head office.

Ian, Bangkok Bank main branch in Pattaya (Second Rd.) required a work permit when I went to open an account.

Carrefour branch didn't but I don't know if that's because I already had an account with BB.

[ianguygil]

Can you explain why so many branches of banks tell Farangs that they must have a work permit to open an account when it is not a requirement? And why one branch of say, Bangkok Bank, insists on a WP but the one down the road has no problem opening an account without one?

Should we report these branches to their head office as being negligent?

Really! With 6,000 odd posts and presumably a wealth of experience in Thailand, surely you know the famous answer to that?

TIT

I would take the website reference along with a print out. Here it is for the Bangkok Bank

http://www.bangkokba...ount%20new.aspx

There is an extremely clear table of requirements towards the end.

I asked the question as I know Ian works for Bangkok Bank and was curious as to why their managers seem to think Farangs need work permits to open an account when it's not a regulation, and apparently not an instruction from the head office.

Ian, Bangkok Bank main branch in Pattaya (Second Rd.) required a work permit when I went to open an account.

Carrefour branch didn't but I don't know if that's because I already had an account with BB.

Thank you. I will ask somebody on the Operations side in Silom to follow up with them.