Transferring Money From The Uk To Thailand

[sk1max]

I have an Alliance & Leicester savings account without any transfer ability. I'm returning to the UK soon and need to transfer some of the cash. Can anyone recommend the best/cheapest way to do this? I'd sure appreciate any advice or previous experience. Thanks in advance.

[true blue]

if your talking of uk/los,a swift transfer is one option,need account in thailand though,or bring travellers cheques,see they charge you for sterling t/c now,never used to,banks arrrrrrrrrrrr,or carry cash,t/c and cash give you breathing space over exchange rates.

[davehowden]

I use OZFREX https://secure.ozforex.com.au/fx/login.asp, minimum amount to transfer is £1000 for which they charge £7 fee and the Thai bank will take about 150 to 250 baht for doing nothing. I think amounts over £7000 do not attract a transfer fee.

It takes about week to get the money into your account here.

You obviously need a Thai bank account.

Otherwise use AEON ATM, they do not charge a withdrawal fee but your UK bank will levy something like 2.5% plus £1 for each transaction.

Edited July 21, 2011 by davehowden

[Raindancer]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

Transfer the sterling from UK by written authority to to your UK bank using the swift code and Thai bank account details complete with their address. Bangkok Bank will five you a slip of paper with all these details on.

Bangkok banking charge between 2-500 baht for the transfer and the UK bank will ordinarily charge you £25.00 irrespective of the amount. ( Nat West Bank)

Takes 3 days to get to your Thai bank.

Minimum transfer I cannot recall exactly, but £3000 comes to mind. This the minimum amount Bangkok bank will accept. But check it out with your own bank.

If you have on line banking with your Thai bank, you can transfer sums from your foreign currency deposit account to your current Thai bank account without charge. And it is done immediately.

If you do not have on line banking, it means a visit to your bank every time and that can up to two hours in some cases.

Finally if you transfer all your funds from your Foreign Currency Deposit account in the Thai bank to your normal current account, the Foreign Currency Deposit account is automatically closed.

So to keep it open for further transfers from the UK, you are required to maintain a balance of £180.00 sterling. All the above only refers to Bangkok Banking. I am unaware of other Banks ' requirements.

Regards

[kjhbigv]

One option....

Open a bank account with Bangkok Bank which is easy.

Open a Lloyds TSB account, they now have online international transfers you can do yourself, the charge is GBP10.00 for all transactions up to GBP5000.00.

Send the money as GBP when sending. The exchange rate you get is Bangkok Banks TT rate, which is pretty good.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Web%20Services/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx

Only takes 2/3 working days to clear in the Bangkok Bank bank account from the UK.

Once all set up, easy.

[true blue]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

Transfer the sterling from UK by written authority to to your UK bank using the swift code and Thai bank account details complete with their address. Bangkok Bank will five you a slip of paper with all these details on.

Bangkok banking charge between 2-500 baht for the transfer and the UK bank will ordinarily charge you £25.00 irrespective of the amount. ( Nat West Bank)

Takes 3 days to get to your Thai bank.

Minimum transfer I cannot recall exactly, but £3000 comes to mind. This the minimum amount Bangkok bank will accept. But check it out with your own bank.

If you have on line banking with your Thai bank, you can transfer sums from your foreign currency deposit account to your current Thai bank account without charge. And it is done immediately.

If you do not have on line banking, it means a visit to your bank every time and that can up to two hours in some cases.

Finally if you transfer all your funds from your Foreign Currency Deposit account in the Thai bank to your normal current account, the Foreign Currency Deposit account is automatically closed.

So to keep it open for further transfers from the UK, you are required to maintain a balance of £180.00 sterling. All the above only refers to Bangkok Banking. I am unaware of other Banks ' requirements.

Regards

cheers for info i have account and ibank with bkkbank but no foreign currency account do you have to go in to your branch to open same or can it be done on line???

[Raindancer]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

Transfer the sterling from UK by written authority to to your UK bank using the swift code and Thai bank account details complete with their address. Bangkok Bank will five you a slip of paper with all these details on.

Bangkok banking charge between 2-500 baht for the transfer and the UK bank will ordinarily charge you £25.00 irrespective of the amount. ( Nat West Bank)

Takes 3 days to get to your Thai bank.

Minimum transfer I cannot recall exactly, but £3000 comes to mind. This the minimum amount Bangkok bank will accept. But check it out with your own bank.

If you have on line banking with your Thai bank, you can transfer sums from your foreign currency deposit account to your current Thai bank account without charge. And it is done immediately.

If you do not have on line banking, it means a visit to your bank every time and that can up to two hours in some cases.

Finally if you transfer all your funds from your Foreign Currency Deposit account in the Thai bank to your normal current account, the Foreign Currency Deposit account is automatically closed.

So to keep it open for further transfers from the UK, you are required to maintain a balance of £180.00 sterling. All the above only refers to Bangkok Banking. I am unaware of other Banks ' requirements.

Regards

cheers for info i have account and ibank with bkkbank but no foreign currency account do you have to go in to your branch to open same or can it be done on line???

You will need to go in to the branch with your passport and sign the new documentation.

[jackr]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

[Raindancer]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Try it and see what happens. It is still called a foreign deposit account.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Raindancer

[true blue]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

does give you some control of when you can exchange, and not restricted to the rate on the day.but as you said you need to have a fairly active account,or a large amount just sitting there,dont suppose you get any interest on it either

[kjhbigv]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

[true blue]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

just another option the f/c account.

[chiangmaicharlies]

Open an account here which is no problem. I have accounts with Bangkok Bank and Siam Bank - both friendly and helpful like British banks were 30 years ago. Assuming you visit England on a regular basis, bring in a pocketful of cash as required - quick and easy to deposit with no charges. I just returned with £10k which goes a long way in Chiang Mai.

[true blue]

Open an account here which is no problem. I have accounts with Bangkok Bank and Siam Bank - both friendly and helpful like British banks were 30 years ago. Assuming you visit England on a regular basis, bring in a pocketful of cash as required - quick and easy to deposit with no charges. I just returned with £10k which goes a long way in Chiang Mai.

ye i generally do the same,but i do have all the other back ups,(accounts, ibanking, c/c,d/c,)

[Raindancer]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

To save all the conjecture...let the OP open whatever account is admissible and maybe he can report back regarding his experiences and what actually was required..

I also have gone down this path and whilst I agree that my UK Foreign Deposit Account book is only named as a "savings account" ..It is a different sized account savings book from normal BKK savings accounts and ONLY holds UK sterling, and this book CANNOT be inserted into the ATM machines for updating because of the different in size in account book and currency held within the account. Therefore this account book can only be updated by branch held machines.. So perhaps posters will not take things out of context. and report true facts as opposed to snipping my posts and take the time read the full post that I published. And respond accordingly.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Raindancer

[Dante99]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

To save all the conjecture...let the OP open whatever account is admissible and maybe he can report back regarding his experiences and what actually was required..

I also have gone down this path and whilst I agree that my UK Foreign Deposit Account book is only named as a "savings account" ..It is a different sized account savings book from normal BKK savings accounts and ONLY holds UK sterling, and this book CANNOT be inserted into the ATM machines for updating because of the different in size in account book and currency held within the account. Therefore this account book can only be updated by branch held machines.. So perhaps posters will not take things out of context. and report true facts as opposed to snipping my posts and take the time read the full post that I published. And respond accordingly.

Thanks for all that clarification. We are pleased to know where you can and where you can not insert your account book. Most readers are also now aware of where you should insert the account book.

[Priceless]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

To save all the conjecture...let the OP open whatever account is admissible and maybe he can report back regarding his experiences and what actually was required..

I also have gone down this path and whilst I agree that my UK Foreign Deposit Account book is only named as a "savings account" ..It is a different sized account savings book from normal BKK savings accounts and ONLY holds UK sterling, and this book CANNOT be inserted into the ATM machines for updating because of the different in size in account book and currency held within the account. Therefore this account book can only be updated by branch held machines.. So perhaps posters will not take things out of context. and report true facts as opposed to snipping my posts and take the time read the full post that I published. And respond accordingly.

Very interesting... However, you still have not explained why the OP should open a Foreign Currency Account, when any plain vanilla savings account will do.

I have personally used my Siam Commercial Bank savings account for this kind of transactions for the last five years or so. Never a glitch!

/ Priceless

[Raindancer]

good for you.........Everyones experience is different in Thailand on this interesting subject.

I only offered my own personal experiences and qualified this in my reply by stating that this was a personal experience of BKK banking and that many other banks may adopt a different business approach and regulation to Foreign Deposit Accounts.

Thai Visa is designed to offer personal experiences from all walks of life and I hope will assist others from making mistakes that they may have made personally.

Regards

Edited July 24, 2011 by Raindancer

[Priceless]

good for you.........Everyones experience is different in Thailand on this interesting subject.

I only offered my own personal experiences and qualified this in my reply by stating that this was a personal experience of BKK banking and that many other banks may adopt a different business approach and regulation to Foreign Deposit Accounts.

Thai Visa is designed to offer personal experiences from all walks of life and I hope will assist others from making mistakes that they may have made personally.

Regards

I think that what everybody except you is wondering is:

Why on earth should the OP open a Foreign Deposit Account? This is not in his post, and for most people it fills no useful purpose. Your posts make it sound as if this is necessary, which it clearly is NOT.

/ Priceless

[Raindancer]

good for you.........Everyones experience is different in Thailand on this interesting subject.

I only offered my own personal experiences and qualified this in my reply by stating that this was a personal experience of BKK banking and that many other banks may adopt a different business approach and regulation to Foreign Deposit Accounts.

Thai Visa is designed to offer personal experiences from all walks of life and I hope will assist others from making mistakes that they may have made personally.

Regards

I think that what everybody except you is wondering is:

Why on earth should the OP open a Foreign Deposit Account? This is not in his post, and for most people it fills no useful purpose. Your posts make it sound as if this is necessary, which it clearly is NOT.

/ Priceless

Priceless....as your name suggests!!!!!

[true blue]

good for you.........Everyones experience is different in Thailand on this interesting subject.

I only offered my own personal experiences and qualified this in my reply by stating that this was a personal experience of BKK banking and that many other banks may adopt a different business approach and regulation to Foreign Deposit Accounts.

Thai Visa is designed to offer personal experiences from all walks of life and I hope will assist others from making mistakes that they may have made personally.

Regards

I think that what everybody except you is wondering is:

Why on earth should the OP open a Foreign Deposit Account? This is not in his post, and for most people it fills no useful purpose. Your posts make it sound as if this is necessary, which it clearly is NOT.

/ Priceless

Priceless....as your name suggests!!!!!

agree to a extent,that a bog standard current account will suffice,but the idea of having my money in sterling,in los and being able to exchange when i like the prevailing rates appeals to me,of course it does depend on charges?????

[Raindancer]

The best thing for all convcernedis formthe op

good for you.........Everyones experience is different in Thailand on this interesting subject.

I only offered my own personal experiences and qualified this in my reply by stating that this was a personal experience of BKK banking and that many other banks may adopt a different business approach and regulation to Foreign Deposit Accounts.

Thai Visa is designed to offer personal experiences from all walks of life and I hope will assist others from making mistakes that they may have made personally.

Regards

I think that what everybody except you is wondering is:

Why on earth should the OP open a Foreign Deposit Account? This is not in his post, and for most people it fills no useful purpose. Your posts make it sound as if this is necessary, which it clearly is NOT.

/ Priceless

Priceless....as your name suggests!!!!!

agree to a extent,that a bog standard current account will suffice,but the idea of having my money in sterling,in los and being able to exchange when i like the prevailing rates appeals to me,of course it does depend on charges?????

Up to the OP to use all the info he has received to find out the practicalities and nuances of this type of account and all that it entails. And maybe he can verify some or all of the info he has received fromThai Visa after he has made his transaction. Chok Di

[wolf5370]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

Now a days I have a bulk standard BKK (Thai currency) saving account and just Swift it in. If you have enough money in Barclays bank (I think 15k sterling - but check online) then there is a service that allows online international transfers which would make it all the simpler.

Not tried this, but just discovered it - the Post Office: (see here http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/finance/making-payments/post-office-international-payments)

Pay no fees to transfer money between UK and overseas bank accounts

• no fees to send or receive money
• £250 minimum transfer amount
• make transfers online or by phone*
• 0% commission and competitive exchange rates updated live
• transfer straight from your bank account - you don’t need a Post Office® account
• fast and secure transactions
• fix your exchange rate

Sounds bloody good to me.

[Asmerom]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

I've been a Nat West customer for over half a century and every time I want to transfer £5000 from the UK to my Kasikorn Account (believe this or not) I have to write them a letter !! to do the transfer; they need my signature, they say. Takes about ten days. But for guys like you with hefty bank balances ,say over a million (not sure about the exact figure) they do have a special electronic transfer facility.

Edited July 28, 2011 by Asmerom

[true blue]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

Now a days I have a bulk standard BKK (Thai currency) saving account and just Swift it in. If you have enough money in Barclays bank (I think 15k sterling - but check online) then there is a service that allows online international transfers which would make it all the simpler.

Not tried this, but just discovered it - the Post Office: (see here http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/finance/making-payments/post-office-international-payments)

Pay no fees to transfer money between UK and overseas bank accounts

• no fees to send or receive money
• £250 minimum transfer amount
• make transfers online or by phone*
• 0% commission and competitive exchange rates updated live
• transfer straight from your bank account - you don’t need a Post Office® account
• fast and secure transactions
• fix your exchange rate

Sounds bloody good to me.

its okay that service if your quite happy getting the baht rate in uk,they will not do a sterling to sterling transfer

[true blue]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

Now a days I have a bulk standard BKK (Thai currency) saving account and just Swift it in. If you have enough money in Barclays bank (I think 15k sterling - but check online) then there is a service that allows online international transfers which would make it all the simpler.

Not tried this, but just discovered it - the Post Office: (see here http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/finance/making-payments/post-office-international-payments)

Pay no fees to transfer money between UK and overseas bank accounts

• no fees to send or receive money
• £250 minimum transfer amount
• make transfers online or by phone*
• 0% commission and competitive exchange rates updated live
• transfer straight from your bank account - you don’t need a Post Office® account
• fast and secure transactions
• fix your exchange rate

Sounds bloody good to me.

its okay that service if your quite happy getting the baht rate in uk,they will not do a sterling to sterling transfer

and barclays bank dont do international transfers from current accounts,full stop. hsbc do though next day service.

[cardholder]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Try it and see what happens. It is still called a foreign deposit account.

No it is not - it is a Thai Baht account and - remarkably, in Thailand - that is NOT a foreign currency.

Edited July 28, 2011 by cardholder

[cardholder]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

Now a days I have a bulk standard BKK (Thai currency) saving account and just Swift it in. If you have enough money in Barclays bank (I think 15k sterling - but check online) then there is a service that allows online international transfers which would make it all the simpler.

Not tried this, but just discovered it - the Post Office: (see here http://www2.postoffi...tional-payments)

Pay no fees to transfer money between UK and overseas bank accounts

• no fees to send or receive money
• £250 minimum transfer amount
• make transfers online or by phone*
• 0% commission and competitive exchange rates updated live
• transfer straight from your bank account - you don't need a Post Office® account
• fast and secure transactions
• fix your exchange rate

Sounds bloody good to me.

Frankly, I doubt it.

Notice the 'fix your exchange rate' bit ?

What rate do you think they will offer ?

I would guarantee that there is not an option to send Sterling.

I doubt that you by-passed SWIFT - SWIFT was adopted as the standard for worldwide financial communications more than 30 years ago.

For bog-standard international transfers I have yet to find a better system than Halifax. That is better in terms user-friendliness (online transfers from a Reward account are a piece of cake) and cost - GBP 9.50 is a world-beater as far as the UK is concerned.

Unless anyone has any practical experience to the contrary.

[elektrified]

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Try it and see what happens. It is still called a foreign deposit account.

I have a regular Thai Baht savings account with Kasikorn Bank (not a foreign deposit account). I've transferred both Euros and Swiss Francs into this account. Got an excellent exchange rate this way.

I might add that the Manager at the main Chang Klan Branch told me to never transfer more than US $9,999 (in any currency) in at any one time. If you transfer more, the Thai government could seize your account and levy a tax on it.

Edited July 28, 2011 by elektrified

[fcgprg]

Does NatWest still do Telex Transfers? Back (maybe 15 years ago now) when I had a NatWest account I used to ignore Swift and use telex transfer - it cost half the price of Swift and the money got there (here) sooner.

Now a days I have a bulk standard BKK (Thai currency) saving account and just Swift it in. If you have enough money in Barclays bank (I think 15k sterling - but check online) then there is a service that allows online international transfers which would make it all the simpler.

Not tried this, but just discovered it - the Post Office: (see here http://www2.postoffi...tional-payments)

Pay no fees to transfer money between UK and overseas bank accounts

• no fees to send or receive money
• £250 minimum transfer amount
• make transfers online or by phone*
• 0% commission and competitive exchange rates updated live
• transfer straight from your bank account - you don't need a Post Office® account
• fast and secure transactions
• fix your exchange rate

Sounds bloody good to me.

Frankly, I doubt it.

Notice the 'fix your exchange rate' bit ?

What rate do you think they will offer ?

I would guarantee that there is not an option to send Sterling.

I doubt that you by-passed SWIFT - SWIFT was adopted as the standard for worldwide financial communications more than 30 years ago.

For bog-standard international transfers I have yet to find a better system than Halifax. That is better in terms user-friendliness (online transfers from a Reward account are a piece of cake) and cost - GBP 9.50 is a world-beater as far as the UK is concerned.

Unless anyone has any practical experience to the contrary.

You are right i registered and you cannot send sterling .