Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for Nuclear Disarmament

[Bpuumike]

Does anyone have experience transferring Euros and US$ from Barclays Jersey to Bangkok?

Bangkok Bank London will accept and transfer GBP Sterling of course but I don't want to get hit with double exchange rate conversions, especially at the bank's own rates.

[PattayaParent]

I just instruct my bank to transfer Quids or US$ direct to my Thai account without an intermediary.

Charge is £20 or US$25 for the transfer which is the same as sending it via Bangkok Bank (£ anyway)

[Daveroc]

Instruct Barclays to transfer to your account in Thailand without using an intermediary. Better to bring the foreign currency into Thailand and convert here. Better rate generally. Charges will be as stated earlier at 20 pound or 25 USD plus the Thai Bank charge which is generally .25% of amount transferred with Min 200 baht and Max. 500baht.

You will be asked for the SWIFT code of your Bank in Thailand. If your Bank in Thaialnd is BBL the SWIFT code is BKKBTHBK.

[Darrel]

Better to bring the foreign currency into Thailand and convert here. Better rate generally.

Why do people keep saying this? It just isn't true.

You always get a better rate for telegraphic transfers; just check the online exchange rates from your Thai bank.

Of course there is a fee for telegraphic transfers which may make it not worthwhile on a small transaction.

[Darrel]

"Does anyone have experience transferring Euros and US$ from Barclays Jersey to Bangkok?"

I have no experience with Barclays, but all the other big UK banks' offshore branches will happily transfer EUR/USD to Thailand without prior conversion. The fee is normally exactly the same as for a GBP transfer (usually between GBP20 and GBP40, depending on the bank). I have sent EUR from the CI and the IOM.

Cant imagine that Barclays would be any different.

As mentioned, worth checking that there isnt some third intermediary bank in the chain who will also charge. This is rare these days though, except for transmissions emanating from the US (which often seems to be decades out of date regarding international transfers).

[Daveroc]

Better to bring the foreign currency into Thailand and convert here. Better rate generally.

Why do people keep saying this? It just isn't true.

You always get a better rate for telegraphic transfers; just check the online exchange rates from your Thai bank.

Of course there is a fee for telegraphic transfers which may make it not worthwhile on a small transaction.

Darrel,

I agree that the TT rate is the best on offer from Banks because of the process involved. i.e. Telegraphic Transfer (SWIFT) versus Bank draft, travellers chques or cash.

The statement made was relating to the issue of where you should exchange the currency, not the channel used to transmit the currency. Should the Overseas Bank make the conversion to Thai Baht or should the Thai Bank make the conversion of Foreign currency to Thai Baht.

Because the Thai Baht is not a currency traded in large amounts overseas the rate offerred by the overseas Bank reflects this in that they may not be able to dispose of it quickly. Hence the statement that generally speaking you will get a better rate from a Thai Bank converting foreign currency than from an overseas Bank selling Thai Baht.

[falkan]

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Web%20Services/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx not very good rates well well..

[Darrel]

The statement made was relating to the issue of where you should exchange the currency, not the channel used to transmit the currency.

Sorry. I thought that you meant "bring cash" when you wrote "bring currency".

There really are people who believe you get a better rate for cash, but I'm glad to learn that you aren't one of them.

You are of course entirely correct that the best rate of exchange will be in Thailand, not in Farangland, for precisely the reasons you gave.

[Daveroc]

The statement made was relating to the issue of where you should exchange the currency, not the channel used to transmit the currency.

Sorry. I thought that you meant "bring cash" when you wrote "bring currency".

There really are people who believe you get a better rate for cash, but I'm glad to learn that you aren't one of them.

You are of course entirely correct that the best rate of exchange will be in Thailand, not in Farangland, for precisely the reasons you gave.

Thanks Darrel,

Pleased to see that I have picked up something during my 41 years in Banking

[toastie]

http://www.bangkokba...s/FX_Rates.aspx not very good rates well well..

Comparison chart of onshore exchange rates of the major Thai banks: http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

[Darrel]

Pleased to see that I have picked up something during my 41 years in Banking

Indeed.

I wish the people running RBS, LloydsTSB and HBOS a couple of years ago had been equally retentive.

Again, my apologies for misunderstanding your comment.

[Bpuumike]

Gents,

Thank you all for your helpful contributions. I will try a test run from Barclays Jersey to my Bangkok Bank in BKK and see how it goes.

I suppose I was wondering, and should have asked, if anyone has experience with any of the currency transfer companies (Currencies Direct, etc) and whether they would be better for larger transfers.

Best regards to all.