Pensions

[koppite]

Hi guys

can anyone tell me what is the best way to get your pension sent over to thailand

[Swiss1960]

Open a bank account in Thailand and send money through your home e-banking... what a stupid question...

or... actually... even a better alternative... send the money to my Swiss bank account and on my next visit, I might bring it with me

Edited September 30, 2011 by Swiss1960

[koppite]

Thanks for that its all new to me my bank wanted to charge me 30 to send it over

[chiang mai]

From which country? Private or State pension? The answers to those questions make a lot of difference.

[koppite]

From which country? Private or State pension? The answers to those questions make a lot of difference.

from england and its a state pension

[koppite]

Open a bank account in Thailand and send money through your home e-banking... what a stupid question...

or... actually... even a better alternative... send the money to my Swiss bank account and on my next visit, I might bring it with me

haha very funny

[travelmann]

fly home once a year and collect it in cash.

[Swiss1960]

Thanks for that its all new to me my bank wanted to charge me 30 to send it over

Of course your bank will charge you for a SWIFT transfer... we are not not-profit organisations... we want salary and bonuses... ;-)

You should be offered two options 1) transfer cost charged to the sender 2) transfer cost charged to the receiver

in option 1) your bank might charge you only 10$ but the Thai bank will take 500-1'000 Baht for booking the money to your account

in option 2) your bank might charge you 30$ but your Thai bank will only take 100-200 Baht for booking the money to your account.

I am always taking option 2, for me with the fees my bank takes, I get more money (and I send in Thai baht, as the exchange rate of my bank is better than the one of the Thai bank). That is another option you must try.

To find out, open an account on a Thai bank and then do 4 different transfers

- transfer in home currency, cost to the sender

- transfer in home currency, cost to the receiver

- transfer in Baht, cost to the sender

- transfer in Baht, cost to the receiver

and find out which option is best for your situation.

As a banker, we like the first way best (send in home currency, cost to sender)... gives all profit to us

[chiang mai]

From which country? Private or State pension? The answers to those questions make a lot of difference.

from england and its a state pension

You could ask the UK Pension Service to pay you here in Thailand directly, I believe they use Citi Bank to do this - that would save you having to pay bank transfer fees plus the system via Citi Bank converts the payment into THB at a fairly decent rate of exchange, or so I am led to believe. If you don't fancy that approach and you can afford to keep your pension money in the UK for a while, maybe better to transfer once a month or once a quarter, directly to an account with a Thai bank, no easy way to avoid UK bank transfer fees however.

[Chivas]

fly home once a year and collect it in cash.

Seems a bit excessive when return flights start around 40k baht ??

[koppite]

From which country? Private or State pension? The answers to those questions make a lot of difference.

from england and its a state pension

You could ask the UK Pension Service to pay you here in Thailand directly, I believe they use Citi Bank to do this - that would save you having to pay bank transfer fees plus the system via Citi Bank converts the payment into THB at a fairly decent rate of exchange, or so I am led to believe. If you don't fancy that approach and you can afford to keep your pension money in the UK for a while, maybe better to transfer once a month or once a quarter, directly to an account with a Thai bank, no easy way to avoid UK bank transfer fees however.

ok that sounds fine i will try that option thanks for your help

[Swiss1960]

fly home once a year and collect it in cash.

Seems a bit excessive when return flights start around 40k baht ??

even worse... we banks have to pay him interest for the money all year round and can not charge fees... please forget about this option

[Daffy D]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

You can have your UK Government Pension paid directly in to a Thai Bank account. There is no charge for this and the exchange rate is on par with the going rate.

My pension day is every 4th Friday and the money is in my Thai account on start of business on the following Monday.

Sometimes if there is a Thai holiday on the Monday it may be a day late, but on the other hand over Xmas it arrived on the actual Friday.

Contact the pension office to arrange the details.

Easy Peasy..

[Kimera]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

You can have your UK Government Pension paid directly in to a Thai Bank account. There is no charge for this and the exchange rate is on par with the going rate.

My pension day is every 4th Friday and the money is in my Thai account on start of business on the following Monday.

Sometimes if there is a Thai holiday on the Monday it may be a day late, but on the other hand over Xmas it arrived on the actual Friday.

Contact the pension office to arrange the details.

Easy Peasy..

Do you get any increases using this system or is your pension froze ? what is your status expat, uk resident ?

[Swiss1960]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

Do you recall his initial question? No wonder I was playing smart ass...

[chiang mai]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

Do you recall his initial question? No wonder I was playing smart ass...

Doubtless there will be those (of us) who will scrutinize any future question you might raise, really really closely!

[Chivas]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

Do you recall his initial question? No wonder I was playing smart ass...

If you read the OP again I think you'll find he was asking for the Best way rather than how to do it ??

[chiang mai]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

Do you recall his initial question? No wonder I was playing smart ass...

If you read the OP again I think you'll find he was asking for the Best way rather than how to do it ??

Game. set and match, next!

[Daffy D]

Do you get any increases using this system or is your pension froze ? what is your status expat, uk resident ?

Your Pension is frozen at the rate when you start to collect it. Thailand is not one of the reciprocal countries so it's frozen no matter how you collect your pension.

Not sure about my status.

To be a UK resident, and get Pension increases, you need a UK address and live in the UK a certain numberer of moths per year.

[Daffy D]

If you read the OP again I think you'll find he was asking for the Best way rather than how to do it ??

Quite right glad you're paying attention at the back there

But I don't think going through a Swiss Bank account or flying home every few months is even in the ball park of the "Best Way"

[theoldgit]

You could ask the UK Pension Service to pay you here in Thailand directly, I believe they use Citi Bank to do this - that would save you having to pay bank transfer fees plus the system via Citi Bank converts the payment into THB at a fairly decent rate of exchange, or so I am led to believe. If you don't fancy that approach and you can afford to keep your pension money in the UK for a while, maybe better to transfer once a month or once a quarter, directly to an account with a Thai bank, no easy way to avoid UK bank transfer fees however.

I don't know if Citi Bank give a decent rate, remember they buy the Baht in the UK, but my Civil Service Pension is paid in a similar way and whilst it's certainly convienient the rate is not the best, when my CS Pension was paid a couple of weeks ago it worked out at 45.5 Baht to the GBP.

If the State Pension is the only source of income and you want the money every month then it's probably worth going along with this, if you can afford to let the money build up an/or you have an occupational pension then it's worth using a UK or Offshore bank, taking a hit on the transmission cost, transferring Sterling, and you you should better month.

As from next month my CS Pension is going into my account on the IOM, and even taking into account their twenty quid transmission fee I will be a lot better off, even more so when I reach State Pension age, you need to do the sums and see what works for you.

[chiang mai]

You could ask the UK Pension Service to pay you here in Thailand directly, I believe they use Citi Bank to do this - that would save you having to pay bank transfer fees plus the system via Citi Bank converts the payment into THB at a fairly decent rate of exchange, or so I am led to believe. If you don't fancy that approach and you can afford to keep your pension money in the UK for a while, maybe better to transfer once a month or once a quarter, directly to an account with a Thai bank, no easy way to avoid UK bank transfer fees however.

I don't know if Citi Bank give a decent rate, remember they buy the Baht in the UK, but my Civil Service Pension is paid in a similar way and whilst it's certainly convienient the rate is not the best, when my CS Pension was paid a couple of weeks ago it worked out at 45.5 Baht to the GBP.

If the State Pension is the only source of income and you want the money every month then it's probably worth going along with this, if you can afford to let the money build up an/or you have an occupational pension then it's worth using a UK or Offshore bank, taking a hit on the transmission cost, transferring Sterling, and you you should better month.

As from next month my CS Pension is going into my account on the IOM, and even taking into account their twenty quid transmission fee I will be a lot better off, even more so when I reach State Pension age, you need to do the sums and see what works for you.

Fine with that except that I believe that Citi almost certainly does their currency exchange on the Forex rather than in the UK per se hence the rate "may" not be as poor as imagined - the IOM option makes much sense however.

[Kimera]

Do you get any increases using this system or is your pension froze ? what is your status expat, uk resident ?

Your Pension is frozen at the rate when you start to collect it. Thailand is not one of the reciprocal countries so it's frozen no matter how you collect your pension.

Not sure about my status.

To be a UK resident, and get Pension increases, you need a UK address and live in the UK a certain numberer of moths per year.

Yes thats as I understand it, and Im not sure of my status also:D If the OP can keep a UK address then Halifax transfer in uk pounds via current e account 9.50ukp

[IMA_FARANG]

I'm guessing you are not a U.S. citizen...but maybe some are reading this...so here's what I do.

First I opened a bank account in my home country...the U.S. in my case. My pension is deposited in that bank account every month.

Next I established an agreement with my U.S. bank so I could transfer money by a SWIFT transfer. I had to specify my bank in Bangkok, the maximum amount of each transfer, and name/account number. This had to be done in person and the forms signed by me. They now have my Thai bank info on file.

Bangkok Bank has a branch bank in New York, so my local U.S. bank does the SWIFT transfer through New York.

I start the SWIFT transfer with an email to my U.S. bank to do that transfer.

My U.S. bank charges me $30 per transfer...but as I will be 65 soon, the fee will then be redused to $20 per transfer.

There is no charge here in Bangkok (Bangkok Bank) for the transfer. The money is converted at the bank rate in Bangkok on the day it is recieved.

Usually takes 2 or 3 days for the funds to arrive from the day I send an email starting the process.

I use by Bangkok Bank card to withdraw the funds as required from a local ATM.

Been doing it that way for years.

Easy and quick.

Edited September 30, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[chiang mai]

Oh dear!

[theoldgit]

I'm guessing you are not a U.S. citizen...but maybe some are reading this...so here's what I do.

Indeed, I think the clue was here:

From which country? Private or State pension? The answers to those questions make a lot of difference.

from england and its a state pension

Nevertheless an interesting slant, thanks for sharing.

[koppite]

No matter what the question whether serious or frivolous there are always some smart ass people giving smart ass answers on subjects they know nothing about.

You can have your UK Government Pension paid directly in to a Thai Bank account. There is no charge for this and the exchange rate is on par with the going rate.

My pension day is every 4th Friday and the money is in my Thai account on start of business on the following Monday.

Sometimes if there is a Thai holiday on the Monday it may be a day late, but on the other hand over Xmas it arrived on the actual Friday.

Contact the pension office to arrange the details.

Easy Peasy..

Do you get any increases using this system or is your pension froze ? what is your status expat, uk resident ?

at the minute uk resident am moving over late december

[Daffy D]

I don't understand how some people are getting a poor exchange rate and extra charges with their pension transfers.

I get mine paid into Siam Commercial Bank every 4 weeks and as I said the there are no transfer charges and the exchange rate is favorable to the rate of the time.

A note to anyone thinking of pretending to live in the UK and having the Pension paid into a UK Bank. This would classify you as a UK resident subject to the bureaucracy that comes with it like Income Tax returns and Council rates to name just a couple. And with the recent robust crackdown on benefit frauds it's a tricky road to take.

You would also still have to get the money over here and that would incur charges so really not much financial benefit.

[crazygreg44]

Ever considered opening a Credit Card account with a UK bank , onto which the state pension gets transferred ? It would be worth while finding out how high the UK bank charges for withdrawing from the credit card at a Thai ATM compared to a monthly bank-to-bank transfer. The daily withdrawal limit can be set according to your wishes upon opening the credit card account , i.e. that would mean you can draw up to 60.000 (or even 80.000 Baht ) at any ATM in Thailand and the Thai bank charges 150 Baht each time - maximum draw 20,000 Baht (so it adds up to 450 BHT for 60,000), and then the UK bank fee. You will not need a Thai Bank account ( plus it's yearly fees, however a basic credit card - not gold - is around 100 Euros / 75 PSterl a year)

I am german so excuse if my knowledge of UK bank's conditions is rudimental. In Germany I use the DKB Bank Berlins VISACARD account. They charge NO FEE for withdrawals at a foreign ATM, and the 150 Baht fee from the ATM will get fully refunded by them , all I have to do is collect and send in the ATM receipts. When I pay using the card, they charge 1.75% , and I have never bought anything using the card in the last two years, so this is neglectible. The exchange rates I receive for the ATM withdrawals are always equal to those available on the same day at the exchange booth of the bank that operates the ATM.

Maybe there are UK banks that offer a similar service Combined bank account / credit card account at a fixed yearly fee, allowing free withdrawals at ATM's ?

They great advantage is, all the money you did not need for a living would still be in your UK bank account, making it a small savings depot. Whenever you fly back to the UK you would be greeted by a small fortune waiting to be spent or brought back to Thailand in cash.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Open a bank account in Thailand and send money through your home e-banking... what a stupid question...

or... actually... even a better alternative... send the money to my Swiss bank account and on my next visit, I might bring it with me

Swiss 1960

That's about as unhelpful a comment as I've seen in a long time, thanks much for contributing to the font of international banking knowledge.

BTW, I asked the same question back in 1992 when I retired over here, and got some good advice, which is still functioning quite well.

Long ago I decided that the only "stupid question" is that which is NOT asked. So some people see responses like your's to a legit Q, then in the future they may not ask their "stupid question" as don't want to see such a reply.

Mac