How Much Cash Can I Bring In?

[desertwind]

i will be leaving for an extended stay in the LOS in a few days and right now have 4000 US$ cash that i want to open and put into a thai bank for use over there.

bringing this much cash into the country are there any restrictions or declarations that i will have to make. (US Passport- non-imm 'b' visa)) and if i wanted to then at a later point take this much cash out, would this be done with ease?

thanking you in advance.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

You need to declare to Thai Customs on arrival, any amount from $US10,000 to ensure no difficulties in taking money out. $10,000 and below is not a problem.

[lopburi3]

If you are keeping a US bank account (would recommend you do so) why not just bring atm/cash card and draw from your account when needed?

[randyksf]

DR. is correct 10k is the magic number. for both US and Bkk..

If you are still in the states a word of advice is to open a city bank or HSBC account state side. Then open a savings account here. That way transferring funds is simple. You also get much better rates. .

I didn't do this and now a I have had a few challenges with transfers. Be sure to talk to you current bank and find out what their policy is. I was given incorrect information by a stupid XXXXX at my bank. It turns out that I need to sign in a branch.

two days of lazyness has cost me weeks of frustrations.

So now I transfer from my personal account to my brokerage account to here. Also you can have your ATM limit raised quite high so getting cash is not a problem if you don’t feel like caring 4k with you.

Plan on a burn rate of 40 - 50 baht per month depending on your rent.

I use BankThai right off of Silom BTS same side as Silom complex. Nice and simple a B visa was all they wanted to see. They don't speak english that well but it just works. They also have a branch in Siam...

Bank of Asia was really stupid. They asked me how much I was going to open my account with. I told them 10k then I was going to transfer 400,000 baht once I had the ABA.

I know there is a thread someplace here about what banks are good.

[Khun ?]

Randy

They do not use ABA number it will be a swift code. Why do you not have your brokerage firm send you a card (debit Card on money market account). I done this before and had it in 4 days and my exchange rate is a hair better than bank gives minus a $1 fee when I use fast cash at the ATM. The limit is 40,000 baht a day at ATM and unlimited in person at any bank that I have used to include eastern

european countries.

[randyksf]

Randy

They do not use ABA number it will be a swift code. Why do you not have your brokerage firm send you a card (debit Card on money market account). I done this before and had it in 4 days and my exchange rate is a hair better than bank gives minus a $1 fee when I use fast cash at the ATM. The limit is 40,000 baht a day at ATM and unlimited in person at any bank that I have used to include eastern

european countries.

Thanks for the correction on the Swift number.

The amount of money is needed is 400,000 baht for business reasons. What sucks is I that I found out about my bankers FXXXXX mistake when I am here. Now I have to purchase product from personal funds. Just a pain in the paperwork department.

The reason only reason even talked about the accounts back home is simplicity and greater control of your money.

Also depending on an ATM card can be a harrowing experience. I went to purchase something and the network was down also if you lose it you are really in Fxxxxxed.

[Khun ?]

Randy

I have had just the opposite experience. Lost it had new one FED Ex in 4 days.

Internet banking makes it easy to check account as needed. If one ATM does not work go to another one. With the amount of days banks are closed in Thailand it is a real problem at times. Either way what ever works for you.

[Sunbelt Asia]

If you decide to wire the funds out of Thailand, you'll need a Tor Tor Som. If you don't have that, you'll need to withdraw the funds and hand carry the Baht changed into dollars or another currency out. You cannot take out more than 10,000 Baht in cash.

[randyksf]

Randy

I have had just the opposite experience. Lost it had new one FED Ex in 4 days.

Internet banking makes it easy to check account as needed. If one ATM does not work go to another one. With the amount of days banks are closed in Thailand it is a real problem at times. Either way what ever works for you.

It is funny with living here everyone has a different experience. It's almost like taking a Taxi ride.

If the ATM works for you that’s great, I used it for quite sometime. Just amounts are a little different for business usages and tax reasons.

For me it really hard to say to the Tax man I moved 10,000 dollars by taking it out of the ATM to put in to a Thai account to pay for XYZ to sell at home. My accountant would have my head.

It is true if you are going to be here for just an extended time then ATM should be fine.

I agree you have to hit a few ATM's b4 you get one that works.

[Khutan]

I find ATM's are easy if your issuing bank is both a Mastercard and Visa issuing Bank.

The Transactions are routed via the local ATM Pool network across to the Maestro

(Mastercard) or via the VISA networ and end up being approved for value by your bank. This is regardless of it being a credit card transaction or not. This also depends on the issuing bank and whats encoded on the card itself.

Smart cards never really took off, and there are a very limited number of smart card readers left in the country. You would be very lucky to find one these days.

There seem to be more Maestro ATM's than Visa ones (as in Maestro/Cirrus Only or Visa Only) You can check by looking at the ATM and you see the 2 blue circles then its Maestro/Cirrus. For some reason some banks don't allow connection to both networks, even though its technically possible.

Lucky for me my Australian bank issues both Visa and Master cards, so its not a problem, but I think if I had to choose, I would take Maestro or Mastercard, there seem to be more machines that are connected to that network.

Have a look some time on the ATM's, it will surprise you what some offer and others don't.