The Best Rates From The Uk To Thailand?

[pkrv]

I posted a short time ago regarding banking in Thailand but there seemed to be some interest in money transfers from the UK.

On the 24th November I needed to convert around £10,300 to Thai Baht as so I did the usual rounds trying:

Barclays - Quoted 69.95 with a £20 fee and an £8 fixed fee for the Thai end processing

Smile - Did not quote but would make the trade for me (I didn't go for that one!)

World First - Quoted 70.08 no fees (this is a verbal trade)

The market rate advertised by World First was 71.98 and I confirmed this on the dealing systems I have access to.

At this moment World First are quoting 71.65 (GBPTHP)

www.worldfirst.com

see - private - currency converter - for the moment this seems to reflect true market rates

I allowed 4 days for the money to arrive in World Firsts account (it is actually only three days) and the money cleared in Bangkok on the 2nd December 2 days later.

There was once again a 650 Baht fee at the Thai end (which was again was not really explained) but this does not seem to be onerous.

I do have more funds to transfer and would like to see more options as although the World First rate was quite good it has deteriorated from when I first used the service for similar amounts (the difference then was 0.6 points)

Can anyone else recommend a good bank/organisation to transfer funds? - The next transfer will be quite substantial.

[rio666uk]

never used anyone other than my bank FirstDirect

£21 flat fee on any amount

small fee similar to the 650b you mention when the money gets to Bangkok Bank

takes about 3 or 4 days.

i understand that its best to send sterling not baht i.e. get the conversion done that end

other than that i dont think there are many good alternatives to what your already doing.

[pkrv]

rio666uk

Many thanks for your comments, interesting about converting the money in Thailand I will take a look at that.

By the way I made a mistake the market price was actually 70.98 on the day of the trade (not 71.98 its too early here!) So my trade was only 0.9 points off market price.

The only tip I can give is that the 'real' fees charged by banks are contained in the exchange rate they give you. So if you have access to live rates (for the moment this seems to be accessible from the World First site) you can check the quote to see how far off the market you actually are. My trade was 0.9 points so the 'real fee' for this trade was around £130.

(70.98 * 10,300) - (70.08*10,300) = 9,270 Baht.

Assuming UK rate of 70.98 = £130

Plus of course the 650 Baht Thai bank fee

Bares no relation to the Banks alleged fees (e.g. Barclays £20) does it

[Rinrada]

Depending on who you know out there and ..reliable contacts etc we find that we only ever use the old N/W ATM for standard money transfers.

Wife has got 3 flex a/c set up and now her new mates here in the smoke trust her to transfer their "send home" monies via her/my accounts.

Unfortunately the max on a single transaction is now limited to £300 quid a day but as said with the 3 atms our niece (likes visiting her local bank)can withdraw £900 /day. We are talking to N/W to up the limits so will see.

One friend of hers (wife) hubby owns a couple of pubs/restaurants and a few weeks ago wanted to send £5K to mum in "Pits an hav a luk".We asked for the OK from you know who and transfered the lot via the ATM almost in one go (exceptional arrangement)

Also because of how we do it all the families have set up bank a/cs over there in many cases for the first time.

Our local Sam Prat bank has the machines inside the building so we dont have our nieces walking about the streets with large amounts on dosh on them.

The arrangements might appear to be a bit tedious but it makes you a lot of friends.

Recent exchange rate was 72 bt/£ and of course no charges.

Not really suitable for Expats who need to register on local bank statements for visa purposes etc.but for us it works out.

...bank charges are daylight robbery....

[rio666uk]

pkrv... its early here too and im not yet at full tilt, full speed operation...

but im a little confused how arrived at those figures.

"By the way I made a mistake the market price was actually 70.98 on the day of the trade (not 71.98 its too early here!) So my trade was only 0.9 points off market price."

70.98 - 71.98 = 1 point isnt it?

"(70.98 * 10,300) - (70.08*10,300) = 9,270 Baht.

Assuming UK rate of 70.98 = £130"

(70.98 x 10300. = 731,094.00 bht) - 731,094.00 = 0 ????

sorry if ive missed something - can you explain just for my own sanity if nothing else

thanks in advance

[pkrv]

rio666uk,

Sorry it was my initial error that is causing the confusion. I originally said that the market rate was 71.98 this was incorrect. The market rate was actually 70.98, so please ignore the 71.98 figure.

Thus the rate difference was 70.98 - 70.08 = 0.9

FYI RBS's Reuters Dealing Code RBSL (this is the live market) is quoting 71.94

World First's site is quoting 71.94

The rates are obviously bouncing around moment by moment however for the time being it does seem that you can see the actual live market rate on World Firsts site. However as with all these things I guess that could change.

So if I were to have traded today I may have been able to get a rate of around 71.04, and would have saved some money! But you can't really predict these things...

[GuestHouse]

Not from the UK I know, but just to put a scale on these things. My Italian Bank charge me a flat rate of Euro12 and I pay Bht500 at the receiving end.

I always transfer in my local currency and convert to Bht in Thailand, seems be a better rate if I do.

[briley]

Unfortunately the max on a single transaction is now limited to £300 quid a day but as said with the 3 atms our niece (likes visiting her local bank)can withdraw £900 /day. We are talking to N/W to up the limits so will see.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed Rinrada that Nationwide is the ONLY way to transfer money (except Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society)

But the GBP300 limit is easy to circumvent. I have a Bangkok Bank saving account. Go into the branch with card and savings book (oh and Passport) and they will transfer any amount to my savings account - I have transfered 55,000 baht in one go, a friend reportedly transfered 600,000 baht in one go. No charges.

I even did a withdrawal at the ATM at the same time. They went through on different days but the different in exchange rate was under 0.1 baht so still no charges.

[Khun Bob]

Unfortunately the max on a single transaction is now limited to £300 quid a day but as said with the 3 atms our niece (likes visiting her local bank)can withdraw £900 /day. We are talking to N/W to up the limits so will see.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed Rinrada that Nationwide is the ONLY way to transfer money (except Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society)

But the GBP300 limit is easy to circumvent. I have a Bangkok Bank saving account. Go into the branch with card and savings book (oh and Passport) and they will transfer any amount to my savings account - I have transfered 55,000 baht in one go, a friend reportedly transfered 600,000 baht in one go. No charges.

I even did a withdrawal at the ATM at the same time. They went through on different days but the different in exchange rate was under 0.1 baht so still no charges.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi briley - could you explain how you go about getting bkk bank to do the transfer for you to your bkk bank savings account free of charge ? What do you say and what nationwide card do you use ?

Cheers

[Morgan]

Look into having a Foreign Currency Deposit account at your Thai bank. That way your money will sit in your thai bank in Sterling. You can then change it into thai bt,as and when you need it at the best rate.

[JohnC]

I also have a nationwide account and I recently transfered £27,000 for a flat fee of £20 no questions asked. It arrived in my bangkok bank where they exchanged it to the baht rate that day and I got 72.5 to the £. The rate quoted to exchange to baht in the UK then transfer was 65baht to the pound meaning I would have lost over 20,000 baht! so I was a happy bunny!

As frequently mentioned in the forum the Nationwide continue to allow ATM withdrawals at no charge and I have found the exchange rate favourable.

The only way I have found to better the rate is to take £ with me and change it locally as and when needed but this is not practicable when dealing with large sums.

[pkrv]

Many thanks to everyone for their replies all duly noted. My final 70% payment will be for a condominium so I would have to ensure the funds were correctly logged, in order to correctly on forwarded.

I too have heard that Nationwide offers commission free withdrawal; there was an article in the FT about this.

I will take a look at this, and will reply to this thread with the results. I have a Nationwide just around the corner so this could be very convenient indeed!

My only real comments is that the true market rates fluctuate second by second, so unless you have Web Access at the moment you are doing the trade how do you know how far of the market rate you are so that you can see the true charge? Though I guess at the end of the day there is no choice but to go for the best rate you can get at some point during the day!

At this stage I will compare World First and Nationwide v.s. live market rates for the overall fees involved. Any other suggestions for example getting a Thai local rate would I have to go into a branch to explore this?

[briley]

hi briley - could you explain how you go about getting bkk bank to do the transfer for you to your bkk bank savings account free of charge ?  What do you say and what nationwide card do you use ?

Cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sort of very simple.

Took my debit card, savings book and passport. Asked to pay 55,000 baht from my UK account (wave card) into my savings account. Cashier went and found the exchange rate and said is this OK? I said Yes (71 something baht). She runs my card through a little machine that prints off what looks like a credit card purchase and I sign the piece of paper. Savings book put through the machine and home I go.

Mind I did try in Tesco's branch of Bangkok bank and they said not possible use the ATM. So I went to Chiang Mai - Suthep road branch where my account is held and had no problems - except the queue.

[samran]

I also have a nationwide account and I recently transfered £27,000 for a flat fee of £20 no questions asked. It arrived in my bangkok bank where they exchanged it to the baht rate that day and I got 72.5 to the £.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would be interesting to know when you did this transfer. The THB/GBP rate has fluctuated between 75 baht (in june 05) to 71 more recently. Though given the good reports for the nationwide ATM card, I suspect it would be a great rate, probably the best around.

[Rinrada]

hi briley - could you explain how you go about getting bkk bank to do the transfer for you to your bkk bank savings account free of charge ?  What do you say and what nationwide card do you use ?

Cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sort of very simple.

Took my debit card, savings book and passport. Asked to pay 55,000 baht from my UK account (wave card) into my savings account. Cashier went and found the exchange rate and said is this OK? I said Yes (71 something baht). She runs my card through a little machine that prints off what looks like a credit card purchase and I sign the piece of paper. Savings book put through the machine and home I go.

Mind I did try in Tesco's branch of Bangkok bank and they said not possible use the ATM. So I went to Chiang Mai - Suthep road branch where my account is held and had no problems - except the queue.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Briley.....Good one..I have heard of this one before but never got round to trying it.

Quick couple of points points..

Did you withdraw directly from your ATM Flex/debit or was it on Visa/Mastercard.

When she deposited it into your Bank Krunthrep savings a/c did she (assume) register it as an imported currency deposit..ie that would be suitable for the likes of a 400/800k yearly secured non-immi-retirement statement..... or...

cheers..R

[JohnC]

Just checked my bank statements/book, the £27,000 left my nationwide account on 29th Sept and appeared in my Bangkok Bank account on 30th! not bad I thought!

[millwall_fan]

I only deal in fairly small amounts compared to some of you guys above, but I use the trusty Nationwide too. i opened a flex account with an additional card in my (Thai) wifes name.Her mother has the wifes card and can draw out her monthly amount in baht at the interbank rate with no charges at either end. The best deal in town without a doubt!

[briley]

Rinrada: Used my Flex account direct debit card. Nationwide do make charges against the credit card.

It was put direct into my savings account with the FTT markings, forgein telegraphic transfer? BUT note that I did make a comment that I wanted the FTT for immigration so it might be optional?

[briley]

Rinrada: Used my Flex account direct debit card. Nationwide do make charges against the credit card.

It was put direct into my savings account with the FTT markings, forgein telegraphic transfer? BUT note that I did make a comment that I wanted the FTT for immigration so it might be optional?

Oops sorry about the duplicate posting..................

Edited December 11, 2005 by briley

[JimmyGreaves]

wow no charges at all.

that's the best news I've heard today. I will transfer into my SCB bank this way in future and get ftt markings. Not dependant on UK rates but the rate at SCB. Next step see if you can negotiate better than the tourist rate for large amounts.

Cheers briley. What u havin? it's my round!

[Rinrada]

Rinrada: Used my Flex account direct debit card. Nationwide do make charges against the credit card.

It was put direct into my savings account with the FTT markings, forgein telegraphic transfer? BUT note that I did make a comment that I wanted the FTT for immigration so it might be optional?

Oops sorry about the duplicate posting..................

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks...good one....R

[briley]

wow no charges at all.

that's the best news I've heard today. I will transfer into my SCB bank this way in future and get ftt markings. Not dependant on UK rates but the rate at SCB. Next step see if you can negotiate better than the tourist rate for large amounts.

Cheers briley. What u havin? it's my round!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Using Nationwide you get virtual the market rate, the difference it fractional. It is not the 'tourist rate' that can mean anything. Look at the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page,

http://www.bangkokbank.co.th/Bangkok+Bank/...es/FX+Rates.htm

Using a Nationwide card either over the counter or via the ATM you get the TT buying rate (currently 71.88500). Compared to their TT selling rate (currently 72.48000) the bank makes 0.595 Baht per GBP, or 0.83% profit.

You'd have to be bringing in a heck of a lot to get a bank to better that, after all the bank has to do two transactions (buy and sell) to make their 0.83% profit.

[Khun Bob]

Some excellent replies in this post...

Briley can i just confirm/query a few things (apologies if they sound dumb - not well today at all...)

* The transaction you did had no additional charges either from nationwide, intermediaries or the receiving bank (bkk bank) ?

* Were you able to specify what the purpose of the transation was for ? (this would be useful for condo/house purchase and visa purposes - ie invest 3M bt to get 1yr extension)

* The rate you got was comparable to the rate for withdrawl from the ATM (although they were a day out) - as far as you are aware this was the standard rate and there was nothing extra (extra charges) built int this ?

* Are Nationwide likely to start asking questions about do this kind of transfer ? (not that i'm suggesting asking them that question!) Or this is a perfectly valid way of doing a "withdrawl"

In past conversations with nationwide there policy on no fees for foreign transactions seems to be one of there main selling points and i was told they are highly unlikely to change that. However, I would suggest to keep looking at there advertising as they do seem to trumpet that, but if there advertising begins to omit this feature then it may be a warnig sign. As members of the society, i would say there`are a considerable number who give nationwide there business for this very reason and in the unthinkabkle event that a change is proposed, should do somethng about it..

Look forward to hear from you....

[Rinrada]

I have spoken to Nationwide on this subject many times and their attitude it that its your money... do what you want with it..if we can help... good.

As said earlier N/W is still a Building Society and its members are the shareholders /stakeholders (dont worry it aint a "commi" institutation)and thats the reason they can offer this service....unlike "proper " Rip OFF Banks. (robs)

and they still make big PROFITS.....shows you how much the ROBS are coining in....

[Noodles]

I used Travelex just recently...they charge 10 pounds for anything under 10k and nothing for anything over that. I got a rate of 71.11.

It may have gone up a little bit more that day but I was in hurry for the monies over here. It took around a day 1/2 to reach my Ayudhya bank

and they also did not charge me.

Next time I think I will open up a holding account and exchange when the rate gets better.

[briley]

There seems to be a lot of interest so I'll give you my full details.

On 10 Nov I went to Bangkok bank and had 55,000 baht credited to my savings account with FTT in the code column. No fees, no 100 baht, nothing. My Nationwide account was debited with GBP767.39p. No other debits. Thats 71.671Baht to 1GBP.

Went outside to the ATM took 5000 baht in crisp notes and got debited GBP69.88 from my Nationwide acount - 71.551 to 1GBP

Using Bangkok banks historic rates page the rates for TT buying (they buy, I sell) were

10 Nov 71.55750 baht=1GBP (update 2, I did it late in the day)

11 Nov 71.33500 baht=1GBP

I let you figure this out, I got better than the Bangkok bank rate.

I do not know if Bangkok bank ask nationwide for 55,000 baht or the pounds, but the rate I got was not the rate the cashier quoted. I think they ask for 55,000 so you get the Nationwide rate (or visa rate or what) but that opens a whole new topic.

Suspect Nationwide will stick with their policy as it gives them a lot of good publicity for little cost, we are the exception not the rule!

[JimmyGreaves]

That's an interesting point with regards how you asked for the withdrawal 55.000 Baht and not say GBP767.39p. Doubt if it makes any difference.

Cheers again

briley

[briley]

Ah - suppose the point is the slip I signed said I was withdrawing 55,000 Baht.

If I had asked for GBP750 then probably they would have gone

750 * 72 (exchange rate) and ask their little machine for 54,000 baht.

[JimmyGreaves]

Just tried this today at Siam Commercial Bank Hua Hin for a 50,000 baht transaction. First thing the teller asked me was did I have the pin number for the card and why I no go outside. I said I need the transaction for immigration, she looked bemused and carried on, then she took my passport and told me 70 baht for transaction. I stipulated I needed it for immigration and talked about ftt code transaction, she swiped the card, updated my book, photocopied my passport and that was it. Looked at my book and had the code CD (Cash Deposit) tried to ask if they had such a code ftt but she looked bemused. Another teller mentioned that my receipt had my Nationwide Debit Card Number (It Actually said Visa Card). So that would be proof of transfer from abroad. Bit of a piss off that I have to keep the receipt safe if I need a bank letter, not sure if they know that specific CD came from abroad as I have deposited baht before and had a C2 code never a CD one. Maybe someone can enlighten us on SCB codes. I will be checking the actual rate applied tomorrow.

[pkrv]

As promised I took a look at the rates being offered by Nationwide and compared them against the 'live market'.

Again I can confirm everyone can see the true 'live market rate' on the Worldfirst site

www.worldfirst.com

-> Private - > currency converter

as I checked this on the dealing systems I have access to.

Wow I was impressed!

The 'live rate' is currently 72.72

Nationwide were offering 72.13 to transfer just one pound with no fee!

So these guys are on my shopping list next time. Just have to get around the £300 limit, as I would like to convert the money at the UK end. I like to know what I will get, and also manage/document the condo purchase in two countries for additional security.