Transferring Money From Uk To Thailand - Advice Needed From Smarter People Than Me :-S

[mattk1]

Hi there,

I need some help and advice with the whole transferring money from the UK to Thailand business.

I have been living here for nearly three months now and I have been getting by using a pre-paid debit card issued by STA Travel.

It is a system that I found convenient but the more I try and understand exchange rates and fluctuations, the more I find myself confused.

The STA card works like this;

1. Setup a bank transfer from my Halifax account online

2. It takes 2-3 days to go through but it is free, as opposed to a same day transfer cost of 4%

3. Draw money from an ATM in Thailand and I get charged 150 Baht ATM Fee and £2.25 service fee.

So that's about £5.50 (?) all in to withdraw money. 'Great' I thought, having read and been told by many people that they pay anything from £20 to £30 to transfer their money from the UK into a Thai account.

It was only after me bragging to a bloke in the pub that I only pay about £5.50 to transfer, and how it's so easy with the STA card that he told me the exchange rate I get is most likely terrible; and that he was better off in the long run.

I admit up until now I have been pretty ignorant to exchange rates and basically anything to do with foreign currency, which is why I am now pleading for advice from the smart and savvy people of the forums :-)

The first thing I wanted to know is what exchange rate the STA card offers.

This STA card is issued by Mastercard but after reading the terms and conditions, the exchange rate is not set by Mastercard and is actually set by STA with a 'Daily Rate'.

This 'Daily Rate' can be checked on their website and is guaranteed to stay the same for that day.

From the Terms and Conditions:

" The rate which we apply to spend outside of the card’s currency is fixed at the start of the day and we guarantee that rate, regardless of market fluctuations – you always know exactly what you will be charged in advance. Exchange rates change on a daily basis and you can check the rates on our website"

Here is the link;

http://www.statravel.co.uk/cashcard.htm?WT.mc_id=cashcard&GCID=C14242x681#currency

I checked it today and the rate they are offering is 1 GBP = 45.9603 Baht

To compare, I also checked out XE.com to see what they showed as the exchange rate;

1 GBP = 49.9882 Baht

The maximum I can withdraw from an ATM here in Thailand is 20,000 Baht at one time. So based on that I worked out from the STA 'Daily Rate' link;

20,000 Baht = 435.158 GBP

The same calculation on XE.com is;

20,000 Baht = 400.095 GBP

As I'm a little bit stupid, does this mean that including the £5.50 of fees that STA charge, I am actually about £40 down on every ATM withdrawal (based on these figures)?

If this is the case, can anyone advise me of a better way of shifting my money around?

I have recently opened a Thai account with Bangkok Bank and in the UK I am with the Halifax if that is of any benefit to my situation.

I would massively appreciate plain and simple advice as like I said earlier, I'm not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to all this foreign money lark.

I just feel a bit of a prat now for all the times I've bragged about my great STA card :-)

Sorry this is a bit long winded!

Thank you!

[Riley'sLife]

I always find that research is the key in life generally. Perhaps before posting you could find the best way to achieve your goal by use of the "search" function on this forum.

If you can't be arsed, then just TT GBP - in GBP - from your bank in UK (they will need your Thai bank a/c details and SWIFT ref plus your address in Thailand) to your Bkk Bank a/c. Never, ever buy Thai Baht outside Thailand unless you want a crap exch rate!

[mattk1]

Cheers Riley'sLife,

Short and straight to the point

[necronx99]

The rate on xe.com is the interbank rate, you won't get that.

But if you look at a thai bank ie http://www.kasikornb...gnexchange.aspx

You would get 49.6. So if you TT'd say 2000 GBP in one go you would end up with Baht 99,200 for a cost of about 10 pounds (regardless of the amount you send.)

Compare this to your current ripoff of about Baht 92,000 for 27 GBP in fees.

15 quid less in fees, 7200 baht better off for every 2000 pounds.

(TT is just another way of saying have your bank send it via the swift network. Always tell them to send pounds and let the Thai bank convert it.)

Edited April 30, 2012 by necronx99

[CharlieH]

I think the key is move more less often.

Open a Bangkok bank account, transfer online from Halifax to Bangkok Bank LONDON, they'll send it through to your Thai account.

It will cost you 20 quid, it will be in Thai account within 24 hrs of hitting London branch.Exchange rate is "TT" rate as shown in top right corner of this forum.

Other way to save is DONT use ATM for foreign account, go inside the bank with card and Passport and ask them to do it manually. No 150 baht fee.

[true blue]

as long as you have i banking with halifax, just do a swift transfer,of sterling to your acc in bangkok bank 49.65 todays rate,cost you about 20/25 quid.

[jubby]

Just move money via internet banking from your Halifax account to your Thai Bank Account. It cost £9.50 per transfer. halifax is one of the cheapest and it only takes a couple of days.

Send Sterling not Baht it will get a much better exchange rate here than in the UK. Don't know where the ATM charge come into play as it should be free.

[cardholder]

Just move money via internet banking from your Halifax account to your Thai Bank Account. It cost £9.50 per transfer. halifax is one of the cheapest and it only takes a couple of days.

Send Sterling not Baht it will get a much better exchange rate here than in the UK. Don't know where the ATM charge come into play as it should be free.

I am with Jubby. Send it online, arrives 3rd working day at the prevailing "TT" rate of your bank.

[Bpuumike]

I agree with these answers. Have the Halifax transfer Sterling direct to your BBL account. Don't go via BBL London as it will only incur an extra charge.

Use your BBL debit card to get cash from BBL ATM's free of charge.

Make fewer and larger transfers to BBL Thailand rather than frequent smaller amounts

[Tafia]

I believe Halifax did a reasonably cheap SWIFT transfer at under a tenner, worth checking out if this is still the case.

Ah, I just read Jubby post which confirms my thoughts.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Tafia

[PattayaParent]

Just without the exchange rate you're losing money using the ATM unless you live off less than 80,000 Baht a month.

For the £20 my bank charges to transfer money I can send as much as I have in the bank, but I usually send 500,000 Baht a time whereas for £22 you can only get 80,000 Baht from the ATM.

Comparing it to the Halifax fee you are even more of a fool

[MichaelJohn]

I send sterling by SWIFT from UK bank to Thai Bank - it cost £10-£15 in the UK and 500B in Thailand - all told £20-£25.

I use the kasikorn link mentions about to see the XR - today 49.6

In the UK I use Smile Bank because they only charge £13 (I've also heard of Halifax being around £10 and these two seem to be the cheapest)

The XR is the most important thing - a good XR get you more money that negates any fees - depending how much you send of course!

As was mentioned about - send large quantites infrequently as this keeps the fees down.

And finally, as mentioned at the begining, send pounds, DON'T convert to Baht in the UK!!!

[mattk1]

Big big thank you to everyone who replied with excellent and helpful advice

I used the Halifax online service to send an international TT to my Bangkok bank as suggested.

The normal cost is £9.50 but they have a promotion code at the moment which allows you to send 3 payments for only £7.50

Again thank you all for taking the time to help a newbie

[CHANGOVER]

I'm with Santander (Abbey) and their TT is £25!!! A complete ripoff! I wish I was with Halifax :-(