Okay, as usual let's stay on subject please. I don't care whether you agree with sponsering or my choice of girlfriend so let's not discuss that matter here, I've decided I'm going to send her some money but want to know the cheapest, most reliable method.

I just sent her 10,000B via a bank transfer HSBC (UK) to Kasikorn (TH). Not only did it cost me just over 800B in fees my end, it seems she's only received 9,100B so Kasikorn look to have taken 900B in fees as well. Wasn't expecting that!

I've asked her to go in and ask why she didn't get the 10,000B I sent her, and to visit some other banks to ask under the same circumstances (10,000B bank to bank transfer) how much if anything would they charge.

Here in the UK the Post Office claim to offer free transfers, but how do their exchange rates compare? Anyone used them? And what about Western Union? Online it said it would cost £9.90 (less than 500B), but I hear so many horror stories about hidden charges to watch out for. Are they reliable?

There must be loads of Farang send their Thai girlfriends money, so how do you do it?

Gary UK.

It sounds like you exchanged your money from £ to Bht in the UK before transferring, and perhaps made the transfer in a face to face transactional your UK bank.

The cheaper and better exchange rate option is to do the following:

Set up online banking facilities on your account in the UK

Set up an online bank to bank transfer from your UK account to the Thailand account. You will need the Bank SWIFT Code, Account Name, Account Address, and Bank Address.

When you want to make a transfer do the following:

Transfer Pounds Sterling (to be exchange to Bht in Thailand)

Select "Split Charges"

This way you get the lowest charges (should be around £10.00 for the transfer at the UK end + you get the best exchange rate in Thailand.

As an added advantage you get a record of how much money you are sending over in you bank statements which you can ponder on at leisure.

As an added advantage you get a record of how much money you are sending over in you bank statements which you can ponder on at leisure.

Admiring the subtly GH ...

garyuk it seems you have a lot to learn,why did you not ask us before sending the money.there are hundreds of posts regarding sending money from uk.to thailand expecially small amounts,you have already played your cards so dont be proud to ask us we dont bite only nibble.have a look at the banking forum,money trans.

Just send the money to my UK bank account, and I will guarantee that she gets it

Personally I have a thai bank account, and I transfer money from that account to my wifes account, and there is no charge. I transfer funds from my UK account into my thai account in STERLING, and my UK bank charges £25, I normally do that twice a year.

Send it in Sterling, not Baht.

For smaller amounts try using someone like Money Bookers.

A slightly lower rate but much smaller transaction fee.

https://www.moneybookers.com/app/

Get her to open a Bangkok bank account, you open one in the London Branch and transfer the money like that, should be cheaper.

Gary UK.

It sounds like you exchanged your money from £ to Bht in the UK before transferring, and perhaps made the transfer in a face to face transactional your UK bank.

The cheaper and better exchange rate option is to do the following:

Set up online banking facilities on your account in the UK

Set up an online bank to bank transfer from your UK account to the Thailand account. You will need the Bank SWIFT Code, Account Name, Account Address, and Bank Address.

When you want to make a transfer do the following:

Transfer Pounds Sterling (to be exchange to Bht in Thailand)

Select "Split Charges"

This way you get the lowest charges (should be around £10.00 for the transfer at the UK end + you get the best exchange rate in Thailand.

As an added advantage you get a record of how much money you are sending over in you bank statements which you can ponder on at leisure.

Excellent advice.

Being more specific, try Halifax online, costs are GBP 9.50 to send the funds (no need for splitting costs) - send in Sterling. Kasikorn then only charge circa 0.25% min 200 Baht (max 500 I think) + 20 Baht inter province fee.

If you are going to visit regularly get yourself a bank account and then you can fund that as required (see Thaddeus, twice a year) and transfer for free to your GFs account (at same bank). For the latter you just need a Thai sim card as the transaction is authorised via One Time Password sms.

you can get OTP via email as well. I use Krungsri Bank. You can also set it up for weekly, monthly or whatever period you want, and for a set period of time, say 6 months

Edited November 28, 201213 yr by Forkinhades

There must be loads of Farang send their Thai girlfriends money, so how do you do it?

I use a more direct approach. I just made an additional bank card for my UK account and gave the PIN number to her brother. Saves time and travel time for my GF.

Edited November 28, 201213 yr by Payboy

Most of the Thai Banks take a cut as well, so you get double charged. 800 baht sounds about right, from the numerous transactions that I do.

Best way would to give her one very large transaction say 120,000baht, then you'll only have top pay the bank fee's once - that should work out okay, if you were intending to send her 10k a month

A host of Off Topic Nonsense has been removed.

And on lite beers note, I'm closing this topic

Op, I think by now you have received advice on a few options. If not please send a pm and I will reopen thread. Most of the recent posts have been deleted as they were all silly rubbish. So dont see much point letting this run

Cheers