Gbp Sterling Account In Thai

[breadbin]

Hello

I am thinking of opening sterling account in Thailand.

The reason is that I sold a property and the cash is sitting in a bank account in Thailand.

I want to withdraw the cash, approximately 3 million as an example, and then have it changed into GBP.

I then want to open a sterling account.

I inquired with SCB and they were helpful in that they said I can open the account as such.

I then asked about transferring the GBP to my UK account. They said up to 20,000 USD can be sent at a time but if over this I need to request from Bank of Thailand for permission to send and need to show evidence of money entering Thai.

Ok, I transferred approx £25,000 in 2004 via swift payment for land. Then in 2006 over a number of months/days a relative withdrew approx £240 per day until approx £35,000 was banked in Thailand. I have my nationwide bs statements showing these withdrawals as well as the swift transaction.

Is this evidence enough to allow all the cash to be transferred from Thai to my UK account in one transaction?

I put another thread out about buying sterling travellers cheques and then putting these in my UK account on my return as another option.

Any thoughts or experiences gratefully received.

Thanks

[FalangBaa]

Approximately 3 million baht? I hope no Thai "ladies" will be reading this thread, or you may find yourself receiving numerous friendly PMs.

[breadbin]

Anyone with serious or experienced comments?

[JaiLai]

Anyone with serious or experienced comments?

I would say "NO" it's not good enough evidence.

When i went to open a USD or GBP a/c with BKK bank they also told me that for withdrawals from the bank they would charge me 3%, needless to say i did NOT open the a/c in the end.

[regedit]

If there's no hurry you could open several THB accounts here and make several SWIFT transfers to the UK under the USD 20k limit.

[breadbin]

Anyone with serious or experienced comments?

I would say "NO" it's not good enough evidence.

When i went to open a USD or GBP a/c with BKK bank they also told me that for withdrawals from the bank they would charge me 3%, needless to say i did NOT open the a/c in the end.

3% bloody hell, that's too much. I'd pay 1%. No way 3%.

Thanks for your reply and the heads up.

Best regards

[breadbin]

(null)

Trouble is I don't live in LoS now so want to do it in one go.

Thanks for your reply and suggestion.

[SantiSuk]

Are you intending on returning to live in the UK? If not is there some overriding reason why you need to get the money to the UK?

If you are intending to ultimately use more than a nominal amount of it by transferring it back into Thailand for future expenses then I think you are making a major mistake in not matching your assets (which will be GBP) with your liabilities (THB).

Consider this:

> The THB/GBP rate is down 4% ish so far this year (6% from its two year high) and it looks more likely to continue on that trajectory than not. Don't agree? Read the to-be Governor of the Bank of England's lips over the weekend. The implication of his comments about the potential levers to assist UK growth are being interpreted by market commetators (see Bloomberg/CNBC today) that there is likely to be a shift in policy towards participating in competitive devaluation (ie make the GBP cheap to stimulate exports and growth). That places all us falang with our financial resources in the UK and our likely future liabilities in Thailand potentially in an incredibly poor financial position.

> Growth in Thialand is above 5% pa. Growth in the UK ... there is none. Think - is that relativity likely to reverse in your lifetime?

> Interest rates for deposits in the UK are now of the order of 1.5% even if you have millions to invest, unless you fancy trying Islamic financing or Lower Bolsover Building Society/Bank of Sleazistan (names made up, but you get the idea). UK banks dont want your money - they are having cheap money thrown at them by a desperate Government. 2.8% is obtainable in Thailand for larger deposits and a bit less than that for less than THB 1m. The bank clerks here will smile at you!

Keeping money in Thailand of course brings its own risks. As with all things financial a basket approach is likely to be the most comfortable - assets in a portfolio of currencies (GBP, baht and one of euro or dollar would be an ok balance). Keep individual baht deposits spread among a few Thai banks to cater for bank default risk. the Deposit Protection Agency only covers deposits of up to 1 million baht per bank.

If the money is for use by you in the UK with no thought of its return to Thailand then consider keeping some of it in a Thai baht account for as long as you can until it is needed. My bet would be that you will get more GBP for your baht in 3 months time - maybe as much as 5% more? Who can tell and I'm sure others will give me a round raspberry - probably the same ones who poo-poed the idea they should be bringing currency over here for future living expenses whenever the baht/GBP hit 50 baht (which it did spike to 3 times in the last 2 years, only to retreat a few days later). My current 'bring-more-over' threshold is 47.5 (current TT rate about 47) and I suspect we will not see that 47.5 rate again anytime soon (ever?).

Market observer and participant.

Disclaimer: Retired UK Chartered Accountant living in Thailand. Investor for 40 years. I do back my pontifications with my own money. I do not day trade nor do I speculate on currencies, other than to protect my own assets - speculation is more fun and definitely less destructive with a cool whiskey, a hot partner and a stop limit at a casino).

Don't trust me blind, I don't always get it right (even though my own UK family ignore that advice and allow me to manage their money). Keep reading and form a balanced view yourself.

Edited January 28, 2013 by SantiSuk

[chiang mai]

The Thai Deposit protection scheme was extended I believe to cover all deposits by consumers (not businesses), the limit of coverage was scheduled to be reduced to 1 mill. but in the end was left as is.

[breadbin]

Thanks for the replies. Ill consider all advice provided and it is much appreciated.

[SantiSuk]

The Thai Deposit protection scheme was extended I believe to cover all deposits by consumers (not businesses), the limit of coverage was scheduled to be reduced to 1 mill. but in the end was left as is.

I clicked like, as it was good to have a potentially useful piece of information. But it encouraged me to go to the horse's mouth and I checked on the Deposit Protection Agency website. The relevant English language page still shows THB 1 million:

http://www.dpa.or.th/ewt_news.php?nid=320&filename=index___EN

Does anyone have an authoritative source to say this is wrong? Maybe I'll call my bank. TIT - you need at least two corroborating pieces of hard evidence!!

[chiang mai]

The Thai Deposit protection scheme was extended I believe to cover all deposits by consumers (not businesses), the limit of coverage was scheduled to be reduced to 1 mill. but in the end was left as is.

I clicked like, as it was good to have a potentially useful piece of information. But it encouraged me to go to the horse's mouth and I checked on the Deposit Protection Agency website. The relevant English language page still shows THB 1 million:

http://www.dpa.or.th...name=index___EN

Does anyone have an authoritative source to say this is wrong? Maybe I'll call my bank. TIT - you need at least two corroborating pieces of hard evidence!!

You've misread it I think, look again and you'll see that the 1 mill limit comes in after 2016, currently it's 50 mill.

[SantiSuk]

The Thai Deposit protection scheme was extended I believe to cover all deposits by consumers (not businesses), the limit of coverage was scheduled to be reduced to 1 mill. but in the end was left as is.

I clicked like, as it was good to have a potentially useful piece of information. But it encouraged me to go to the horse's mouth and I checked on the Deposit Protection Agency website. The relevant English language page still shows THB 1 million:

http://www.dpa.or.th...name=index___EN

Does anyone have an authoritative source to say this is wrong? Maybe I'll call my bank. TIT - you need at least two corroborating pieces of hard evidence!!

You've misread it I think, look again and you'll see that the 1 mill limit comes in after 2016, currently it's 50 mill.

Bu$$er me. Your'e right! Big misread by me! 50m baht is massive cover. One can but wonder if it would be honoured if a big bank failed but it certainly puts less pressure on having a portfolio of banks for the next few years. Thanks Chiang Mai - shows the worth of having these financial threads on TV

[chiang mai]

The Thai Deposit protection scheme was extended I believe to cover all deposits by consumers (not businesses), the limit of coverage was scheduled to be reduced to 1 mill. but in the end was left as is.

I clicked like, as it was good to have a potentially useful piece of information. But it encouraged me to go to the horse's mouth and I checked on the Deposit Protection Agency website. The relevant English language page still shows THB 1 million:

http://www.dpa.or.th...name=index___EN

Does anyone have an authoritative source to say this is wrong? Maybe I'll call my bank. TIT - you need at least two corroborating pieces of hard evidence!!

You've misread it I think, look again and you'll see that the 1 mill limit comes in after 2016, currently it's 50 mill.

Bu$$er me.

Can I pass please.