Dear forum members,

I work in Malaysia, get paid in MYR, pay my taxes there etc. but I live with my family in Thailand, mainly because I don't want to move myself and the family, instead I fly down from Mon - Thu every week and spend the remaining week in Thailand.

I need to remit some of my salary to Thailand and has to my dissatisfaction found out that I am not allowed to remit in MYR, rather I must remit in USD or THB. However the exchange rate I am offered from Maybank is really poor, close to daylight robbery actually.

Two days ago I inquired on a remit of MYR 100.000 on a day where the www.xe.com exchange rate was 9.93 I was offered 9.26 by Maybank. I didn't check the USD rate I expect this will only cost me money at both ends as USD will need to be converted to THB at Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand and hence probably not a good choice either.

I have checked with "The FX Firm" and "Smart Currency Exchange" via www.mycurrencytransfer.com but it seems that nobody can help and I assume this is because Malaysia disallow remittance in other currencies than USD or the receving country's currency?

I don't want to carry loads of cash and on the day the exchange rate for MYR notes were 9.10 in SCB so not a good deal either.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to obtain a better exchange rate?

BR

Fa4960

your problem... MYR is a restricted currency based on "Mahathir vs. Soros 1997".

re: Two days ago I inquired on a remit of MYR 100.000 on a day where the www.xe.com exchange rate was 9.93

The xe exchange rate quoted is the mid-market rate, not the actual rate you would get.

Since CIMB operate in both countries you might enquire the rate for transferring monies.

My friend sent up MR to purchase a villa. The MR / THB rate was rubbish. The best rate he was able to get was to convert to US$ in Malaysia and send that up to his Thai bank. The Thai bank convert to THB at a reasonable rate.

My friend sent up MR to purchase a villa. The MR / THB rate was rubbish. The best rate he was able to get was to convert to US$ in Malaysia and send that up to his Thai bank. The Thai bank convert to THB at a reasonable rate.

Yes. That's also my experience. Also, if you open citibank accounts in both countries, you can do instant online transfers between them for free. But they charge 2 % on top of xe.com rate, still a lot better than what you'd actually get from any other means.

My friend sent up MR to purchase a villa. The MR / THB rate was rubbish. The best rate he was able to get was to convert to US$ in Malaysia and send that up to his Thai bank. The Thai bank convert to THB at a reasonable rate.

Yes. That's also my experience. Also, if you open citibank accounts in both countries, you can do instant online transfers between them for free. But they charge 2 % on top of xe.com rate, still a lot better than what you'd actually get from any other means.

Hi,

I assume this requires me to set up USD accounts with Citibank or CIMB in both countries?

I just checked the MYR -> USD -> remit -> USD -> THB and it seems I can get exchange rate 9.76 by doing that, not great but much better than 9.26.

My friend sent up MR to purchase a villa. The MR / THB rate was rubbish. The best rate he was able to get was to convert to US$ in Malaysia and send that up to his Thai bank. The Thai bank convert to THB at a reasonable rate.

Yes. That's also my experience. Also, if you open citibank accounts in both countries, you can do instant online transfers between them for free. But they charge 2 % on top of xe.com rate, still a lot better than what you'd actually get from any other means.

Hi,

I assume this requires me to set up USD accounts with Citibank or CIMB in both countries?

I just checked the MYR -> USD -> remit -> USD -> THB and it seems I can get exchange rate 9.76 by doing that, not great but much better than 9.26.

Why not just toddle along to a CIMB branch in Malaysia and ask?

Edited May 16, 201313 yr by yoshiwara

My friend sent up MR to purchase a villa. The MR / THB rate was rubbish. The best rate he was able to get was to convert to US$ in Malaysia and send that up to his Thai bank. The Thai bank convert to THB at a reasonable rate.

Yes. That's also my experience. Also, if you open citibank accounts in both countries, you can do instant online transfers between them for free. But they charge 2 % on top of xe.com rate, still a lot better than what you'd actually get from any other means.

Hi,

I assume this requires me to set up USD accounts with Citibank or CIMB in both countries?

I just checked the MYR -> USD -> remit -> USD -> THB and it seems I can get exchange rate 9.76 by doing that, not great but much better than 9.26.

No. You just open basic THB account in Citibank Thailand, and Basic MYR account in Citibank Malaysia. And then you can transfer your MYR to your citibank Thailand account and vice versa. They are usually converted at xe.com rate + 2 % . For example, xe.com rate today from MYR to THB is 9.86, so the rate you'll get will be around 9.66, and zero transfer charges at either sides. This is called Citibank global transfer.