Transfering Money From Us To Thailand

[tuffy]

My wife (thai national) and I are planning to move to Thailand shortly. I will continue to work for a US based company but will reside in Thailand.

Are there any banks that will allow me to easily transfer money to from the same in Thailand?

I spoke with Citibank and they told me i would not be able to deposit or withdraw money from the branch in Thailand, but only through ATM.

I need a bank that will allow me access my money both here and there.

It would be nice to have a credit card that didn't charge foriegn service charges as well

We are also planning on buying a car there, what is the best way to transfer fund to do this?

Any suggestions?

[stevehaigh]

My wife (thai national) and I are planning to move to Thailand shortly. I will continue to work for a US based company but will reside in Thailand.

Are there any banks that will allow me to easily transfer money to from the same in Thailand?

I spoke with Citibank and they told me i would not be able to deposit or withdraw money from the branch in Thailand, but only through ATM.

I need a bank that will allow me access my money both here and there.

It would be nice to have a credit card that didn't charge foriegn service charges as well

We are also planning on buying a car there, what is the best way to transfer fund to do this?

Any suggestions?

wire transfer is always your best option but you have to be in the US of find someone in the US to set it up for you. i havn't been able to find a bank that will allow me to transfer money via internet/phone/fax yet. let me know if you do.

[stevehaigh]

My wife (thai national) and I are planning to move to Thailand shortly. I will continue to work for a US based company but will reside in Thailand.

Are there any banks that will allow me to easily transfer money to from the same in Thailand?

I spoke with Citibank and they told me i would not be able to deposit or withdraw money from the branch in Thailand, but only through ATM.

I need a bank that will allow me access my money both here and there.

It would be nice to have a credit card that didn't charge foriegn service charges as well

We are also planning on buying a car there, what is the best way to transfer fund to do this?

Any suggestions?

i just called citibank and they said you can withdraw $1000/day at the ATM in bkk without a fee. they also said if i open an account in citibank bkk, i can transfer money to it from citibank us account.

steve

[tuffy]

You spoke to Citibank in Thailand?

Interesting because Citibank here in the US told me they couldn't do that. I will have to look into this further. I think I also saw on Citibanks web site that you could send wire online. I'll check that out.

[ChiefBEM]

i just called citibank and they said you can withdraw $1000/day at the ATM in bkk without a fee. they also said if i open an account in citibank bkk, i can transfer money to it from citibank us account.

steve

When I checked (several months back) citibank required a money exchange fee for having dollars converted to Baht.

Do ATMs in Thailand give US Dollars?

If not be sure to check with citibank again about the money exchange fee.

Regards,

[otherstuff1957]

I have my money in a very small local US Bank (Bank of Alameda - a small town in California). I can make free ATM withdrawels anywhere in the world. A small bank with only a few branches can't afford to charge you for using a different ATM machine!

You might look into putting a large chunk of your money into a Credit Union or smaller bank.

[autonomous_unit]

I'd suggest just opening a regular Thai bank account here w/ separate ATM card and making wire transfers when you are in the US. I do wire transfers to my Bangkok Bank account and get competetive conversion rates and fees. The transfers go through the Bangkok Bank branch in New York, I believe. So, I use my Thai ATM card here and my US ATM card when traveling to the US or other countries. I could also use the US card here in a pinch, but never have.

For a "starter" transfer upon arrival, the easiest thing is to leave some money with a trusted friend or relative; have them wire the initial transfer after you arrive and open your account w/ a small cash deposit. I opened my account in BKK a day after I arrived on my first O visa, and told the wire destination information back to a relative via phone... I've never bothered establishing other wire transfer mechanisms, because I have this relative who I trust. I use online banking to issue them a US check that is mailed to their US address to pay them for the amount being wired back to me in Thailand. Wells Fargo lets online customers issue checks up to $25k US in this manner to US payees.

Note, Thai banks are a bit annoying and decentralized, so it is most convenient to open an account in the branch nearest your Thai residence. Many transactions cannot always be undertaken at other branches even in the same city, such as getting a wire transfer report to tell you the exact fees and rates applied. In our case, and from looking at Thais we know, it seems like everyone ends up with a smattering of different accounts at different banks and branches that have been opened for convenience when they lived or worked nearby. There doesn't seem to be much impetus to close the old accounts.

BTW, major Thai banks seem to be offering CDs at rates that are competetive to US rates: around 4-5% APR for roughly one year deposits. I mention that in case it helps you consider ways to move your cash around.

[on-on]

HSBC is always a good alternative anywhere in Asia that it's available (which it is in Thailand, as in most countries with any economic prowess to speak of). They're a hel_l of an international, British-owned bank with a long history of dealings in Asia. I live in Silom and I'm pretty sure they have an ATM over somewhere on Rama IV, because I've seen it a couple of times and it caught my eye as I was looking for an industrial strength bank with a local presence.

That being said, no one I know has had a problem with Bangkok Bank or Siam Commercial, but they keep the bulk of their wealth either in American banks or in HSBC.

[stevehaigh]

You spoke to Citibank in Thailand?

Interesting because Citibank here in the US told me they couldn't do that. I will have to look into this further. I think I also saw on Citibanks web site that you could send wire online. I'll check that out.

i spoke to citibank in the us. i emailed the bkk branch but as yet no reply.

i'm actually in the us now but i plan for this to be my last time ever. i have business income to my us accounts and ira money i will need one day so it's important for me to be able to access that money from thailand.

atm is ok except that you don;t get a FETF like you would with a wire transfer. FETF is necessary for marriage and retirement visa renewal because you have to prove you are bringing money into thailand and atm receipts is not acceptable.

so i hope the citibank thing works out. 2 people in the us said no problem setting up a wire transfer on line to my thai citibank account. they said it will be cheaper than going into the banch.

i just called HSBC in san francisco and they said no problem transfering money from a us account to a thai HSBC account while in thailand.

Edited April 6, 2006 by stevehaigh

[max9]

You spoke to Citibank in Thailand?

Interesting because Citibank here in the US told me they couldn't do that. I will have to look into this further. I think I also saw on Citibanks web site that you could send wire online. I'll check that out.

i spoke to citibank in the us. i emailed the bkk branch but as yet no reply.

i'm actually in the us now but i plan for this to be my last time ever. i have business income to my us accounts and ira money i will need one day so it's important for me to be able to access that money from thailand.

atm is ok except that you don;t get a FETF like you would with a wire transfer. FETF is necessary for marriage and retirement visa renewal because you have to prove you are bringing money into thailand and atm receipts is not acceptable.

so i hope the citibank thing works out. 2 people in the us said no problem setting up a wire transfer on line to my thai citibank account. they said it will be cheaper than going into the banch.

i just called HSBC in san francisco and they said no problem transfering money from a us account to a thai HSBC account while in thailand.

I'm a Thai-wife, we'll move to chiangmai next month. We open CiTiBank and they did confirm that I can wire money US to Thai online (covina, CA branch). I also open CD account and I can manage account by phone. I'll wire money to thailand soon (wait for better exchange rate). All you need is to open a bank (any bank) in thailand. Wiring fee is $20 for online wiring, 50% off if you open gold account ($100,000). I'll let you know If i have any problem.

Pat

[rainman]

wire transfer is always your best option but you have to be in the US of find someone in the US to set it up for you. i havn't been able to find a bank that will allow me to transfer money via internet/phone/fax yet. let me know if you do.

try HSBC

[egeefay]

I spoke to several different Citibank people today just to double check the information I was being given. Here's what I found out.

First off, A Citibank account in the US cannot be serviced from Thailand. I guess US banks and Thai banks are separate entities...even if they are owned by the same company. You can use the ATM machine to get money if you need small amounts but if you need big sums of money for a car or condo you can WIRE TRANSFER from a Citibank in US to any bank in Thailand and NOT have to be present to make the wire transfer

WIRE TRANSFERS online

You can go to Citibank online in Thailand and have Citibank wire transfers money to any bank in Thailand

AMOUNTS; You can wire up to $50,000 per day from your Citibank account to any bank in Thailand.

(If both you and your wife open separate ATM accounts with separate pins you can transfer up to $100000 per day (2x$50000). OR If you have a "CitiGold Account" there is no limit to the amount you can transfer per day)

COST :$30 ($20 if you have a CitiGold Account. There may be some free options but talk to Citibank about that)

HOW:

Funds must be in a US Citibank account either in a CHECKING ACCOUNT or MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT

Go to the Citibank in the US and get an ATM account ( in order to obtain a pin number.)

Fly to Thailand , open up a bank account at any Thai bank

Then get online.

When you transfer funds you can designate not only what bank you want to have it deposited in but whether you want to have the money transferred in dollars or converted to Baht. If it's in Dollars you can keep it that way until the exchange rate is in your favor

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE: Citibank says it usually takes under two days to make the transfer as long as the transfer is initiated in Thailand before 5:30 pm east coast time (US time) on business days only.

(It's been known to take up to 2 weeks for wire transfers in certain countries due to that countries banking system)

WIRE TRANSFERS by phone

If for some reason you think you might not have access to a internet connection or you are leery of online banking you can also make wire transfers in Thailand by phone or fax.

In order to use this service you should go to your US Citibank branch and sign a "funds transfer agreement" first.

When you get to Thailand I'm not sure how to do it but I assume you will have to fax or email your US Citibank with instructions on what you want done...then you'll have to fax them some sort of document with your signatures authorizing them to make the transfer...and to which account and which bank.

Any questions call Citibank's online bank information center at 1-800-374-9700.

https://web.da-us.citibank.com/cgi-bin/citi...UseBVCookie=yes

[KhunPadThai]

I spoke to several different Citibank people today just to double check the information I was being given. Here's what I found out.

I just did my first transfer from a US Citibank account to an account at Bangkok Bank in central Thailand. Bangkok Bank has a branch here in New York City and all transfers to BB Thailand go through it. Transfer took about one week. Citibank said that it would be two days, but BB New York said a week and that's what it was.

Citibank charged $18.50. I initiated the wire online, but they telephoned me at my office later the same day to doublecheck even though the amount was only $500.

The disappointing thing is that the USD 500 arrived at the BB branch as TBH 17,000. That is a net rate of about 34 baht to the USD. Now that includes BB's fee, whatever it was, but it seems pretty poor to me, a haircut of about 10%. And that doesn't include Citibank's $18.50 fee.

All in all, I would like to hear about any cheaper alternatives.

Khun Pad Thai