Regular transfer of UK Sterling to Thai baht

[Mikey1]

I guess this has been answered a thousand times but as a new member could someone please recommend the best way to transfer circa £250 / £500 per month to thailand ? My wife's last transaction was a transfer of £250 she was charged £17 per transaction and the exchange rate was a mere 45 baht. Which is taking the piss to say the least

Any ideas please ? Many thanks in advance for all advice.

Mike

[Langsuan Man]

Get a Bangkok Bank account and you should be able to transfer into their London branch, which will show up in your Thai Bangkok Bank account in a few days, minimal costs, see:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

[pattayadingo]

Or get yourself a Halifax clarity credit card with no transaction fees when here and abt 11.9 % interest P.A.

[seasia]

I use Halifax to transfer money UK- Thailand, £9.95 per transfer, larger amounts than you have mentioned but I do believe you might be able to get them down to £ 7.95 per transfer.

Transfer in UK £, not Thai baht.

Go in a big branch when not busy and have a chat.

With the manager not a cashier.

Their " rules" appear not fixed.

Worst scenario, it will cost you some time.

Openly let them know you are also considering other banks.

Never forget you are the customer that pays them to be in business.

Try a few, see what happens.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Lite Beer]

https://www.moneybookers.com/send-money/

Could well be the way to go.

[i claudius]

Get a metro bank account ,send her the card she can then take out up to 300 pounds a day at tt rate ,no charges ,and if she uses an Aeon machine thene there id no 150 baht charge ,i do it all the time . NO CHARGES .

[Sirius1935]

I use Xe.com The fees are less that Bangkok Bank at around ₤14.50 and the exchange rate is much better.

You have to set up an account with them but if you are going to do transfers frequently, it is well worth while.

You can see exactly what rate you are getting and you can even put in a bid. Then if the rate rises to that over night or how ever long you

bid for, you get the rate that you want. The bid will fill even if the rate only reaches that height for one second while you are fast asleep!

It's great.

[skodo]

Try Postofficetravelmoneycard. its worth a look and post card. Lebara also do a card for the purpose you want.

[wgdanson]

I've got a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account. My UK Pension is paid into a Nationwide Flex Account, and every 2 months or so, I do a SWIFT transfer, IN £s to Bkk. Thakes 1 day and costs £25. Then I can exchange as and when the exchange rate is favourable.

[Pib]

I use Xe.com The fees are less that Bangkok Bank at around ₤14.50 and the exchange rate is much better.

You have to set up an account with them but if you are going to do transfers frequently, it is well worth while.

You can see exactly what rate you are getting and you can even put in a bid. Then if the rate rises to that over night or how ever long you

bid for, you get the rate that you want. The bid will fill even if the rate only reaches that height for one second while you are fast asleep!

It's great.

Thanks for the info...got me interested. I've spent about 10 minutes surfing around on the xe.com website in trying to find their fees before I consider signing up for an account. Maybe the fees are right under my nose and I'm just not finding their fees section/info. Can you point me to their webpage that has the fees. I know signup is free, but I hate signing up for something without knowing associated transaction fees first.

That 14.50 pound fee you mentioned...what is that for?--A wire transfer fee maybe or some other transaction fee? Also, can you be a little more specific on where you say the exchange rate "....is much better." How much better on average....like 0.1%, 0.2 baht/pound better, etc. Thanks.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Pib

[mls]

I use Lloyds TSB Offshore. Free transfer to my account in Thailand in Sterling then just pay the fee this end which is around £9 depending on the exchange rate. Not really worth transferring small amounts. Better to do what you will need for the month.

If you need extra for emergencies you can use a Debit card at an SCB bank with your passport and you will be charged at your UK bank as if it was a purchase overseas, not a money exchange. That varies from bank to bank in the UK. You can take out as much as you like providing you have the funds of course. Only the larger branches of SCB do the transactions, but there is an exchange booth on Naklua near the roundabout that does it too.

Hope that helps.

[crazykopite]

I have a Nat West account but they charge between £20/32 to do a transfer . My daughter has a Halifax online account so I transfer the money to her account and in turn she then uses the Halifax which only costs £9.50 per transaction and it normally hits my SCB account within 3/4 days she always does the transfer before midday to ensure that the transfer leaves that day. Last week I transferred monies from my account to hers and two hours later she had done the transfer to my scb all this took place midday on the Monday when I went online Wednesday night it was sitting in my account it cost me £9.50 and on this side of the water I think they charge 300 baht. Somebody I know has a coop bank account and she can do her transaction online and says that there are no costs for the transfer which if true has to be a great deal !!!!

[wileycoyote]

Good Posting .

Worth researching to check exact fee charged to transfer BACs into Bangkok Bank Account in Thailand

[NoshowJones]

Get a Bangkok Bank account and you should be able to transfer into their London branch, which will show up in your Thai Bangkok Bank account in a few days, minimal costs, see:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

That is very interesting, do you know if any other Thai bank has a UK branch? My nearest Bangkok Bank is about 80 Kilos from my home village.

[NoshowJones]

Or get yourself a Halifax clarity credit card with no transaction fees when here and abt 11.9 % interest P.A.

Do you know if it is possible to get that Halifax credit card while living in Thailand?

[jacko45k]

When was that transfer, if it happened to be around Feb-April this year the exchange rate wasn't taking the piss, it was what it was?

Transferring relatively small amounts frequently is an expensive way to do things. There is a fixed transfer charge....£17 being about what I pay, and a charge at this end, about 500 baht per transfer. You might consider transferring every 3 months perhaps.

Using the London Branch of Bangkok bank is another option.

[spambot]

I use UKForex:

It shows exchange rate in realtime online - It is guaranteed to be better rate than bank conversion rate - Process = login and see rate of conversion online - Commit to the order (buy Thai Baht) - transfer funds from your UK bank account to UKForex account - 24 hrs latter they send you converted money into your Thai account (so you you need a Thai bank account). The money arrives in your account 3/4 days - or less.

The cost is £7 for funds £1k - £3k (£1k is min conversion) - For conversion greater than £3k fee = free.

[lucifer666]

I do it online via Paypal to my second email address linked to my Thai Bank Account. Costs me £2.50 a time, although it does take 5 working days to transfer.

[denby45]

I've got a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account. My UK Pension is paid into a Nationwide Flex Account, and every 2 months or so, I do a SWIFT transfer, IN £s to Bkk. Thakes 1 day and costs £25. Then I can exchange as and when the exchange rate is favourable.

This looks OK but how much do they charge you for taking sterling from the account. I guess you are chnging at TT or one of the other non rip off exchanges/banks. Changing and taking baht at the bank is still setting yourself up to be ripped off by the terrible exchange rate.

Den

[ThaiFelix]

I use UKForex:

It shows exchange rate in realtime online - It is guaranteed to be better rate than bank conversion rate - Process = login and see rate of conversion online - Commit to the order (buy Thai Baht) - transfer funds from your UK bank account to UKForex account - 24 hrs latter they send you converted money into your Thai account (so you you need a Thai bank account). The money arrives in your account 3/4 days - or less.

The cost is £7 for funds £1k - £3k (£1k is min conversion) - For conversion greater than £3k fee = free.

I use OzForex...sounds like the same deal as UKForex. Good service, 2-3 days never had a problem. Bit of a hassle setting it up as they sometimes want proof of address through verification letter posted to you, then you email them with verification number from letter. Letter was posted from India! (outsourcing and cheaper postage) and took two weeks to get here.

Best to let funds accumulate b4 you transfer if possible, greater amount = better rate and no fees over A$5000. You would probably be better using UKForex if from UK but thought this info might be handy for any Aussies reading this.

[SSSlongtime]

funny init i would like to go live in thailand and get someone to send me money ,got the T shirt ,been there ,sure there lot of western ladies that would also like that system ,they just dont have the nerve to ask, must be thailand has good education system

[attento]

Dont transfer every month. Accumulate a larger sum to transfer every few months. The larger sum will attract a lower charge per £ transferred.

[kangeroo]

Hi I use city bank account in Thailand and in Australia no fees for transfer no fees for ATM but the exchange rate through ATM could be better but not as low as some .

Cheers .

[super22k]

My pensions are paid direct into my HSBC bank in the UK and I do withdrawals with my Mastercard at any ATM machine in Thailand. No problem. Its the easy way.

[pattayadingo]

Or get yourself a Halifax clarity credit card with no transaction fees when here and abt 11.9 % interest P.A.

Do you know if it is possible to get that Halifax credit card while living in Thailand?

I gort one while I was at home last time on a quick visit.

I suppose there are ways of doing it

[spambot]

I use UKForex:

It shows exchange rate in realtime online - It is guaranteed to be better rate than bank conversion rate - Process = login and see rate of conversion online - Commit to the order (buy Thai Baht) - transfer funds from your UK bank account to UKForex account - 24 hrs latter they send you converted money into your Thai account (so you you need a Thai bank account). The money arrives in your account 3/4 days - or less.

The cost is £7 for funds £1k - £3k (£1k is min conversion) - For conversion greater than £3k fee = free.

I use OzForex...sounds like the same deal as UKForex. Good service, 2-3 days never had a problem. Bit of a hassle setting it up as they sometimes want proof of address through verification letter posted to you, then you email them with verification number from letter. Letter was posted from India! (outsourcing and cheaper postage) and took two weeks to get here.

Best to let funds accumulate b4 you transfer if possible, greater amount = better rate and no fees over A$5000. You would probably be better using UKForex if from UK but thought this info might be handy for any Aussies reading this.

Yup - Its exactly the same company - Its the UKForex Australian office (and vica versa) - This way this company can be 24 hr operation - on many times I call or email London and the support will pick up the response in Australia - In fact the transfers was cleared and sent via management in Australia - Who sent the request to Barclays London - Who then made the transfer out of an Australian branch bank in Australia..

The verification letter sounds a pain - I didn't have that problem - Just set up an account and identified account for deposit into - Made the request, paid the funds into their account and got the money into my Thai bank account. Not sure if I was just lucky or you were unlucky here.

[spambot]

I do it online via Paypal to my second email address linked to my Thai Bank Account. Costs me £2.50 a time, although it does take 5 working days to transfer.

Actually - This is a good option.

The rates are quite competitive - and probably a good method for small amounts for transfer into a foreign account.

[spambot]

Get a metro bank account ,send her the card she can then take out up to 300 pounds a day at tt rate ,no charges ,and if she uses an Aeon machine thene there id no 150 baht charge ,i do it all the time . NO CHARGES .

While a UK plastic card for Thai ATM's can be a good option I found that from my own case experience - There were times when a Thai withdraw started to trigger alerts at UK side and they refused to authorize payment until they spoke with me on a call - So it just became hard work and confusing. I switched to using a Thai bank and then sending funds from UK into the account - Just to ensure I was certain of completing my withdraws without the potential hassle.

[ableguy]

Get a Bangkok Bank account and you should be able to transfer into their London branch, which will show up in your Thai Bangkok Bank account in a few days, minimal costs, see:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

Agree I do this with USA dollars via BKK in New York,

[MRGTINGTONG]

Try Post Office Internalional payments, take 2-3 days to arrive, its fee free but u get about 4 baht to the pound less than the days rate, whatever it may be on that date.

Can be done online in minutes if u pay with your debit or visa card. Give it a look !