Regular transfer of UK Sterling to Thai baht

[Wavel]

The best way I've found, which is better than all the UK banks. Is to open a Currency Online account. Then you can transfer money from your UK account to your Currency Online account free of charge, Online Account to your Thai Bank Account £5 charge for under £3000 free for above.

Exchange rate now is B49.01 for £250 & B49.21 for £1000. You won't get better anywhere else believe I've tried many different ways & an Online Exchange Account is the way to go.

[Pib]

The best way I've found, which is better than all the UK banks. Is to open a Currency Online account. Then you can transfer money from your UK account to your Currency Online account free of charge, Online Account to your Thai Bank Account £5 charge for under £3000 free for above.

Exchange rate now is B49.01 for £250 & B49.21 for £1000. You won't get better anywhere else believe I've tried many different ways & an Online Exchange Account is the way to go.

Looking at the Bangkok Bank closing TT Buying Rate for today which is what you get for wire transfer, it's 49.73....and today's average TT Buying Rate for all Thai banks is 49.61.

[johnj]

I used to send by internet banking with hsbc. They charged me 17 GBP every transaction. Now I have set up account with worldfirstbank.com they charge 10GBP for transfer under 5,000GBP and you get a better exchange rate than with banks. Happy Days.

[Wavel]

I used to use A Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account which gave me a TT rate, But at £9.50 from the Halifax to my BBFC Acc. Then the BBFC Acc took a further £5 per transaction plus another £7 per month admin charge weather you use it or not. Having a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account just became a very expensive liability.

[Pib]

I used to use A Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account which gave me a TT rate, But at £9.50 from the Halifax to my BBFC Acc. Then the BBFC Acc took a further £5 per transaction plus another £7 per month admin charge weather you use it or not. Having a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account just became a very expensive liability.

Why have a foreign currency account "if" you just need/want baht? If you just want baht, then just open a regular Bangkok Bank savings account and send funds to that account....you get the TT Buying Rate. Be sure to send in pounds as letting a bank/company on the UK end convert the funds before sending will probably end up in a significantly lower exchange rate than what Thai banks will give...that is, their TT Buying Rate. The fee to receive funds on the Bangkok Bank local branch end is 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max)...and of course no fee to withdraw/spend the baht. Any other fees associated with the transfer will be from your Sending bank/company and/or intermediary bank.

Reading this thread got me interested in possibly opening an account with one of the currency trading companies like Xe.com. But after doing some more googling today and finding out the exchange rates you see on their websites is for BIG, BIG amounts of currency trades but the exchange rate for smaller amounts like a typical retail customer may convert is usually a significantly lower rate...maybe similar to your Currency Online account based on the exchange rate you mentioned you were getting. The exchange rates for a retail customer/small amounts appear to be similar to a using a debit card with a 1 to 3% foreign transaction fee and then you still have the wire transfer fee to pay....and then their will still be the currency receipt fee of 0.25% on the local Thai bank end. But hey, maybe their are other currency exchange companies that do offer the little guy an exchange rate the big guys get...and maybe these rates beat the Thai bank TT Buying Rate.

I thought this Link talking about XE.COM transfers, conversions, and fees was interesting.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Pib

[Toscano]

I bank at Lloyds in Britain and Kasikorn in Thailand . I have Internet banking and transfer the necessary amount in Stirling , you get a far better exchange rate in Thailand . My high street bank charges £10 and Kasikon nothing . If you have enough money in an account to open an International bank account , I believe more than £2500 permanently in the account , you will be able to transfer money free of charge . If you don't do Internet banking , the same can be achieved by telephone banking .

Edited August 28, 2013 by metisdead
Unnecessary usage of bold font removed.

[Toscano]

Do I understand that you are a younger man still working in Britain , with a Thai wife living in Thailand . I would hope that you have a special account that your wife can draw from that has some controls on it .

Edited August 28, 2013 by metisdead
Unnecessary usage of bold font removed.

[Anon999]

For the small sums involved use a FX dealer foreign exchange dealer, like torfx.com who are based in Cornwall. There are no charges or fees at either end and the exchange rate they quote is exactly what you get. However, if you have a FCD, Foreign Currency Deposit account then transfer the money in £'s and when it is changed to Baht you'll get the TT rate. You can get a quote on-line to give you an idea. The money is also transferred as fast as the 'Faster Payments' system. They also work longer hours than banks and on Saturdays!

Edited August 27, 2013 by Anon999

[RAZZELL]

My wife has a Natwest Account in the UK.

Has set-up Bangkok Bank as a "payee" (NOT an international payment) and she transfers funds via Bangkok Bank in London to her Bangkok Bangkok account in Thailand on the internet.

Fees are minimal and money gets there the same or usually the next day.

RAZZ

Edited August 27, 2013 by RAZZELL

[johntren]

I always use Caxton FX. No hassles, 3-days to show up in Thailand. Recommended for customer service: queries, etc.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Some awful advice on this thread. A debit issued card issued in the UK is clearly the easiest option. Though of course you won't want to use a card linked to your bank account, so a Prepaid card is best.

To this end, amongst the best is the Kalixa Pay(purchased using Promo Code US13M8); which cannot be beaten for when it comes to purchases ,as there are no forex fees attached to purchases and a flat £2.25 fee for ATM withdrawals. So for use for shopping in supermarkets etc, you'll get the full Mastercard rate. For ATM withdrawals £2.25 plus the 180 baht ATM withdrawal charge. Of course if she has an AEON ATM machine nearby, even better.

[surinterry]

Before I used the Lloyds/TSB Service. They charged £10 per transfer and exchange rate was about 1-2 baht below rate in Thailand and If I sent 15000 baht about 500 baht would be taken by the bank at the other end which was annoying as if I state I want 15000 baht to appear in the other bank account then it should.

On my last transfer I changed to the the new service by the Post Office, After the transfer took place which was about 3-4 days we still had the mysterious 500 baht dissapear. At the time I sent it last WedensdayThe Bangkok Bank was showing rate on their website at 48.50 baht to the Pound. After the 500 Baht dissapearance it worked out at no sending fee and an exchange rate of 47.10 baht to the pound so I can't really complain. I will use this service again.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Before I used the Lloyds/TSB Service. They charged £10 per transfer and exchange rate was about 1-2 baht below rate in Thailand and If I sent 15000 baht about 500 baht would be taken by the bank at the other end which was annoying as if I state I want 15000 baht to appear in the other bank account then it should.

On my last transfer I changed to the the new service by the Post Office, After the transfer took place which was about 3-4 days we still had the mysterious 500 baht dissapear. At the time I sent it last WedensdayThe Bangkok Bank was showing rate on their website at 48.50 baht to the Pound. After the 500 Baht dissapearance it worked out at no sending fee and an exchange rate of 47.10 baht to the pound so I can't really complain. I will use this service again.

There is no mysterious disappearance. Bangkok Bank take that. As to BB exchange rate, were you looking at the TT rate?

Doesn't sounds 'bargainous' at all. Via ATM you get a rate superior or equal to the TT rate and a smaller fee than what Bangkok Bank takes from you. Perhaps 180 baht from the ATM and in my example another 112 baht from the card issuer.

Use an AEON machine and you get the full Mastercard rate and a relatively small 112 baht fee.

[surinterry]

Before I used the Lloyds/TSB Service. They charged £10 per transfer and exchange rate was about 1-2 baht below rate in Thailand and If I sent 15000 baht about 500 baht would be taken by the bank at the other end which was annoying as if I state I want 15000 baht to appear in the other bank account then it should.

On my last transfer I changed to the the new service by the Post Office, After the transfer took place which was about 3-4 days we still had the mysterious 500 baht dissapear. At the time I sent it last WedensdayThe Bangkok Bank was showing rate on their website at 48.50 baht to the Pound. After the 500 Baht dissapearance it worked out at no sending fee and an exchange rate of 47.10 baht to the pound so I can't really complain. I will use this service again.

There is no mysterious disappearance. Bangkok Bank take that. As to BB exchange rate, were you looking at the TT rate?

Doesn't sounds 'bargainous' at all. Via ATM you get a rate superior or equal to the TT rate and a smaller fee than what Bangkok Bank takes from you. Perhaps 180 baht from the ATM and in my example another 112 baht from the card issuer.

Use an AEON machine and you get the full Mastercard rate and a relatively small 112 baht fee.

Thanks Mr Know it All,

I didn't say it was a bargainous and I was looking at exchange rate not TT rate, and it was not transfered to Bangkok Bank?? Never mind..........

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Before I used the Lloyds/TSB Service. They charged £10 per transfer and exchange rate was about 1-2 baht below rate in Thailand and If I sent 15000 baht about 500 baht would be taken by the bank at the other end which was annoying as if I state I want 15000 baht to appear in the other bank account then it should.

On my last transfer I changed to the the new service by the Post Office, After the transfer took place which was about 3-4 days we still had the mysterious 500 baht dissapear. At the time I sent it last WedensdayThe Bangkok Bank was showing rate on their website at 48.50 baht to the Pound. After the 500 Baht dissapearance it worked out at no sending fee and an exchange rate of 47.10 baht to the pound so I can't really complain. I will use this service again.

There is no mysterious disappearance. Bangkok Bank take that. As to BB exchange rate, were you looking at the TT rate?

Doesn't sounds 'bargainous' at all. Via ATM you get a rate superior or equal to the TT rate and a smaller fee than what Bangkok Bank takes from you. Perhaps 180 baht from the ATM and in my example another 112 baht from the card issuer.

Use an AEON machine and you get the full Mastercard rate and a relatively small 112 baht fee.

Thanks Mr Know it All,

I didn't say it was a bargainous and I was looking at exchange rate not TT rate, and it was not transfered to Bangkok Bank?? Never mind..........

Prefer to 'know it all' than to 'know nothing'. If it isn't 'bargainous' then why are you posting about it and telling that you would "use it again"? Do you think that we need more poor value options?

TT is an exchange rate. It is indicated on the website alongside the cash and Travellers Cheque rates. It is not only Bangkok Bank that takes up to 500 baht on receipt.

Hopefully you've learned something today....apart from the fact that it is simply cheaper and easier to use the Kalixa Pay Prepaid card to purchase and spend in Thailand when sending money.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jiu-Jitsu

[bkk_mike]

Bank of Scotland Internet Banking.

£10 to do the transfer. (Halifax charged the same last time I checked as this was the old HBOS price - Lloyds charged more last time I checked - they might be the same price now).

Always transfer in £, never in baht as the exchange rate in Thailand is ALWAYS better than the exchange rate in the UK.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Bank of Scotland Internet Banking.

£10 to do the transfer. (Halifax charged the same last time I checked as this was the old HBOS price - Lloyds charged more last time I checked - they might be the same price now).

Always transfer in £, never in baht as the exchange rate in Thailand is ALWAYS better than the exchange rate in the UK.

Still worse value than using the right UK debit or Prepaid card for the amounts mentioned. I guess it's easier to post than to bother to read what has already been posted.

£10 on the UK side, £10 on the Thai side and a little off the exchange rate is more than 4% of a £500 remittance.

Spend in a supermarket etc using kalixa Pay will cost zilch/nothing. ATM withdrawals as little as 0.75% from an AEON machine and 1.75% from a standard Thai ATM. Just indicative figures.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Jiu-Jitsu

[Wavel]

The Idea of having a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account is that you pay-in your Foreign Currency and withdraw your Thai Bhat at a better rate than your Bangkok Bank savings account, but it is an expensive option. The answer to the mysterious B500 that seems to disappear, is that most UK banks including The Post Office, is that they send your money abroad via a Clearing Bank i.e. Loyyds and they take their cut of your money without your bank informing you. But I've just been checking out Klaixa & they will give me B300 more per £1000, but unfortunately I don't have a UK address to send the card to.

[surinterry]

The Idea of having a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account is that you pay-in your Foreign Currency and withdraw your Thai Bhat at a better rate than your Bangkok Bank savings account, but it is an expensive option. The answer to the mysterious B500 that seems to disappear, is that most UK banks including The Post Office, is that they send your money abroad via a Clearing Bank i.e. Loyyds and they take their cut of your money without your bank informing you. But I've just been checking out Klaixa & they will give me B300 more per £1000, but unfortunately I don't have a UK address to send the card to.

Thanks for you post and info on the mysterious 500 Baht. I have replied to this post before Mr Jiu-Jitsu know it all big head. I expect he has read it already but I will go for the Klaixa card on your recommendation.

[indyuk]

All three of my pensions are paid directly into my Siam Commercial Bank account by the UK Government, Dutch Government and Sun Life UK respectively. This arrangement has been in place for last eight years.

SCB convert the pounds and euros into Baht at the interbank rate. None of the transfers have any fee charge.

All of my pension payments are in my account, in Baht, the next day,

Except when affected by Bank holidays or Buddha days.

Edited August 29, 2013 by indyuk

[phetphet]

I use a GBP prepaid card.

Don't know if this might be useful to some of you: http://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepaid-cards/other-currency/?goal=PPC_TRAVELCARDSTERLING

[topt]

All three of my pensions are paid directly into my Siam Commercial Bank account by the UK Government, Dutch Government and Sun Life UK respectively. This arrangement has been in place for last eight years.

SCB convert the pounds and euros into Baht at the interbank rate. None of the transfers have any fee charge.

All of my pension payments are in my account, in Baht, the next day,

Except when affected by Bank holidays or Buddha days.

How does that work if I may ask? I thought SCB would at least charge 200-500baht each time an inward transfer was made?

[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.

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.

Pib,

The fees don't seem to be fixwd. They are the wire fee and vary by a few pennies each time. They are usually under ₤14 for any transaction. It doesn't matter how much you are transferring. The advantage is, you pay their account in London, Sydney, wherever you are transferring the money from and that is free. Sending the money from some accounts e.g. Canada is also free ( if you go about it the right way). You only find out what the fee is when you have selected the method of payment and the method of delivery.

The exchange rate is better because there is less gap between the median rate ( that which you see published ) and the buying rate. The gap is typically about ฿0.80

(Eighty Satang). So, if you want to buy Thai ฿ and the current exchange rate is ฿49.80 to the UK₤, you will get about ฿49.00.

The really good thing is this. The rate shoots up and down in sharp spikes. Just take a look at the graph.

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=THB&view=1W

You can put in a bid of say ฿50.00 and go to bed. If the rate peaks at ฿50.80 for just one second in the night, you will wake up in the morning to find that your bid has been filled. I recon that I gain between ฿5,000 and ฿10,000 on each transaction that I make. The receiving bank in Thailand take a cut, usually a little over ฿200 but no other countries do that! ( This is after all the Land Of Scams )

It takes a bit of time to set up the account with Xe as you have to send them bank statements and something else to verify your home address. I did the set up in Sydney and they were very efficient. It is worth making the effort as once you have set it up, you will have total control over when the transfer is done and what rate you will get.

You can set a time limit on your bid and if it is not filled then it has cost you nothing. It is all handled from Vancouver and the funds usually arrive in 2 or 3 days.The staff at Xe are really helpful.

Good Luck!

[Naam]

All three of my pensions are paid directly into my Siam Commercial Bank account by the UK Government, Dutch Government and Sun Life UK respectively. This arrangement has been in place for last eight years.

SCB convert the pounds and euros into Baht at the interbank rate. None of the transfers have any fee charge.

All of my pension payments are in my account, in Baht, the next day,

Except when affected by Bank holidays or Buddha days.

How does that work if I may ask? I thought SCB would at least charge 200-500baht each time an inward transfer was made?

he doesn't realise that there is a charge. as simple as that.

[topt]

All three of my pensions are paid directly into my Siam Commercial Bank account by the UK Government, Dutch Government and Sun Life UK respectively. This arrangement has been in place for last eight years.

SCB convert the pounds and euros into Baht at the interbank rate. None of the transfers have any fee charge.

All of my pension payments are in my account, in Baht, the next day,

Except when affected by Bank holidays or Buddha days.

How does that work if I may ask? I thought SCB would at least charge 200-500baht each time an inward transfer was made?

he doesn't realise that there is a charge. as simple as that.

I was trying to be subtle........;- )

[Pib]

I've also seen several U.S. retirees say their social security pension being direct deposited to Bangkok Bank arrives absolutely fee-free. But in fact, they are getting hit with a $5 fee as it flowing through the Bangkok Bank New York branch they are using for the bank routing number onto their local Bangkok Bank branch account where the 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) fee is applied)....for a typical social security monthly pension around $11 in fees is being applied....sliced off the pension payment by the time it is posted to their local account. For a few months I had my military retirement pension being direct deposited to by local Bangkok Bank via routing through their NY branch (just like a social security direct deposit occur) and the fees mentioned above applied. Same as the fees for a typical ACH funds transfer. But for the most part some retirees believe the funds are arriving fee-free--hard to convince them otherwise....retirement is bliss.

[Naam]

All three of my pensions are paid directly into my Siam Commercial Bank account by the UK Government, Dutch Government and Sun Life UK respectively. This arrangement has been in place for last eight years.

SCB convert the pounds and euros into Baht at the interbank rate. None of the transfers have any fee charge.

All of my pension payments are in my account, in Baht, the next day,

Except when affected by Bank holidays or Buddha days.

How does that work if I may ask? I thought SCB would at least charge 200-500baht each time an inward transfer was made?

he doesn't realise that there is a charge. as simple as that.

I was trying to be subtle........;- )

Klingons do not possess alien virtues

[denby45]

The Fry group recommended Moneycorp in UK for me. I can send UAE Dirham via the UK with them to my Kasikorn account and the bottom line is the total cost works out at about 1.5% all in. That is at least 2% better than if I send direct through a bank or exchange here in the UAE. Now I am sure if you sere sending Sterling from the UK that loss would be even less. It was easy to set up the account and you can even set up a target rate which you can lock in for a small deposit.

The only thing I found so far which beats it slightly is changing Dirhams to dollar hand carry it through and use one of the good exchange places. TT are good and you can negotiate with the girl who will ring her boss depending on the sum involved. Of course you will need to be changing more than a couple of hundred dollars to get a better rate.

Den

[yoshiwara]

The Fry group recommended Moneycorp in UK for me. I can send UAE Dirham via the UK with them to my Kasikorn account and the bottom line is the total cost works out at about 1.5% all in. That is at least 2% better than if I send direct through a bank or exchange here in the UAE. Now I am sure if you sere sending Sterling from the UK that loss would be even less. It was easy to set up the account and you can even set up a target rate which you can lock in for a small deposit.

The only thing I found so far which beats it slightly is changing Dirhams to dollar hand carry it through and use one of the good exchange places. TT are good and you can negotiate with the girl who will ring her boss depending on the sum involved. Of course you will need to be changing more than a couple of hundred dollars to get a better rate.

Den

I have found Moneycorp completely reliable in the past for sending significant amounts of money abroad and their rates saved quite a bit on what the bank was charging, but is it worth it for relatively small amounts?

[Jiu-Jitsu]

The Idea of having a Bangkok Bank Foreign Currency Account is that you pay-in your Foreign Currency and withdraw your Thai Bhat at a better rate than your Bangkok Bank savings account, but it is an expensive option. The answer to the mysterious B500 that seems to disappear, is that most UK banks including The Post Office, is that they send your money abroad via a Clearing Bank i.e. Loyyds and they take their cut of your money without your bank informing you. But I've just been checking out Klaixa & they will give me B300 more per £1000, but unfortunately I don't have a UK address to send the card to.

Thanks for you post and info on the mysterious 500 Baht. I have replied to this post before Mr Jiu-Jitsu know it all big head. I expect he has read it already but I will go for the Klaixa card on your recommendation.

Thank you would have been enough. Take care to check out the fee and charges at the bottom of the page, in order to get the best out of the card/account. Fees and charges

There's also options for our German, Austrian and Italian friends to avoid charges as long as they can top the card up at no cost via a bank account, as they have cards local to that market.