Buying a Motorbike - How to Transfer Money

[danstarr]

I want to buy a 2nd hand motorbike next week and would like to know the easiest way to pay for it. My money's in a UK account (I don't have a Thai account yet) and I want to avoid drawing out lumps from the ATM every few days. Is it possible for me to transfer money online from my UK account to a Thai account easily?

Apologies in advance but I've never done a transaction like this before. Any advice appreciated.

Dan

[SickOfEm]

How much is the bike?

[Tafia]

SWIFT Transfer. International money transfer from UK Bank to your Thai Bank. Check out your UK Banks website.

[naboo]

If needed quickly, take debit card and passport into branch and ask for what you need. Not all branches do it but Bangkok bank and siam commercial bank usually do.

[cassde]

If you open a Bangkok Bank account, use their London office to do the transfer but transfer GBP£, don't convert to Thai Baht before transfer. Really good exchange rate and in the account within 2 days usually.

[petertucker48]

Suggest having contact with Sam Bennett at FX Firm :

[email protected]

Good rates and pretty fast once setup.

[danstarr]

OK thanks very much for all the responses. The bike is about 80k baht. Does anyone know which would be the cheaper option: SWIFT transfer or withdraw over-the-counter with my passport?

[danstarr]

OK just to update.. Bangkok Bank couldn't do an over-the-counter withdrawal because of the daily limit on my debit card so I called the bank in the UK and they said they were unable to up my limit even for a short period of time even though the money's in the account.

Gave the seller the option of doing a SWIFT transfer but he was concerned about any potential delay there may be in the transaction so I'm back to drawing out daily amounts from the ATM and giving to the seller.

Hopefully, I won't need another bike for a few more years!