Hi,

Why is the banking sector in Thailand such a mess?

I can't even believe that i am actually taking the time to type this post.

I had an electronic bankwire sent to my bank (account) here in Thailand. The electronic bankwire was sent from the U.S.A. on Thursday of last week, it is now (today) Monday of the following week.

The electronic bankwire that was sent to my bank (account) here in Thailand on Thursday of last week has not shown up in my Thailand bank (account).

Why in the h*ll does a simple electronic bankwire take so f*ckin' long for a bank in Thailand to process?

First of all, today (monday) is a national holiday here in Thailand. Secondly, you're sending the money using SWIFT (probably) - which takes usualy from 2-7 days to process. Reason being that it transits thru your USA's bank internation wire department where all transfer going out of the country are processed.

Sending money to Thailand or to any other places using SWIFT takes generally the same amount of time. Intra-bank transfer in the US, using ACH/ABA - are semi-instant. International wire transfer ain't the same. Chill out.

thanks for the reply with info.

With a jai yen attitude like that, you're going to last a long time here gabe.

Why is the banking sector in Thailand such a mess?

...The electronic bankwire that was sent to my bank (account) here in Thailand on Thursday of last week has not shown up in my Thailand bank...

You call that a mess? Wait until you ask your bank to transfer money to a foreign company out of Thailand, and you find out the sum they transferred was 2,000 dollars higher that what was specified! Sorry for the mistake with a big smile! That's a mess!

First of all, today (monday) is a national holiday here in Thailand. Secondly, you're sending the money using SWIFT (probably) - which takes usualy from 2-7 days to process. Reason being that it transits thru your USA's bank internation wire department where all transfer going out of the country are processed.

Sending money to Thailand or to any other places using SWIFT takes generally the same amount of time. Intra-bank transfer in the US, using ACH/ABA - are semi-instant. International wire transfer ain't the same. Chill out.

I agree. If you send early in week likely to be only 2 or 3 days. Send at end of week with monday Bank Holiday added on to time, and it has sometimes taken a week!

thanks for the reply with info.

You get dinged twice by the sending and receiving banks for wire charges (a total of over $60 recently for me).

Suggest you consider withdrawing via an ATM debit/credit card.

You will have to go to a bank officer or the exchange counter if you want to transfer significant amounts (like $5,000) but it just takes a few minutes to do normally. Advise your atm card company in advance that you plan a large withdrawal otherwise it will probably be rejected. There are no extra fees and I think the rate of exchange might be better than the wire exchange rate, espeically when you consider the $#%@#$ wire fees.

If you need hard documentation (ie for a real estate purchase) you might be stuck with wire transfer. It took me 3 weeks to transfer $$ from the US to Thailand before it finally ended in an account where I could withdraw it.

a bit off topic... there sure are alot of 3 day holiday weekends that force businesses to close here in Thailand.

This upcoming weekend is 3 day weekend isn't it?

Has anybody ever tried to deposit a cashiers check from your home country bank into your Thai account? If accepted will you get killed on the exchange?

Hi,

Why is the banking sector in Thailand such a mess?

I can't even believe that i am actually taking the time to type this post.

I had an electronic bankwire sent to my bank (account) here in Thailand. The electronic bankwire was sent from the U.S.A. on Thursday of last week, it is now (today) Monday of the following week.

The electronic bankwire that was sent to my bank (account) here in Thailand on Thursday of last week has not shown up in my Thailand bank (account).

Why in the h*ll does a simple electronic bankwire take so f*ckin' long for a bank in Thailand to process?

Why blame the Thai bank without knowing how the transfer was handled on the US side ?

I ask my Japanese bank to transfer Yen on Day 1 and my Thai bank credits my account in baht on day 2 (day 2 being the following bank working day). Never fails.

I would add that I use Bangkok Bank here and a small regional bank in the US and the money is in my account here 14 hours after I call my US bank to make the transfer. Every time for last two years and more than a dozen transfers. But I do on non holidays and make my call at 9 AM local time in the US so it immediately is sent and New York transfer bank can process it the same day.

Has anybody ever tried to deposit a cashiers check from your home country bank into your Thai account? If accepted will you get killed on the exchange?

Haven't noticed a considerable "killing." Recomend you do "home bank" to "home bank" (HSBC to HSBC, Citibank to Citibank, UBS to UBS, etc.) if possible, cut down on the transaction time for checks. Not much of a difference for wire transfers (maybe an extra day or two for interbank).