I am in the process of arranging for my UK pension to be paid directly into my Thai bank which is TMB. The Pension Service in the UK have told me that Thai banks, while having no IBAN numbers, do have a bank code (3 digits) and branch codes (4 digits). This is puzzling me because when I went into my TMB branch the female assistant told me that there are only branch codes and she gave me a 3 digit number for my branch (her manner didn't inspire much confidence in me, however). Anyone know who is correct about this?

In the UK we use a bank sort code and then an account number, they dont seem to use that here. If you give the whole of your account number to the pension service, along with the full name on the account it should all work out correctly, I was of the same opinion as you when i transfer money here, where I use a swift code and then my bank account details, it worked out ok for me and I am sure it will for you. They send lots of pensions here so they will know what to look for and use.

At least for Bangkok Bank the first 3 digits of the account number represents the particular branch; after that it's basically random numbers to complete the account number...possibly the same for other Thai banks.

However, the SWIFT code for a bank is something completely different not to be confused with their account numbers. The Link provides a list of Thai bank "SWIFT" codes, with the first 4 positions representing the bank code.

For transfering money from the UK to a Thai bank your pension service needs the

1. name of the receiver in Thaiiland and his address (you and your Thai address?)

2. his bank account number and the name of the Thai bank in charge of the account (TMB) and its location

3. the SWIFT-code of the Thai Bank (yours: TMBKTHBK - look at # 66 in Pib's link)

And make sure the name you give the pension service is exactly the same as on your account passbook.

Thanks for the advice. The requirements listed by puck2 correspond with what I have found out after some research.