I believe approx. two years ago that the UK Government brought out a directive requiring all UK banks to inform certain Gov. Departments such as the Dept. of Work and Pensions, or whoever, if regular sums were being transferred overseas. Does any knowledgeable person know if that is true? I am wanting to set up a monthly bank transfer of a few hundred pounds sterling from the UK to Thailand to assist family members. All credits into the UK bank account are after tax has been paid. Whether the informing is true or not, and I really do want to find out, the bank will be charging a monthly fee of 24 Pounds Sterling; is there a cheaper method of transferring funds?

Thank you.

Main thing is you aren't sponsoring a girl monthly, that would be crazy, you are not so that's good. If you opened a Thai bank account on a trip and paid money into it once you can then transfer to the girl sorry family member as often as you want.

Make a monthly transfer to Bangkok Bank London using the account number of your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand, they will then deposit the funds and the cost will be about 15 Pounds but no receiving charges - and there's nothing to report because Bangkok Bank London is not a retail bank. http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromuk/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

Main thing is you aren't sponsoring a girl monthly, that would be crazy, you are not so that's good. If you opened a Thai bank account on a trip and paid money into it once you can then transfer to the girl sorry family member as often as you want.

I have been sending money to Thailand for 30 years. Approx. 10 years ago the banks started to ask for reasons " due to new goverment rules, we have to inform them of any regular payments".I now send my regular payments via the Post Office but if sending a large amount it is cheaper to send by Telegraphic Transfer, My excuse now is "Grandchildren's School Fees". Nobody has ever queried my payments.

When I used to send my money directly from my UK account to my Thai account, there was a pull down menu which asked for the reason for the transfer. The option I chose was 'own account transfer' which was true.

Now that I use Bangkok Bank London branch for my transfers, the transfer that I do is inside the UK and no such questions are asked. It costs exactly £15, arrives the next working day, and the exchange rate is pretty good.

All of the above was/is done online, no need to set up a regular anything, or talk to anyone, just a few clicks and it's done.

you can put any reason, I don't think it matters, I put wifes new tits once!

Thank you Bifftastic. How do I go about obtaining details of the Bangkok Bank London? And surely I must inform them first of any transactions? What forms are there and how do I obtain them? I do have a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand and internet banking with both UK Bank and Thai Bank accounts.

Thank you Bifftastic. How do I go about obtaining details of the Bangkok Bank London? And surely I must inform them first of any transactions? What forms are there and how do I obtain them? I do have a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand and internet banking with both UK Bank and Thai Bank accounts.

You could try looking at the link provided in post number 3!

You're welcome!

Sorry guys, when I accessed this post last, for some reason, many of the replies were missing, hence my request to Bifftastic. Incidentally, Bifftastics reply disappeared as well when checking if my reply had posted. All now seems well and an extra big thank you to Chiang Mai who was prompt in answering my queries with a perfect response. Apologies for bothering Bifftastic.