Hey

I am looking at maybe using the 3 Million Baht Investment as a way to secure a Visa and save doing the Visa Re-entry Runs every 90 days.

I would be looking to transfer the money from a USA bank into probably Krung Thai Bank and collect the 4.5% interest annually.

1) I have heard some nightmare stories about money going missing in Thai accounts or being frozen on a whim by the Thai authorities. Is it the general consensus that doing this type of transfer is safe ?

Also, I would like to pose a few questions on everyday living with regards to money withdrawal/transfer from the USA of funds whilst in Thailand. This is for day to day expenses etc...

Many years ago (15) I used to travel to Thailand a considerable amount and always brought USD to exchange into BAHT on the 'black/grey' market and always received a better rate than using TC's.

Fast Forwards to 2006, what is the best way to get a good exchange rate.

1) Transfer USD into a Thai Bank Account ?

2) Use USD TC's and exchange them at a bank/other outlet ?

3) Use USD physical currency and exchange it bank/other outlet ?

4) Use a US Bank Issued ATM card to withdraw Cash. What charges do the Thai ATM's make for this service ?

5) Use a USA Issued Credit Card and pay it via the USA Online Banking facility ?

Any info. would be greatly appreciated.

Just in case there are provincial anomalies, I will be based in the Phuket area.

Regards

Peter

No info on the visa money, but for day money, foreign credit cards are useless-- you will end up with 8% in service charges between the merchant, visa/mastercard, and card issuer fees.

Thai ATMs do not currently charge foreign cardholders any fees- you only pay what your bank charges you.

Changing cash is never a good deal, except when the baht is falling (dramatically) and locals want to buy US currency- you can sometimes get a great deal then.

Wiring the money into a thai account is generally more expensive than the individual atm fees, and there are fees associated with using ATMs from another branch of your bank (20Baht for mine).

Hey

So, if my USA bank make no charges for me to withdraw money from any ATM domestic or international, am I correct in thinking the only charge I will be hit with, would be my banks exchange rate fee, to convert the withdrawal from Baht to USD, which is currently only 1% ?

I think I will be opening a Krung Thai Bank account for the 3 million Baht and a Bangkok Bank account for my daily banking as my USA bank make no charges for wires to Bangkok Bank.

Any further advice or claification, would be appreciated.

Kind regards

Peter