How does PayPal rate as an option for sending cash to someone in Thailand?

At the moment we pay the Mastercard rate of exchange + currency conversion fee + foreign ATM fee + Thailand's own ATM fee for foreign cards. We never send much money each time and not many times per year. maybe 150AUD each time, three times per year, to sister.

Paypal seems to be a better system but I'd like to hear from others who may have tried them.

Money coming from an Australian bank account and not a credit card. and from AUD.

Paypal is bloody awful on the exchange rate and takes 5-7 days to draw down to a Thai bank.

I would think Western union would be a better idea for small amounts.

Edited April 24, 201412 yr by CharlieH

If a payment is rated as suspicious (payments between 2 countries often are rated this way by PP) then a hold will be put on the funds and a possible account closure may follow

Don't do it

Scary, thanks guys, no wonder ebay vendors in the UK don't like to sell me clothing.

Thanks, guys.

Scary, thanks guys, no wonder ebay vendors in the UK don't like to sell me clothing.

Thanks, guys.

Many Ebay vendors have Thailand on their blacklist because of a reputation (justified or not) of the goods not arriving and a resulting claim for return of monies received. It is not really about Paypal.

paypal is ok. if u send cash NOT for goods then send as personal payment (money owed/gift) and the fees will be small (fees you can pay or the receiver can pay).

paypal is not ok in many other cases but that's another story.

I send a small amount through PayPal to LOS every month as a family expense and haven't encountered any problems at all for over four years.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

What is PP's TX rate like?

OP; don't beleive all the BS people are telling about paypal !

When you send to family or friends it's not same than with a vendor/

I send money from France to Thailand on PP 2 or 3 time a years; little amount same you, 200 to 300 € at a time and never have any troubles.

It's just very very very slow; and the exchange rate is lower than the bank to bank At the end I save around 50% of the commmission.

So if it's really urgent, direct sending to the bank (you might check some bank are cheaper on fees than other) or maybe WU but i nerver tried it.

If not an emergency, use PP for save some 15 or 30 AUD$ fees but be aware it might take 15 days for all ( me around 26 days because i don't use card from french bank so it's slower)

You can check PP exchange rate on their website. It's a little less attractive than bank's one...it's for covering the "free" sending

Edited April 25, 201412 yr by Rv Hawee

It varies from currency pair to currency pair but as a rule of thumb the PayPal exchange rate is approx 2 to 2.5% lower than the Thai bank TT Buying Rate used for incoming wire transfers which is about the best exchange rate the common man can get but you have have the bank transfer fees. A lot depends on how much you want to transfer, how fast you need the transfer to occur, and how the fees and exchange rate work out for each individual's case.