Best legal way to change THB to US$ and transfer to US

[jaideeguy]

May be selling my [her] house here and moving back to the US, so I will need to change my THB to $'s and get it into my accounts in the US. Wondering what's the best way to do it legally. Best exchange rates and other considerations.

Advise appreciated......................

[Lefty]

I think Super Rich will change Baht into dollars at up to $5,000/day at probably the best rate in Bangkok. Depending on how many days at $5,000/day that will be required to convert all baht to dollars,then take dollars to Bangkok Bangkok Bank and buy a dollar cashier's check drawn on their New York Branch.

For you banking experts---is the forgoing feasible?

Lefty

[T_Dog]

Congrats jaideeguy on the potential sale. Will lurk along on this thread as we will hopefully be in the same situation soon. Someone out there must have experience in transferring money out of the country.

[jaideeguy]

T-dog, you making the move too?

I'll drop by my friendly local BKK Bank this week and inquire.............it may be a simple process, but no doubt that they will make a killing on the reverse exchange rate. Will keep you posted.

[iancnx]

Very relevant thread given this mornings news. Will follow closely

[jaideeguy]

Very relevant thread given this mornings news. Will follow closely

link please Ian........

[lujanit]

I think Super Rich will change Baht into dollars at up to $5,000/day at probably the best rate in Bangkok. Depending on how many days at $5,000/day

I am in the same boat, leaving Thailand soonish. Say I go and get myself USD10k (2 x 5k per day) can I then fly out legally carrying the USD10K? Now I am not taking out THB.

What may happen if I take out USD50k cash? I know I will have to declare it when I arrive wherever however do I need to declare it when I leave? The departure card suggests not.

[chiang mai]

You're supposed to declare more than USD20k on departure as well as on arrival in the home country.

http://thailawyers.com/currency-limitation-how-much-cash-in-foreign-currencies-can-you-bring-into-thailand/

Edited May 20, 2014 by chiang mai

[jaideeguy]

You're supposed to declare more than USD20k on departure as well as on arrival in the home country.

http://thailawyers.com/currency-limitation-how-much-cash-in-foreign-currencies-can-you-bring-into-thailand/

Thanks CM, but not really enough and as I recall, the US requires any amount over $10K to be reported. I would prefer to do it by a legal bank transfer to be safe and I wouldn't be comfortable carrying the amount of cash from a house sale.

[chiang mai]

I agree, it's foolish to carry such large amounts. Plus, I just flew back from Heathrow a few days ago where the police dogs were busy trying to sniff out cash at the boarding gate, anyone who goes the cash route best have all their paper work in order.

[lujanit]

Thanks for the info guys. I only wanted to take out that which I brought in for my retirement extension. I use external money sources for daily living purposes. Bank exchange rates and fees are over the top, they have already milked me getting the money into the country. I can prove the money coming in no problems. I was thinking about

1. taking the 800k to Singapore in cash and depositing it in my account there. Singapore lets you bring in SGD30k cash without declaring it. So convert to SGD first with Super Rich

2. converting the 800k to USD and just holding onto it. Then when the AUD drops to the USD I can deposit it in my Oz account. The problem here is Oz will only let me bring in 10k cash without declaring it. Yet I have the original wire transfer documentation from my Oz bank.

There just has to be a better/safer way without costing me $$$$$$$

[chiang mai]

You'll forgive me for saying so, but it seems to me that the amount of effort, anguish and risk involved in you trying to figure out how to save 25 bucks in bank transfer fees, may not actually be worth it., just a thought.

[jaideeguy]

You'll forgive me for saying so, but it seems to me that the amount of effort, anguish and risk involved in you trying to figure out how to save 25 bucks in bank transfer fees, may not actually be worth it., just a thought.

Yeah, agree CM............but will a Thai bank simply transfer an amount over 1milTHB to a US bank?? I would like to do this whole thing legally and above the table even if it costs a little more. Of course, we'll loose in the reverse exchange rate, but what other 'extras' will there be besides bank transfer fees??

I'll consult with my banker later this week and report a theoretical transfer of 1 MilTHB.............

[chiang mai]

You'll forgive me for saying so, but it seems to me that the amount of effort, anguish and risk involved in you trying to figure out how to save 25 bucks in bank transfer fees, may not actually be worth it., just a thought.

Yeah, agree CM............but will a Thai bank simply transfer an amount over 1milTHB to a US bank?? I would like to do this whole thing legally and above the table even if it costs a little more. Of course, we'll loose in the reverse exchange rate, but what other 'extras' will there be besides bank transfer fees??

I'll consult with my banker later this week and report a theoretical transfer of 1 MilTHB.............

If you've got the FET (Foreign Exchange Transaction) form or any variant of it, preferably one that shows the Treasury deal numbers of incoming funds transfers, approaching any bank to make an overseas transfer will present no problems and the rate used will be the outbound TT rate which is the best around. You can use multiple FET's as a group or individually. In the past I've used FET's from one bank to support overseas transfers by another so the customer advice or FET equivalent is key.

Extra's: figure, from memory, on bank charges of around THB 1,500 for an international transfer.plus a SWIFT charge of about, 500 baht.

[T_Dog]

Here is an excerpt from the Samui for sale website regarding additional documents to the FET. Hopefully Chiang Mai is right in that it only involves the FET and SWIFT documents these days.....

"Repatriating Funds to a Foreign Country:

The banks in Thailand have to follow strict regulations. As a result, it can be quite difficult to repatriate funds if you do not have the correct paperwork. To repatriate the sale proceeds of the sale of a condo the bank will ask for a copy of the land office sale agreement and land office tax receipt, a copy of the title deed of the condominium unit, passport copy and a copy of the FET-form (or the previously used Thor Tor 3 form) which the foreigner obtained when they remitted money into Thailand to buy the condominium. If these documents are supplied the bank will allow transfer of the money out of Thailand without additional deductions. When selling the condominium personal income withholding tax is taken as part of the transfer taxes. The land office will issue a tax receipt for payment. Withholding tax is calculated based on the years of ownership . . . . . "

[chiang mai]

Yes, in the case of a property sale, the blue receipt showing tax paid on the sale from the land office is useful. But the transfer of funds overseas doesn't necessarily need that, it can be either FET or the LO receipt, or a combination of both.

I've got a small portfolio of FET equivalents from when I've transferred funds into Thailand over the years (from different countries), each confirms the country of fund origin, the date, the rate and the converted amount, all the banks here care about is having one of those forms that covers the outbound transmission.

[jaideeguy]

Every Baht that I've invested here in the construction of my houses was transferred here from my accounts in the US and I do have electronic archives going back 15 years to date. Will that suffice??

And will there be any issues with the title being in my Thai wife's name?? Funds from [hopeful] sale will be deposited into a joint account, then hopefully repatriated to my accounts in the US.

I do remember during the purchase of one of my 3 lots that the head land officer made me sign a statement saying that the funds for the purchase did not come from me, but solely from my wife ........BS!!.

Edited May 20, 2014 by jaideeguy

[vagabond48]

My wife has a large amount of cash in her bank account which I gave to her. I got the money from daily ATM withdrawals from several US debit cards within a 2 month period. We are planning to leave Thailand and want to wire it to my US bank since she doesn't have a US bank account yet.

Will presenting my US bank monthly statements showing the ATM withdrawals be enough proof to get a wire transfer?

[chiang mai]

Every Baht that I've invested here in the construction of my houses was transferred here from my accounts in the US and I do have electronic archives going back 15 years to date. Will that suffice??

And will there be any issues with the title being in my Thai wife's name?? Funds from [hopeful] sale will be deposited into a joint account, then hopefully repatriated to my accounts in the US.

I do remember during the purchase of one of my 3 lots that the head land officer made me sign a statement saying that the funds for the purchase did not come from me, but solely from my wife ........BS!!.

Depends on what you mean my "your electronic archives", if you've got scanned copies of the FET's or their equivalents, something the bank will accept, you're off and running.

The buyer of your property will need to give the seller a cashiers cheque or a bankers draft, that draft will need to be made out to the owner of the property. From what you've said the property is in your wife's name but since you have a joint bank account, depositing the cheque shouldn't be an issue.

The final aspect of this involves the transfer overseas: I don't know if there's a banking issue associated with sending funds overseas from a joint farang/Thai account, you can send the money overseas without an issue, your wife who is Thai has more of a problem. You'd need to ask the bank if that's a concern, if it is, transfer the funds from the joint account into an account that is owned solely by you.

[chiang mai]

My wife has a large amount of cash in her bank account which I gave to her. I got the money from daily ATM withdrawals from several US debit cards within a 2 month period. We are planning to leave Thailand and want to wire it to my US bank since she doesn't have a US bank account yet.

Will presenting my US bank monthly statements showing the ATM withdrawals be enough proof to get a wire transfer?

I don't know for sure but I doubt it, it seems to me that a currency conversion on an overseas debit card might be done anywhere in the world and not necessarily in Thailand. Also, your bank statements are unlikely to show the same detail as an FET, rate/date. source/destination/treasury deal number.

Anyone?

[vagabond48]

My wife has a large amount of cash in her bank account which I gave to her. I got the money from daily ATM withdrawals from several US debit cards within a 2 month period. We are planning to leave Thailand and want to wire it to my US bank since she doesn't have a US bank account yet.

Will presenting my US bank monthly statements showing the ATM withdrawals be enough proof to get a wire transfer?

I don't know for sure but I doubt it, it seems to me that a currency conversion on an overseas debit card might be done anywhere in the world and not necessarily in Thailand. Also, your bank statements are unlikely to show the same detail as an FET, rate/date. source/destination/treasury deal number.

Anyone?

The statement has the transaction date, posting date, the location of the transaction and the US amount.

You are right that the statement doesn't show the bath amount withdrawn or the exchange rate. I actually keep track of every ATM transaction I make which includes the amount in Thai baht. If I provide them with this information they should be able to confirm the amounts based on the exchange rate of that day.

There is also a pattern that I followed of withdrawing the max daily rate for several days and then depositing the money in my wife's account over a 2 month period. I know it probably will not be easy.

Edited May 21, 2014 by vagabond48

[jaideeguy]

Just consulted with my friendly banker who altho is not a manager, she has run the show at our local BKK Bank and speaks excellent English. She says no problem in transfering my 800,000thb retirement funds back in US$ at the current rates - 20 satang/thb.

As far as transferring larger amounts such as proceeds from a house sale, it's a bit complicated for me to do it, but no problem for a Thai national to transfer to a foreign bank but they will have to pay taxes on the money. Luckily I trust my wife........

[slipperylobster]

Yes, perhaps a run on the banks will improve everything. At least Immigration is going to start taking hits about their retirement policies (banking) which makes things very harsh on people who are required to put lump sums in their banks. That is what I was trying to avoid.