Should I Open A Bank Acct In Bbk?

[spencerq]

Hello,

I am moving to BKK from Canada and am wonder what the best way to keep money is? I found out that the bank machine will charge me 5$ per withdrawal from my Canadian bank account....too much for this dude. Should I just open an account or bring travelers checks. Other suggestions?

Thanks,

Spencer

[The Coder]

option 1: get an account from a bank in your country that doesn't charge anything. I have never had a Thai bank account despite living here for years and it's wonderfully simple that way. I use ATMs for cash and a debit card for big ticket items.

Travelers cheques in my experience carry all of the disadvantages. They cost 2.5% to issue from my bank, you have to deal with waiting in lines and filling out forms to get them AND use them, are limited to select places and hours of the day that will actually exchange them, inevitably have to deal with having too many or too few, need special consideration on stashing the big bankroll of them as you travel, and they have a worse exchange rate than a debit card. As long as a country has an ATM, I just wouldn't dream of using those things.

[Soju]

option 1: get an account from a bank in your country that doesn't charge anything. I have never had a Thai bank account despite living here for years and it's wonderfully simple that way. I use ATMs for cash and a debit card for big ticket items.

Travelers cheques in my experience carry all of the disadvantages. They cost 2.5% to issue from my bank, you have to deal with waiting in lines and filling out forms to get them AND use them, are limited to select places and hours of the day that will actually exchange them, inevitably have to deal with having too many or too few, need special consideration on stashing the big bankroll of them as you travel, and they have a worse exchange rate than a debit card. As long as a country has an ATM, I just wouldn't dream of using those things.

Using travelers cheques depends a lot on which country you're buying them in and which country you're using them in. I use them all the time and next to wire transfers they are by far the cheapest way to bring money into Thailand from Korea. Being I'm paid in Korean Won, and being the money changer rate for changing Korean Won notes into Thai Baht is absolutely horrible, I'm forced to convert first to US Dollars and then to Thai Baht to get a decent rate. In Korea the standard exchange rate for wire transfers and USD travelers cheques is almost the same (1%), whereas the standard rate for cash is 2%. I get a discount on buying traverlers cheques at my bank and get them for only 0.2% over the basic exchange rate. There are no fees here for purchasing traverlers cheques and it takes me the same amount of time to exchange Won to travelers cheques or to USD cash.

Then on the Thailand side, travelers cheques get a much better rate than cash. Especially if you try changing them outside of regular banking hours. Outside of regular banking hours, the exchange rate for cash goes way down, but stays the same for travelers cheques. I've never had a hassle changing them, and the time to sign the cheques is minimal. They do charge a fee of I think 30 baht per cheque, so I take large denomination cheques to minimize this fee.

Other countries are obviously different, and I've never tried buying travelers cheques in Thailand and cashing them elsewhere so have no idea how good of a deal that is or not. For example, trying to cash a travelers cheque in the Philippines will give you a much lower exchange rate and is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible to do. The point is that you must check what are the fees in the country where you're buying them and where you're cashing them to determine just how good or how bad they might be.

As to the ATM option, in my case it's impossible as Korean laws prohibit Korean banks from issuing ATM cards to foreigners that will allow access to their money from overseas. But Koreans who I've talked to never use their ATM cards overseas unless an emergency because the exchange rate and fees are really bad. Again, you need to check what are the fees and exchange rates to see if this is a viable option because they vary from country to country and bank to bank. Banks are notorious for disguising foreign ATM fees in the form of exchange rate commissions. I'd bet that more than 95% of the people using ATM cards overseas don't have a clue as to what this commision really is because it's usually very well hidden by the banks. Banks may tell you that they don't charge any commission or fees, but the exchange rate already has their commission built into it. Try to nail them down as to what the actual exchange rate is and most will not tell you. I found this out years ago when I had a US Bank account and used my ATM card overseas.

Edit: Whatever method you choose, you should have a backup plan. If you just have an ATM card, and you lost the card, how could you get your money until you got a replacement card sent to you? Likewise, if you take travelers cheques and they got stolen, unless you can get them replaced quickly you might need an ATM card or some other way to get money.

[lopburi3]

You say moving. If this is a move that will require bank deposits for an extension of stay the obvious answer would be a Thai bank account and a wire transfer agreement at your old bank for large transfers which provides a record of overseas origin. If not, and you do not wish to have a local account look for a bank that has lower ATM fees. Remember that there is also the consideration of what exchange rate they use (it will most likely be 1% or more lower than interbank rate).

[The Coder]

Soju much of your discussion is comparing cash vs trav cheques and no real surprises there. As far as exchange rates, in my case an ATM debit card gives a better exchange rate than travelers cheques and there is no additional fee. I haven't asked my bank to tell me the rate, instead I calculate how much US$ is debited vs the number of baht withdrawn and compare that to the travelers cheques rates posted in banks. I do this in time periods where the exchange rates are very stable to be absolutely sure.

[billaaa777]

The cheapest and most efficient way to utilize your foreign funds is to set up a Thai bank account. I recommended Siam Commercial Bank. And make a one-time wire of your funds into that account. Doing this you will avoid multiple wire fees, both the out going and receiving banks charge fees. In addition, you now avoid foreign ATM fees. Siam Commercial ATM’s are everywhere and do not charge you a fee if you use their ATMs. Next, what the US banks are doing, but don’t inform you of, is in addition to the $5 dollar ATM fee, the also charge 1% or so on with drawls in foreign currency. So, it can get quite expensive.

NOTE: Before you leave you home country make sure to set up at your bank or find another bank that will allow you to make wires over the telephone. To many people forget this little fact, get here and find out they have to go home to wire their funds here.