Taking my money back to the UK

[Prof3934]

After 12 years here in retirement, I now want to pack up and return to the UK.

I have about 1.5 million baht in my bank accounts. How can I take this back to the UK?

[beechguy]

Swift Transfer.

[partington]

You need to prove it was all transferred in from abroad, and not earned here, otherwise they will create difficulties in permitting its transfer abroad.

Normally you do this by providing the credit receipt advice note that the bank records when you transfer money into your account from abroad. If you have never received any of these you will have to go to your bank and get them.

This may be more or less difficult depending on the bank. I'm with Kasikorn, and after reading here that I would need these documents if I ever wanted to transfer the money back out, I went in person to the bank and asked for all the past ones to be printed out from their computer records, and to be sent them by email in future every time I did a transfer from the UK by SWIFT.

If you have these documents you can do a SWIFT transfer into your home bank. If you do not have proof the money was originally transferred in from abroad I think there will be a problem, so try to get them.

[Prof3934]

This would be difficult for me.

The money comes from my monthly pensions and also from a payment from the main hospital when I threatened to sue them for 3 bad operations. This was several years ago, and has been used for my 800,000 baht retirement guarantee.

Can I just use Swift and transfer it.

? Or should I start taking it out monthly in cash and change it to pounds at a Money Exchange?

What do you think?

[Prof3934]

Beech guy just says Swift Transfer. Do I just go into my bank, ask them to close the accounts and send the money back to the UK by Swift Transfer. .

That sounds very easy!

[chiang mai]

Beech guy just says Swift Transfer. Do I just go into my bank, ask them to close the accounts and send the money back to the UK by Swift Transfer. .

That sounds very easy!

You need to prove that the money originated from outside of Thailand, do you still have the foreign currency exchange forms or is the transfer from overseas noted in your bank passbook? If yes, it's a very straight forward process.

[partington]

Beech guy just says Swift Transfer. Do I just go into my bank, ask them to close the accounts and send the money back to the UK by Swift Transfer. .

That sounds very easy!

Since you have time, you should go to your Thai bank now and ask them to do a SWIFT transfer of, say 60,000B ( this is large enough to trigger any special money transfer protocols they require) to your home bank account.

The problems that come up, if any, will allow you to find out the exact requirements to sort this out before you need to transfer all the rest in a hurry.

As stated before, it is likely that you will need to prove foreign origin of the cash. By doing this preliminary test you will find out what the bank asks you for ( e.g. is bank book enough or will you need foreign transfer credit notes), and give yourself time to gather any documents you might need to transfer it all.

[ldnguy]

You need to prove it was all transferred in from abroad, and not earned here, otherwise they will create difficulties in permitting its transfer abroad.

Normally you do this by providing the credit receipt advice note that the bank records when you transfer money into your account from abroad. If you have never received any of these you will have to go to your bank and get them.

This may be more or less difficult depending on the bank. I'm with Kasikorn, and after reading here that I would need these documents if I ever wanted to transfer the money back out, I went in person to the bank and asked for all the past ones to be printed out from their computer records, and to be sent them by email in future every time I did a transfer from the UK by SWIFT.

If you have these documents you can do a SWIFT transfer into your home bank. If you do not have proof the money was originally transferred in from abroad I think there will be a problem, so try to get them.

I transferred out almost $1 million baht and the bank didn't ask for any proof of where the money came from.

[ldnguy]

Just go to the bank and ask. You'll get a better answer than asking here. Or just transfer a small amount now.

I don't know of any requirement that says you can't send money out that didn't come from overseas. If that was the case, then how would expats who work here be able t take their money home when they leave? And what if you invested money here and doubled it? Why wouldn't they let you transfer that? I think many people that comment don't actually know the answer so they just repeat something they heard in the pub.

I repeat... I transferred almost $1 million baht to the UK and the bank didn't ask any questions at all.

[partington]

Just go to the bank and ask. You'll get a better answer than asking here. Or just transfer a small amount now.

I don't know of any requirement that says you can't send money out that didn't come from overseas. If that was the case, then how would expats who work here be able t take their money home when they leave? And what if you invested money here and doubled it? Why wouldn't they let you transfer that? I think many people that comment don't actually know the answer so they just repeat something they heard in the pub.

I repeat... I transferred almost $1 million baht to the UK and the bank didn't ask any questions at all.

Fair enough. As banking requirements are not consistent from branch to branch and from day to day in Thailand, the fact that you were able to transfer a million baht without questions is encouraging but doesn't absolutely guarantee everyone will have this experience.

I have read a number of threads on TV that describe banks requiring documentary evidence of the source of any money transferred out of Thailand by foreigners, and a reason for the transfer.

As the OP is retired (as am I) this would require showing the source of any transferred money is from abroad.

I'm sure that if you are an expat working in Thailand then you would need documentary proof that the money was earned as salary.

Bangkok Bank's site says this for example:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PERSONALBANKING/DAILYBANKING/TRANSFERINGFUNDS/TRANSFERRINGOUTOFTHAILAND/Pages/OutwardFAQs.aspx

"5. Is there a limit to the amount I can transfer?

The maximum amount you can transfer out of Thailand is determined by the Bank of Thailand, depending on the source of funds and/or the purpose of payment, including supporting documents. For example, if you are a foreigner repatriating proceeds from the sale of a condominium, then you would need to submit the purchase and sales contract and ownership title documents. In this case, the maximum transfer amount would be the selling price for the condominium.

Regardless of how much is transferred, the Bank of Thailand requires senders to specify in their payment instruction the purpose of the payment (Thai residents) or the source of the income (for foreigners), as well as present any supporting documents.

Reason for Transfer Supporting documents

Repatriating income (Foreigner) Letter from your employer stating your income

Paying for goods or services Invoice

Paying for educational expense A letter from the college or school stating tuition fees; or Invoice

from the school"

[chiang mai]

Just go to the bank and ask. You'll get a better answer than asking here. Or just transfer a small amount now.

I don't know of any requirement that says you can't send money out that didn't come from overseas. If that was the case, then how would expats who work here be able t take their money home when they leave? And what if you invested money here and doubled it? Why wouldn't they let you transfer that? I think many people that comment don't actually know the answer so they just repeat something they heard in the pub.

I repeat... I transferred almost $1 million baht to the UK and the bank didn't ask any questions at all.

Partington is absolutely correct, this has been a much discussed topic over the years and remains so today, I would be extremely surprised to learn that anyone who has lived in Thailand for any length of time is not familiar with it. Afew points to add:

Those transfers rules don't apply to people with work permits.

There is indeed a BOT rule that foreigners cannot send money overseas that wasn't first imported by them and they must be able to prove this.

As for your investment analogy: profit can be exported also providing the source of it is legit and tax has been paid, ditto with the sale of a house, tax must be paid and a blue receipt issued by the Land Office before the funds can be exported.

EDIT: to add - I'm not 100% certain of the precise figure but I am pretty certain that work permit holders are able to export overseas only around 80% of their salary earned here.

Edited October 17, 2014 by chiang mai

[Briggsy]

You could always buy a load of sterling traveller's cheques. Spend a day in Bangkok going to major branches or head offices of banks getting, say, £8,000 in each. 4 banks would suffice.

Swift transfer is easier though.

[utalkin2me]

Cash it out and head to superrich.

[ldnguy]

Just go to the bank and ask. You'll get a better answer than asking here. Or just transfer a small amount now.

I don't know of any requirement that says you can't send money out that didn't come from overseas. If that was the case, then how would expats who work here be able t take their money home when they leave? And what if you invested money here and doubled it? Why wouldn't they let you transfer that? I think many people that comment don't actually know the answer so they just repeat something they heard in the pub.

I repeat... I transferred almost $1 million baht to the UK and the bank didn't ask any questions at all.

Partington is absolutely correct, this has been a much discussed topic over the years and remains so today, I would be extremely surprised to learn that anyone who has lived in Thailand for any length of time is not familiar with it. Afew points to add:

Those transfers rules don't apply to people with work permits.

There is indeed a BOT rule that foreigners cannot send money overseas that wasn't first imported by them and they must be able to prove this.

As for your investment analogy: profit can be exported also providing the source of it is legit and tax has been paid, ditto with the sale of a house, tax must be paid and a blue receipt issued by the Land Office before the funds can be exported.

EDIT: to add - I'm not 100% certain of the precise figure but I am pretty certain that work permit holders are able to export overseas only around 80% of their salary earned here.

My bank would have known the money came from the UK because I transferred it into my account. This would show up on their screen I assume. So why would the bank need me to bring a document confirming what they already know?

Another solution is to leave the money in Thailand and use a debit card to withdraw it in your home country. I always use my Thai ATM card to access my money when I'm outside the country.

[chiang mai]

Just go to the bank and ask. You'll get a better answer than asking here. Or just transfer a small amount now.

I don't know of any requirement that says you can't send money out that didn't come from overseas. If that was the case, then how would expats who work here be able t take their money home when they leave? And what if you invested money here and doubled it? Why wouldn't they let you transfer that? I think many people that comment don't actually know the answer so they just repeat something they heard in the pub.

I repeat... I transferred almost $1 million baht to the UK and the bank didn't ask any questions at all.

Partington is absolutely correct, this has been a much discussed topic over the years and remains so today, I would be extremely surprised to learn that anyone who has lived in Thailand for any length of time is not familiar with it. Afew points to add:

Those transfers rules don't apply to people with work permits.

There is indeed a BOT rule that foreigners cannot send money overseas that wasn't first imported by them and they must be able to prove this.

As for your investment analogy: profit can be exported also providing the source of it is legit and tax has been paid, ditto with the sale of a house, tax must be paid and a blue receipt issued by the Land Office before the funds can be exported.

EDIT: to add - I'm not 100% certain of the precise figure but I am pretty certain that work permit holders are able to export overseas only around 80% of their salary earned here.

My bank would have known the money came from the UK because I transferred it into my account. This would show up on their screen I assume. So why would the bank need me to bring a document confirming what they already know?

Another solution is to leave the money in Thailand and use a debit card to withdraw it in your home country. I always use my Thai ATM card to access my money when I'm outside the country.

Some banks flag an incoming foreign currency transaction with a code that lets them know the inbound funds came from overseas, others do not and instead merely code it as a deposit, most banks in Thailand do not have sophisticated systems that allow them to see such data. As a result, most banks will ask the customer to provide the FET (Foreign Exchange Transaction) form showing the date, amount, rate and treasury deal number of the incoming funds.

Another aspect of this is where customers such as me have several accounts with many banks, inbound funds get deposited, transferred, invested and then returned to an account several years later, by that time bank passbooks have filled up and replacement ones issued thus the transaction can be lost. I have a file of incoming FET's covering the past five years, about nine of them, any time I want to expatriate funds I simple use one of the FET's and the bank marks on it how much I've transfered out. The original FET may be for say 2 million but I only send 1 million, the bank gives me credit for a further million that I can use at a later date.

Finally, the (banks) treasury deal number is the important part of all of this, that is the banks proof and audit point should the BOT ever audit them, the individual banks act as the agent of BOT for all of this.

[Time Traveller]

Easy. Go to a bank, exchange to the currency you want and transfer the money by SWIFT. If you are asked then explain the source of your funds.

Don't listen to the people that say you need to do lots of little transfers - that's just a waste of time and money.

[Prof3934]

Can I use my Thai Visa Card and get money out of my account when I am back in the UK?

[steve187]

do you not have family/friends here that need some baht and have the equivalent money in the uk.

[Prof3934]

Good idea, but have none - not an outward person.