Is Thailand Value for money

[stament]

Hi,

I'm not in Thailand now otherwise I'd walk into a branch and ask....

Firstly, I've heard that Bangkok Bank is the cheapest bank to transfer funds into Thailand from a foreign non-Thai bank.

Based on that I wanted to ask the following questions:

a) Is it possible to open to open a USD Bangkok Bank Account for both a non-Thai non-resident in Chiang Mai?

Same question as above but for a Thai person

c) I read somewhere that when you transfer to BKK Bank it routes through BKK branch and then you either need to pay to transfer to CM or you get charged for withdrawing in CM (i.e. out of Provence) if you happen to have the BKK branch as your holding account.

d) Based on c) and wanting to transfer in the most cost effective way - what's best? My preference is top open the account in CM as that's where we will be spending most of our time when in Thailand.

Thanks

[ToddinChonburi]

You have to be present at Bangkok bank to open account.

Bangkok bank has a New york Branch that the transfer goes through. You can not open an account there.

You should be able once you have account with Bangkok Bank to do internet money transfers from your home bank account. I do with Usbank.

if you have a Thai person open up an account you should be able to transfer money to it using your external account transfer option on your home banking website.

[stament]

Thanks but what's better CM or BKk branch?

[ToddinChonburi]

I do not know which is better but at the time I open my account BKK was the only one that could do the condo money transfer. That was my main concern. You can look at the different bank websites to see what options you have.

I do believe that BKK is the only bank that can receive Social Security fund transfers from the US .

I do not have any complaints about BKK my bank to bank internet transfers take 3 days and never had a problem.

[ToddinChonburi]

I pay $ 3 for the transfer.

[skatewash]

I pay $ 3 for the transfer.

Plus the Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand that actually does the conversion from $ to THB charges the standard currency conversion fee of 0.25% of the money transferred (subject to a minimum 200 Baht and a maximum of 500 Baht charge). I believe all Thai banks charge this fee, not just Bangkok Bank, as it's a Bank of Thailand (BOT) established fee.

The $3 you pay to the Bangkok Bank NY Branch only covers the cost of transferring the money ($50.01 to $100.00) you send from the US to Thailand. The amount you send determines the fee paid, from free (for sending under $50) to $20 (for sending over $50,000). Obviously the fewer, higher value transfers you do, the better you fare on the transaction overhead cost considered as a percentage of the money transferred.

For people transferring money from the US (bank, brokerage, retirement account custodian, etc.) to Thailand, Bangkok Bank seems to offer the best deal (lowest cost, reasonable exchange rate, online convenience). Details can be found here: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

Also, if you are in Thailand, Bangkok Bank will send an SMS to your mobile as soon as the money arrives in your Bangkok Bank branch. The SMS shows the amount transferred into your account and the currency conversion fee charged as mentioned in the first paragraph above.

It's a very nice service. I highly recommend it. For me, it takes about 2 to 3 business days from when I request the money to be transferred until it shows up in my Bangkok Bank account. My US financial institution doesn't charge a fee to send the money (via ACH) to Bangkok Bank NY Branch.

[skatewash]

To answer the OP's questions:

a) I don't have a foreign currency account (USD) at Bangkok Bank so I don't know, but I would guess that it is possible for a US citizen.

b ) Don't know.

c) My Bangkok Bank branch is in Phuket, so I don't see why you would not be able to do this in Chiang Mai. I don't have an account at a Bangkok Bank branch in Bangkok and yet the transfer still works for me.

d) Yes, you want to have a branch close to where you will be spending the most time to avoid any out-of-province fees, so a Chiang Mai branch would be better for you than one in Bangkok.

You should go to a Bangkok Bank branch in Chiang Mai that is used to dealing with foreigners, one of the larger full-service branches in a tourist/expat area would be best. You are most likely to have the most success at such a branch, and will find it easier to converse in English. If you are a US citizen you will have to fill in some additional forms (courtesy of the IRS and new FATCA regulations) regarding your US taxpayer ID (social security #). Also be aware that you will need to file FBAR paperwork with the US IRS if you have a foreign account that exceeds $10,000 balance at any point in the year you report.

My Bangkok Bank branch required me to produce my Social Security card when I opened my last account. Don't know what would have happened if I didn't have it. It's not like I carry it around with me. So it wasn't enough to give your SS #, they actually wanted to see the card. I think that may have been the only time I've ever used my card in my life. I think this may just be a Bangkok Bank policy and perhaps not required by the IRS. Good luck!

Edited December 6, 2014 by skatewash

[Pib]

Here's the Bangkok Bank webpage on opening a FCD. Be sure to review all the sublinks and Q&As on the page. You can open a FCD at any branch. Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with ACH receiving capability by being able to use their New York branch ABA routing number...see info at this webpage. Money arriving via this ACH method would go directly to your home branch/account number. I think where you have read some posts of people being charged a transfer fee between Bangkok Bank branches is where the individual had the ACH or SWIFT transfer go to a certain account at branch X and then they needed to do a inter-branch transfer to send it to branch Y in another province for some reason.

Always recommended to open an account at a branch close to where you live in Thailand because there are some banking issues/problems only your home branch can resolve/work for you.

Bangkok Bank's website provides a wealth of info in Thai and proper English...they don't have a close second among other Thai banks when it comes to detailed and easily understandable info on their website.

[skatewash]

Bangkok Bank's website provides a wealth of info in Thai and proper English...they don't have a close second among other Thai banks when it comes to detailed and easily understandable info on their website.

Absolutely.