Repatriating money overseas

[charliebadenhop]

This topic has been talked about before, and I would like further clarity.

I do my banking with Bangkok Bank.

Yesterday they told me

1. A fund book account was for investing in funds in Thailand and that the money used could not be repatriated directly from that account.

2. The bank keeps a record (and so do I) of all funds I have brought here.

I will only be able to repatriate whatever funds the bank shows me having brought here, and not 1 baht more.

So I am wanting to know if there is a way to eventually repatriate more money than I have brought in.

Not needing to do this any time soon, but just wanting to know what is eventually possible.

TIA for all knowledge shared.

Charlie

[CharlieH]

Wrong forum

Moved to Banking

[DaffyDuck]

Interesting topic. Couldn't you just use an ATM card, and withdraw money abroad? Or use your local account to pay a foreign bill via a bank wire?

[ezzra]

Sanding your hard earned money back home is more like liberating your money than

repatriating it really... some how they make you feel like a criminal looking for ways

to get what your out of their clutches....

[12DrinkMore]

Depends how much you are talking about.

Up to USD 20,000 lumps can be transferred no issues, above that a form has to be filled in.

[Cheesekraft]

not a conventional method; but a legal workaround, you can buy bitcoins with THB and sell them for USD deposited into your USD account, process can be done in ~10 minutes and will cost ~1%

Edited December 17, 2014 by Cheesekraft

[sanuk711]

not a conventional method; but a legal workaround, you can buy bitcoins with THB and sell them for USD deposited into your USD account, process can be done in ~10 minutes and will cost ~1%----cheeseKraft

-----------------------------------------------

Yes its been quite an outstanding year for investing in Bitcoin....

Maybe Russian ruble as a 2nd choice..............

Something mysterious just recently happened to one of the most prominent names in the world of Bitcoin; Mt. Gox apparently vanished in thin air like a phantom. Along with $400 million..........................http://silkroaddrugs.org/mt-gox-400-million-bitcoin-theft-scandal/

Edited December 17, 2014 by sanuk711

[charliebadenhop]

Hi DrinkMore

Are you saying this... more or less,

If you brought say $1,000,000 into the country,

As long as you sent money out in clumps less than $20,000 at a time, you could repatriate $120,000, or $150,000 or whatever?

The bank one goes with, and or the govt. will not be tracking this?

Charlie

[hhgz]

"I will only be able to repatriate whatever funds the bank shows me having brought here, and not 1 baht more."

Absolute and complete baloney.

[DaffyDuck]

not a conventional method; but a legal workaround, you can buy bitcoins with THB and sell them for USD deposited into your USD account, process can be done in ~10 minutes and will cost ~1%

10 minutes? Enough time for Bitcoin to have lost another 20% of its value. It's been on a freefall for months.

[ChaangNoi]

I would also look at bitcoin as a method. localbitcoins.com has trusted escrow.

Bitcoin is not the most stable thing in the world to hold for long term after all 3 years ago it was worth $2 and 2 years ago only $15. It is now worth well over $300 so holding it is risky. If you just want to move it from one place to the other it takes about 30 mins to do it. I would not do it all at once, or even on the same day if you had a large amount, that was you can absorb the price going up or down.

Edit: Also never let someone else hold your bitcoin like MtGox. That is just asking for trouble. When you have to let the localbitcoins.com hold it in escrow don't do it all at once. bitcoin.org for more info. PM me as well if you need some help.

Edited December 18, 2014 by ChaangNoi

[charliebadenhop]

hhgz

In regard to "absolute and complete baloney" what I have written has been told to me by two different bank employees.

Do you have some evidence or experience that can lead me to believe something different.

What I am trying to do here is LEARN.

[ChaangNoi]

If you are exporting money that you did not bring did you make it here from a job? if so was it a legal job where you can open a new bank account? where taxes paid?

if you are trying to use the bank to send out some of illegal money then the bank might be able to stop you from that one account you have set up. i dont know what type of account it is or how you got it.

we need more info. but no, there are ways to get money out of thailand legally.

[charliebadenhop]

My situation-

I do not work here. I am an ED visa now and will switch to a Retirement visa next.

I have brought in some money to likely rent land and build a house, and I get social security from both the US govt. and the Japanese government.

The money I get from these two governments is more than I spend monthly in Thailand.

So, if I build a house which I later sell and then one to repatriate all money I have, it would be more than what I can show having brought in.

Not at all sure that I will live here until dying, I would not want to get stuck with money here that I cannot take back out of the country.

[Cheesekraft]

this post is borderline trolling; it has no relevance. I am not recommending anyone invest in bitcoin at all. I am suggesting he use it to safely move money. MTGOX, A company, stole peoples money? That happens all the time and has literally nothing to do with bitcoin itself. The amount of time he would be holding bitcoin for could be less than a minute, definitely not recommending a long-term investment in a risky, alpha-stage currency, just a way to move money when banks don't let you.

not a conventional method; but a legal workaround, you can buy bitcoins with THB and sell them for USD deposited into your USD account, process can be done in ~10 minutes and will cost ~1%----cheeseKraft

-----------------------------------------------

Yes its been quite an outstanding year for investing in Bitcoin....

Maybe Russian ruble as a 2nd choice..............

Something mysterious just recently happened to one of the most prominent names in the world of Bitcoin; Mt. Gox apparently vanished in thin air like a phantom. Along with $400 million..........................http://silkroaddrugs.org/mt-gox-400-million-bitcoin-theft-scandal/

[hhgz]

"Do you have some evidence or experience that can lead me to believe something different."

Yes, of course. I brought in 6M THB to buy a condo. I sold the condo, and then SWIFT'd out 9.5M THB. I could give you step-by-step instructions how to do it but, since two people told you that it's not possible - and you've accepted that - I won't waste your time. Here's a hint. Lift the bat off of your shoulder, and at least swing at the ball. Show some initiative.

[arnestockholm]

Using a payment transfer service works very well. They have a local THB bank account and send over it directly to my UK account. Takes only 1 working day. As its for you a local transfer it doesn't matter how high the amount is and no one ask questions.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChaangNoi]

Having a limit on what you can send out is very odd and makes me think that if it is true you have some sort of special bank account with odds limits.

[12DrinkMore]

Hi DrinkMore

Are you saying this... more or less,

If you brought say $1,000,000 into the country,

As long as you sent money out in clumps less than $20,000 at a time, you could repatriate $120,000, or $150,000 or whatever?

The bank one goes with, and or the govt. will not be tracking this?

Charlie

If you brought USD1M in, then you can take USD 1M out with no problems, provided the "in" came through a bank and not in a briefcase.

As I said, there is absolutely no problem in sending up to USD 20,000 out, although obviously if you try to do one transaction every 30 minutes the bank might raise an eyebrow. Higher amounts can also be sent, but you have to fill in a form, which goes off the the BoT.

And obviously any transaction which goes through the banking system will be traceable.

[charliebadenhop]

hhgz

If I have led you to believe that I think it is impossible to send out more than is brought out, then I miscommunicated.

I am guessing that there must be a way, and I would love step by step instructions.

My main concern is- I don't want to try something and wind up in a difficult situation with my bank and or the government.

Stockholm-

This I don't understand.

Perhaps you can say it differently?

Using a payment transfer service works very well. They have a local THB bank account and send over it directly to my UK account. Takes only 1 working day. As its for you a local transfer it doesn't matter how high the amount is and no one ask questions.

[charliebadenhop]

And hhgz, you wrote

I brought in 6M THB to buy a condo. I sold the condo, and then SWIFT'd out 9.5M THB.

If you don't mind me asking, I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that you had to put down a reason for sending the money, yes?

What reason did you state?

[ChaangNoi]

I have sent money into and out of Thailand on a large volume and no one has ever asked my why. I would find the question to be highly rude. Unless you are trying to get out drug money or something like that I would not worry about it.

[arnestockholm]

hhgz

If I have led you to believe that I think it is impossible to send out more than is brought out, then I miscommunicated.

I am guessing that there must be a way, and I would love step by step instructions.

My main concern is- I don't want to try something and wind up in a difficult situation with my bank and or the government.

Stockholm-

This I don't understand.

Perhaps you can say it differently?

Using a payment transfer service works very well. They have a local THB bank account and send over it directly to my UK account. Takes only 1 working day. As its for you a local transfer it doesn't matter how high the amount is and no one ask questions.

It's a financial service company based in the UK. They have a service called global local payment transfer. You have to setup a transaction with them very easy by email or phone. You tell them I have to transfer amount x from country a to b. Let's say from Thailand to the USA 500.000 THB. They will provide you a account number in Thailand where you have to send the money to. You send them the payment slip and they send the money directly to the USA account. As you do only a internal transfer in Thailand it's very essay for yourself. And they are dam fast as they have nearly everywhere local accounts so the money is in the USA in one day or sometimes at the same day. The fees are based on the country and the amount I think.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[charliebadenhop]

Thanks Stockholm,

I can now understand what you were explaining.

What is the name of the company/service?

So...

From what everyone writes here, what my bank told me is not the actual case.

Thanks for that info.

I wonder if what the banker was describing is a system that they are looking to fully implement in the future...?

Some further background-

I lived in Japan for 30 years.

I worked there and paid taxes.

When I was back recently I wanted to send a good chunk of money from my Japan account to my Thai account.

I got grilled by the bank, and the whole process wound up taking about two hours.

"Where does the money come from?"

I replied "Well isn't it obvious, it comes from my account."

"But what is the source of this money?"

I replied, "Money that I have saved over the course of 30 years."

"What are you going to be doing with this money?

I replied "I am going to buy a house or condo."

"Do you have a contract to show us?"

I replied "No contract because I have not chosen anything yet."

On and on with many nonsense questions...

So it seems like banks around the world are concerned about money laundering.

And all of this led me to more or less believe what the Thai bank person told me.

[ChaangNoi]

I am going to guess that you are an American and that is why the banks and giving you so much trouble. Because of the US laws banks working with Americans have to be very careful about the money they move for them. This 2 hour thing is normal and is why banks just don't want to deal with Americans.

If you are not an American I guess this sort of thing is spreading or that they really just wanted to keep your money in the account. Random things happen for who knows why.

[charliebadenhop]

Yes, I am a US citizen, and yes, the US govt. is creating a lot of madness.

And thus I am concerned about how this madness will show up for US citizens banking here in Thailand

[GotSeoul]

Two BKK based American friends of mine have both sent money back to the U.S. From Thailand. If you have a work permit and are salaried in Thailand you can send money back to the U.S. by stating to the staff you are remitting salary. I was at the bank when one of my friends did this.

His trouble was that he was told that was not possible. He spoke to the manager of the branch that stated the same thing. He got them to call the headquarters of the bank to confirm this was possible. The people at the headquarters confirmed it was possible and he was able to do the transaction. This happened within the past 6 weeks.

They took photocopies of his passport front page, Visa, and work permit for the transaction.

Regarding sale of a condo and remitting back to the U.S. I have no first hand experience, but I have researched it when I purchased my condo and if you have your paperwork straight, this can be done. I have an American friend that owned 1 condo in Chitlom and two at Wongamat beach. He sold one of the condos in Wongamat and remitted the proceeds back to the U.S. I was not there to witness the process but I know from him that it can be done.

[No Flames on this please, I am admitting speculation on the following paragraph]

My speculation is that you should probably have your original wire transfers from your purchase, the paperwork from the Thai bank for the wire transfer for the property that was purchased, your copy of the paperwork from the land office of the purchase, your copy of the paperwork from the land office from the sale of the property. I'm going to speculate that you might need somewhere in the land office paperwork the amount of taxes paid on the transfer of the property. Again this is speculation, some based on research that I'm trying to recall from a while back. This process would probably better explained by someone that actually performed this action.

Edited December 22, 2014 by GotSeoul

[ChaangNoi]

Yes, I am a US citizen, and yes, the US govt. is creating a lot of madness.

And thus I am concerned about how this madness will show up for US citizens banking here in Thailand

So far not a whole lot in Thailand. But in other parts of the world banks are refusing to work with Americans. In the most extreme event you might end up with a check and no place to cash it.

I have an account in Thailand but i only keep the least amount needed.

[zeekgarcia]

hhgz

If I have led you to believe that I think it is impossible to send out more than is brought out, then I miscommunicated.

I am guessing that there must be a way, and I would love step by step instructions.

My main concern is- I don't want to try something and wind up in a difficult situation with my bank and or the government.

Stockholm-

This I don't understand.

Perhaps you can say it differently?

Using a payment transfer service works very well. They have a local THB bank account and send over it directly to my UK account. Takes only 1 working day. As its for you a local transfer it doesn't matter how high the amount is and no one ask questions.

It's a financial service company based in the UK. They have a service called global local payment transfer. You have to setup a transaction with them very easy by email or phone. You tell them I have to transfer amount x from country a to b. Let's say from Thailand to the USA 500.000 THB. They will provide you a account number in Thailand where you have to send the money to. You send them the payment slip and they send the money directly to the USA account. As you do only a internal transfer in Thailand it's very essay for yourself. And they are dam fast as they have nearly everywhere local accounts so the money is in the USA in one day or sometimes at the same day. The fees are based on the country and the amount I think.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what is the name of this UK company? Whats the link to their website?