Western Union and Bangkok

[svaldezi]

I'm moving to Thailand soon. From studying this forum I can see sending money home can be a problem.(possibly) I will be living in Si saket province. Would I just save myself a lot of heartache by just using Western Union to send money back home? Thx in advance

[stoneyboy]

Sending money to and from where ?

How much ?

How often ?

[svaldezi]

Sending money to and from where ? From Si saket province. Where I will be living at. I will be sending it to USA.

How much ? About 225 USD

How often ? Once a month

Edited June 1, 2015 by svaldezi

[stoneyboy]

Western union may well be the easiest way then but you tend to get lower exchange rates with them.

There are a number of similar companies to Western Union,maybe try to do some searching on the forum here or online.

I've always sent money the opposite way round from the UK to Thailand with international bank transfer,I've always found it safer,easier but slightly more costly.

Maybe some other members will be along with some input soon.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

[svaldezi]

Thanks Stoneyboy

[svaldezi]

Does anybody ever use a pay-pal account from their thai bank account to send back to USA?

[Pib]

Using Western Union or PayPal will work but they are going to bleed you in fees and low exchange rate. Best to retain a U.S. bank account and use that account's ibanking to send your U.S. payments.

[svaldezi]

Don't you have to proof why you are sending money? If you use banks.

[Pib]

Don't you have to proof why you are sending money? If you use banks.

Depends on the amount being sent....usually a person only enters Personal Expenses, Living Expenses, To Pay Bills, etc. if such an entry is required. And if sending from a Thai bank there are significant fees associated with that push an exchange rate expense to convert baht to another currency like USD.

And is your question related to sending from a U.S. bank or from a Thai bank? What amounts are you talking about? A couple hundred dollars....thousands of dollars per transaction, etc?

[svaldezi]

I'm talking about Thai bank to USA bank. 220-240 dollars a month.

Don't you have to proof why you are sending money? If you use banks.

Depends on the amount being sent....usually a person only enters Personal Expenses, Living Expenses, To Pay Bills, etc. if such an entry is required. And if sending from a Thai bank there are significant fees associated with that push an exchange rate expense to convert baht to another currency like USD.

And is your question related to sending from a U.S. bank or from a Thai bank? What amounts are you talking about? A couple hundred dollars....thousands of dollars per transaction, etc?

[Pib]

That small amount is going to pose no problem at all from a Thai bank, WU, PayPal, etc. You'll just have to deal with the associated fees/exchange rate which could approach 5 to 10% for such a small amount when all direct fees and lower exchange rate are calculated.

Unless your money is being sourced from Thailand, like working in Thailand, if you have a U.S. bank account sending money from that U.S. bank account would be a lot easier, faster, cheaper with that bank's ibanking. Most U.S. banks don't even charge for an ACH payment, sending an electronic check, a Bill Payment, etc....I said most U.S. banks...some of the more evil, fee-hungry banks will charge a fee for certain types of transfers. If you currently have a U.S. bank account, especially one that don't charge you any monthly maintenance fees, I recommend you do not close it....it can get hard to open a bank account if you now have only a foreign address.

[Pib]

Since all Thai banks have very similar policies/fees, here's a Bangkok Bank link talking about outbound money transfers. May be helpful.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/SpecialServices/ForeignCustomers/Pages/Howtotransferfundsnew.aspx

[svaldezi]

Yes I will be working in Thailand that will be my source of income. Also I would be trying to send that money to a U.S. Bank.

That small amount is going to pose no problem at all from a Thai bank, WU, PayPal, etc. You'll just have to deal with the associated fees/exchange rate which could approach 5 to 10% for such a small amount when all direct fees and lower exchange rate are calculated.

Unless your money is being sourced from Thailand, like working in Thailand, if you have a U.S. bank account sending money from that U.S. bank account would be a lot easier, faster, cheaper with that bank's ibanking. Most U.S. banks don't even charge for an ACH payment, sending an electronic check, a Bill Payment, etc....I said most U.S. banks...some of the more evil, fee-hungry banks will charge a fee for certain types of transfers. If you currently have a U.S. bank account, especially one that don't charge you any monthly maintenance fees, I recommend you do not close it....it can get hard to open a bank account if you now have only a foreign address.