Tdameritrade refuses to wire money to Thailand

[Jingthing]

1. That form is designed for international SWIFT wires. I already explained how to do an ACH domestic transfer online to Bangkok Bank New York from any U.S. financial institution. Using that form would obviously red flag the transfer as it's a form for an international transfer and they don't do Thailand.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Go online to your TD Ameritrade account.

Set up transfer to Bangkok Bank New York using their routing number: 026008691

Use your Thai Bangkok Bank account number.

Job done.

No need to call uncooperative clowns on telephone.

OP, this direction above is the way you want to go, and should be trouble-free.

You need to stop thinking and talking about "wire transfers" and stick instead with the idea of doing a domestic U.S. ACH transfer, which you initiate in your TDA online banking, from your TD account to Bangkok Bank New York. Use your full BKK Bank account number as the recipient account number, and the BKK Bank NY routing/ABA number for the routing number. With an ACH, you never have to talk to anyone at TD or obtain their permission for anything.

In contrast, with international wire transfers, you're having to make the request for the U.S. bank to xfer the funds, and it often involves submitting paperwork and other nonsense, which can be very burdensome, especially when you're not sitting in the U.S. around the corner from your U.S. bank or brokerage office.

However, ALL of the major U.S. brokerages allow their customers/accountholders to do their own domestic ACH transfers from within their online banking setups. When you send money to BKK Bank NY via ACH, BKK Bank NY automatically forwards your funds onward to Thailand and into the BKK Bank account you've designated. But as far as your U.S. bank is concerned, it's still a simple domestic ACH transfer.

If you already have an established ACH link between your TD account and BKK Bank New York, then you should be able to simply order the ACH transfer via online banking. But if you no longer have a valid link between the two accounts/banks, you'll need to set up a new ACH link in online banking and you might need to first do a trial deposits confirmation where TD will make two small test deposits into your recipient account, and then you have to confirm back in their online banking what those amounts are.

I don't know if TD still uses trial deposits or not. If they do, and you don't already have a valid ACH link, then you'll need to wait a couple days for the trial deposits to arrive in your local BKK Bank account. Then you call BKK Bank main customer service English hotline, and tell them you have some trial deposits, and ask them to give you the deposited amounts in U.S. currency figures (which usually are just a few cents each). You'll need to enter those correct amounts back into your TD online banking setup to confirm the ACH link. After that, you should be ready and free to ACH.

[Jimmyd]

Useful information. Thanks.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Jimmyd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The other thing to mention is...

Almost any way you cut it, for amounts large or small, the BKK Bank New York ACH route is going to be less expensive than most any traditional U.S. bank international wire transfers -- unless you happen to deal with a very rare U.S. bank that does no-fee international wire transfers.

However, BKK Bank NY is NOT fee-free. The NY branch charges a sliding scale handling fee based on the amount being sent. And then the receiving BKK Bank branch in Thailand also charges a commission, I believe, at the same rate as they'd charge against an incoming wire transfer.

So, even going the BKK Bank NY route, it's going to be more economical for larger amounts of funds being transferred. You can send smaller amounts, but the fees for smaller amounts, as a percentage rate, tend to be high.

[Cheesekraft]

set up a coinbase account, buy bitcoin, sell bitcoin for thai baht at localbitcoin.com or coins.co.th should not take more than an hour and will be cheaper than a wire transfer

[Orangutan]

Or you can add a U.S. Payee address to your "Bill Pay", and send a check to yourself/bank

[opporna]

set up a coinbase account, buy bitcoin, sell bitcoin for thai baht at localbitcoin.com or coins.co.th should not take more than an hour and will be cheaper than a wire transfer

Interesting. Could you walk me through the process? I've signed up on coinbase, but I'm getting a bit confused as to where to go from there.

[Cheesekraft]

set up an account on coins.co.th or localbitcoins, find a buyer, buy the amount you need in bitcoin, transfer to the deposit address. I'd recommend doing a small amount to a personal wallet first (even <$1 is fine) (electrum for computer or mycelium fro the phone) so you have some 'practice' and dont mess anything up. Make sure the amount is in the wallet and look up the transaction. After you are comfortable you can just find the buyer, buy the btc, and sell, within a few seconds and have THB in your account, or pick up cash. It may not be as smooth right now because Kasikorn is down for a couple of days so there will be less people able to send THB.

[opporna]

Seems like when I crunch the numbers, paying say $279 on coinbase, then selling for 9091 baht on coins.co.th (those are the current numbers on those sites), that I'm only getting 32.58 baht per dollar! Terrible deal even given fees. What am I missing?

Edited July 18, 2015 by opporna

[TheAppletons]

Seems like when I crunch the numbers, paying say $279 on coinbase, then selling for 9091 baht on coins.co.th (those are the current numbers on those sites), that I'm only getting 32.58 baht per dollar! Terrible deal even given fees. What am I missing?

The fact that bitcoin is backed by the full faith and credit of the government of.....uh....oh, wait. Never mind.

[Cheesekraft]

bitcoin is "backed" by cryptography, the thing that protects your money in the banks, and the largest and most secure computing network in the world.

The exchange rate is fluctuating constantly, and the price of one bitcoin has gone up about $14 in the last couple of hours, make sure to check frequently for the best price. You can look at localbitcoins for a better price also but it is not as easy. Remember to factor in there is no transfer fee besides the ~6 cents to send with that exchange rate, where wire transfer may cost ~$25+ exchange rate fees. If you can't even do the wire transfer, it may very well be your only option (or the best option compared to say, an outrageous western union transfer).

Edited July 18, 2015 by Cheesekraft

[alocacoc]

It's not a surprise that TDA and other firms have restriction for country's like TH.

Some country's which are also excluded to open or maintain an account at TDA are Australia, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Indonesia, Thailand and others. But The Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore are fine. There is TD Ameritrade Singapore, only for Singaporean residents. TD Canada, TDA UK, TD Intl. in Luxembourg. Some of them, like UK and L don't offer the Thinkorswim Platform which is imho the most valuable part of TDA.

There are more and more restrictions against non-US residents. It's good to have a backup plan. To the OP, if you not have a US citizenship nor a residential in the US, be happy that you can trade with TDA at all.

Edited July 23, 2015 by alocacoc