Foreign Tour Operators Flood Phuket, Taking Jobs from Locals

[Tombuk]

Has anyone opened two bank accounts with Nationwide? I am looking for a cheaper way to send money to Thailand. Is it easy to open two accounts? And how do you go about doing it? Also will they not keep blocking the card if they are being used in 2 countries simultaneously? Thanks

[KittenKong]

Why would opening two accounts help you? And why do you particularly want two bank accounts (presumably you mean current accounts) with Nationwide?

And how can you use a card in two countries simultaneously? You can only use a card if you have it in your possession. Or are you talking about online purchases?

[Tombuk]

I heard that people use them so its easier to give funds to their Thai family. I live in the UK and my girlfriend lives in Thailand. I send money to her on a regular basis and my bank charges me £20 a transaction and I have used the post office a few times but the exchange rate isn't that good.

[Tombuk]

If I have two accounts can I give a card to her and I have a card. Then can easily transfer the funds between accounts which she can draw out from an ATM in Thailand.

[KittenKong]

If I have two accounts can I give a card to her and I have a card. Then can easily transfer the funds between accounts which she can draw out from an ATM in Thailand.

Fair enough. I see no reason why you should not do that. I dont imagine that Nationwide would care but if they ask you could just say that you want to keep your home and travel expenditure separate.

[Cam Khao]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

A wholly unnecessary action. A more effective way, at least over the next 12 months, is to open a Revolut account. Better value than using a Nationwide debit card. You can transfer the stipend to the Revolut account from your bank account and she can withdraw the funds as soon as they are available. I guess within an hour or two at the most. Likely within minutes. You get the full mid-market rate with no fees, other than the Thai ATM fee.

[KittenKong]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

An advantage of the Nationwide card is that there is no currency conversion weighting beyond the amount charged by VISA/Mastercard. So it is one of the cheapest cards to use abroad.

I dont know about ATM charges.

Another option the OP could investigate would be pre-paid cards. There are several suppliers of these. Again attention would need to paid to ATM fees etc.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

An advantage of the Nationwide card is that there is no currency conversion weighting beyond the amount charged by VISA/Mastercard. So it is one of the cheapest cards to use abroad.

I dont know about ATM charges.

Another option the OP could investigate would be pre-paid cards. There are several suppliers of these. Again attention would need to paid to ATM fees etc.

Nonsense....

Edited August 10, 2015 by Jiu-Jitsu

[Cam Khao]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Jiu-Jitsu

[Cam Khao]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

Yep, always send in GBP

Counter transfers would not remove the cost. I would have to visit the bank, deal with the transaction and wait for the result. That is a cost. I would much rather pay the bank to remove that headache, my time is more valuable than the transaction charge.

[Jip99]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

The Nationwide card process worked well when there no ATM charges in Thailand or any fees levied by Nationwide. I used a No1 and No2 account regularly when I was mainly UK based and visited Thailand. The missus had the No2 account card. On one occasion I had a message from her to say she had found some furniture we had been looking for, could I send 20,000 Baht. I went online and transferred GBP 300 to the No2 while she stood by the ATM and took out 20k a minute later.

That system is no longer economically viable. Anyone with a long-term Thai relationship should have a long-term Thai bank account. Fund yours accordingly and transfer online to her as required.

[Tombuk]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

The Nationwide card process worked well when there no ATM charges in Thailand or any fees levied by Nationwide. I used a No1 and No2 account regularly when I was mainly UK based and visited Thailand. The missus had the No2 account card. On one occasion I had a message from her to say she had found some furniture we had been looking for, could I send 20,000 Baht. I went online and transferred GBP 300 to the No2 while she stood by the ATM and took out 20k a minute later.

That system is no longer economically viable. Anyone with a long-term Thai relationship should have a long-term Thai bank account. Fund yours accordingly and transfer online to her as required.

[Tombuk]

My girlfriend has a Bangkok bank account but everytime I have tried to open an account they have refused when I had and ED visa. Is it possible to open an account with just a tourist visa?

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

.........

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

Yep, always send in GBP

Counter transfers would not remove the cost. I would have to visit the bank, deal with the transaction and wait for the result. That is a cost. I would much rather pay the bank to remove that headache, my time is more valuable than the transaction charge.

As I stated. Your money.

It is you who was attempting to advise the OP when clearly, you haven't a clue for yourself. Your advice is based on inertia and perhaps simply not caring.

I have more than one bank account. I simply use the best to make transfers. No extra work involved.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think you are overlooking the ATM fees. They will probably work out more expensive than the single flat rate for a monthly transfer to a Thai bank.

I think last time I actually crunched the numbers, I was paying around £14 all told, for the ATM fee and the currency conversion every time I use my UK Lloyds Bank VISA debit card over here.

.........

That's because you are using a poor method and a poor card.

Use the Halifax Clarity over the counter using a suitable bank and you pay no forex fee and of course there is no ATM fee. There are quite a few similar options available to you.

It's your fault for not even coming close to keeping abreast of developments. There are very many threads here discussing this very matter.

No reason to pay anything at this time. Many products available that allow you to avoid all fees.

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

The Nationwide card process worked well when there no ATM charges in Thailand or any fees levied by Nationwide. I used a No1 and No2 account regularly when I was mainly UK based and visited Thailand. The missus had the No2 account card. On one occasion I had a message from her to say she had found some furniture we had been looking for, could I send 20,000 Baht. I went online and transferred GBP 300 to the No2 while she stood by the ATM and took out 20k a minute later.

That system is no longer economically viable. Anyone with a long-term Thai relationship should have a long-term Thai bank account. Fund yours accordingly and transfer online to her as required.

I'd be happier having to deal with a UK institution than a Thai if anything goes wrong. You don't get better value hold a Thai bank account unless you've locked in baht when it was particularly weak.

[Jip99]

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

The Nationwide card process worked well when there no ATM charges in Thailand or any fees levied by Nationwide. I used a No1 and No2 account regularly when I was mainly UK based and visited Thailand. The missus had the No2 account card. On one occasion I had a message from her to say she had found some furniture we had been looking for, could I send 20,000 Baht. I went online and transferred GBP 300 to the No2 while she stood by the ATM and took out 20k a minute later.

That system is no longer economically viable. Anyone with a long-term Thai relationship should have a long-term Thai bank account. Fund yours accordingly and transfer online to her as required.

I'd be happier having to deal with a UK institution than a Thai if anything goes wrong. You don't get better value hold a Thai bank account unless you've locked in baht when it was particularly weak.

I would agree with that and I hope I never have a problem with a Thai bank. However, I believe that having a Thai account is both logical and sensible and it can be funded as and when you choose.

[croftrobin]

Hi

I have been using Transferwise for a few months.

Great quick service and a lot cheaper than ATM fees or bank trasnfer fees.

Today the rate for:

100 pounds is 5,353.54

1000 pounds is 53,726.64

Thats what gets transferred into your Thai bank account (or anyone elses)

All Thai banks aree supported.

Follow the link here and your first transfer is free

https://transferwise.com/u/6cef7

[KittenKong]

An advantage of the Nationwide card is that there is no currency conversion weighting beyond the amount charged by VISA/Mastercard. So it is one of the cheapest cards to use abroad.

Nonsense....

You're absolutely right. I was thinking of the Halifax Clarity card. For some reason I had it in my head that the OP had chosen to use a card that charged no weighting fee.

I never use cards in ATMs myself.

[rocketboybkk]

I can see what you mean

The answer is yes

I did it years ago

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thongkorn]

My Wife use to use Kapook, but now they want a standing order to take money out of her account, We have done something similar to you, opened another account and set up a standing order, so they can take money out, but there will only be the amount that the Mrs wants to send, if it goes tits up you only lose whats in your second account,

[rocketboybkk]

Nationwide never used to charge for foreign withdrawals at the atm.

That's what the op wants to do, he transfers from one account he has a card for to another account his wife has the card for. Simple

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I'm not really worried about it. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed make an ATM withdrawal from my UK account in the last 10 years here. I do sometimes wonder if there is a better way of sending my monthly income over though. But on the other hand, is it really worth the effort to change just to save 1000 Baht every month? Its a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Halifax Bank charges £9.50 to send money over. HSBC £4.

There is also the option of withdrawing money at no cost over the counter and then depositing the baht directly into your Thai bank account. But of course this is best if you can use the same bank for both. In so that there is no need to leave the branch until both transactions are complete.

Remember if you are using Lloyds to send Thai baht, you are losing a lot more than 1000 baht each time. It's always better to send in Pounds.

No one is forcing you. It's your money, you can choose as to whom you wish to give it.

The Nationwide card process worked well when there no ATM charges in Thailand or any fees levied by Nationwide. I used a No1 and No2 account regularly when I was mainly UK based and visited Thailand. The missus had the No2 account card. On one occasion I had a message from her to say she had found some furniture we had been looking for, could I send 20,000 Baht. I went online and transferred GBP 300 to the No2 while she stood by the ATM and took out 20k a minute later.

That system is no longer economically viable. Anyone with a long-term Thai relationship should have a long-term Thai bank account. Fund yours accordingly and transfer online to her as required.

I'd be happier having to deal with a UK institution than a Thai if anything goes wrong. You don't get better value hold a Thai bank account unless you've locked in baht when it was particularly weak.

I would agree with that and I hope I never have a problem with a Thai bank. However, I believe that having a Thai account is both logical and sensible and it can be funded as and when you choose.

Contrary to what you might believe, the Thai bank account isn't necessarily the least expensive option.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Nationwide never used to charge for foreign withdrawals at the atm.

That's what the op wants to do, he transfers from one account he has a card for to another account his wife has the card for. Simple

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You need to pay attention....

[rocketboybkk]

Nationwide never used to charge for foreign withdrawals at the atm.

That's what the op wants to do, he transfers from one account he has a card for to another account his wife has the card for. Simple

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You need to pay attention....

Why? This forum isn't my life,

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Hi

I have been using Transferwise for a few months.

Great quick service and a lot cheaper than ATM fees or bank trasnfer fees.

Today the rate for:

100 pounds is 5,353.54

1000 pounds is 53,726.64

Thats what gets transferred into your Thai bank account (or anyone elses)

All Thai banks aree supported.

Follow the link here and your first transfer is free

https://transferwise.com/u/6cef7

Over the counter today, you would obtain a rate of 53.994137 on average. No fees.

Reference here

[KittenKong]

Nationwide never used to charge for foreign withdrawals at the atm.

That's what the op wants to do, he transfers from one account he has a card for to another account his wife has the card for. Simple

There were indeed two big changes a few years ago to the way charges are applied when using Nationwide cards abroad.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/jul/31/nationwide-flexaccount-charge-withdrawals

Hence my confusion with the Halifax Clarity card.

Metrobank also used not to charge a weighting fee for use outside the EU (or maybe the Eurozone) but now they do.

I think that Norwich and Peterborough BS still do a card that carries no fees abroad also, except possible ATM fees charged locally.

[evadgib]

A wholly unnecessary action. A more effective way, at least over the next 12 months, is to open a Revolut account. Better value than using a Nationwide debit card. You can transfer the stipend to the Revolut account from your bank account and she can withdraw the funds as soon as they are available. I guess within an hour or two at the most. Likely within minutes. You get the full mid-market rate with no fees, other than the Thai ATM fee.

I'm expecting an avalanche of shit for asking this, but how do recipients physically get hold of the funds?

Asked in a 'how-to-rescue-a-gap-year-child' capacity.

(The answer isn't obvious in the video,at least not to this technological doughnut!)

Edited August 11, 2015 by evadgib