You and your Thai Wife of 20 years.

[bow]

How long does it take to transfer money from the US to a thai bank account ?

We are talking about a privat person in the us, transfering a small amount of money to a private person here in Thailand. Not business to business.

This is an old man doing things the old fasioned way. He will go to his bank and ask them to transfer some money to a thai bankaccount.

I am sure there are faster, cheaper and easier ways to do this, but that is not on. Anyway, considering this man's age it is amazing that he manages do this by himself at all.

He will go to his bank on Tuesday morning. Does anyone know when we can expect the money to be available from a Thai ATM ?

[Pib]

Depends on which transfer method he chooses, such as the faster, pricer SWIFT sending method which takes 1 or 2 days (maybe same day with some luck) to arrive and there would probably be a Sending bank fee in the $30-50 ballpark. Sending via SWIFT is pricey and funds can be sent to any Thai bank using the Thai banks SWIFT code.

Or if sending to a Bangkok Bank account he can use the ACH sending method which takes a little longer but the Sending fee may be much lower than using SWIFT....ACH would arrive in 1 to 3 days. Only Bangkok Bank has the capability to receive ACH transfers.

Now walking into a brick-and-mortar branch to do a transfer usually incurs higher fees since you are using a teller. Use the bank's online and it may be much cheaper, especially for ACH if sending to a Bangkok Bank account. Can not use ACH for other Thai banks as they don't have U.S. ACH routing numbers/a U.S. branch the funds can be routed through.

Bangkok Bank info on sending funds from the U.S.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

[bow]

Thank you.

Well, I think he wants to transfer $250. This swift thing seems a bit expensive, considering.

Online stuff is not on.

I don't know which bank the thai bank account is in or which US bank he uses. The biggest bank locally is Omsin. Bangkok or Kasikon are not common.

So, it is difficult to say, but probably thursday or friday this week or early next week.

Thanks again.

[Pib]

With the various fees such as the sending and receiving bank fees, sending small amounts gets costly. Could easily cost $50 to send $250.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Pib

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post and the reply to it. The OP said very clearly "Online stuff is not on"

[Searat7]

I pay $10 to sending bank to transfer up to $10,000 by ACH to my dollar account at Bangkok Bank. Usually takes 2 business days

[hhgz]

"How long does it take to transfer money from the US to a thai bank account ?"

​Using SWIFT, an hour or two.

[Gonsalviz]

This evening I will call my bank and I will expect the money in my account tomorrow morning. Only 1 time it came one day later. I suspect because I called too late.

[1FinickyOne]

I have transferred from the US - if he transfers it tuesday morning, your night, you should have it the next morning…

I have found this with Kasikorn on a regular basis - one time recently a wire to Bkk Bank was held w/no reason for nearly a week.

His age does not matter as to the speed of the wire. Just give him all the appropriate info - swift code, branch and bank account ## - include your phone ## -

his age will matter if it takes him 2 days to get to the bank...

good luck.

[fred Kubasa]

I transfer funds re a check writen on my US bank and depositedat SCB. I am

always told to expect a 46 day, ( not 40, not 50 but 46 day delay in funds

(availablility ). The money is transferred electronically, ( it doesn't swim here ! ), but, illegally in the US, "floats" with no interest paid.

In checking my US account I have seen money gone immediately but SCB denies receipt, US bank says "gone" so I suppose the Thai banks use the funds as

long as they can and the receipient just must wait !

[bow]

Thank you all.

This guy is over 90 years old. He could ask somebody to do it for him and it would be both cheaper and faster, but he is obstinate and wants to continue doing this transfer himself, in the way he is used to. I admire him for this

[LPCustom69]

He could probably send $300 by Western Union for $30 or less, and it would be there in hours.

[Maestro]

Removed some more off-topic posts.

[maderaroja]

Depends on which transfer method he chooses, such as the faster, pricer SWIFT sending method which takes 1 or 2 days (maybe same day with some luck) to arrive and there would probably be a Sending bank fee in the $30-50 ballpark. Sending via SWIFT is pricey and funds can be sent to any Thai bank using the Thai banks SWIFT code.

Or if sending to a Bangkok Bank account he can use the ACH sending method which takes a little longer but the Sending fee may be much lower than using SWIFT....ACH would arrive in 1 to 3 days. Only Bangkok Bank has the capability to receive ACH transfers.

Now walking into a brick-and-mortar branch to do a transfer usually incurs higher fees since you are using a teller. Use the bank's online and it may be much cheaper, especially for ACH if sending to a Bangkok Bank account. Can not use ACH for other Thai banks as they don't have U.S. ACH routing numbers/a U.S. branch the funds can be routed through.

Bangkok Bank info on sending funds from the U.S.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

"Professional" people in Thailand always will answer only the question that you have asked, often incompletely. They will never offer alternative methods or suggest methods that will be more efficient or less expensive to you.

I have asked BBL "professionals" for information regarding money transfers from the U.S. Always, I now discover, have I asked the exact wrong question to discover the best answer. So, I have never been provided with the most efficient or economical solution to this problem.

Thank you for the information on the ACH transfer.

[bow]

Epilogue

So, how long did it take ?

Counting from when our old man gave the transfer instructions to a flesh and blood bank teller working in a brick and mortar office to when you could draw the money from an atm here in thailand - well, the closest I can get is that it must have taken less than 6 hours.

Sorry, I don't know exactly what sort of transfer the teller made.

[Maestro]

That's good. Must have been a SWIFT remittance from bank to bank, possibly also passing through an intermediary bank. Nice to see that the old systems with a live bank teller combines well with the computer system.