Transfer Of Funds From Australia

[ezzra]

I Intend to buy A property here in Bkk and need to transfer large sum

of money from Aust to Bkk ( hundreds of thousand of A $ )

I bank with Commonwealth bank in Aust and here with Krung sri bank

I Own my business here with work permit,

What would be the best way to send/ transfer the funds to maximize

on Exchange rate and minimize commissions?

[Naam]

"What would be the best way to send/ transfer the funds to maximize on Exchange rate and minimize commissions?"

you can buy your THB already offshore at a time which you select instead of transferring and changing in Thailand. don't believe any rubbish talk that is is mandatory to transfer foreign currency and then convert it here. i have transferred >25 mm Baht in the last 1½ years for my property/car purchases and always bought abroad and paid not a single Satang commission locally.

my local (thai) bank charges a flat fee of THB 1.000 per transfer no matter what amount and my bank offshore charges USD 35.- for a transfer with SWIFT.

[udon]

If you have Internet banking with both banks, why not transfer the funds yourself but advise the Comm Bank first?

[ezzra]

"What would be the best way to send/ transfer the funds to maximize on Exchange rate and minimize commissions?"

you can buy your THB already offshore at a time which you select instead of transferring and changing in Thailand. don't believe any rubbish talk that is is mandatory to transfer foreign currency and then convert it here. i have transferred >25 mm Baht in the last 1½ years for my property/car purchases and always bought abroad and paid not a single Satang commission locally.

my local (thai) bank charges a flat fee of THB 1.000 per transfer no matter what amount and my bank offshore charges USD 35.- for a transfer with SWIFT.

Not being a banking savvy guy, how would you go about buying and transferring

the THB funds safely and at the right timing?

[naka]

You could always bring in the funds in AU dollars, place it in a 1 month

fixed account and change into Baht when you want.

Best way to bring in the funds is by Bank to Bank SWIFT transfer.

SCB (resident)

SCB (non resident)

Naka.

[Naam]

"how would you go about buying and transferring the THB funds safely and at the right timing?"

good question! evaluating the development of THB vs. other currencies has become a quite tricky task. i am not a prophet and voice my personal opinion stating that the appreciation of the Baht has ground to a halt.

disclaimer: i think in USD terms and have not done any research on THB vs. AUD. graph attached.

[Naam]

"bring in the funds in AU dollars, place it in a 1 month fixed account and change into Baht when you want"

not advisable because then you are at the merci of your thai bank as far as the exchange rate is concerned. thai bankers might be nice and polite chaps but they lack professionality and knowledge. there is no way dealing with a thai banker on the phone telling him/her "now hit AUD @ 27.843 minus 15 bps for you!"

[ezzra]

"bring in the funds in AU dollars, place it in a 1 month fixed account and change into Baht when you want"

not advisable because then you are at the merci of your thai bank as far as the exchange rate is concerned. thai bankers might be nice and polite chaps but they lack professionality and knowledge. there is no way dealing with a thai banker on the phone telling him/her "now hit AUD @ 27.843 minus 15 bps for you!"

The Crux of the matter is the precise timing as to when to give the order Either to transfer

or to convert the funds to THB Once they are here,

wrong timing can mean ten of thousands loss when you talking about hundred of thousand

of A $.

What to Do, What to Do ???

[Naam]

"wrong timing can mean ten of thousands loss when you talking about hundred of thousand

of A $. What to Do, What to Do ?"

throw a coin?

joke aside. forex dealings are indeed a pain in the butt and nobody knows which way what currency is going when.

[mijan24]

If you have Internet banking with both banks, why not transfer the funds yourself but advise the Comm Bank first?

Udon I was back in Oz last week and the max amount for internet international transfer is $10000 per time cost $22 but if you are there in person you can send unlimited (they notify approp authority) cost now $30.

Edited October 8, 2006 by mijan24

[udon]

mijan,

thanks for that info.

[mijan24]

mijan,

thankr that info.

Udon no probs a bit more (off topic but still important):

Ask Com Bank to change address to Thailand then I discovered (accidently) this process automatically removed my tax file number.

Sampered around to ANZ as had changed my address there on a previous visit and had already received mail (statements) in Thailand - ANZ looked up account info no probs tax file number safe and well.

The workings of the Oz banking systems????

[Time Traveller]

Advise to swift transfer, then do currency exchange thru Thai banks. Ive always found that their rates are best. But do yourself a favour and compare rates Australian banks v.s thai bank. ( Those Aussie banks love the big fat commissions!) If you're concerned about timing of the transfer, you can always split it up in the several smaller amounts over a period of time to get the average rate. Of course you'll pay the small transfer fee each time, but if you're transfering several hundred thousand then why would you worry about a few $30 transfer fees ?

[Time Traveller]

"bring in the funds in AU dollars, place it in a 1 month fixed account and change into Baht when you want"

not advisable because then you are at the merci of your thai bank as far as the exchange rate is concerned. thai bankers might be nice and polite chaps but they lack professionality and knowledge. there is no way dealing with a thai banker on the phone telling him/her "now hit AUD @ 27.843 minus 15 bps for you!"

Actually, disagree completely. Everytime I have done fx transfer Thai banks have always provided a better rate than foreign banks. Anyway if you transfer the money and don't like the rate, you can always exchange the money through another bank. You are NO way forced to do business with them even if your money is at that bank. You can even transfer the currency abroad again using swift if you want.

To say that Thai bankers lack professionality is ignorant, however, it's possible for retail service that you may think that because you don't tell the to hit any bid, they give you a price to exchnge money at, you either do it or go elsewhere. Simple. Perhaps you are used to dealing with with retail fx broker.

Also, confusion with your use of terminology....in fx markets the term pips is used (bps is for interest rate markets)