Cashiers Checks?

[Cheesekraft]

My father wanted to send me a check for some money he owed me; he sent cash in the mail (a few hundred dollars) and it was stolen/went missing. He sent a check, but it would take several months to cash and it would be very costly to the point it was not worth it. Could he issue me a cashiers check? How would that work? Any fees on these, I have never used one before. Thank you!

[berybert]

If my father owed me a couple of hundred dollars I'd tell him to keep hold of it until I see him again or not to worry about it.

[Cheesekraft]

he owes me many thousands of dollars, but is offering to pay for some of it, and I need it.

[GinBoy2]

I must say, if you have already had cash stolen in the mail, wait until you see him.

If that's not an option, do either a wire transfer to your Thai bank, or if you don't have a bank, then do Western Union transfer and pick up the cash from a Western Union agent

Foreign checks in any country are a pain in the ass to deal with...Thailand is no exception

[Matej]

privately without anyone to know ...

All Thai banks are in the SWIFT system, so he can send it to your bank account.

Always buy THB in western bank, don't send euros/dollars to Thailand.

Never ever tell/show/give access to/lend your money or bank account to Thais.

Good luck

[slapout]

I have used Cashiers checks between corresponding banks and they were handled the same as cash and you can get immediate credit or cash in hand. Saying that, the checks were purchased at foreign bank and presented at Thai bank by myself, so no problem. Check with bank to see if they would handle a check purchased by your father, payable to you, the same way.

Make sure the banks involved are ''corresponding'' and it should work even with your father, but this is Thailand???

[Aachen]

privately without anyone to know ...

All Thai banks are in the SWIFT system, so he can send it to your bank account.

Always buy THB in western bank, don't send euros/dollars to Thailand.

Never ever tell/show/give access to/lend your money or bank account to Thais.

Good luck

Never buy THB outside Thailand! Never!

[Stradavarius37]

So many experts wow!

[IMA_FARANG]

When I came to Thailand to retire in October 2010 I brought a Cashiers check from my U.S. bank for the sum of $37,000 dollars which I deposited into my Bangkok Bank account for collection.

It took 45 days to clear from my U.S. bank into my Bangkok Bank account.

So yes it is possible, but be prepared to wait, and have the funds to live in the meantime.

[lopburi3]

privately without anyone to know ...

All Thai banks are in the SWIFT system, so he can send it to your bank account.

Always buy THB in western bank, don't send euros/dollars to Thailand.

Never ever tell/show/give access to/lend your money or bank account to Thais.

Good luck

Bad advise on currency exchange - always have major currencies changed in Thailand - you will lose a great deal of money sending baht as exchange rate is much lower outside of Thailand in almost all cases.

[lopburi3]

If this is US the normal domestic ACH service is available for transfers to any Bangkok Bank account in Thailand and this is normally the cheapest option with the best exchange rate.

[Pib]

privately without anyone to know ...

All Thai banks are in the SWIFT system, so he can send it to your bank account.

Always buy THB in western bank, don't send euros/dollars to Thailand.

Never ever tell/show/give access to/lend your money or bank account to Thais.

Good luck

Bad, bad advice about buying THB in a western bank...the exchange rate you get with a bank outside of Thailand for baht will be significantly less than with a Thai bank. Outside of Thailand the baht is not used (except maybe in a few countries bordering Thailand) since it's not a major world currency...it's considered an exotic currency. The TT Buying Rate Thai banks provide for incoming international transfers is about the best the common man can get/just a little below the forex exchange rates used by currency traders. Never allow your western sending bank to convert to baht when sending; send in your home country currency and let the receiving Thai bank convert.

OP: if you need the money fast, just have your father send the money via Western Union. Now the Western Union exchange rate is not that good but at least you get the money fast and don't need a Thai bank account to receive it....then just go to the Western Union receiving point in Thailand (like most Thai banks) and get your funds.

And I could be wrong, but even with a cashiers check there will be a clearing time of at least 3 days before you can access the funds. See this Bangkok Bank webpage for their policy on foreign cash check clearing/buying. And if you are unlucky and they treat it as a personal type check, it could take 3 to 4 weeks to clear.

[blackcab]

privately without anyone to know ...

All Thai banks are in the SWIFT system, so he can send it to your bank account.

Always buy THB in western bank, don't send euros/dollars to Thailand.

Never ever tell/show/give access to/lend your money or bank account to Thais.

Good luck

Bad advice about currency exchange. Follow that at your peril.

Transfer the dollars here. Once they are here exchange them for baht.

Edited December 20, 2015 by blackcab

[johna]

I have had so many letters from my bank disappear that I only use DHL for credit card or e banking code card delivery.

Bank to Bank is the way to go, max three days to get the money.

[Thian]

Just use Paypal, works perfect!

[Happy Grumpy]

Get him to mail you his ATM card.

Withdraw the money.

Mail it back to him.

Done.

[Happy Grumpy]

So many experts wow!

Strange that, isn't it.

Who'd think that expats in Thailand would have experience and knowledge of dealing with financial remittance to the country.

[bino]

An alternative to Western Union is Moneygram. Basically the same style of service, but a lot cheaper.

[lopburi3]

Get him to mail you his ATM card.

Withdraw the money.

Mail it back to him.

Done.

Not sure father can open a bank account if needs to send cash or cashiers check but if an option sending card and then PIN by phone would be an option for ongoing usage (he would not want to send an active card by mail) - but there will be normal exchange loss plug 200 baht withdrawal fee (and for normal US daily limit of only a few hundred dollars that could be a killer). This is normally used for ongoing couple relationship expenses as ATM bank account can be replenished when and as needed.

[optad]

Why can't he put it into your domestic bank then you control the transfer to yourself?

Surely you still have an off shore account?

[Robert24]

just wire the money from his bank account to yours. Or alternatively wait until you see him again. If those 2 options are not possible, use Western Union.