Banks in Thailand Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[lensta]

I will try to make this as short as possible. We recently sold a property for a Norwegian couple. They were paid by bank check which was deposited in their Bangkok Bank Acc. They decided to leave the money in their Thai acc til the exchange rate improved. Last Friday I received an email from them requesting that I transfer the money for them. I have all the signed withdrawal slips, signed copies of their passports. letter from the bank when the money came into the country and the sales document from the land office. You would think all would be good, but as always, I had to ask myself "where did I wake up this morning?" Apparently a 2nd person cannot transfer the money even though the money is coming out of their acc in Thailand and going into their acc in Norway. The bank is insisting on the Acc holders signing the transfer form because they want proof that the holders actually want to transfer the money and not leave it in their Thai acc. Of course no other bank wants to transfer it because the money is not held in their bank. It seems that it doesn't matter that they get a fee for transferring funds overseas. I waste so much time trying to deal with cra p like this. Rant over.

[ukrules]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

[uthaithanirules]

Why in this day and age cant they transfer it themselves?

And If Bangkok Bank, the transfer fees should be less and exchange rate better through Western Union than a Swift transfer from the bank itself

[lensta]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

[lensta]

Why in this day and age cant they transfer it themselves?

And If Bangkok Bank, the transfer fees should be less and exchange rate better through Western Union than a Swift transfer from the bank itself

They are in Norway and there is a daily limit of how much they can transfer.

I will check Western Union but I think they are more expensive than a Swift transfer.

[CharlieH]

MOVED TO BANKING

[uthaithanirules]

Why in this day and age cant they transfer it themselves?

And If Bangkok Bank, the transfer fees should be less and exchange rate better through Western Union than a Swift transfer from the bank itself

They are in Norway and there is a daily limit of how much they can transfer.

I will check Western Union but I think they are more expensive than a Swift transfer.

Hmmmm, ok, this sounds a little sus now.

Instead of just logging onto their account online and transferring the money they are (I assume) paying you to? When they have a daily transaction limit?

And why you, if you dont know how ridiculously expensive IMTs are?

[jacky54]

deleted

Edited March 7, 2016 by jacky54

[wow64]

Internet Banking... Or is that to obvious..

[Pib]

Below web link provides the reason internet banking would not work for large transfers...for farangs it's pretty much limited to salary repatriation. Keep in mind Thailand keeps tight control of funds outflows...it's the Land of Smiles for inflows but the Land of Frowns for outflows. Pretty much everything else requires visits by the account owners to the bank to provide and complete the required paperwork like repatriating funds from a residence sale. Internet banking in Thailand is more restrictive than western internet banking.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/OnlineBanking/PersonalBanking/iBanking/BualuangiBanking/Services/Pages/IFT.aspx

Edited March 7, 2016 by Pib

[TheSiemReaper]

Lol. I went to my bank today to change Baht from my account into USD... no problem, no passport required, until I asked them to take the money from the account. They made me go outside and fetch it from an ATM... impossible to do electronically apparently. So, I'm not surprised they won't let you send big bucks overseas from someone else's accounts.

I have to say though that banking here, by and large, is absolutely 100% better than it ever was back home.

[elgordo38]

Why in this day and age cant they transfer it themselves?

And If Bangkok Bank, the transfer fees should be less and exchange rate better through Western Union than a Swift transfer from the bank itself

Better through Western Union you have to be kidding.

[uthaithanirules]

Why in this day and age cant they transfer it themselves?

And If Bangkok Bank, the transfer fees should be less and exchange rate better through Western Union than a Swift transfer from the bank itself

Better through Western Union you have to be kidding.

If you know a cheaper way, by all means share it with us

Transfer into a bank account that is, not cash pickup of course

But done online into a bank account, WU gives the best exchange rate I can find, usually about 3% better than what both Bangkok Bank and my bank back home, Commonwealth, give

OP did say they have a daily limit, so your not talking about one huge sum, not that it would matter, no way a bank to bank IMT is going to give the best conversion rate

Sounds like Im spamming for WU now, im not, just if there is a cheaper way, someone let us know,

[BrainLife]

Thet sold their property. They have a better exchange rate now. Time to celebrate with a short holiday to Thailand.

[Guest]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

You HAVE the money and can not figure out how to send it to them?

Can you say "Cognitive dissonance?"

[1FinickyOne]

Banking regulations are growing tighter everywhere - but not sure if I am reading this correctly - not sure how you would think that a second party could legally wire money out of anyones account that is not their own.

If that were the case, no account would be safe.

[johndudorn]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

You HAVE the money and can not figure out how to send it to them?

Can you say "Cognitive dissonance?"

Happens everyday its called an ACH or bill paying... I can set up an ACH to anyone in the world from my Chase account

Edited March 8, 2016 by johndudorn

[Jedsada3]

I guess the best solution is to transfer the money by e-banking but check for the limit for int'l transfer.

[bark]

Lol. I went to my bank today to change Baht from my account into USD... no problem, no passport required, until I asked them to take the money from the account. They made me go outside and fetch it from an ATM... impossible to do electronically apparently. So, I'm not surprised they won't let you send big bucks overseas from someone else's accounts.

I have to say though that banking here, by and large, is absolutely 100% better than it ever was back home.

They are only following the rules, set up by guys on Silom road.

[hatewaitin]

Hmm depends on the amount.

You can transfer via Paypal, Rates usually aren't that good but if you consider SWIFT or WU fees it may be a solution.

You could also transfer the whole amount assuming the land of smiles doesn't have a heart attack, then they transfer what the daily or monthly balance their country allows and you can get on with your own life.

[Transporter]

Bangkok Bank are particularly tricky to deal with compared to others. We recently switched to Kasikorn and are finding it much better. The information online is more accurate.

Bangkok Bank messed us around with document requirement changes from th the original requests just to open savings accounts for our children which was completely due to us not wanting an endowment type account so no commision for the staff.

[lensta]

Banking regulations are growing tighter everywhere - but not sure if I am reading this correctly - not sure how you would think that a second party could legally wire money out of anyones account that is not their own.

If that were the case, no account would be safe.

When they were here in Thailand in December, they signed all the necessary paperwork and forms in the bank for me to withdraw the money from their acc. Withdrawing the money is not the problem. The problem is transferring it.

[wpcoe]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

If you already withdrew the money, can you deposit it into an account of your own and transfer it to your friends? I was coached by an officer at a Bangkok Bank branch that you can transfer out chunks of money up to B1,500,000 at a time with no supporting documentation (like a Land Office document to show funds from a real estate sale), but to wait a couple weeks between transfers. She did mine with an initial transfer of B1,400,000 to make sure we were under the main office's radar. Two weeks later I sent the rest of the money (less than B1,000,000).

[lensta]

Bangkok Bank are particularly tricky to deal with compared to others. We recently switched to Kasikorn and are finding it much better. The information online is more accurate.

Bangkok Bank messed us around with document requirement changes from th the original requests just to open savings accounts for our children which was completely due to us not wanting an endowment type account so no commision for the staff.

I have to say that our local branch of Bkk Bank are great and we have a good relationship with them. They had no problem with doing the transfer, It was HO that knocked it back.

[lensta]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

If you already withdrew the money, can you deposit it into an account of your own and transfer it to your friends? I was coached by an officer at a Bangkok Bank branch that you can transfer out chunks of money up to B1,500,000 at a time with no supporting documentation (like a Land Office document to show funds from a real estate sale), but to wait a couple weeks between transfers. She did mine with an initial transfer of B1,400,000 to make sure we were under the main office's radar. Two weeks later I sent the rest of the money (less than B1,000,000).

You are right, I have done this before, only my limit was 1 mil. At the moment my best bet is to send them the forms in Norway and have them sign them and send them back. Should be a 2 week turn around, but the exchange rate can change a lot in 2 weeks.

[minikev]

Get them to advertise something for sale on one of the auction sites. You buy it at the transfer price and they invoice you and send it by paypal.

[augustwest]

Have the Norwegian bank pull the money! Easy

[quandow]

I have had a "purple" bank account for years that I opened in Pattaya. A few years back I tried to deposit a check for $50 USD in a Chonburi branch, they said I either had to show them a copy of my rental agreement in order to deposit it there (<deleted>?!?!?) or go to Pattaya to deposit it. At the time, I was working and it wasn't worth $50 to take off a day of work. I hope these banks catch up the the 90's some day . . .

[lkv]

I would hope that a third party is never allowed to access my account unless I've authorised a power of attorney.

I have it all. The manager of the bank was there when all the paperwork was signed. I had no trouble withdrawing the money, it was just the transfer that was the problem.

If you already withdrew the money, can you deposit it into an account of your own and transfer it to your friends? I was coached by an officer at a Bangkok Bank branch that you can transfer out chunks of money up to B1,500,000 at a time with no supporting documentation (like a Land Office document to show funds from a real estate sale), but to wait a couple weeks between transfers. She did mine with an initial transfer of B1,400,000 to make sure we were under the main office's radar. Two weeks later I sent the rest of the money (less than B1,000,000).

That so called "under the radar" is 50,000 USD per transfer. That's why she advised you to send 1.4M first. Over 50K additional documentation needs to be sent to BOT.

[Pib]

Have the Norwegian bank pull the money! Easy

Will not work for Thailand. Bank of Thailand has strict requirements for funds outflow.