Money transfer from overseas for visa requirements

[The Artful Dodger]

I was about to transfer the THB 800 000 needed to apply for an "O" visa from my UK bank where I have it in £ sterling.

 

Barclays tell me that they need  ten days to two weeks to do the xfer, and that they will basically give me the worst exchange rate available during that period.  Seeing how the pound is getting worse on a daily basis, I was wondering who has actually used other currency transfer providers.  I was going to use "Transferwise" but it seems they work with a local Thai bank, so I will have a lot of trouble proving the funds originally came from the UK...

 

Any suggestions?

[elviajero]

I use xetrade.com. The money is usually in my Thai account within 48 hours, and I get a better rate with cheaper fees than from my bank.

[The Artful Dodger]

20 minutes ago, elviajero said:

I use xetrade.com. The money is usually in my Thai account within 48 hours, and I get a better rate with cheaper fees than from my bank.

 

Thanks elviajero -- the question is, does it show up in your Thai acct. as coming from overseas?

 

[elviajero]

38 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Thanks elviajero -- the question is, does it show up in your Thai acct. as coming from overseas?

Yes it does in my SCB account. They show it with the code 'IFT' which I assume stands for International Foreign Transfer. However, immigration do not, usually, need to see that the funds came from overseas if that's the reason for your question.

Edited October 11, 2016 by elviajero

[Maestro]

Artful Dodger, you should have ordered Barclay's to transfer GBP to your Thai Bank account, not THB. The remittance might have been executed faster. Still, it is shocking how slow some UK banks are, more so considering their high fees.

[Maestro]

If you entered Thailand with a non-immigrant visa it should not be necessary for you to prove that the funds came from abroad for an application for a retirement extension. At what immigration office are you applying?

[The Artful Dodger]

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

Artful Dodger, you should have ordered Barclay's to transfer GBP to your Thai Bank account, not THB. The remittance might have been executed faster. Still, it is shocking how slow some UK banks are, more so considering their high fees.

Yes.  I should also have done this before Brexit...

The guy at Barclays was astonishingly honest -- he told me they drag the transfers out as long as they can so that they can use the worst rate for the customer.  Pfff...

[The Artful Dodger]

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

Yes it does in my SCB account. They show it with the code 'IFT' which I assume stands for International Foreign Transfer. However, immigration do not, usually, need to see that the funds came from overseas if that's the reason for your question.

Actually, as far as I understand it, for a non-imm O visa one needs to provide proof that the funds came from overseas.

[Fithman]

1 hour ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Actually, as far as I understand it, for a non-imm O visa one needs to provide proof that the funds came from overseas.

 

Once you have the money in the bank you could obtain a Non "O" visa from Vientiane or Penang without proof of the monies origin.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

My U.S. bank has a check box on their wire transfer form to chose if I want the transfer:

 

--  to be done with the U.S. bank doing the exchange, or;

 

--  to be done in $$$ with the exchange being done by the Thai bank, in my case, SCB.

 

I always choose the latter as I understand (hopefully correctly) that having the home country bank doing the exchange results in a lower rate.

 

Mac

[phetphet]

if you have a Bangkok Bank account, you can transfer from your UK bank account to your Thai Bangkok Bank account via their London Branch.

 

See here:

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

[wgdanson]

7 hours ago, Maestro said:

Artful Dodger, you should have ordered Barclay's to transfer GBP to your Thai Bank account, not THB. The remittance might have been executed faster. Still, it is shocking how slow some UK banks are, more so considering their high fees.

A SWIFT transfer of GBP to my Bangkok Bank foreign currency account usually takes 24-48 hours. BUT Nationwide charge 20 quid to do it, plus a fee at B Bank, HSBC do the same for 4 quid.

[Litlos]

I have not used Xetrade though I have looked at it, you need to be outside of Thailand to set up the account.  However I always bring in the foreign currency and let the Thai banks do the exchange. Something to be aware of is that different Thai banks favour different foreign currencies and will give a better rate regularly on that currency.  For example bringing in USD I generally find SCB to be the better, for AUD it used to be KBank, but no longer it seems, I have not brought any AUD in for a few years.

 

Have a look at the following website for details on most of the banks and their current exchange rates, normally need to look at TT for wire transfers: 

https://daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

 

Cheers

[true blue]

Open a account with hsbc transfer money from barclays to hsbc  no cost transfer from hsbc to your bank in los cost overall 4pound ensure you transfer sterling to thailand

[Ronuk]

All foreign transfers coming into Thailand clear through Bank of Bangkok no matter which bank you bank with in Thailand.  The longest it takes is 4 days. If you actually bank with Bank of Bangkok the money is in your account the next day or sooner. 

All funds sent to Thailand will show as Foreign sourced no matter who you use to send it. Transferwise is a good company to use. You get great rates and you know exactly how much you will receive instantly the moment you send it. Whoever told you that Transfers sent by Transferwise don't show up as foreign sourced income, hasn't got a clue. If you need to prove foreign income, you need to obtain the 'TOR TOR SAM ' or Foreign income exchange forms anyway directly from the Bank of Bangkok at there head office in Silom. Entry's in your Bank book are not recognised. I have no idea why you would need to prove foreign income for a visa or extension anyway? For property purchase yes but for a visa or extension?

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Ronuk said:

All foreign transfers coming into Thailand clear through Bank of Bangkok no matter which bank you bank with in Thailand.  The longest it takes is 4 days. If you actually bank with Bank of Bangkok the money is in your account the next day or sooner. 

All funds sent to Thailand will show as Foreign sourced no matter who you use to send it. Transferwise is a good company to use. You get great rates and you know exactly how much you will receive instantly the moment you send it. Whoever told you that Transfers sent by Transferwise don't show up as foreign sourced income, hasn't got a clue. If you need to prove foreign income, you need to obtain the 'TOR TOR SAM ' or Foreign income exchange forms anyway directly from the Bank of Bangkok at there head office in Silom. Entry's in your Bank book are not recognised. I have no idea why you would need to prove foreign income for a visa or extension anyway? For property purchase yes but for a visa or extension?

You info is not correct. I assume you mean Bangkok Bank.  Funds go directly to the banks based upon their individual swift codes and certainly do not go to Bangkok Bank first.

Proof the funds came from abroad is only need when doing a conversion to a non immigrant visa at immigration. They want that since there is no requirement for the money to be in the bank for 60 days to apply for one.

[Ronuk]

Your wrong. Bank of Bangkok is the clearing house for Foreign income. Hence for example, money sent to to Kasikorn bank needs the The Bank of Bangkok to issue the TOR TOR Sam's to prove foreign income.

[Fithman]

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You info is not correct. I assume you mean Bangkok Bank.  Funds go directly to the banks based upon their individual swift codes and certainly do not go to Bangkok Bank first.

Proof the funds came from abroad is only need when doing a conversion to a non immigrant visa at immigration. They want that since there is no requirement for the money to be in the bank for 60 days to apply for one.

 

The Bangkok Bank only has one Swift code --- BKKBTHBK. 

 

All incoming funds arrive at the banks HQ and are then distributed to individual accounts/branches according to the account number/name

[tonray]

1 minute ago, Ronuk said:

Your wrong. Bank of Bangkok is the clearing house for Foreign income. Hence for example, money sent to to Kasikorn bank needs the The Bank of Bangkok to issue the TOR TOR Sam's to prove foreign income.

You might mean the Bank of Thailand...not to be confused with Bangkok Bank

[Ronuk]

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

You might mean the Bank of Thailand...not to be confused with Bangkok Bank

Sorry yes your correct. The foreign exchange forms are then issued by the bank of Bangkok to prove foreign income even though you bank with Kasikorn for instance.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Fithman said:

 

The Bangkok Bank only has one Swift code --- BKKBTHBK. 

 

All incoming funds arrive at the banks HQ and are then distributed to individual accounts/branches according to the account number/name

I am aware of that. 

I was writing about other banks not only Bangkok Bank.

[Apiwan2]

How is transfer wise good ?

They want £200 +

If I send 5K through Lloyds costs me £20

But can only transfer 5K at a time.

[wangsuda]

Sorry. Quoted wrong post

Edited October 12, 2016 by wangsuda
Qoted wrong post

[wangsuda]

3 hours ago, phetphet said:

if you have a Bangkok Bank account, you can transfer from your UK bank account to your Thai Bangkok Bank account via their London Branch.

 

See here:

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

Thanks for this. As I am also getting ready to retire, I looked into this for my USA to Thailand transfer. As I understand it, the total amount of fees I will have to pay will be less than USD 40 (USD 20 on the USA side, 500 baht on the Thai side). I can live with that.

[Ronuk]

18 minutes ago, Apiwan2 said:

How is transfer wise good ?

They want £200 +

If I send 5K through Lloyds costs me £20

But can only transfer 5K at a time.
 

Yes but you never would of got anywhere near the rate with Lloyd's you got with Transferwise and you wouldn't of received 861,925.20 baht in your Thai account. The fee is included in your original £20,000 not on top of it. Lloyd's and other others may only charge you £20 but you need to look at the end figure. They are ripping you off on the rate.

[Ronuk]

40.9697

817,960.62

[partington]

The reason you need proof that money was transferred in from abroad is that this is necessary to transfer that money out again.

 

The Thai banks make it hard to transfer money out of the country, and it is made infinitely easier by being able to show it was transferred in from abroad if you want to do so.

 

I advise everyone transferring money in to actually go to your bank and get a print out of the credit advice /receipt note referring to each transfer. This shows country source, date, exchange rate and all the banks involved in the transfer with fees, and serves as proof of foreign source of the cash.

 

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Edited October 12, 2016 by ubonjoe
off topic comment removed

[jacko45k]

Tell Barclays to get lost. My transfers take 24 hours max. For 800,000 baht I would probably have to split it into 2 transfers, but they need only a few days apart. Transfer pounds from UK and let the Thai bank convert. It is not the first time I have heard problems with tha bank.

[Suradit69]

Quote

 and that they will basically give me the worst exchange rate available during that period.

 

You should transfer pounds to your Thai bank. Don't ask your UK bank to send baht. You'll get a better exchange rate and the money will be regarded as a foreign exchange deposit. Sending baht is more expensive and is not a foreign exchange deposit.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, Ronuk said:

Sorry yes your correct. The foreign exchange forms are then issued by the bank of Bangkok to prove foreign income even though you bank with Kasikorn for instance.

 

What is this Bank of Bangkok you keep going on about?

 

I deposit dollars in Bangkok Bank in New York and they keep the dollars there, but credit me with making a foreign exchange deposit and the deposit appears in my local Bangkok Bank account in baht. The Bank of Thailand may receive information about the transaction, but they are not involved in clearing the deposit.