Opening A Bank Account

[Asia4ever]

My apologies if this question has been asked before. I plan to come to Thailand on a T visa and open an SCB account in a Northeastern province, if the bank gods will cooperate. If I understand it correctly, my two funding options are to write a personal check, or have SCB initiate a wire transfer to my bank in the USA. Please advise re: the pros and cons of doing that with respect to time delays to record the funding, and regarding the best exchange rate from dollars to Baht. Thank you in advance.

[naka]

My apologies if this question has been asked before. I plan to come to Thailand on a T visa and open an SCB account in a Northeastern province, if the bank gods will cooperate. If I understand it correctly, my two funding options are to write a personal check, or have SCB initiate a wire transfer to my bank in the USA. Please advise re: the pros and cons of doing that with respect to time delays to record the funding, and regarding the best exchange rate from dollars to Baht. Thank you in advance.

or have SCB initiate a wire transfer to my bank in the USA.

Your post is a bit confusing, are you bringing money in or taking it out ... I will assume the former.

Firstly ... by "funding options" I assume you mean, Getting money into my account from overseas.

Personal cheque will take a looooonng time to clear.

For larger amounts use electronic direct transfers. Note that You will have to 'initiate' the transfer,

the receiving bank cannot do that for you.

Naka.

[Asia4ever]

Sorry if I did not make it clear. What I want to do is open an account next month at SCB, and deposit 800,000 Baht. Those funds are in my USA bank account. So once I open an account with SCB, can SCB initiate a wire transfer to bring the 800K out of my USA bank and into theirs? Are the exchange rates set by either the bank in the USA, or by SCB? Are there any large hidden charges or commissions taken by SCB in the process of effecting this transfer?

You are probably right about a check being too slow. Even though I will be in Thailand 59 days, I don't want to wait anywhere near that long for a check to clear.

[backflip]

The previous poster gave you good advice: YOU have to initiate a transfer, not the bank. You'll need to complete a "wire transfer" form to transfer funds from your home bank, to the bank in Thailand. Your bank in Thailand can provide a form and the receiving account and SWIFT code. The receiving bank has minor charges, to the order of 200-500THB. Depending upon your agreement with the transmitting bank, you'll be charged anywhere from nothing to $50 for the international transfer. The initial transfer will take several days, to assure that the accounts are proper. Subsequent transfers will be completed in hours. The money will be transfer to the Thai bank, and held in an account of the currency of the transmitting bank (if your home bank is in the US, it will be held as dollars). The money will converted to THB, at your permission, at the prevailing "TT" rate - determined at the receiving bank. At the time of the transfer, you should request a foreign currency transfer statement from the receiving bank - and don't lose it. With the new visa rules, that money needs to be in your account for a minimum of 3 months, before your retirement visa will be approved.

[Asia4ever]

Thank you naka and backflip. That tells me everything I need to do.

[naka]

Before leaving US, advise your bank in writing that you will be making future wire transfers abroad.

After arrival, open an account with SCB, Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank or whatever,

a few thousand Baht on opening should suffice, (tell them, more to come)

By the way if SCB are being "difficult" just try another bank

Write to your US bank and advise them to send the funds by SWIFT, probable cost around $30.

Also advise them that the funds are to arrive in US Dollars (better rate).

You should also advise them the 8 character SWIFT CODE e.g. SICOTHBK for Siam Commercial.

Also in the letter you must advise :-

Your Account Name

Your Account Number

Bank name and branch

SWIFT code for this bank

Reason for transfer, e.g. living epenses.

Funds should be in your account in 2 to 5 days (after US bank initiates)

and your Thai bank will debit a few hundred Baht for fees.

It's also a good idea to put the following at the bottom of the letter.

"I understand that there may be a fee levied on this transaction".

Naka.

Edited December 14, 2006 by naka

[yankee-expat]

Better option:

Bangkok Bank

29 Broadway 20th Fl.1250,

New York, NY 10005

Tel. 212-422-8200

Krung Thai Bank

415 Medison Ave.,

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-832-5600

Thai Farmers Bank

One World Trade Center#8373,

New York, NY 10048

Tel. 212-432-0890-1

The Siam Commercial Bank

One Exchange Plaza,

New York, NY 10006

Tel. 212-344-4101

Once you open an account at any of these banks, you can do a DOMESTIC wire transfer from US bank to US bank for 15 dollars. In the case of Bangkok Bank, they charge 5 dollars to transfer the money to Thailand.

It's a 1 day process. You get the USA 9 digit routing code from bank in NY and then you put YOUR account number and name in the Thailand Bank as the recipient.

Note: OPEN AN ACCOUNT IN THAILAND - send the money to NY.

Route to Bank - you are recipient.

Easy.

Edited December 16, 2006 by yankee-expat