Ever been tempted

[pattysteve 34]

Heres a Q probably just for Expats.

 

Have you ever considered transfering large amounts of cash to Thailand,say maybe £100K.If so what would be the circumstances to make this a good idea.

 

Im not talking about cash transfered for property purchases,just for living expences.

 

One or two of my doubts are the safety and security of Thai banks,and if at some point you have to return home and the currency exchange has changed to your detrement.

 

Any other problems that you have encountered either personally or a friend has had would be helpful too.

 

Thanx guys.....Steve

[mike100 0]

No, I normally bring about £10K at a time for living expenses, mainly because I get approx 4.75% tax free interest in the UK, where I keep my savings.

 

 

My Thai Acc. only pays a little less than 1%, but have to xfer to meet the requirements for my retirement visa every yrar.

 

 

Mike.

[pattysteve 34]

Thanx Mike,im assuming that your 4.75% net is from an account where they agree to pay interest gross,and there is some form of documentation you have to complete to confirm you are living abroad?

[sinkorswim 80]

DO NOT send that much cash here. You get crap interest and if you want to go home your cash is stuck here. You need to get permission to send more than 20000baht (I think) out of the country at any one time.

 

Leave it offshore and get your interest paid gross as you are not resident in the EU. Easy to do just let them know you live in Thailand and some banks ask for you to complete a form or just send them a letter of confirmation.

[mike100 0]

Thanx Mike,im assuming that your 4.75% net is from an account where they agree to pay interest gross,and there is some form of documentation you have to complete to confirm you are living abroad?

 

 

 

Hi Steve,

 

Yes gross. I put most of my savings with an Egg Internet Acc.

 

Told them a couple of months before I left the country that I was going, and didn't want to pay tax on my interest anymore. Was told I couldn't retain an account without a valid UK address, so re-phrased saying that I was extensively traveling the world, gave them my parents address, and would only be staying in the UK about two weeks a year. This they were happy with.

 

They said they would send me a tax exclusion form which they had to get ok'd by the Inland Revenue. Also had to fill a separate form out for the IR regarding leaving the country and not wanting to pay tax on my small private pension or receiving anymore tax forms to fill out.

 

It took about six months to get sorted and I even got a rebate on the pension tax paid, but not a rebate on the Egg savings tax.

 

Egg will not make transfers abroad, but will make them to my UK HSBC account, who then transfer funds to my bank in Thailand. This can not be done over the internet with HSBC, and I had to set up a password which is sent by FAX with the details etc. Normally then get a phone call from the manager to confirm everything before he acts on it.

 

After that, about 5 days before it shows in my Thai account.

 

I always transfer in sterling as it gets the best exchange rate.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike.

[pattysteve 34]

Thanx Mike,

 

Very helpful info,though i will have to find a bank that doesnt need a UK address or maybe go offshore.

 

Any other Expats who do it differently to Mike?

 

Again thanx Mike

[jwsp 0]

Living out of the UK myself, but still having a few regular UK bills to pay, I have a HSBC Offshore account (Isle of Man). You can hold pounds, euros or $'s and they are in the UK clearing system, so paying bills is not an issue.

Get the online system set up and you can do international wires.

As long as you don't have an EU address they pay interest gross.

This works really well for me, of course though YMMV.