Money transfer to Thai account

[bart 0]

And IF MY MONEY MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS, WILL YOU THE THAI BANK CARE AT ALL?

 

My gut instinct, completely untried and untested, is to trust - guardedly - only Bangkok Bank and SCM.

I've been reading a thread on Secrets about problems with Kasikorn Bank (and Ayutthaya) that seems to bear out my gut instinct.

[nidnoyham 30]

I don't have a good word for Barclays, but if you have a Platinum acc', foreign transfers are free and the first £200 of o/draft is interest free. I never knew this acc' existed, but my local branch lady told me about it.

[Scumbag 0]

For the sake of completeness here is how it panned out...

 

As you have no doubt read opening a bank account can be a little problematic unless you have a long term visa for Thailand. As I travel to Thailand on 30 day visas I was prepared for problems and had backup plans. The reason I wanted a Thai account is to transfer money from home to Thailand. Before arriving I decided to try to open an account with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) as they have many branches, have a good repetition and have internet banking facilities.

 

At the first opportunity after arriving I headed to their sub-branch on Soi Buakhao. After I had explained that I wanted to open an account they asked me what type of visa I had and how long I had been in Thailand. When I told them that I enter on the 30 day visas their reaction was not very positive. I quickly explained that I work in Malaysia for 4 weeks and then come to Thailand for 4 weeks (not exactly the truth but pretty close.) They asked to see my visa for Malaysia but unfortunately it was in my other passport in the room. After a trip back to the room there was no problem. The account was opened and I was issued with an ATM card (at a cost of 300B.) Oh, and I got a free bag.

 

The second part of this process was to transfer funds to the account from my Australian account. I sent Australian dollars and the transfer was completed on Tuesday afternoon by my Australian bank. On the following day the funds where available. It turns out that the funds were credited to my account on the same day as my Australian bank completed the transfer.

 

I am still deciding whether to have access to my account using internet banking. I am a little concerned about security but the convenience would be good.

 

I had a little experience with the bank before I left. Being in Pattaya seems to have the affect of turning off my brain for some reason.

 

In the early evening on the day before I left I decided a trip to the ATM was necessary. No problems getting the money and I returned to the room before I realised that I had left the card in the machine. It was 6:30pm and I get the lady on the phone to the bank who told her that the branch at Big C was open until 8pm. I thought that the one at Tucom was more convenient so I called a lady that works very close to that branch and she confirmed that it was open. So it was onto a back of a bike and off we went. After a bit of a wait and a few signatures on forms written in Thai I was on my way with a new card and another free bag. The cost of the new card was 300B.

Edited January 21, 2007 by Scumbag

[blacknight 5]

Glad everything worked out well for you in the end Scumbag, but a quick piece of advise for uk boardies.

 

I am in LOS pretty regularly and transfer money from my Nationwide account to my Thai bank account at a cost of £20 per time.

 

The main reason I do this is in case my cards was to get cloned or stolen they would only have access to a small amount of money, and not full access to my full account complete with overdraft facility and visa.

 

When I set up my Thai account I considered internet banking as I thought it would be handy for transferring money back and forward. This plan was soon scuppered when the Nationwide informed me that due to UK anti-money laundering legislation this option is not available and the only way to tranfer funds abroad is by Swift transfer. During this process you need to show your full passport and not a photo copy or they will not proceed.

 

If anyone knows a simplier way I would be glad to hear it.

[Scumbag 0]

Glad everything worked out well for you in the end Scumbag, but a quick piece of advise for uk boardies.

 

I am in LOS pretty regularly and transfer money from my Nationwide account to my Thai bank account at a cost of £20 per time.

 

The main reason I do this is in case my cards was to get cloned or stolen they would only have access to a small amount of money, and not full access to my full account complete with overdraft facility and visa.

 

When I set up my Thai account I considered internet banking as I thought it would be handy for transferring money back and forward. This plan was soon scuppered when the Nationwide informed me that due to UK anti-money laundering legislation this option is not available and the only way to tranfer funds abroad is by Swift transfer. During this process you need to show your full passport and not a photo copy or they will not proceed.

 

If anyone knows a simplier way I would be glad to hear it.

There was a tightening up of international transfers to the UK at the beginning of the year. There is now a notice on my internet banking transfer screen stating new requirements of transferring money to the UK and Europe.

[travlling 0]

I just did a wire transfer last Thursday 18 Jan and it was available there on the 19th> 24 hours

[Gary 4,066]

I have two Siam Commercial bank accounts. One in Pattaya and the other in Nong Hin, Loei. That was done because there is a 20 baht fee for ATM transactions out of the province you have your account and higher fees for moving money to other accounts. It made sense to have an account in both provinces. The last time I wired money, I wired it to my Loei account. I told the bank manager I was going to have a wire transfer come and he had no idea how that worked. He told me he had never had that done at his bank and warned me that there may be a delay. I made the wire transfer as planned and the money was there the very next day. The banker had no idea that it even happened. Everything is done through the headquarters in Bangkok.

[4niceight 32]

I am about to transfer some funds to my account at SCB by SWIFT. I live in Gambia at present and am not sure yet what currency I will be transferring. I have options of GBP, USD and Euro. Depends on the rates here. Can anyone tell me whether SCB will immediately convert the funds to Thai baht, or will they keep it in the currency I remit until I tell them to convert?

[Scumbag 0]

I am about to transfer some funds to my account at SCB by SWIFT. I live in Gambia at present and am not sure yet what currency I will be transferring. I have options of GBP, USD and Euro. Depends on the rates here. Can anyone tell me whether SCB will immediately convert the funds to Thai baht, or will they keep it in the currency I remit until I tell them to convert?

My funds were sent as Australian dollars and SCB converted it immediately to Baht.

[redwood13 55]

I am about to transfer some funds to my account at SCB by SWIFT. I live in Gambia at present and am not sure yet what currency I will be transferring. I have options of GBP, USD and Euro. Depends on the rates here. Can anyone tell me whether SCB will immediately convert the funds to Thai baht, or will they keep it in the currency I remit until I tell them to convert?

 

Seems to me if you don't have a foreign currency account with SCB then the funds would be deposited into your Thai baht account. To me the most conservative thing to do would be to put the money into your Western bank account and then once you're in Thailand and ready to buy the condo SWIFT the foreign currency into your SCB Thai account.

 

-redwood

[elef 0]

Sure else you must have foreign currencies accounts and such they give to companies doing export and import, don't know if you need a permit for these in LOS however.

[nidnoyham 30]

Are there options with o/line banking with say SCB, to change your card pin number ?

 

I may have money going into a Thai bank account from a local source, in baht of course. I was planning to make that money available to my mate who lives in LOS via my GF having an ATM card for withdrawal. He could then transfer the equivalent amount in GBP, from his Barclays account, into my Barclays account in U.K. That way we could use the Thai exchange rate as a bench mark. He would be getting a better rate than he gets from his U.K account, when he acsseses it from an ATM in LOS, and I would benifit too. ( His pension is paid into Barclays )

 

If I had o/line banking facility to change my PIN from home, it would give me a bit more control.

 

I know, I know- risky as fudge, but I wan't the money available to me here in U.K.

 

O.K I'm open to suggestions and a few flames too.

Edited February 19, 2007 by nidnoyham