Transfering money from the uk

**fallinoffmechair** · 4th January 2008 12:55

I'm gunna be transfering about 30,000quid from England to Thailand soon,to a Thai bank,but not sure which bank i should transfer to,any ideas.
When the money arrives im gunna be taking it straight back out again.
Do you reckon i could take it all out in hard currency(USD or BAHT)?
If not could i transfer the lot,by transfer,to another Thai account.
Also do you think there will be any fluctuations in the baht in the next month and a half,coz im hoping it will weaken slightly.its just under 65 at the mo to the pound.
Cheers for any constructive replies.

**Bangkok Phil** · 4th January 2008 17:35

Transferring 30,000 quid falls above the radar I'm afraid.
Any amount over I think 20,000 US dollars has to be verified by the central bank of Thailand. This means when the money gets to your bank here, you'll have to go into the bank and fill out a form and tell them what the money is for. Then you'll get your money a day or two later.

A few months ago, I instructed my bank in HK to transfer some money here and after 8 days I still hadn't received it. When I walked into my Thai bank, they told me about the rule and I had to fill out the form. The bloody money had been sitting there for six days (making them a nice bit of interest)

What annoyed me most was that the staff insisted they'd tried to contact me but that was bullsh*t.
-----

Originally Posted by fallinoffmechair

Also do you think there will be any fluctuations in the baht in the next month and a half,coz im hoping it will weaken slightly.its just under 65 at the mo to the pound.
.

I keep a close watch on foreign currencies.
The transfer rate is 66.70 today for the GBP (Bank of Thailand website) Quite a drop from 70+ a few months ago.

**happychappy** · 4th January 2008 18:20

Mid December, Made a Transfer of more than 30,000 quid, Sent from the U.K. To BKK Bank. My Brother who sent it, callled me and asked if there was a problem, as the Bank that sent it from the U.K. Recieved an enquiry from the BKK Bank in Thailand. So I Went to the Branch to ask if there was a problem, They did not know why there would be, so I Updated my Bankbook and the Money was there. So once again in Thailand, It does not matter what happens to anybody on any given day, cos you know for sure that you will get a different answer tomorrow from somebody else somewhere else.

**fallinoffmechair** · 6th January 2008 07:48

Ok cheers,i spoke to a woman at the Bangkok Bank,she said i could transfer it, but would be difficult for me to shift the funds around once it gets here,because the bank of thailand would want to know where it was going and when i asked her if i could take it out as cash,she acted as though id sworn at her,so i did the wais and thankyous and left.
Its for a purchase in Laos,i was hoping i could transfer the funds here then withdraw the money or shift it to the sellers account,but she wants usd,so dont know how that would work.
Think my best bet is to open an account in Laos,shift the money straight there,or put the money straight into the sellers account in Laos ,from England.Brings me to my next question.
The swift transfer goes through Barclays bank,how much information would Barclays retain from the transfer?,my bank is with lloyds.

**stfranalum** · 6th January 2008 08:06

im looking to transfer some money over from the US.

what i hear (thaivisa) is that you have the option to send the money in dollars or baht (sending FROM the US)...and if you send baht from the US you will pay a MUCH much higher rate.

if you transfer us dollars from the US bank to thailand, you will pay the onshore rate.

is this right?

also, i went to the bank the other day and they said there was no charge for a large transfer to their bannk (auyttuya bank)....i just cant believe that.

i would be SO PISSED if i took one thai clerk's advice, transferred money and WHOOPS! sorry, ka tort, theres a 20% tax on this.

anyone have some advice for an american transferring money?- anything to look out for, best bank, etc...

**Bangkok Phil** · 6th January 2008 09:35

Originally Posted by fallinoffmechair

Ok cheers,i spoke to a woman at the Bangkok Bank,she said i could transfer it, but would be difficult for me to shift the funds around once it gets here,because the bank of thailand would want to know where it was going.

That's utter crap. I've walked out of Thai banks here with two million baht in bundles of banknotes. And that's in the past couple of years since the anti-money laundering laws got tighter. If it's your money and you sign the Bangkok Bank form to say what the purpose of the money is, you can take it all out and burn it in the street if you want.

I use the money to buy stocks and shares, invest in hedge funds, etc and never had a problem. And I do all that here in Bangkok.

**fallinoffmechair** · 6th January 2008 11:09

Ah ha,interesting.I was hoping i could withdraw it out,what account do you have?,a foreign currency account,or a normal Thai account.

**Bangkok Phil** · 6th January 2008 13:29

It's a normal savings account.

**LDMA** · 6th January 2008 14:34

Originally Posted by Bangkok Phil

you can take it all out and burn it in the street if you want.

Though probably not a wise idea due to the Kings head being on the notes and a probable prosecution for Lese Majeste.

**fallinoffmechair** · 27th January 2008 08:13

Well the solicitor informed me that the transfer went through on friday,opened an account with Kasikorn,at one of those sub branches they have in the malls,so its just awaiting game now i suppose.
Initially i was goin to transfer the money into an English account,then write to my bank to transfer the money to a lao account,but that would have taken bout ten days for the letter to arrive ,then another 2-4 days for the money to arrive,i got a deadline on purchasing a property in Laos for the 15th,so that would have left things a bit tight,i contacted the seller in Laos to see if she would accept thai baht and she has,so thats pretty much wrapped up.
The next thing is to transfer the money out of Thailand to laos,the guy at the bank has said he needs proof of the house purchase ,before i can transfer funds ,which shouldnt be a problem,its just a pain in the arze coz i got to make a trip to laos to sort that out plus open an account in laos.
Its been stressful ,plus lost a bit on the transfer with the pound being weak and the baht being strong,would've been good if i could have waited a bit to see what would've happened with the currencies.......