International bank transfers

[7-Eleven]

Hi chaps

 

On my last trip thanks to some great advice from BM's Shuggy and Spongebob I have opened a bank account at Kasikorn Bank at Royal Garden Plaza. The plan is to wire my holiday spending cash from my UK bank a/c to my Thai bank a/c, i'm doing it this way for a number of reasons the main one being is that I will be able to enjoy the decent exchange rate offered by Kasikorn Bank.

 

Has anyone got any experience of international bank transfers? I don't want to turn up in LOS and my money not be there (although I do have digital banking to check) how long in advance do I need to send my money? Would you send all your holiday cash? Or just send a percentage? if so how much? What can I do if it all goes wrong?

 

Any help greatly appreciated

[Shuggy]

Good question. What i have done is do a trial transfer first. I transfered a smalll amount (au$100) to make sure it got there and told my Aussie bank to keep the details of the transfer for future use.

 

It took 3 days and the money appeared in the K-Bank account. I know it costs a bit per transfer but i now know that the money will get there

[Dr.Winston]

I think that they are pretty reliable these days. I've done it many times and never lost any money. Just make sure that you give all the relevant details correctly.

 

These days I prefer to bypass the costs of sending the money by depositing cash into a UK account (Nationwide are good and you can get the account balance from Thai ATM machines in Baht) and then just withdrawing it using the ATM Card.

 

Be careful of the Thai Farmers Bank (Kasikorn Thai) closing accounts they deem to be "inactive"

[7-Eleven]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think a little "check" transfer is in order like you have done shuggster.

 

 

Be careful of the Thai Farmers Bank (Kasikorn Thai) closing accounts they deem to be "inactive"

 

Do you know how they deem an accoun inactive? i.e. how long does an accoun have to be inactive for for them to close it? And what happens to any funds remaining in the account?

 

If no one knows I will give the bank a call at some point and report back here.

[coolman]

Well a friend of mine sent a lot of money he lives there and he had no problem at all.

[biggles]

I have had a Kasikorn account for over 3 years and wired funds from oz many times. You need the "SWIFT" code and routing number (your branch will give them to you) to supply to your oz bank so they know which branch and bank the money is going to. I used to do it on-line from oz as an international transfer, they charged $22 compared to $30 for a branch doing it. Even tho you do it online, with anz the form goes to the international section at the banks hq and they manually do it there. Always transfer in oz dollars and get the conversion done at Kasikorn as the oz banks give you a low rate.

I have since discovered that with my Gold ANZ credit card I dont pay for travellers cheques so for the last 12 months I have bought TC free of charge and just brought them here and deposited them in my K account. There is a small fee but the Tc rate is slightly higher anyway so the cost is neglible. I have the money with me and dont have to worry about any problems with the transfer.

If you get internet banking with Kbank you can go on-line in oz and check your account balance so you know that the money has arrived safely.

[Dr.Winston]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think a little "check" transfer is in order like you have done shuggster.

 

 

 

 

Do you know how they deem an accoun inactive? i.e. how long does an accoun have to be inactive for for them to close it? And what happens to any funds remaining in the account?

 

If no one knows I will give the bank a call at some point and report back here.

 

I can remember them closing one of mine that I hadn't used for about 6 months (think I lost about 800Baht). I just used the account when I was in Thailand. If you use it regularly then I'm sure that it won't be a problem. Make sure that you check for mail from them regularly at whatever address you gave them in Thailand when you open the account.

[gogo dog]

I can remember them closing one of mine that I hadn't used for about 6 months (think I lost about 800Baht). I just used the account when I was in Thailand. If you use it regularly then I'm sure that it won't be a problem. Make sure that you check for mail from them regularly at whatever address you gave them in Thailand when you open the account.

That's rather naughty, them pocketing the money and after only 6 months of inactivity. I've never heard of a bank closing an account without a zero balance.

[Dr.Winston]

That's rather naughty, them pocketing the money and after only 6 months of inactivity. I've never heard of a bank closing an account without a zero balance.

 

Happened to me twice, booth times over ten years ago though. In the branch (Thai Farmers) they said that they wrote first and I must admit that I hadn't had the mail checked for me at the friends address I had used to open the account.

 

Of course, being Thailand if it does happen then you just have to "Mai Pen Rai" it. Something to be aware of rather thatn paranoid about.

[altec123]

In the case of my bank here in the US, it is cheaper to pay the foriegn ATM fees than to wire the money. I have done it before and it was not cheap.

[balls]

not risky at all i did one out of the nationwide for several grand recently, went without a hitch, had to pay 30 squid for the privelege though.

 

im with siam comm, they did bank transfer and it was there within 3 days

[payoff]

not risky at all i did one out of the nationwide for several grand recently, went without a hitch, had to pay 30 squid for the privelege though.

 

im with siam comm, they did bank transfer and it was there within 3 days

 

What exchange rate did you get if you don't mind me asking?

[todd2rip]

not sure how paranoid or nervous you are with the whole thing...but

I tended to cover all basis at first...so if it makes you feel better you can

do some or all of these:

 

a. carry some cash

b. hide some cash in your backpack

c. hide some cash in your suitcase

d. have atm cards...but more than 1 for backup

e. have travelers checks for another form of currency

f. international transfer

g. keep money in safe lock at hotel

h. have your TGF/friend hold onto either atm card, cash sealed in envelope

or have her deposit a few dollars for back-up in her acct.

I did this the 1st time, just for a small amount for back-up purposes, but

also to see how honest the girl was....turned out good!

 

You may also want to consider international/global banking institutions, which

will convert/currency exchange the money at competitive rates.....

 

aki

[lantern]

Can't see you having any problems at all.

I use internet banking on an almost daily basis to transfer money to Indonesia, America, India, China etc. Never had a problem.

[Goldfishpie]

I've got a Thai Bangkok Bank account. I find wiring money from the U.K is very expensive at $30 dollars per transaction. Now I'm here long term I was getting my share dividends transferred directly which was agin $30 a time so I changed to recieving them by check which was still the same. Would love to know a way of beating the $30 dollat charge. Any advise??

[balls]

errr.... i forget exchange rate now, sorry

 

i think at the time it was 60bt but it is now hitting 65bt.

[7-Eleven]

Thanks guys... will be doing the transfer in a weeks time.

 

The exchange rate for telex transfers is currently £1 = 62.94 Baht at Kasikorn Bank as opposed to £1 = 58.08 Baht at my bank here in the UK.

 

With the amount I am taking for the length of time i'm staying this works out to be and extra 450 baht per day... Happy days

[Mavrick]

I do a International bank transfer to my Thai account every month since January and touch wood never had any problems.

[caltexman]

I know the NAB bank in oz charges 22 dollars for a international bank transfer .................this is still alot cheaper than western union.

 

So when im in LOS again i will open one of these thai bank accounts like shuggy did!!!

[Parkwahn]

Unless a person from the UK lives there I struggle to see the advantage, Nationwide gives free withdrawels, balance on slip and half a baht better than the TC rate

[iballooka]

Hi chaps

 

On my last trip thanks to some great advice from BM's Shuggy and Spongebob I have opened a bank account at Kasikorn Bank at Royal Garden Plaza. The plan is to wire my holiday spending cash from my UK bank a/c to my Thai bank a/c, i'm doing it this way for a number of reasons the main one being is that I will be able to enjoy the decent exchange rate offered by Kasikorn Bank.

 

Has anyone got any experience of international bank transfers? I don't want to turn up in LOS and my money not be there (although I do have digital banking to check) how long in advance do I need to send my money? Would you send all your holiday cash? Or just send a percentage? if so how much? What can I do if it all goes wrong?

 

Any help greatly appreciated

 

No problems whatsoever we transferred a very large sum to buy the bungalow....

 

Once in the bank account we simply transferred to builders account in the Thai Millatary Bank online the stage payments....

 

I have an account with this bank since 1989 when is was the Thai Farmers Bank and never had a single problem..

 

Use with confidence...

[Laawman]

Kasikorn bank closed my account due to 'inactivity', the cunts. Probably thought I'd jumped off my condo roof or something.

[supertony]

e rate offered by Kasikorn Bank.

Would you send all your holiday cash? Or just send a percentage? if so how much? What can I do if it all goes wrong?

 

Any help greatly appreciated

 

Hi

 

One back-up option would be to open a UK PayPal a/c & transfer £xxx into it.

 

It's free & easy to set up. To acces your funds you need a valid e-mail adress (anyone's valid e-mail address - including your own). And there's plenty of Internet Cafe's in Pattaya if you have'nt got laptop access.

 

If the need arrises, you transfer to an e-mail A/c & the holder of that e-mail A/c will have your funds in their A/c, which they can then withdraw & give to you. One possible downside is PayPal's "up to 10 days" transaction lag. However, I recently did non-eBay business using PayPal & the funds transferred next bank working day.

 

Now, I've never had to use this facility on holiday, as my cash-card has always worked (within daily withdraw limit), but that is ny back-up + cash I take with me deposited in hotel safe. I'm just kinda paranoid about opening the hotel safe one day & finding it bare...

 

Never happened yet, but I have heard stories of this...

 

Hope this helps

 

Tone

Edited August 24, 2008 by supertony

[7-Eleven]

Thanks for all your comments guys... the transfer went well. All in all we ended up with an extra 300 baht a day (should have been more if it wasnt for the poor exchange rate) over what we would have got if we had exchanged our money here in the UK, so a worthwhile exercise.

 

For anyone who has a Kasikorn bank account be aware that if you leave less than 2000 baht in your bank account they will take a fee every month, then once your account reaches zero they will close your account. I understand other banks in Thailand don't have this.

[Shuggy]

Thanks for all your comments guys... the transfer went well. All in all we ended up with an extra 300 baht a day (should have been more if it wasnt for the poor exchange rate) over what we would have got if we had exchanged our money here in the UK, so a worthwhile exercise.

 

For anyone who has a Kasikorn bank account be aware that if you leave less than 2000 baht in your bank account they will take a fee every month, then once your account reaches zero they will close your account. I understand other banks in Thailand don't have this.

 

EEK!! Didnt know about the fee for having under 2000 in the account. Thanks for the info!!