I work as an ex pat for a UK company and get paid into a UK bank. As I now live in Hua Hin I want to find the most cost effective way of transferring money on a monthly basis from the UK to Thailand.
Being paid direct into my Thai bank by my company is not and option so I'd be grateful if somone can give me some top tips.
Easiest way is to have two bank accounts in Thailand in GBP and Baht. You can set up a standing order in the UK to transfer to your Thai GBP account. Then you simply transfer from your Thai GBP to your Thai Baht account as necessary. Not sure about other banks but Bangkok Bank allow you to transfer locally with no charges and at the interbank transfer rate.
I transfer from my UK account to Bangkok Bank in London and then they transfer in UK sterling to my branch in Hua Hin, the cost is 20 GBP at the UK end and Max 500 baht in Thailand. Just look on the Bangkok Bank website and it gives you all the instructions
Do banks in the UK allow you to set up a regular transfer from there to a Thai bank whilst you're over here?
I use Barclays and am pretty sure that I'd need to be back in the UK and personally organise the transfers by visiting my branch. Money laundering and all that apparently?
I've recently arranged a fairly substantial transfer from Nat West in the UK to Kasikorn for house and car purchase. I simply wrote a letter to my bank in the UK quoting all of the relevant details, and they did the rest.
The benefit of this is that the most I could arrange myself from Thailand in any transfer using online banking would be £10,000. Doing it this way, I only paid one transfer fee (£20) as opposed to numerous - one for each £10K.
I use fastpay (hint, it's not that fast! ) at caxtonfx.com. If you don't have any of their other products you'll need to email them some proof of id (copy of your passport, I believe), before you can make the first transaction, but they give very good exchange rates and no fees.
Just started to use HiFx for transfers. Will see how it goes. No charge over £3K and £9 fee under.
Asked about setting up automated free monthly pension payments in the future but 'volatile' Baht is excluded from this facility.
radical roger wrote:Just started to use HiFx for transfers. Will see how it goes. No charge over £3K and £9 fee under.
Asked about setting up automated free monthly pension payments in the future but 'volatile' Baht is excluded from this facility.
Thanks radical. Keep me updated on how you go on.
Also thanks to all of you so far. Keep em coming....................
johnnyk wrote:Use your UK bank card to w/d money when needed. Used to do that with Lloyds TSB when we lived in France.
Not the best method anymore as Lloyds TSB will add an additional 2.99% 'loading' to the exchange rate and another 1.5% fee each time (minimum £2 max. £4.50) when a standard bank (debit) card is used. Credit card fees are even worse.
johnnyk wrote:Use your UK bank card to w/d money when needed. Used to do that with Lloyds TSB when we lived in France.
Not the best method anymore as Lloyds TSB will add an additional 2.99% 'loading' to the exchange rate and another 1.5% fee each time (minimum £2 max. £4.50) when a standard bank (debit) card is used. Credit card fees are even worse.
I should have said I used to do it that way in the 1990s.
Thanks for the update.
Once you're set up the trades are 'free' for any amount and you get a much better rate than the banks. They build the transfer fee into the exchange rate so the more you transfer at a time, the better the rate is.
You get charged inbound by the Thai banks - I use Kasikorn who so far have a flat rate of 500 baht.
johnnyk wrote:Use your UK bank card to w/d money when needed. Used to do that with Lloyds TSB when we lived in France.
Not the best method anymore as Lloyds TSB will add an additional 2.99% 'loading' to the exchange rate and another 1.5% fee each time (minimum £2 max. £4.50) when a standard bank (debit) card is used. Credit card fees are even worse.
Is it Lloyds that are applying the 1.5%? Because I know ATMs here charge 1.5%, so essentially you're being charged 1.5% twice in addition to the 2.99% loading??
) at caxtonfx.com. If you don't have any of their other products you'll need to email them some proof of id (copy of your passport, I believe), before you can make the first transaction, but they give very good exchange rates and no fees.
