Best Thai Banks with great service and low fees

by **colt1911** » January 2, 2012, 9:25 pm

I am moving to Udon in late January and was wondering if the Forum Members researched Thai Banks and their International money transfer services. I want to keep exchange and transfer fees to a minimum. I also want to have a Thai Bank account. I noticed when exchanging US dollars in Thailand the exchange rates vary significantly.
Over the past year and a half I have appreciated the valuable information I have found on the Forum, also the many colorful personalities. I am looking forward to meeting many of you. Happy New Year!

by **parrot** » January 2, 2012, 9:41 pm

There's a half-dozen 'best' ways to move money here....but this works best/easiest for me:
Schwab money market account with money-link activated.
Open a Bangkok Bank account in Udon.
Establish Bangkok Bank of New York as one of your money-linked accounts, using your Udon account number as the transfer-to account.

Once you do that, you can transfer money on-line, no calls necessary, and no transfer fees from Schwab. You'll pay a 0.25% international transaction fee with Bangkok Bank along with a 200-400 baht fee for the transfer. I get my funds within 24 hours along with an SMS from Bangkok Bank telling me how much was transferred (in $) and how much was deposited (in Baht).

by **lepidoptra** » January 2, 2012, 10:22 pm

Colt

I think most of the banks in Udon seem much the same. I'm with the SCB having experienced problems with the Bangkok bank'
I expect many members will giving their opinion of which is the best.
Providing you fit the criteria most will allow you to open an account. I'll leave it to others to explain 'the criteria'
Interest rates are far better than most Western countries ( their basic rate is much higher).
I have a SCB debit card. If I use it in an SCB ATM machine in Udon there is no charge. If I use it in another city there is a charge :roll:

T.I.T.
You can use your home debit card at most banks. Better to go inside tell them how much you want. They will swipe your debit card, copy your passport and you get the transfer rate which is better than exchanging home currency.
I used my UK debit card and they gave me 800,000 baht.
This is only my experience but remember in Thailand rules can change daily. There are rumours that the baht will weaken soon but we'll have to wait and see. Of course if it does you'll get a far better exchange rate
Good luck

by **colt1911** » January 3, 2012, 8:22 pm

Parrot , Lepidoptra,
Thank you for the information. So those are the total fees? No exchange fee?
Regards

by **parrot** » January 3, 2012, 9:02 pm

The fees are listed at
http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Ba ... 20Fee.aspx
Let's say you make a $10,000 transfer from Schwab to your account in Udon, through the NY Bangkok Bank office.
- Schwab doesn't charge you.
- BB NY charges you $10.00
- BB in Thailand charges you 0.25% of the transferred amount....in this case $25.
Total charge - $35.
If you ATM'd $10,000 and incurred the typical 1% international transaction fee, you would end up paying $100.

by **kjellsnell** » January 4, 2012, 8:00 am

colt1911 wrote:I am moving to Udon in late January and was wondering if the Forum Members researched Thai Banks and their International money transfer services. I want to keep exchange and transfer fees to a minimum. I also want to have a Thai Bank account. I noticed when exchanging US dollars in Thailand the exchange rates vary significantly.
Over the past year and a half I have appreciated the valuable information I have found on the Forum, also the many colorful personalities. I am looking forward to meeting many of you. Happy New Year!

For more then five years i use Krungsri bank at there local office in Home Pro. They give a very god service and can help you whit mani issues. I am very pleased whit them.

by **JimboPSM** » January 4, 2012, 1:05 pm

Generally speaking if you are looking for the most reliable way of transferring money from a bank in your home country to a bank in Thailand, the bank in Thailand should be the direct “Corresponding Bank” that the bank in your home country uses for its international transfers (it may also be referred to as its “Correspondent Bank”).

If your home country bank does not have a direct “Corresponding Bank” in Thailand it is very likely that you will incur additional bank charges from each intermediary bank that is used in its routing of international transfers - if that is the case you may wish to consider changing your home country bank.

When sending money overseas, I have found it is cheapest to specify that I will pay UK bank charges and the recipient will pay the overseas bank charges, I suspect (but don’t know) that is the same with other countries.

Always send your home domestic currency – the exchange rate you will receive is better in Thailand (many Western banks take unjustifiably and unethically large spreads on foreign exchange deals which are very substantially greater than their cost).

Be very afraid of changing your domestic currency into THB in your home country bank before sending – I am aware of cases where the combination of fees, charges and the forex rate were in excess of 10% and these were on very large transfers not just small ones (e.g. even a small fixed charge on transferring say a hundred USD (EUR or GBP) can substantially raise the effective percentage rate).

From my experience the exchange rates at the major Thai banks are virtually identical – they can easily be checked on the internet as all the major Thai banks publish foreign exchange rates and update them regularly through each business day.

It should be noted that in relation to their cost, foreign exchange operations are one of the biggest profit earners that many UK banks have (due to the large number of complaints in the UK this is an area which is now beginning to receive greater scrutiny).

by **kjellsnell** » January 4, 2012, 4:29 pm

Its very easy to transfer money from another country to bank in Thailand. Except for a bankaccount whit a number you only the Thai banks IBAN-number.........thats it!!!

by **maxeboy** » January 5, 2012, 10:40 am

Open a foreign deposit account with Bank of Ayudhya.
Transfer US Dollars to this account.
They give You an ATM card and You can withdraw Thai Baht from any Bank of Ayudhya ATM in Thailand.
They give You TT rate of exchange. (Best rate of exchange)
Check rate on Internet Krungsri Online.
They publish rate of exchange 4 times per day.
PM me for details.
Kind regards from
maxeboy.

by **Aardvark** » January 5, 2012, 12:15 pm

I may as well chuck my two cents worth in :lol:

As a Non Resident the Banks in General did not want anything to do with me, but they all told me to go to Kasikorn Bank. Thats the one that has the Green ATM's.The main Branch on Prosri Rd next to the Sell Sevice Station will set you up with an Account, Pass Book and ATM Debit Card in 30 minutes. Although I have yet to do it and so don't know the Fees involved, the Lady at Kasikorn assured me I would have no Trouble Tranfering Money into my account on the Internet. Their Service was First Class I must say, and someone took me outside afterwards and set up the ATM Card for me, walking away while I entered my own Pin Number. All in all a good experience =D>

by **colt1911** » January 5, 2012, 6:11 pm

Forum Members,
Thanks for the great advice. My Bank here in the US will transfer money to the Bangkok Bank in New York at no cost through the on line Bill Pay that way the transfer is all electronic. I can do the transfer on line. I have to wait to open an account when I arrive in Udon. Then the fees are as described by Parrot. Now if you guys can find me a used car……
Regards

by **JimboPSM** » January 5, 2012, 8:19 pm

colt1911 wrote:..... Now if you guys can find me a used car……

Before deciding to buy a second hand car you should take a serious look at the cost of buying a new car, second hand vehicles do not depreciate in value in Thailand as rapidly as they do in the west and consequently there are very few bargains to be found

by **randerson79** » January 5, 2012, 8:27 pm

Sound advise Jimbo!! Be careful, be very very careful!!

by **parrot** » January 5, 2012, 9:32 pm

"buy a second hand car"

Be especially careful of ones with high water marks!

by **jackspratt** » January 5, 2012, 10:00 pm

Something like this should ring alarm bells.

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