( NEW ) thai bank account

hi members, im still in chiang mai, but will be back in udon soon... just a quick question, ive just opened a new thai bank acc, but was told i cannot transfer (£) from my uk barclays acc, ??????? i also have a paypal acc,/ & betfair acc.. all registered in the uk. all ov which have some money in ( only about 20,000bt in each ) but want to transfer in to my new thai bank (KASIKORNBANK) without incurring much in th way of charges, i.e. in my betfair i can transfer direct to my thai acc but each transaction has a £10 fee, but dont know max transfer yet, whilst my barclays for each withdrawal is a max per day 15,000 bt ( + 2% charge uk exchange rate, + £1.50 charge + 150bt atm ) whilst my uk registered paypal will only transfer in to my barclays acc, was thinking if i can do a few things like, opening another paypal & registering my thai bank acc to withdraw from ebay sales & transfer funds paypal=paypal but using my same email or opening a new one but will be using my same I.P.address on my laptop, / also is there a charge for using my own personnal cheque from my uk acc to deposit baht my new thai acc... the best cost affected way ive found is travellers cheques ordered from my barclays bank at 0% to my uk address then sent here, getting nearly 1% extra compared to cash. (but its slightly risky cos ive not signed em yet).. WILL BE GRATEFULL FOR MEMBERS EXPERT ADVISE

No advice on the above from me I'm afraid, but on the same theme (sort of !) have banking rules changed ?
A couple of years ago I tried unsuccessfully to open a Thai bank account, but was refused as I only come to LOS on a 30 day visa on entry, have things changed now ?
I would dearly like to have a Thai account as I normally visit LOS with a wad of cash, but with the current move towards petty theft I no longer feel so sure of leaving it in the room safe (for which there has to be an over ride code that probably most of the staff know).

mally wrote:No advice on the above from me I'm afraid, but on the same theme (sort of !) have banking rules changed ?
A couple of years ago I tried unsuccessfully to open a Thai bank account, but was refused as I only come to LOS on a 30 day visa on entry, have things changed now ?
I would dearly like to have a Thai account as I normally visit LOS with a wad of cash, but with the current move towards petty theft I no longer feel so sure of leaving it in the room safe (for which there has to be an over ride code that probably most of the staff know).

They're out there, just have to shop around. I think the SBC branch in Big C and Kasikorn banks are farang tourist friendly.

Ok opening accounts, I have never had a problem now have 4 different banks of course.
Transferring money, well that can cause a problem as some banks do not entirely link in with the woirld in terms of banking, however I have never had a problem with HSBC ( Bangkok)
Bangk0k Bank or SCB, also uinderstand that Kasikorn ( Old farmers bank) are also fairly compliant as for the others cannot say anything never tried it.
But transference of moeny is not a problem from the UK to Thailand just costs of ytransferring about ( don't quote me ) about £20 per transfer give or take a few pounds here or there.
Hope that helps someone.

mally wrote:No advice on the above from me I'm afraid, but on the same theme (sort of !) have banking rules changed ?
A couple of years ago I tried unsuccessfully to open a Thai bank account, but was refused as I only come to LOS on a 30 day visa on entry, have things changed now ?
I would dearly like to have a Thai account as I normally visit LOS with a wad of cash, but with the current move towards petty theft I no longer feel so sure of leaving it in the room safe (for which there has to be an over ride code that probably most of the staff know).

I opened my Kasikorn account a couple of years back while on a tourist visa. First I tried Siam commercial in the Complex and they told me what I needed (Friday), I went back on Saturday morning and they moved the goalposts and I now needed a work permit. Between 2 of them they just didn't know what they were about.

I walked out and across to Kasikorn, also in the Complex and the guy had me set up in about 20 minutes. ATM card, passbook and Internet banking. All I needed was passport and proof of address. A very efficient service!

What paperwork represents a proof of address assuming you don't own?

Going back to the OP's question:

Biscuitz wrote:ive just opened a new thai bank acc, but was told i cannot transfer (£) from my uk barclays acc, ???????

Biscuitz, I'm sure Barclays can transfer to your Thai bank account, if you ask Barclays in the Uk and give them your Thai bank account details including Swift code. (A foreign telegraphic transfer). It would likely cost you about £20.

tigerryan wrote:What paperwork represents a proof of address assuming you don't own?

I used g/f's address. If I remember correctly it was a copy of her tabiann baan. I wasn't on it but it didn't matter. I may also have given them a copy of her ID card.

@ Biscuitz. I cannot understand why Barclays will not let you transfer funds. What type of account is it? Do you have Internet access to it? If I want to transfer funds from Allied Irish Bank into my Kasikorn account, I log in online and do an international transfer. Cost is €15/£13GBP.

IA, I was thinking that just maybe Biscuitz asked his bank here, rather than asking Barclays. As you say Barclays certainly can do that, given the right information.

When opening bank accounts in Thailand, they have never asked me for any confirmation of my address. They simply asked what my address was.

Doh, insomnia and reading comprehension issues do not a good post make! Just re-read it!

arjay wrote:Going back to the OP's question:

Biscuitz wrote:ive just opened a new thai bank acc, but was told i cannot transfer (£) from my uk barclays acc, ???????

Biscuitz, I'm sure Barclays can transfer to your Thai bank account, if you ask Barclays in the Uk and give them your Thai bank account details including Swift code. (A foreign telegraphic transfer). It would likely cost you about £20.

Agreed.

I've done it plenty of times.

I have 3 Thai Bank accounts ( BKK Bank, Kasikorn and Bank of Auydah ) and a credit card.

I have HSBC as an offshore account and can transfer monies to any of these Thai bank accounts

Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Banks in Udon are farang friendly.

my mate in KK has the issue with HSBC - UK based , as they dont allow international transfers on the internet banking and he has to organise transfers by fax etc.....