Best method to transfer £ to baht

[Pestell]

I am about to embark on a property project with my Thai wife, and need to move a more serious amount of cash from the Uk.  We have historically just used her Lloyd’s bank account but this has been for smaller sums (sending money home / holidays etc).  I saw Transerwise mentioned and they seem to offer a decent rate but hit you with a higher fee.  Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

[Pilotman]

My advice would be to go for a normal swift bank transfer.  For a property transaction, you will at some point  have to provide proof of where the money originated, including perhaps needing a letter to that effect from your UK bank, we had to do that when we purchased our house.  So I would avoid the likes of Transferwise for such a large transaction. 

[Pib]

Be sure to send sterling....don't let the Sending bank do the exchange as it will sure be lower than the exchange rate given by Thai banks.   The sending bank might entice you with a lower direct sending fee if you allow the to accomplish the exchange....don't fall for that worn-on-the-hook as they more than make up for the lower direct sending fee thru their lower exchange rate.  Baht is  minor world currency which draws a lower exchange rate by western banks.   Thai banks used the TT Buying Rate for incoming international transfers.

[Pestell]

Thanks both - useful info.  We already own the land and are paying a builder in stage payments so I may not need to prove source of cash (not that it’s an issue!)

 

Also Could send in tranches - I calculated that the exchange rate difference alone gave a benefit of £1000 over and above the local rate offered by the Thai bank.  (This was from rate quoted by Transferwise)

[Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, Pestell said:

Thanks both - useful info.  We already own the land and are paying a builder in stage payments so I may not need to prove source of cash (not that it’s an issue!)

 

Also Could send in tranches - I calculated that the exchange rate difference alone gave a benefit of £1000 over and above the local rate offered by the Thai bank.  (This was from rate quoted by Transferwise)

Just a slight note of caution.  The request for us to provide proof of where the money came from for our purchase was made by the Thai Department for Development 2 years after we had purchased the house.  

[sammieuk1]

The best way I have found for the last near 3 years is wheelbarrow in the pounds and wallet out the baht saves the back???? 

[samsensam]

 

go home and return with the cash, or use OFX or similar

[sometimewoodworker]

16 hours ago, Pestell said:

I am about to embark on a property project with my Thai wife, and need to move a more serious amount of cash from the Uk.  We have historically just used her Lloyd’s bank account but this has been for smaller sums (sending money home / holidays etc).  I saw Transerwise mentioned and they seem to offer a decent rate but hit you with a higher fee.  Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

The absolute best way is cash £50 notes changed at Green SuperRich head office.

 

The second best is almost always TranserWise, the fee is almost always offset by the very much better exchange rate that you get.

 

For sums in excess of about £20,000 a SWIFT transfer may possibly be better.

 

 A TranserWise borderless account will let you make the exchange at a time that is best for the exchange rate, you can hold the money in that account and only pay about 80 (going to 82.5 soon) Baht each time you pay out to your Thai bank account.

[wgdanson]

56 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The absolute best way is cash £50 notes changed at Green SuperRich head office.

 

The second best is almost always TranserWise, the fee is almost always offset by the very much better exchange rate that you get.

 

For sums in excess of about £20,000 a SWIFT transfer may possibly be better.

 

 A TranserWise borderless account will let you make the exchange at a time that is best for the exchange rate, you can hold the money in that account and only pay about 80 (going to 82.5 soon) Baht each time you pay out to your Thai bank account.

I did a £1600 transfer from First Direct to my Bangkok Bank Savings yesterday afternoon. It is there now, 16 hours later, at 41.41 Bht = 1£. Would have been Bht 120 more via Transferwise, BUT it is an FTT for sure.

 

The Bkk Bank rate just changed to 41.63. Ah well!

[reargunnerph3]

Orbitremit - done online, money transferred from your bank in UK to Orbitremit account then to your Thai bank account. May take 1 or 2 days to complete. A$4 fee and good exchange rate.

[Straight8]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The absolute best way is cash £50 notes changed at Green SuperRich head office.

 

The second best is almost always TranserWise, the fee is almost always offset by the very much better exchange rate that you get.

 

For sums in excess of about £20,000 a SWIFT transfer may possibly be better.

 

 A TranserWise borderless account will let you make the exchange at a time that is best for the exchange rate, you can hold the money in that account and only pay about 80 (going to 82.5 soon) Baht each time you pay out to your Thai bank account.

Agreed, if you're comfortable carrying cash, do it there, but if you CBF going up to Chidlom, VASU, near soi 7 Nana, do a very similar rate.

 

Example - Cash exchange at VASU last thursday - AUD to baht = 22.40 - At Kasikorn bank - 21.70

 

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

I did a £1600 transfer from First Direct to my Bangkok Bank Savings yesterday afternoon. It is there now, 16 hours later, at 41.41 Bht = 1£. Would have been Bht 120 more via Transferwise, BUT it is an FTT for sure.

This is nothing to do with FTT or domestic,  just Transfer for building a house

[stud858]

The only better option than Thai roadside exchangers is the online currency traders, but the risk is not clearly understood. If the website goes down, who protects your money?

Personally I stick with Swift for larger amounts and carry cash to exchange booths for smaller and if no proof of location is needed.

 

[Graviton]

Plus send it in sterling to a sterling account FCD. Then you can change to thai baht when exhange rate is advantageous at TT exchange rate...

[The Fat Controller]

Last I did the calculations, under £6000 use a money transfer company, over that SWIFT became the better option, that is including all fees.

 

However, the cash option is actually better if you use the likes of SuperRich and can bring over large notes.

 

Just be sure you can prove the cash is yours and declare it to Customs as necessary.

[wgdanson]

8 minutes ago, Graviton said:

Plus send it in sterling to a sterling account FCD. Then you can change to thai baht when exhange rate is advantageous at TT exchange rate...

Would that be classed as a Foreign Transfer when it arrives in GBP or when you change it to THB?

[Maheber]

Use TransferWise, very fast and cheap fees.

https://transferwise.com/

[Pestell]

Summarising it would appear that cash / swift is best option for larger amounts although cash has its obviously pitfalls. Transfer wise for smaller amounts (like previous comments I am a little nervous putting a lump of cash into an online currency portal. Not sure if they are FCA regulated etc (I will check). Thanks for the suggestions / comments - much appreciated


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[Pestell]

Holding sterling in Thailand is also not a bad call and then just move when the rate is favourable ! I am hoping that some clarity on Brexit may push the £up but it could go the other way of course - tempted to move 50% of the cash now and the rest later


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[steve73]

The problem with sending GBP from UK to a Thai bank is that the rate may move against you in the time it takes to arrive, especially whilst the Brexit negotiations are underway.

Thai bank buying TT rates are usually around 1% less than the MMR (each Thai bank is different, and the better/worse ones vary from day to day). There is also the cost of a SWIFT transfer from your bank (5-25GBP depending on bank), and then the Thai banks charge a "receiving fee" (typically 0.25% or 200-500 min-max).

 

When you send with Transferwise (or others) you "lock-in" the MMR exchange rate.  TW charges a fixed 1.50GBP plus 0.55% of funds exchanged. (I think they're about to change it to 1.65 + 0.52%, which will be a little cheaper for sums of over 500GBP).  There are no other sending or receiving fees.

 

Since the rate is fixed you know exactly what you will receive but if the rate changes, then you may have received a little more or a little less by sending GBP to your Thai bank... and note it can vary by as much as 1% over a 24 hour period.

 

If you make a detailed comparison, you'll note that if the Bank TT rate is 1% below MMR, then TW will be 0.45-0.48% better than this.. The more you send the more you'll "save".

 

Also, since the fixed cost with TW is only 1.50-1.65, there is little point in making a single large transfer (unlike when there's a 20-25 SWIFT fee).  You can often gain by making a small transfer at a weekly highs for example... Probably impossible to get the absolute "high", but it'll almost certainly be better than the Thai banks that always seem to give the day's "low".

 

Also, once set up a TW send can be done (IMO) much easier than a SWIFT, and it usually arrives in your Thai account faster - TW is next working day, SWIFT may take upto a week (but I've not used this method for over 4 years so hey may have improved).

 

I've been using TW (or similar) for almost 4 years, and would think of going back to SWIFT, unless I needed to show movements as "income" for visa needs. 

 

Thai bank latest rates here.. https://daytodaydata.net/

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by steve73
Added link

[orchidfan]

TORFX. ...no charges or fees.

Good exchange rate... agreed beforehand.

Have you register with them first to get an Account then bingo.

[Pestell]

I tried a TransferWise transfer yesterday just to see what the process was like. Only £50, but the rate was 0.5 baht better than any local bank rate. Ok £1.90 cost to send it - 3.8% of the sterling amount (higher percentage than if I had sent say £10,000 which would have equated to 0.5%). Very easy process and the money was in our Thai account in 4 hours!


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[steve73]

2 minutes ago, Pestell said:

I tried a TransferWise transfer yesterday just to see what the process was like. Only £50, but the rate was 0.5 baht better than any local bank rate. Ok £1.90 cost to send it - 3.8% of the sterling amount (higher percentage than if I had sent say £10,000 which would have equated to 0.5%). Very easy process and the money was in our Thai account in 4 hours!


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Wow - that's quick..!

What bank did you send it to, and how was it coded on arrival?

(You can also go into your TW account and open the .pdf receipt to show the routing.)

If it's not coded as International you may have problems using TW as "income" for a visa extension.

[Pestell]

TransferWise is regulated by the FCA (not that makes much of a difference - eg RBS Etc). But it does give some comfort.

 

I have decided that I am going to use a combination of cash when we travel and TransferWise but keeping amounts to say £10k max (just for security etc). Works for us as we are paying the builder in stages over the next 6 months. Many thanks for all your comments

 

 

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[rickudon]

When in Thailand itself, the best option is to use the Halifax clarity credit card. Excellent exchange rate (usually better than Transferwise) and no fees except ATM fee. But need to pay off quick as interest starts from day of transfer. If you are lucky, you might be able to do a counter withdrawal at a bank and avoid the ATM fee (but getting that needs research). I like the Clarity card because it is cash when i need it, no pre-planning necessary.