There are many methods of transferring money internationally. In this article I want to take a look at how to send money to Thailand.
If you have a bank account in your home country you could simply choose to transfer funds through the International banking system to an account in Thailand. In order to do this you will need to provide some details of the recipient bank and the receiver to the bank making the transfer.
- Recipient full name(as per bank account).
- Bank account number.
- SWIFT or BIC code for the recipient bank this is made up of 8 to 11 character e.g BKKBTHBK is the Swift code for Bangkok Bank head office in Bangkok. Where BKKB is the Bangkok Bank Identifier, TH is the country(Thailand) and BK is the city(Bangkok). Three additional characters are used sometimes to identify the branch.
- Routing Number-a nine digit code that identifies the recipient branch of the bank in question.
- You may also be asked the reason you are making the transfer(anti-money laundering rules).
International bank transfers are relatively quick(1-3 days) and totally secure, however they can also be expensive. HSBC in the UK for example charges £25 for each SWIFT payment made to Thailand. There is also a possibility that the receiving bank will charge you or offer you a slightly lower exchange rate. So I would not recommended this method for regular transfers as bank charges can be expensive.
Money saving tip: If you are using this method of transfer make sure your money is sent in your native currency to take advantage of the receiving banks offshore exchange rate.
An alternative to using a standard international bank transfer is to use a third party specialist foreign exchange company such as HIFX. This requires you to set up an account with the company who then act as an intermediary between your home bank and the one in Thailand. They also offer two options, spot trading(pay at the time) or buying forward contracts(pay deposit and settle later) if you are an experienced in the foreign exchange markets.
Once your account is in place you can start trading. In the case of HIFX you can make transfers either by telephone or on-line. The company require the same details as outlined above for the standard bank transfer.
The system works like this for an on line spot trade.
- Log into your account.
- Set up the trade, you can see the current exchange rate being offered which is a live money market figure so it will fluctuate until you commit to the transaction.
- Complete the transaction by accepting the rate offered(you can simply log out if you are not happy with the rates).
- Transfer money(on line) from your home country bank to your HIFX account-no charge for using BACS.
- Track your transaction on line and receive the funds in 1-3 days.
Using a specialist foreign exchange company like HIFX has some advantages since they do not charge for the transaction, so actual charges if you live in the UK for example are zero, since BACS is also free. They also guarantee that the receiving bank will not charge you, offering a refund if this should happen.
Unfortunately there is a downside. Since the exchange rates offered are lower than the offshore rate you would receive if you did a standard transfer. The less you transfer the lower the rate. For example a transfer of £1000 was attracting an exchange rate over 1 Baht lower than the offshore rate yesterday. While a transfer of £10,000 was only slightly below that offered locally.
Money saving tip: Avoid regular transfers, try and transfer large sums each time. Consider buying a forward contract if you have large sums to transfer, can afford to wait to receive your funds and are experienced in financial markets.
The following is a summary of other methods you could use to send money to Thailand, personally I would not recommend any of them given possible security issues, charges that are made and ease of getting access to the money that has been transferred.
- PayPal or similar companies: Charges are extremely high compared to the above methods and there are many horror stories about funds being frozen and the arbitrarily closure of accounts.
- Western Union: Better than PayPal in my opinion but still very expensive. Users report problems in Thailand trying to get their hands on the actual money which includes furnishing suitable identification. Varies from WU agent to agent.
- ATM: I have heard of folk back home setting up an account and mailing the recipient an ATM card to use to draw down funds. Besides the security issues ATM transactions attract less favourable exchange rates and are subject to charges both at home and in Thailand.
I should perhaps add that I am not a financial expert and the information in this article is based on my own experience here in Thailand as I try to find the best ways to send money from the UK to Thailand for my personal expenses.
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