Money Number 1!

[iagra]

Thanx for replies so far, guys.
I have requested BofE notes, for collection 2 days from now. Was told they'd "try".
I'm actually taking out 3K, which is why I wondered about the 50 option.
My whole idea about taking such an amount of cash is to try to beat the exchange system a little bit. I've worked out that one way or another, even with a Nationwide account, 3K by ATM would cost me roughly 60 quid in charges all told, and even with the slightly lower F/X rate for notes I could cut these charges by about half - and, of course, by much more if I can set up a local account.
It’s really just an experiment geared towards my future needs, since after this long holiday I hope to spend even more time in Thailand enjoying Life Part 2, and with a bit of foresight 2 or 3 SWIFT transfers a year would seem to be the best way to go.
Anyway, thanks for all the replies - all taken aboard, and clearer in my mind now.
(And no matter what, I’ll still have my N/W card, and can pass many carefree hours seeking out these legendary ATMs that don’t charge 150B a pop….)
Ian.

[Khundon1975]

iagra

The wife got stopped last time at LHR on her way to Thailand carrying £10k in twenties.

She was given a hard time by customs as to why she was holding so much cash.
She said "It is my money and I will damn well take it where ever I please"

She is a Devil when roused.

They let her on her way as her flight was being called.

Bloody bureaucrats

If you can, then open an account in HH and save all the hassle.

[brianks]

Why do all of you except Pagey want to play with cash when you get a better rate with ATM's? Cash gets a poorer rate of exchange than Travelers Checks. Who cares about the fee's at home bank, Go to Aeon ATM's on third floor of Market Village for fee free withdrawals up to 40,000 thb at a time. Why wire transfers as they cost quite a few too. Just be flexible and go the ATM route and don't worry about all the other nit picky hassles. Make your life simple here and enjoy yourself while your here.

[sargeant]

Brianks
question why would i go all the way to market village (approx 3km 6 there and back) with all the expense (petrol MIB risk) when i can for a measly 0.15% or 15 baht use the ATM 500 yds from my abode @ the 7/11 Bank of Ayudhaya

Oh and use a company i believe is a currency exchange outlet which will i guarantee make money out of me one way or the other

And my UK bank will still charge 1% no matter what ATM i use

just curious

[STEVE G]

Why do all of you except Pagey want to play with cash when you get a better rate with ATM's? Cash gets a poorer rate of exchange than Travelers Checks. Who cares about the fee's at home bank, Go to Aeon ATM's on third floor of Market Village for fee free withdrawals up to 40,000 thb at a time. Why wire transfers as they cost quite a few too. Just be flexible and go the ATM route and don't worry about all the other nit picky hassles. Make your life simple here and enjoy yourself while your here.

I gave up using a UK ATM card in Thailand due to the fact that I repeatedly got the account frozen after using it, which then required annoying and expensive internationasl calls to the bank to sort it out. I was once on hold to a call centre for 25 minutes.
If you go to Thailand often, it's easier to open a local account and then make a couple of transfers a year.

[Big Boy]

Why do all of you except Pagey want to play with cash when you get a better rate with ATM's? Cash gets a poorer rate of exchange than Travelers Checks. Who cares about the fee's at home bank, Go to Aeon ATM's on third floor of Market Village for fee free withdrawals up to 40,000 thb at a time. Why wire transfers as they cost quite a few too. Just be flexible and go the ATM route and don't worry about all the other nit picky hassles. Make your life simple here and enjoy yourself while your here.

I don't remember wanting to play with cash; and the last time I looked, I wasn't called Pagey

Personally, I prefer travellers cheques

[mr lonely]

Nationwide will not allow on line international. Have to fill in form and post to them. Never had any problems

[Hilux]

At the risk that everything is not as I have understood it, we have asked Bangkok Bank to open a "foreign currency account". This way we are suppose to be able to send money to thailand - and keep it in our local currency (Danish kroner for us - but it could naturally also have been euro / Pounds / Dollars etc.).

The advantage should be that we only pay the transfer fee (which is equal to thb 200) when we send money and we do not have to "time" the transfers according to the exchange rates. The exchange will happen (without fees) when we transfer whatever amount we choose to our "normal account" - and it will be according to the electronic transfer rate and not the bank note rate.

Last but not least. If we choose to send money back to Denmark for whatever reason, again we only have to pay the transfer fee.

As I stated above, I am not 100% about this information since we still need to sign the account papers when we get to Thailand next month.

If anybody have tried the same with good / bad experience, I will appereciate a comment.

Hilux

[caller]

Wanderlust
I am with Lloyds, all I do is ring them up and they will transfer the money, never had a problem, the advantage is you can transfer sterling which gets you a better exchange rate. My account in Thailand is with SCB. there is a limit of £5000 per transaction.

I assume you still have to pay the #20 fee? I'm with Lloyds and wasn't aware that could be done over the phone? I can manage my accounts whilst in LOS and shuffle the few sheckles I have between them but cannot transfer abroad - even if in LOS.

Does transferring sterling get you a better exchange rate at UK based rates?

[m_right]

Go to Aeon ATM's on third floor of Market Village for fee free withdrawals up to 40,000 thb at a time. Just be flexible and go the ATM route and don't worry about all the other nit picky hassles. Make your life simple here and enjoy yourself while your here.

Because there isn't an ATM for Aeon in Market village and because I don't like paying the 150 baht and 1%. I have tried ATM's all over HH and they all charge 150 baht for debit cards.

[stgrhe]

I have tried ATM's all over HH and they all charge 150 baht for debit cards.

It is a rule set up by Bank of Thailand that all commercial banks in Thailand must follow.

[sargeant]

m_right wrote:

I have tried ATM's all over HH and they all charge 150 baht for debit cards

please read the thread about the 150 bt ATM charge it is on this thread about 10 topics down just a mere 13 pages of it
it is very enlightening to those NOT in the know certainly the last 4 pages
you will find that some posters in the KNOW have only started being charged 15 bt fifteen baht since the 5th november 2009
Twenty whole days ago prior to that NO NIL charges whatsoever from Bank of Ayudhaya on my nationwide card

[BaaBaa.]

Because there isn't an ATM for Aeon in Market village.

There is on the 3rd floor, and what Sarge said.

[lindosfan1]

Caller
Lloyds do charge the £20 transfer fee sorry forgot to mention that.

[caller]

Caller
Lloyds do charge the £20 transfer fee sorry forgot to mention that.

On the contrary, I wasn't aware I could do that - it will save me popping into a branch in future!