Taking finances to Thailand.

[komfortablynumb]

Hi dark lords of HH.
Coming over next week.
Got the house and wife in Praknampran. (And the family). And retiring.
I am bringing the allowed amount of cash.
However i need to open a bank account in LOS.
I need to bring an international cheque.
My bank are confused about whether or not it should be in pounds sterling. Or they should convert it to Thai Bt.
Personaly i am pissed off with banks ripping me off with there imaginary exchange rate.
So i reckon £ sterling is the better deal.
Any bankers got a suggestion.
All suggestions greatful.

[margaretcarnes]

There shouldn't be a problem with cheques in Stirling at any Thai bank, but the clearing times and charges may vary. I'm sure others will have up to date info on the best to go for - but in the past I've experienced clearing times of up to a month or more until changing to Bangkok Bank.

[lomuamart]

I'm pretty sure that the rule of thumb is to let the banks here make the exchange. If the UK ones do it, they'll rip you off on the rate.
I'm don't about clearing times for cheques though.

[PET]

I suggest you open the Thai bank account first and then have your bank in UK transfer the amount in Sterling Pounds ( I presume you are in UK ) using the SWIFT transfer system. This will ensure that you receive the TT rate of exchange which is the most advantageous. You will also receive the TT rate when you use your UK bank ATM card. So do not get the UK bank to transfer Thai baht.

I suggest you open an account with a bank that has internet service eg Kasikornbank

You may wish to keep some of the sterling in a GB Pound account, in the hope that the rate will improve !!

It might be a good idea if you speak with your bank about transferring by Swift. It is straight forward but you might as well clear this matter before you leave.

[johnnyk]

Take PET's advice.
Never, ever try to pay anything in another country by a cheque from home. Too many things can go wrong, too many hands get to grab charges along the line, it can take forever and the uncertainty is too high a price.

[komfortablynumb]

thanks a lot guys.
Advice appreciated.

[jimmy40]

Yeh same advice from me, a bank cheque takes upto a month to clear funds, Definitly use the swift t/t method, I get funds in 1 day from Australia. You may need to prove you own or are buying a home to get the account open, I had a mate help me. But you should think about that angle, if asked Cheers

[STEVE G]

I would agree with the above as well, come here and open an account and then make a transfer from the UK.
My bank requires a letter to make an international transfer but even with that I normally have the funds within a few days.

[Super Joe]

KN, if the amount is applicable it would be well worth printing off the foreign exchange form in this link and getting the Thai bank to sign it off for you. Could save a few headaches at a later date: http://www.tmbbank.com/personal/foreign ... n_Form.pdf

Agree with the others, but if you are going to do it here's some info from TMB bank:

foreign-exchan.jpg (39.04 KiB) Viewed 1493 times

SJ

[paulsimkiss]

Always instuct your UK bank to allow the receiving bank to convert the currency. I live in Spain and Thailand and have allways found this is better value