British Pension Direct to Thai Bank

[Big Boy]

Thanks

[PET]

Thank you all for the responses to my enquiry. I called The Pensions Office in the UK today and spent 25 minutes on the phone changing my bank details from Lloyds to Siam Commercial so all is sorted. Interestingly, the British Government Website for Pensions does NOT list Thailand as a country that they will pay into........but they do !


What conversion rate do you get Bernard? Is it the UK rate, or the Thai rate?

Not sure BB......but I was told that it is a better rate than one would get from a bank as the "Pensions People" send zillions of pounds each month in bulk and get a more favourable rate. Whatever it is I'm sure it will be better than having it deposited in the UK, then transferring with fees, then exchanging.

You should instruct the Pensions Dept to send your pension in sterling pounds and let Siam Commercial do the FX conversion.

[Bernard]

Not sure BB......but I was told that it is a better rate than one would get from a bank as the "Pensions People" send zillions of pounds each month in bulk and get a more favourable rate. Whatever it is I'm sure it will be better than having it deposited in the UK, then transferring with fees, then exchanging.[/quote]

PET wrote: You should instruct the Pensions Dept to send your pension in sterling pounds and let Siam Commercial do the FX conversion.[/quote]

PET, The only problem with bringing "Euros" or "GBP" into Siam Commercial is that the money doesn't show in the bank until you convert it to Baht. I was at the bank yesterday because I have quite a large sum in "Euros" and asked them to look at my account as I couldn't see it anywhere. It took the bank half hour and a couple of calls to Bangkok before I could speak to someone who confirmed the money was here in Thailand.......However, I still haven't seen anything in print even though I have asked for an e mail to confirm that they have received the money!

[Bernard]

As an update to this thread - I called the pensions department in the UK a few minutes ago and asked them to pay my pension into my Thai bank account in GBP. The answer was that they are only able to pay in the currency of the receiving bank.

Question: Does anyone get their pension paid into a Thai bank account in Sterling please?

[sargeant]

Bernard could you explain why it is so important for it to be paid into your thai account

I could get my BA pension paid into my Thai account but it works out cheaper to draw it from an ATM even with the charges

My state pension will go to my Nationwide account as does my BA pension and i draw it as and when the rate is higher/highest i also am able to keep an overdraft limit which i doubt any Thai bank will allow a Farang to run

If it is paid in on a given day each month that is the rate you will get which cuts out the previous shop around option

I suppose you could have a GBP account but i just dont see how that can be that much different

[Bernard]

Bernard could you explain why it is so important for it to be paid into your thai account

I could get my BA pension paid into my Thai account but it works out cheaper to draw it from an ATM even with the charges

My state pension will go to my Nationwide account as does my BA pension and i draw it as and when the rate is higher/highest i also am able to keep an overdraft limit which i doubt any Thai bank will allow a Farang to run

If it is paid in on a given day each month that is the rate you will get which cuts out the previous shop around option

I suppose you could have a GBP account but i just dont see how that can be that much different

Sarge, my idea is to have the money paid into my Thai bank account so that I can show immigration that I have a regular income and thereby not have to leave 800,000 Baht in the account.

[Big Boy]

The answer was that they are only able to pay in the currency of the receiving bank.

If that is the case, please do your sums very carefully before agreeing to it - it could cost you money.

Your pension statement should do just as well to prove your income to the British Embassy to generate your letter.

[sargeant]

I still think you will need a letter from the embassy i may be wrong

but my advice on that is simple GO and ask
Forget the BS you hear on all sorts of forums because the immigration i have dealt with are always extremely helpfull polite and will find a way to make it as easy as possible for you

My next advice is ask politely DO NOT TELL them what they must do.

Those that TELL/LECTURE immigration are the very idiots posting all things bad about immigration

[sargeant]

Bernard i have just spoken with my BinL in england and we have gone over our pension figures we both have just started our pensions in the last two months

to qualify for a retirement visa as Lomu has said one needs a monthly income of 65,000 Bt @ 49 to the pound thats 1326.53 GBP a month we may be wrong but we cant see your state pension being that much (we may be wrong if we are i apologise)

That means you must have other income OR money in bank

My BA pension is 1400 GBP a month and i have had to show 200,000 Bt in a bank account for the last two renewals

This year i sent my two pension statements totalling 20,000GBP and do not need any money in the bank i have checked with immigration already

Just having an income that you think you can live on doesnt cut it

[Bernard]

This year i sent my two pension statements totalling 20,000GBP and do not need any money in the bank i have checked with immigration already

Sarge, so if immigration can see from your statements and/or a letter from the British Embassy that you have a regular income that meets their requirements they are happy "for the money to be in your bank in England" and NOT in Thailand?

[PET]

This year i sent my two pension statements totalling 20,000GBP and do not need any money in the bank i have checked with immigration already

Sarge, so if immigration can see from your statements and/or a letter from the British Embassy that you have a regular income that meets their requirements they are happy "for the money to be in your bank in England" and NOT in Thailand?

CORRECT, you do not have to bring it into Thailand to qualify

[Bernard]

This year i sent my two pension statements totalling 20,000GBP and do not need any money in the bank i have checked with immigration already

Sarge, so if immigration can see from your statements and/or a letter from the British Embassy that you have a regular income that meets their requirements they are happy "for the money to be in your bank in England" and NOT in Thailand?

CORRECT, you do not have to bring it into Thailand to qualify

PET, Thanks for that and thank you to everyone else who has commented. I've learned a lot and will now make different plans as I was totally on the wrong track.

[sargeant]

Bernard i am sure you are with it but to clarify

from your statements and/or a letter from the British Embassy

It is NOT and/or

I have tried for almost 10 years on statements ONLY and they will not play
they want a letter from the embassy

It is simple and done by post takes 6 days

to clarify a little further if your income letter from the embassy falls short and does NOT reach 65K/800K the shortfall in cash needed must be in a thai bank account

[Bernard]

Please let us know when you find out. If it's the UK rate, then for my pension, it would certainly be a bad move to switch. If it's the Thai rate, OK, all of my income will be stuck in Thailand, but it could be financially beneficial.

Might be a few weeks but I will certainly let you know.

BB, just to round the circle on this one.................After listening to the advise on this thread I decided NOT to have my pension paid into my Thai bank account as I would probably lose money on the exchange rate. I have therefore informed Pensions Department in the UK to pay the money into my Lloyds account in England.

[Big Boy]

Thanks