GBP vs THB

[niggle]

On opening an account in UK. Some internet banks will let you do this and don't always need proof of address in UK. As long as there is an address they can mail you. Those that do want proof of address will sometimes accept just a recent original credit card bill. I recently opened 2 x UK accounts from here. So if you hve someone in UK who can receive mail for you it is possible to do . I am though classed as resident in UK (for tax purposes). Depends on the bank and if you have had previous accounts with them I think

[sargeant]

quote guess
The difference between the highest rate and the lowest rate is about 35 Satang for each 100 GBP.
Quote 2
This means that 100 GBP will get you 5,718 Thai Baht at Siam City and 5,681 Baht at TMB. This is a a difference of 37 Baht. 10,000 GBP would have difference of 370 Baht.
Even in my silly military brain i can work out that 10,000 x 0.37 =3,700 not 370

Quote
There is no such ting as a cyber rate outside the imagination of internet bankers.

Cyber rate is exactely what rates and the link you quoted are
the real rate is when i know how many pounds have been deducted from my account against how much i have withdrawn thats real its fact not an i hope

Right this minute siam city 57.18 highest TMB 56.81 lowest that is a difference of 37 satang for every single solitary on its own lonely english pound not 100 pounds And i have seen as much as 1.07 difference in the past

where you get your above statements is beyond me

But it should answer WL question in full

[Guess]

UK banks imposed residency restrictions to counter money laundering. London is the world capital of money laundering. The policy has an adverse effect on innocent customers.

Internet banking has it's own rules (if any at all) so the banks don't need to impose the same restrictions as they would with a branch account.

They do need to cover their own arses though and they all have different policies on how to do it. The still lose hundreds of millions every year on personal frauds.

This is people getting their cards stolen, using false IDs, doing runners, and just plain bankruptcy.

What I have never understood is that if they don't give you loans, credit cards and overdraft facilities then what risk are they taking.

That would be common sense though.

[Arcadian]

Dtaai Maai, Ask is the very good search engine, ask.com.uk

[Wanderlust]

where you get your above statements is beyond me

But it should answer WL question in full

Err...no, sarge it does not. Guess is but one individual, and I don't have a clue what professional qualifications he has. And if your above statement means that you judge a whole profession on one individual then I'm afraid your opinion is completely worthless. I hate to think what i would say about the people in the armed forces if i took just one of them as representing what they are all like!

[richard]

Niggle

I think you made a very valid point

RESIDENT and Paying tax

[Super Joe]

I recently opened 2 x UK accounts from here. So if you hve someone in UK who can receive mail for you it is possible to do . I am though classed as resident in UK (for tax purposes).

Niggle, re: the accounts you opened from here did the 'classed as resident in UK for tax purposes' form part of the application process ?
Reason for asking is last time I went back I couldn't open an account with anyone as they wanted proof of address via bills etc for past 3 months, I had been here a year by then so had no proof.
If I can open one via internet by just giving a family address I'll be over the moon.

Cheers,
SJ

[Guess]

Now some sense is being written.

Yes Barclay's are crap. Many people have reported Nationwide as being very good for transferring money and catering for ex-pats as a whole.

I think though that is some confusion regarding ATM withdrawals and money transfers.

ATMs connect to a worldwide system and the owning bank can give whatever rate at their ATM that they choose. The rates are updated every 120 minutes or less.

Bank of Ayudayha is usually at the top of the GBP list but not always.

The difference between the highest rate and the lowest rate is about 35 Baht for each 100 GBP.

Your issuing (home) bank may add another withdrawal charge which you need to be aware of. You will only see that if you have internet banking or you get your statements sent to you. They acquiring bank (ATM owner cannot tell you. They don't know.

Money transfer is different thing altogether. The sending bank and receiving bank must have an agreed rate that caters for fluctuations that will occur in the time it takes to transfer the money. Organizations like SWIFT and CHAPS dictate those rates. Nearly all banks will add on their percentage and then the greedy bastards add a transfer fee, which is double what they pay and to add insult to injury some even charge a commission set fee. All transaction are a separate entity.

There is no such ting as a cyber rate outside the imagination of internet bankers.

Now back to ATM withdrawals and to put this "discussion" to bed once and for all.

The rates for ATM in Thailand for GBP accounts is right now.

Number 1. Siam City 57.18
Number 2 Ayudhya 57.15
Number 10 TMB 56.81

This means that 100 GBP will get you 5,718 Thai Baht at Siam City and 5,681 Baht at TMB. This is a a difference of 37 Baht. 1,000 GBP would have difference of 370 Baht, 10,000 GBP would be 3700 Baht.

Of course you can never guarantee getting those rates unless you have a hand held and park up outside the ATM all day.

I have just spent a considerable amount of time researching and checking this information for the benefit of all readers so please refrain from arguing unless you have alternative information that conflicts and you have the source of that information.

My information comes from CHAPS (BofE), RTGS (BofE), Nationwide and Bank Bangkok. (And of course the reference web site: http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

BTW. One thing that has not been mentioned so far is the one off 20 - 30 Baht withdrawal charge that all Thai banks make if you withdraw cash from their till and your account is not at that branch.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Just when I got Ramadam out of the way.

Edited to correct a typo. It did not really need explanation anyway. I am sure that almost everybody can multiply by 10.

Added later to avoid consectutive posts

quote guess
The difference between the highest rate and the lowest rate is about 35 Satang for each 100 GBP.
Quote 2
This means that 100 GBP will get you 5,718 Thai Baht at Siam City and 5,681 Baht at TMB. This is a a difference of 37 Baht. 10,000 GBP would have difference of 370 Baht.
Even in my silly military brain i can work out that 10,000 x 0.37 =3,700 not 370

Well done you spotted a typo. This is amazing coming from someone who makes about 5 typos/spelling mistakes for every ten words and can’t spell his own title.

Quote
There is no such thing as a cyber rate outside the imagination of internet bankers.
Cyber rate is exactly what rates and the link you quoted are
the real rate is when i know how many pounds have been deducted from my account against how much i have withdrawn thats real its fact not an i hope

I will retract that statement if you can show me a reference on line to cyber rates and explain why they are any different from standard international bank rates.
I haven’t got a clue what you are trying to say in the second sentence. It has typos/grammatical errors/punctuation errors and is not clear. The rate you get at the ATM is the TT rate from the site you keep quoting and I have been using (i.e. http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx) minus the withdrawal charge at the acquiring bank minus the charge at the issuing bank. There is no option of a “cyber rate”. The rate you should be looking at is the TT rate.

Right this minute siam city 57.18 highest TMB 56.81 lowest that is a difference of 37 satang for every single solitary on its own lonely english pound not 100 pounds And i have seen as much as 1.07 difference in the past
where you get your above statements is beyond me

Again you have ignored all the correct information and picked up an obvious typo. It would be a full time job picking up all your typos and grammatical errors. You may have seen 1.07 difference in the past if one of the banks updates were out of sync. That is still only 1 Baht and 7 satang anyway. What’s the big deal?.
You then go on to say “where you get your above statements is beyond me “ and it’s your statement above. It's not the only topic that's beyond you. I spell the names Siam and English correctly rather than siam and english so I know I did not write that. I have made it very clear where I get my information from.

But it should answer WL question in full

I suggest you learn how to use punctuation and if you insist on quoting other peoples posts you should learn how to use the quote function properly so it is obvious who made the statement. On a number of occasions you have posted a load of crap (including a paragraph in this post) and attributed it to me or someone else, when in reality you have written your self. We are not all so stupid as to fall for that one.

Admit you've made mistake and lose face. You can afford it.

FINAL

[Super Joe]

BTW. One thing that has not been mentioned so far is the one off 20 - 30 Baht withdrawal charge that all Thai banks make if you withdraw cash from their till and your account is not at that branch.

I got charged 200 Baht the other day for paying a.n.other's Siam Commercial bankers draught into my Siam Commercial account. wtf?
I Believe they would have been charged also when they drew that cheque. wtf?

SJ

[Guess]

I got charged 200 Baht the other day for paying a.n.other's Siam Commercial bankers draught into my Siam Commercial account. wtf?
I Believe they would have been charged also when they drew that cheque. wtf?

SJ

Wow, that's a bit harsh. It looks like they charge cost plus for everything they do. I have managed to steer clear of cheques myself but I guess there a situations here when you cannot avoid it. I send money to other people by ATM and it costs me 20 or 30 Baht and it does count as proof of payment.

[margaretcarnes]

To be fair, I think the way Sarge is working out his returns on the exchange rates is by deducting all charges involved, and looking at what he is left with in his hand. Which would seem to make sense. Expats generally have a finite amount of e.g. pension income, which is easily erroded by exchange rate fluctuations and bank charges.
Which raises other points. Internet banks for one, (as opposed to Internet Banking provided by your terrestrial bank!) Super Joe asked how it works, and I haven't got a clue either. Correct - to open a UK bank account now you need proof of residency in the form of utility bills, tenancy agreements, passports, driving licence etc etc. So what ID is needed for an Internet Bank account? If it is indeed so easy to open one, wheres the security?
I can't imagine UK State Pensions for example being paid into an Internet Bank. Quite apart from security issues, they need to know where you are. Which brings me to point 2. Much as we may disagree with the UK Pensions policy of not paying the annual increases to expats in Thailand, getting around the lack of increases by registering domicile in the UK is fraud. There have been 'crackdowns' on such cases and, much as I would like to be privy to inside info on future crackdowns, I'm not.
Of course no one in HH is likely to fall fowl of this stupid law, it's purely for info...

[Guess]

To be fair, I think the way Sarge is working out his returns on the exchange rates is by deducting all charges involved, and looking at what he is left with in his hand.

Yes I think that may be it. I have tried to explain how it works but he gets confused. That was my point earlier. The bank charges will account for much more than the difference between one banks rate and another's. When you transfer money the rates change considerably and depend very much on how much you send. For very small amounts Wetern Union can be the cheapest.

There was no need for his abuse though purely because he could not understand.

.............Internet banks for one, (as opposed to Internet Banking provided by your terrestrial bank!) Super Joe asked how it works, and I haven't got a clue either. Correct - to open a UK bank account now you need proof of residency in the form of utility bills, tenancy agreements, passports, driving licence etc etc. So what ID is needed for an Internet Bank account? If it is indeed so easy to open one, wheres the security?.......

I am afraid I know very little or nothing either. I have not worked directly in the business for 9 years now and Internet Banks were in their infancy then and the big banks were steering clear of the business. Most were reluctant to offer internet banking but were forced in by public demand and peer pressure.

The whole business of eCommerce is a grey area at the moment. It is global by nature so does not need to comply with national laws. I am sure that the G8 countries are all working on legislation but at the moment there appears to be very little. This could be dangerous in many ways. It opens up banking again to any 2 bit crook and allows transfer of funds on the black market, it is a haven for terrorists and international criminals and it is risky for the genuine customer. If a bank failed, who would bail them out?

For the time being we have to rely on common sense and only use Internet banks that are backed by known entities. Even then there is risk. What would happen if you used an Internet Bank that was a subsidiary of HBOS and the government refused to bail out the Internet Banking arm.

I can't imagine UK State Pensions for example being paid into an Internet Bank. Quite apart from security issues, they need to know where you are. Which brings me to point 2. Much as we may disagree with the UK Pensions policy of not paying the annual increases to expats in Thailand, getting around the lack of increases by registering domicile in the UK is fraud. There have been 'crackdowns' on such cases and, much as I would like to be privy to inside info on future crackdowns, I'm not.
Of course no one in HH is likely to fall fowl of this stupid law, it's purely for info...

Agreed, and also it appears that they will use any excuse possible to avoid payment. How can they possibly justify not paying index linked pensions to people abroad. Retirees should be paid more for living abroad. The ease congestion on the road, reduce the number of targets for petty criminals, do not burden the social services and make a myriad of other savings to the government.

The state has adopted the policy purely because they have found they can get away with it. I am sure they would halve the payments if they thought they could get away with it.

I was not aware of crackdowns but I am not surprised. Crackdowns on other fiddles have been a huge success. I got on to a government website yesterday regarding my NI payments. I had to tell them I was abroad. I have no doubt that now I am on record and when the time comes for me to apply for a pension I will be closely monitored.

ADDED 13/10 13:51

I have just received a reply and it has written: Domicile Non-EU,
Seems that Commonwealth means nothing anymore, only British, EU and non-EU.

[margaretcarnes]

Thanks for that Guess. Yes, you will now be on the 'system' as probably living abroad. The UK pensions increase (or lack of) issue was taken to High Court/European Commissioners or whatever about 8 years ago, and took forever for a decision. I should point out that the stupid rule doesn't just apply to UK nationals living in LOS, but also Oz, New Zealand and some other countries. I don't know how the selection of such countries of domicile came about, but clearly these days its really out of date.
Anyway, the result of the first case, taken up by a Brit woman living in Oz, failed.
A subsequent case, taken by a Brit living 6 months in New Zealand and 6 months in the Uk succeeded on the grounds that they had homes in both countries, and could reasonably be expected to spend time in both.
Quite apart from UK Pensions, there are of course issues around other state benefits paid abroad, which are complex, and depend largely on the type of benefit claimed. But basically any 'means tested' benefits aren't paid to UK nationals abroad. The reasons are simple. UK means tested benefits, such as Income Support, are based on the cost of living index in the UK.
Non means tested benefits like Disability Living Allowance carry limitations on the amount of time spent abroad in any country. Other odd things, like the winter heating allowance, are still paid as long as the claimant continues to satisfy other benefit conditions. So for example, I get State Pension, which gives entitlement to the winter heating allowance. So I come out to LOS tomorrow for 3 months and will still receive the allowance, because I'm not compromising my State Pension by a 3 month stay. Minefield or what?

[ozuncle]

I am afraid I know very little nothing either.

Your grammar is also not perfect!

[ozuncle]

There was no need for his abuse though purely because he could not understand.

I think most of the abuse could be attributed to your boring sarcasm and your inflammatory use of anagrams.
The first one was funny but not any more.

Grow up.