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Should I convert US dollars to Baht before transferring to my Thai bank account or send USD directly?

Bank TransfersCurrency ExchangeWise BankingThai Bank AccountsWells FargoExpats in ThailandUSD to THB ConversionWestern UnionRemitly Alternatives
Jul 14, 2025
a month ago
Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Ok- I have a question for all my Wise Banking American ex-Pats:

When I'm moving money from my Wells Fargo to wise and then Wise to a Thai bank account should I exchange the funds to Baht and then deposit them s Baht to the Thai bank account?

Does that make sense? Or just do a USD dorectly into my Thai bank account?

Which one will give me better rate?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The post discusses the best method for transferring money from Wells Fargo to a Thai bank account using Wise. The main points include whether to convert funds to Baht before depositing into the Thai bank or to send USD directly. Several commenters suggest that sending USD directly to the Thai bank allows Wise to handle the exchange at a favorable rate. Other opinions mention various personal experiences with different transfer methods, and there's debate over the best exchange rates and transfer speeds between services.
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Jon ********
Wells Fargo can do SWIFT transfer. They are pretty poor in terms of customer service but you don’t need WISE.
a month ago
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Mike ********
I keep US and Thai balances. Wait for good rates to convert, while earning 3.9% interest in the mean time. The rate is good enough to reduce the fees.
a month ago
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Ralph *******
@Mike *******
 You get 3.9% interest on your Wise balance?
a month ago
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Mike ********
@Ralph ******
 only on the usd balance
a month ago
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Rick ************
@Ralph ******
 sure do
a month ago
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Ralph *******
@Rick ***********
 Mine doesn’t offer that. Revolut does some scheme but Wise doesn’t.
a month ago
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Rick ************
@Ralph ******
 it's not automatic. You have to set it up. Use the help function to find.

I get interest on AUD & THB.
a month ago
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Rick ************
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Simon *******
Right now if I transfer from the UK to Bangkok bank transfers are taking about 6 hours if done Monday to Thursday, of done Friday to Sunday it takes until Monday to get to your account. Best to do transfers Mon to Thurs.
a month ago
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Wannikea *********
It's a bit cheaper to send to your Wise acct and then manually choose to convert the funds at your preferred rate, then send to your Thai bank, also it tends to be a faster transfer. YMMV. Regardless, sending directly to your Thai bank is pretty seamless.
a month ago
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Robert **************
Yes you can send it directly from one account to another
a month ago
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Matthew *********
Don't use wise, use remitly. It's american company with lower fees than wise and the money is transfer in less than a minute. So many people have problems with wise. Some people have had their money frozen from wise and wise takes too long to transfer. I have an attorney friend in bangkok, he was so glad I told him about remitly
a month ago
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Norbert **********
@Matthew ********
 revolut is also in minutes
a month ago
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Todd *********
@Matthew ********
 use Remitly if you are angry at your own money. You always get a worse exchange rate. They charge ‘lower fees’ to prey on the financially uneducated. It’s a good strategy
a month ago
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Robby ************
@Matthew ********
 but lower rate about 200 baht on 50.000 baht conversion
a month ago
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Robby ************
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Robert ********
I have THB and USD account in wise. I seem to never use the USD one anymore. It is simpler to transfer it into the THB account where it is converted automatically and the exchange rate is good.
a month ago
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Robert *******
 and then move it to your bank?
a month ago
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Robert ********
@Robert *******
 move it to Bangkok bank account
a month ago
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Robert ********
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Jeremy ********
Always go with your banks exchange rate
a month ago
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Todd *********
@Jeremy *******
 that…. Is hilarious. Ummm - no. Do NOT do this
a month ago
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Jeremy ********
@Todd ********
 not sure what you’re saying

I get a better rate with my home bank than overseas banks

ATM’s other…only exception is super rich when I hand over $100 notes
a month ago
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Jeremy ********
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Wannikea *********
@Jeremy *******
 certainly not the American banks rate. Just let Wise do the conversion.
a month ago
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Jeremy ********
@Wannikea ********
 absolutisms never end well

99.9% of the time the USA/other countries bank uses a better exchange rate than the rate of the receiving bank

I’ve used this algorithm all over the world and it’s worked for me
a month ago
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Wannikea *********
@Jeremy *******
 we are talking Thai bank rates vs the center of the capitalist universe banks. There isn't a hope in hell that those US banks are gonna give a better rate.
a month ago
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Jeremy ********
@Wannikea ********
 I get better rates
a month ago
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Jeremy ********
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Mark ********
I use wise and WF, I exchange to baht via wise. then to my thai acct. I leave money in my wise acct. I am not worried about losing it. I suppose it could happen but it is only a couple thousand dollars.
a month ago
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Gabriel ********
I also use wf in the USA….for transfers under 10k usd I just do bank-to-bank transfers into my Thai accounts using SWIFT codes…some will say that the exchange rate loss is too great to do this…in my 20 years of living in bkk and after having tried every conceivable method this one works best for me….a Schwab account is another good way of chipping away at foreign bank fees
a month ago
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Brandon ************
@Gabriel *******
 Schwabb is great for traveling. And if you pull out the maximum 30,000 baht from a Thai ATM occasionally, good for that too.
a month ago
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Gabriel ********
@Brandon ***********
 exactly what I do although as cash becomes less and less convenient 30k can take an awful long time to spend lol
a month ago
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Gabriel ********
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Lynnette *******
Send to wise and wise send to Thai account? Not heard of that. I just add recipient bank and amount in my home currency and it gets sent.
a month ago
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
no two answers are the same lol
a month ago
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Lynnette *******
@Robert *******
 because there's more than one way to use wise.
a month ago
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Lynnette ******
 I'm learning.
a month ago
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Robert ********
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Ken *******
@Lynnette ******
 I just sent a wire to wise then they convert to my Thai account. It's a better rate than transferring directly to Thai account. Also it's not an international transfer so all around cheaper.
a month ago
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Lynnette *******
@Ken ******
 ah ok. I only do international transfers. 😊
a month ago
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Ken *******
@Lynnette ******
 my bank charges me less. Because the bank wise uses is in the United States. They send it over to my Thai bank. I get the rate at the time. I do the transfer, and I pay a fee, which in the end.There's a couple hundred dollars cheaper on the money.I send over
a month ago
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Ken *******
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Max *************
@Lynnette ******
 It means you're sending money to your Wise Balance. Then you can send money from the Balance to your Thai bank account when you feel like it.
a month ago
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Lynnette *******
@Max ************
 that's 2 transactions for me so I'll stick to typing in amount and one click to send, unless it works out cheaper so I'll check that out.
a month ago
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Max *************
@Lynnette ******
 Sending money to your Balance is totally free as long as you do manual transfers from your bank account back home to Wise's local bank account. The fee is a bit cheaper when sending money from the Balance to your Thai bank account. The idea is that you can keep money in the Balance and use it like a common bank account. For some currencies you can even earn some interest.
a month ago
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Max *************
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Willy *******
@Lynnette ******
 I always use Wise like that. First I send SEPA payment from my bank account to Wise. And when it arrives I sen it to my Thailand bank. I choose this method because I can better identify where money is going if problems.
a month ago
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Lynnette *******
@Willy ******
 never done that, my recipient is the bank in Thailand and that's where the money goes. Not sure how sending it to Wise and then they send it on afterwards makes sense.
a month ago
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Willy *******
@Lynnette ******
 I think it's very convenient in SEPA area (free and instant) and I can better control if there is problems. And I don't need to link my bankaccount to Wise. Just my Bangkok Bank to my reciepent so not need to add account details again.
a month ago
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Willy *******
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Brandon ************
Just directly send the USD to your Thai bank account and let Wise do the conversion. What some people do is transfer the USD to their Wise account, and then convert it to baht when they like the exchange rate, but I would never do this. Wise is not a real bank and your money is not FDIC insured while there. You should never leave money in Wise or in any technology financial company. Just use the service for transfers.
a month ago
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Peter **********
@Brandon ***********
 I keep (some) money in Wise and use their card on Lazada, Shopee and such. That saves me the cost of transferring to Thailand.
a month ago
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Brandon ************
@Peter *********
 I just use my foreign credit card
a month ago
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Brandon ************
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Brandon ***********
 I bank on both coasts. And my business banker has been good to me. It's a marriage of convenience but I also use credit unions for my local banking. I'm not excited about Thai banks... which one do you recommend using?
a month ago
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Brandon ************
@Robert *******
 Which Thai bank? I would recommend Kasikorn. For the US you should get a Schwabb account, because they will refund your ATM fees worldwide. Great for pulling money out when you're traveling.
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Brandon ***********
 I need to get a different account for credit card. My last 4 month trip I racked up some fees.
a month ago
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Chris *******
USAA also refunds foreign ATM fees. I also recommend KK bank in Thailand
a month ago
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Chris *******
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Mike ***********
@Brandon ***********
 just transfer from bank to bank and skip wise
a month ago
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Alan *****
@Mike **********
 the exchange rate is poor
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Alan ****
 any idea what it is? What percent do they keep?
a month ago
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Alan *****
@Mike **********
 they charge about 10 US dollars to change about 1200 dollars.
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Alan ****
 I don’t want to direct deposit my check incase I decide to leave then have to get it stopped. Probably a fee of $40 at that end and $30 here plus what I loose in exchange rate. I guess chalk that up to moving abroad and expenses.
a month ago
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Alan *****
@Mike **********
 it changes all the time. Your best opening a wise account or something like that, you don’t have to keep money in the account Just transfer money from your home bank via wise to your Thai account you will save a lot of money
a month ago
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Alan *****
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Brandon ************
@Mike **********
 There's a breakeven point, especially when talking about large dollar amounts, where it makes sense to do a wire transfer. But for smaller amounts like under $5000 it's generally better to use Wise. Each bank will have different points where it does and does not make sense so it's an individual decision.
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Brandon ***********
 I’ve never looked into wise. I probably should b
a month ago
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Brandon ************
@Mike **********
 the best part of Wise is that you'll know the exact dollar amount you're sending and the exact baht amount you'll receive, with the fees and exchange rate broken out separately for you to see.

The problem with wire transfers (and many other services) is that you won't know exactly how much baht you'll receive until they receive the money and do the conversation at whatever rate they decide on and then subtract any fees.
a month ago
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Brandon ***********
 and I know Wells Fargo is going to screw me on the conversion rate already.
a month ago
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Tony **********
@Robert *******
 send in USD, Thai bank will give you better rate. I find the break even point for me it's about ฿150k. More than that, sending by wire is cheaper.
a month ago
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Pe ****
@Tony *********
Eye?
a month ago
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Tony **********
@Pe ***
 fat fingers. Wire
a month ago
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Brandon ************
@Robert *******
 NEVER let your American bank do the exchange. They'll ask you if you want to send USD or Thai Baht. Always send USD and let the Thai bank do the exchange when they receive the USD.
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Robert *******
 left those guys years ago when they screwed every customer they had. Now just credit union
a month ago
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Mike ***********
@Brandon ***********
 I will have to look into wise. Thanks. I know my bank charges $30 to wire transfer international.
a month ago
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mike **********
 wise is the way to go I've heard from one intelligent. They give the best exchange rate apparently.
a month ago
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Robert ********
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mike **********
 straight international wire?
a month ago
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Robert ********
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Robert ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Brandon ***********
 that makes total sense. Thank you sir.
a month ago
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Robert ********
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