What is the best way to transfer US dollars to a Thai bank account in Baht?

Jul 14, 2023
a year ago
Richard *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Best method dollars from USA to Thai bank in Baht.

I have free wire transfers and free ATM withdrawals from my Charles Schwab account. I did ATM withdrawals and Wise transfer to see best rate.

ATM 17,000 Baht cost me $485.02 ($491.30 - $6.28 ATM fee credit) 35.05 Baht per dollar.

Wise says 34.87, but because of the fees it was 34.49.

Even without the ATM fee being refunded it would have been 34.60 Baht per dollar.

This was just for me, but if it helps anyone else you are welcome.

Oh yea my 2021 Mazda CX-3 gets 30 mpg with 95 gas which cost me $3.90 per gallon.

Now onto more important business:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The best method for transferring US dollars to a Thai bank account in Baht appears to be utilizing a mix of options including ATM withdrawals, using Wise, or setting up a Foreign Currency Deposit (FCD) account with Bangkok Bank. The user shared their experience comparing these methods. They highlighted using Charles Schwab for free ATM withdrawals and wire transfers, stating an ATM withdrawal cost them 17,000 Baht for $485.02, equating to a rate of 35.05 Baht per dollar, while Wise offered a rate of 34.87, which dropped to 34.49 after fees. A suggestion was made to open an FCD account with Bangkok Bank, to benefit from lower transfer fees and favorable exchange rates, although some commenters noted concerns about holding large sums of cash and the potential impact on overall asset management.
Craig ********
i've used wise but xe gives me better rates most of the time
Sean **********
35THB per $1 one can only dream. I swear USD, Pounds, Euro and JPY all get great rates, us Aussie's are lucky to get 23THB per $1AUD and that's on a good day.🤘
Brett **********
@Sean *********
using current exchange rates $1 US is worth $1.46 AUS. $1 US is worth 34.57 baht. 34.
****
.46 is 23.67. The current exchange rate for $1 AUS to Baht is 23.65. Is the 0.02 really that big a difference to you?
Jill ***********
As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck, if a woidchuck could chuck wood 😎
Chris ******
Revolut will net you more baht. Add USD to Revolut and then convert it to Thai baht. Then transfer to Thai bank account and withdraw from your banks atm free of charge. All you have to to is download the app and you can compare the rates for yourself.
Have *******
This post belongs in Dull Men's Club
Don ********
@Dave ******
Not exactly exciting information but it is good information.
Us *****
I use Wise, save me a trip to the atm and i pay everything with my phone. Time is money.
Zeph *******
@Us ****
Exactly!
Jack *********
It's hard to tell by the way your post is written, but are you saying the ATM method is a better option for you? I'm the one who posted that question a few days ago.
Ivan ************
@Ja**
if your US bank has no forex markup AND refunds ATM fees and you get the straight Visa exchange rate, it usually works out slightly cheaper than Wise to do it this way, but it's not a big difference and it means you are stuck with cash rather than having it in your bank account. It won't be cheaper unless you have BOTH 0% forex marker and ATM fee refund, but Schwab does both of these. For 20,000 withdrawal you'd save a bit under $1.50 today. The exact Visa markup changes, so it can be worse but on average it's very slightly better.
Jack *********
@Ivan ***********
Thank you. I have Schwab. Not much savings for the extra trips you have to take.
Ivan ************
@Jack ********
exactly, I don't think it's worth it purely for the saving, if you wanted to move a large amount, it would be a hassle making multiple withdrawals. But if you just need a bit of cash, and don't need to show (for example to immigration) it is worth knowing that it's a perfectly economical way to get money.
Steve **********
Wise
Keith ******
Wise
John-Paul ******
XE says at
*****
/23 @ 14:44 - $1 is 34.63bht. And Schwab is charging you $11.03 in Fees? I thought that they didn't do that. Interesting.
Alison ********
@John-Paul *****
You are charged the fees but then reimbursed for them!
James **************
A Wise man once say 'man with hole in pocket - feel cocky all day'.
Alain ***************
Is the usd so weak or chf strong? 😱
Incognia **********
Us *****
@Alain **************
dollar fell this week
Francesco **********
Francesco **********
revolut is even better than wise
Javier ****
@Francesco *********
revolut is cheaper since they don't have the 1% fee for exchanging to THB. Before that, Wise was cheaper, now Revolut is cheaper than wise.
Francesco **********
@Javier ***
true, and that’s the reason why i opened wise some time ago… revolut had the same small fees in the past, then they added a 1% and fortunately they removed it lately
Tore *********
Francesco **********
@Tore *****************
yes…….. i’ve just simulated with eur coz i don’t have any usd but it should be the same… revolut wins….
Tore *********
@Francesco *********
now try make a transactions to a Thai bank account from both 😉

The two companies focus on different things for a reason. Revolut is good for what it does, which isn’t large international bank transfers….
Francesco **********
@Tore *****************
with revolut you have a monthly free of charge payment... i did quite many times to my thai bank account and i always paid only SCB fees... but ok, lately i'm using cryptos to transfer money (usdt or LTC from any exchange to bitkub and then to my bank here): cheaper and definitely faster
Bruno ********
Friendly reminder that Binance P2P is better than Wise depending on size.

Charles Schwab is best deal if you don’t mind shuttling money via ATM.
Allan *********
I use wise it fast easy and quick
Mark ********
***********************************
Kool *******
You actually have one part of the cheapest way to transfer funds from the USA into Thailand. You are only missing one element to do it the cheapest, and cheaper than Wise, or any other. Go to Bangkok Bank with US$1000 in cash and set up a Foreign Currency Deposit account, an FCD. By getting this, and with your Charles Schwab account that offers you 4 free SWIFT transfers a month, you can direct deposit American dollars from Charles Schwab into your FCD account, with a maximum fee of bt500 no matter how much you transfer. You could transfer in 1million dollars, and the fee would only be bt500. Using your free SWIFT transfers you can do direct bank2bank transfers from the US into your FCD account, then change them into baht at your convenience, and at the TT bank rate, that is a little better than exchanging dollars at SuperRich. What I have described is the best and cheapest way to transfer money from the US to a Thai bank. Having the FCD account is the key element you don't have yet. Those free SWIFT transfers are worth quite a bit.
Jeffrey *********
@Kool ******
The TT rate is pretty much never better than the SuperRich rate, though for Bangkok Bank it's generally not too far off. Anyone who wants to compare the rates can check
*************************
Scot *******
@Kool ******
- I am not aware of any free swift transfers from Schwab, it cost us $15.
Kool *******
@Scot ******
get a Charles Schwab brokerage account, with a minimum deposit of US$20,000. Then you get not only the ATM fees refunded, but you get 4 free SWIFT transfers a month.
Scot *******
I do have one of those, I get ATM fees refunded, and it has 3 domestic wire transfers, and zero international wire transfers.
Ivan ************
@Kool ******
the FCD account makes no difference at all to the cost, it just allows you to defer the conversion. Wire transfer to USD FCD or THB account, it will cost exactly the same either way.

In both cases, the real cost is in the exchange rate spread, not the 200-500B. It's not bad with Bangkok Bank and USD, current BBK TT rate is 34.47, midmarket/Wise 34.66. So you pay 0.5% for the conversion with Bangkok Bank. Transferring in 800k this would be a cost of 4,000B (plus the 500B fixed fee). This is ~200B cheaper than doing it through Wise, but ONLY if you get free SWIFT from your US bank.

Smaller amounts are cheaper with Wise as there is a smaller fixed fee component. It's about $20,000 up, SWIFT is cheaper, but only if it's free US-side, and the difference is still pretty tiny.
Jack *********
@Kool ******
You have to have the USD in cash?
Ivan ************
@Ja**
you can wire USD in, charge is 0.25% min 200 max 500. If you want to lodge USD cash they charge 1% for that, min 500 no max. I don't think this would make sense.
Jack *********
Darin **********
@Kool ******
whoa super interesting actually. I learned something new today. Thanks for sharing
Richard *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Kool ******
It would be very helpful to know what the real savings would be. Where can I see the TT rate, and when does TT stand for... I used Tempus when I needed $1M switched to Euro's. So far I have only used Wise for a couple $30K moves, and many ATM withdrawals...
Ivan ************
@Ric****
there are no savings over wiring directly to a THB account. It's EXACTLY the same charge. All it does is lets you defer the conversion. Wise is cheaper up to a bit under $20k, this method is cheaper above $20k but not by much and ONLY if you have free wires US-side.
Bruno ********
@Kool ******
Maintenance fees for FCD at BB?

Problem with this method is holding $1M cash outside of at-risk assets like equities or crypto is a non starter.

You’re losing mountains in either treasury/bond yields or capital gains. That would dwarf any difference in tx fees.

Cheapest method, maybe. But not smart from asset mgmt perspective.
Kool *******
@Bruno *******
I was using 1 million purely as an example of the maximum fees. As far as the account fees, as long as your balance is above US$250 there is no fee, but if your balance drops below US$250 there is a US$10 fee a month. I've had mine for over 10 years, and have never had any yearly account fee charged.
Bruno ********
@Kool ******
ok. Maybe I took it too literal.

So with the FCD account, moving into THB is done how? Can you do from App? Can you use ATM to pull out dollars as Thai Baht? Is it a separate account with 2nd account number?

I’m going to look into this as I didn’t realize Schwab has free swift transfers every month. But that 500thb fee is charged on the incoming transfer, or is it charged to do an exchange from USD to THB?

At $15 bucks a pop, might not make sense unless like you said you’re transferring in bulk to keep for extended periods of time.
Kool *******
@Bruno *******
okay, how it all works. You must have two accounts, a regular baht account, and the FCD account, which takes a minimum of US$1000 to open. After you get this it is a separate account number. You have full view of it on your phone, along with your regular account, that you have access to. In order to do any transfer dealing with your FCD account, it must be done on a laptop, or desktop computer. You can't exchange dollars to baht on your phone as a safety feature in case you loose your phone. Online banking with your FCD account is only during bank business hours, not 24 hours a day, as another safety feature. There is no extra cost to transfer on your laptop from your FCD account, and exchanging at the current TT exchange rate, into your regular baht account, then just the normal program your bank branch has will debit card withdrawals. Usually the first 4 in a month are free, then if not a Bangkok Bank ATM then a small bt50 fee. The transfer of dollars into the account is charged a 0.01% fee, with a bt200 minimum fee, and a bt500 maximum fee. If you want to withdraw actual dollars as cash there is a 1% fee above the exchange rate. If you transfer dollars and exchange them into your regular account at the bank you need your passport, with a few forms, so it is much more convenient doing it online. One nice thing about SWIFT transfers into Thailand, they are recognized by all government agencies as being from overseas direct transfers.
Ivan ************
@Kool ******
the incoming fee is 0.25%, not 0.01%. It's EXACTLY the same as transferring directly to a THB account, there are no savings. Just that you have the option of getting the USD into Thailand and deferring the exchange until later. Some people prefer to hold their retirement visa sums in USD and if you plan to transfer it back out again this can make sense (although they take 0.25% with no cap if you transfer back out, plus the usual fixed fees, around 400-1,200B).
Mark ******
@Ivan ***********
Yes, that was my understanding and why I never bothered with a foreign deposit account.
Bruno ********
@Kool ******
Gotcha. Solid info mate, thank you!
Mikkel *******
Even more importantly, in line with your last comment:

How many shipping ships does a ship-shipping ship shipping shipping ships ship?
Richard *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mikkel ******
I bought a Catana Bali 4.8 catamaran in France 2021 and sailed it back across the Atlantic. Put in crewed charter service in the BVI. Broker told me too big to ship??? guess nothing to big to ship.
Mikkel *******
@Richard ********
you could hide that thing in a shipping ship that gets shipped. Free shipping 😂
Joseph *********
Wise.
Mark ********
I love using wise. Its so fast and easy
Bonnie *******
Why did it cost you? Charles doesn't charge and they refund your ATM fees
Richard *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Bonnie ******
I have not yet had Schwab wire monies direct to my Bangkok bank account. They charged and then credited me $15 for wire from Schwab to Wise.
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