Thanks very much, grateful to hear ideas I haven't thought of, although in this case he's half UK, half Ethiopian, UK passport.

Thanks very much indeed Steve, Steve, Bob and Ron, and sorry for going off on a tangent Bob.

If I plan to transition from Elite to retirement, can I start transferring 65k a month, 12 or 15 months before my Elite expires, and use that?

Jessica you should check the rate you get. It is quite probable commission is hidden in a padded exchange rate, this approach can be quite expensive unless you've a fee free card. I would recommend persevering with Wise, their responses are quick and Wise are much more flexible than most in terms of who they'll accept.

I'm not vouching for that seller, but I'm on my 5th month of an annual AIS one from lazada, similar price. They send a SIM then you upload photos etc to register. They vary by speed.

I believe it is the only consulate that would consider issuing tourist visas for Ethiopians, so thought it might be more likely for South Africans too. PP claimed to be able to on the phone, whereas Vientiane practically laughed us out of the compound. The world looks very different with a poor country passport.

You can probably apply for a Tourist visa from Phnom Penh, rather than going back to SA. (Other countries also possible but PP most flexible.)

Retirement funds from abroad is immigration, but this is BOI, i think they do care with this - investment or rental income tax return fine, wage slip not. You can get a work permit on the LTR I believe, but it's unabashedly for rich people, I have read they're strict on these terms. No harm in trying your luck though, i think BOI will let you know quickly and clearly, and please please let me know if you're successful!

Slightly jumbled notes to say the same - use Wise.

Auto convert within Wise - £10.94 on £2000

Spend THB with Wise card: free

Transfer Wise THB balance to Bangkok Bank: 31.70 Baht (79p) per trx, any amount

Convert and transfer: sum of above (eg £2000 => ie, 10.94 + 0.79)

So rarely any reason to just convert - you may as well set up an automated transaction a percent or two better than the current rate, depending on how much of a rush you're in, turn your phone off and forget about it, and Wise will snipe the better rate whenever a peak comes along.

Global Reach (a dedicated broker) just gave me a quote, £20k 6th Dec 5pm gmt+7, 42.59 no fees, so 851,800 (haven't clarified but assume 500 Baht receiving fee would also apply when they SWIFT THB to Bangkok Bank)

Interbank rate, at time 42.7467 (I miss this rate!)

Bangkok bank TT buy at time 42., net 845,950 Baht

Wise at time 42.7570, £110 fee (0.5%), net 850,430 Baht

Currency club 849,867

Currency fair 851,923 (assume receiving charge of 500 Baht to come off too)

Remitly is good if you're American.

Looked into a few others, including moneygram and XE, nothing comes close to these. monito.com gives you some quotes.

Alternative currency brokers much like Global Reach are Currencies Direct, TorFX and Moneycorp (but they refused to give me a spot rate without passing all the 'know your client' checks).

So Global Reach better than Wise but only by 900 Baht / 0.1%. They could probably push things though - this was just a spot rate reluctantly shared.

Currency Fair was better than Wise by 1,100 Baht / 0.13%. EDIT: Checked again a few weeks later, amid a sinking market, and on both occasions CurrencyFair was worse than Wise. I also tried CurrencyFair and had a week of paperwork proving source of funds before they'd release my converted funds, by which time I'd lost a fair bit on the rate. My money was from savings, so I couldn't provide a wage slip etc. They threatened to keep the money. Wise always easy.

On CurrencyFair and Wise, you can put a limit order, or automated transaction, that triggers if a rate reaches a given level. These need time and care, but are great for grabbing a rate that is only available briefly due to a momentary spike. With Wise, they leave a THB balance in Wise, which can be spent on the card absolutely free, or transferred to a Thai bank for 32 Baht (fixed charge, regardless of amount).



If you use this to open your Wise account, you get fee free transfers for your first £500. If I get three people to transfer £200+ in one go, I get £50.

They depreciate slightly quicker though, which is the cost you're actually paying. The depreciation on new seems to be around 100K THB a year, whereas the depreciation on non-new is closer to 70K, for a 1mn THB car.