The main downside of the Schwab-Fidelity ATM method vs. the traditional wire transfers method is the maximum 30,000 THB per Thai ATM withdrawal limit. If someone needs a larger sum of money, including for such things as a Thai condo purchase, then wire transfers as a practical matter before more appealing, even if not a better financial deal. No one, IMHO, is likely to want to be be funding an 800,000 THB retirement visa/extension deposit in a Thai bank with 30K per withdrawal ATM pulls. And condo purchase funds require a Thai bank paperwork certification that only can come from an intl wire transfer, not a mass of ATM withdrawals and ensuing cash deposits here.

James Vanvalkenburgh It's not an automatic thing, but it is a potential risk. Thus IMHO, people should certainly avoid doing things that make them look like they're actually living outside the U.S.

Victor Rothhaas I agree. Maintaining some form of valid U.S. residential address is an important thing for American expats, in terms of helping avoid problems with their FIs.

However, even with a valid address, an FI COULD look at your use pattern (e.g. recurring and exclusively foreign transactions, and start challenging the account holder. Again, as I mentioned above, more likely Fidelity than Schwab.

That said, the one thing, IMHO, no U.S. expat should ever do is report/register their Thailand address as a home address for their U.S. accounts. That's just asking for trouble.

Example with Fidelity...

My past calculations have shown that a Schwab VISA card withdrawal here in Thailand, which the Thai bank ATMs cap at 30,000 baht per withdrawal at the highest amount banks, is the most economical way available to move funds from the U.S. to TH. Better than wire transfers, better than Wise.

The only/main risk of resident expats here (as opposed to short-term tourists) relying too much on the Schwab and/or Fidelity cards is that if you're an ongoing resident here and doing, for instance, regular monthly foreign withdrawals on those ATM cards, at some point, Schwab or Fidelity (more likely Fidelity) might come knocking asking whether you're really still "living" in the U.S. and thus remaining eligible to have their U.S.-based accounts. Fidelity in the past has in fact purged various of its accountholders that it determined to be residing abroad and no longer eligible for its accounts.

There's another difference between the ATM w/ds vs. wire transfers approach to accessing foreign funds, and that's the potential Thai TAX implications.

Nowadays, the Thai Rev Department is monitoring foreign fund remittances via wires as potentially Thai taxable transactions, for those who stay in Thailand at least half of the calendar year. Supposedly, anything totaling more than 1 million THB during the year.

Thus far at least, there's no indication that they're actively tracking ATM withdrawals as potentially taxable foreign fund remittances, and not even clear that they really have the ability to do so effectively, since the U.S. isn't part of their broader CMS financial data sharing regime.

So with Schwab and Fidelity cards, not only are you getting the full VISA exchange rate and the Thai bank ATM fees reimbursed, but you're also creating less potential Thai tax exposure compared to doing monthly or other periodic foreign wire transfers that the banks and TRD do track for potential Thai tax liability.

James Sing Except it's not "entirely free", as BKK Bank charges a handling fee for all incoming international wire transfers, even if your bank and/or brokerage in the U.S. give you no fee wires. As noted above, BKKB charges a flat amount between 200 and 500 baht, plus 0.25% of the funds received. When you work it all out, the Schwab (or Fidelity) ATM w/d with absolutely no fees from them, and reimbursing the Thai bank's ATM w/d fee, ends up a better $ deal.

I've been doing retirement extensions at BKK CW for many years.... In recent years, I've always brought a copy of my landlord's Thai ID and tabien baan, but never yet been asked to show either of them. Likewise, I have a TM30 from years back, and haven't been asked to update it despite multiple trips abroad and back to TH with a re-entry permit. I have no idea what rules BKK CW actually follows on such things, only my own personal experience. PS - I've had only one residence (address) for all my years here in TH.