Screwed again on FX

[yaraboy]

But since the 30% reserve rule was imposed in December, the baht market has been split into two _ an onshore market rate used for domestic transactions and an offshore market based on transactions outside of Thailand.

The result has been a discrepancy _ and profit opportunities _ for banks due to the different rates.

MasterCard, for instance, uses forex rates from New York at midnight to calculate payment charges.

Currently, the onshore baht is quoted at 34 to the dollar, compared with around 32 in the offshore market.

As a result, a foreign tourist making a charge locally will result in an automatic profit for the domestic bank controlling the acquisition terminal at the point of sale, thanks to the higher rate quoted for the baht in the onshore market.

++++++++++


Above from Bangkok Post article. Bottom line is that you are paying close to 8% more using a credit card than if you brought cash and bought baht cash

... you cannot win with these charges. Someone on here said exchanging cash in Thailand holds a better rate and one person says another thing. Credit Cards and Debit Cards charges are a rip off. NatWest recently announced increases in debit card charges, although strangely enough it was cheaper for cash withdrawals from machines, and only point of sale transactions that were higher.

I now purchase Travellers Cheques, at 0% commission in the UK and they are the best rate in Thailand, its better if you get higher demoninations, as they are charged per cheque. Even still you get the best rate with a TC, better than cash, credit or debit card. I even pay my hotel in cash now (gotten from TC of course),

Point of sale fees, withdrawal fees, interest from the moment you draw cash out, rip off exchange rates at point of sale. One of the best ways also of getting cash is Nationwide with its free flex account withdrawal facility, not sure if you get offshore rate or onshore rate, as I am not going to try it out, Travellers Cheques are the cheapest way of getting cash in Thailand. Unless you transfer money from a foreign bank to a Thai Bank of course, where I also suspect, if you don't do it right (if there is a right way of course), then you could get the offshore rate. Once again a rip off if you do.

[yaraboy]

Yep............Correct regarding TQ's My Bank,HSBC charges no commission ( on their own cheques which I also get commission free) and gives me a good baht rate. Now i do have higher grade account than some but the same deals should be available to those who ask!
With a credit card you get a a 2-3% spread on FX a 2-3% admin charge and now another 3% on Overseas baht FX rate.........AND some (travel agents) will charge you 3% just to use your card................so that bought in Thailand air ticket could cost you about 10% more than you think,,,,,,,,,,,,,I buy 95,000 baht Business tickets so my savings using cash are substantial

Nationwide give them commission free but charge a fee to post them, and you cannot pick them up at a branch (4.50 I think UK pounds).

Lloyds give them commission free if your any account holder, collect them at your branch

Anyone know of commission free sterling TCs let me know, there are places that give them commission free, but then have a post charge or something like that

[billyhouston]

Nationwide use the 'onshore rate'.

Yahoo finance now quotes the offshore rate so, to get the onshore rate, I use Kasikorn Bank with whom I have an account.

Setting up an e-banking payment to an acocunt with another bank takes about a minute in UK. It took me two months with Kasikorn but perhaps I was unlucky.

[Smiles]

Thanks guys for some interesting technical points on attempting NOT to get nickled & dimed to death at every turn.

I must admit to paying little attention to stuff like this when in vacation mode in Thailand (or elsewhere). But starting next November my life in Thailand will be in substantially longer time frames, and I'm sure I'll start to take heed of this kind of information much more often.

Cheers ...

[quoteSetting up an e-banking payment to an acocunt with another bank takes about a minute in UK. It took me two months with Kasikorn but perhaps I was unlucky.[/quote]

Is it possible to:

Send money from a UK bank to a Thai bank account and vice versa via e-banking. I thought to send money to bank accounts either way you had to literally go into the bank and fill in a form etc. Obviously there is pay pal and all those other methods, but Im talking about the method via a bank.

[ikarus]

If you have an account with CITIBANK UK and CITIBANK (THAILAND), it is possible to make
free of charge instantaneous transfer using their global network. You need to register your account in Thailand first with CITIBANK UK. There are two drawbacks: it is not easy to open account with CITIBANK Thailand and if you send UK pounds, the exchange rate will not be good. It should be very easy to make e-bank transfer from HSBC in London to any bank in Thailand. I did many e-bank transfers from HSBC (Jersey) to Kasikorn in Thailand.

[billyhouston]

I've always found transfers from UK to Thailand expensive and, in the case of one bank, unreliable. One transfer to HSBC Silom ended up at the Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong in spite of the correct code being given. (Thanks NatWest). I simply use a Nationwide cash card to draw cash and pay into a Kasikorn Account. No fees and commercial rates.

If you have an account with CITIBANK UK and CITIBANK (THAILAND), it is possible to make free of charge instantaneous transfer using their global networkWhen you've found someone who's got this to work consistently and reliably let us know. A friend of mine deliberately opened Citibank accounts at both ends (and in Australia as well) and could never get the damn thing to work. His favourite quote from the Citibank Help Desk (after many frustrating hours on the phone) - "Just because we offer the service doesn't mean we guarantee it works". Oh, and it's USD10 a pop - not free

[ikarus]

Homi,
I am not big fan of CITIBANK but nevertheless, several comments on your post:
1. Using global network from CITIBANK US is 10 dollars per transfer. Unfortunately, this service is currently suspended from US CITIBANK websites. I do use internet transfers from CITIBANK US and it works absolutely fine. You may create and safe models and transfer funds pretty much anywhere in the world. The cost is 30 dollars per tranfer. I transfered funds in this way to New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand with no problems whatsoever.
2. Using global network from CITIBANK UK is free. I have not used the service in this way but
I did make transfers from CITIBANK US to CITIBANK UK (when it was operational) and it worked fine. I do not have an account in CITIBANK (Thailand). Thus, I cannot comment on reliability of transfers to this bank through global network.