JohnTett

I am new to this so please excuse this article.
I used to send money to Thailand via Post Office International Payments - supposedly fee free.
Just did a comparison today.
Transferring £6033 would give me about 301600 THB
Sending THB via my bank is not worth discussing but sending GBP via my bank is much better
Bank charges £25 and an overseas charge of £8
So if I only send £6000 (to make comparison identical) I get about 307600 THB
That is I get about £120 more using the bank.
I have Kasikorn account in Thailand.

Any one know a better way?

nonthaburi

It's not for everyone, and obviously circumstances dictate that you'd have to be traveling yourself, but.....

whenever possible I carry cash into the country myself. I think you're allowed to bring in up to $20,000 without having to make a declaration.

As soon as you arrive, leg it down to one of the Super Rich places in Pathumwan, and change it up. The best rates in Thailand, and there's a Kasinkorn right next door to then deposit.

JohnTett

The bank exchange rate for telex transfers is better than the cash rate

Pulaski

On-line FX brokers invariably give much better rates than banks.

JohnTett

The post office uses one of them. If the mid market rate is 51.2 then I get close to 51. Does a broker offer better than that? If so which one?

Pulaski

They seem to vary, and there are so many to choose from (xe, Transferwise, Worldfirst, Xoom, and many others). If you are truely getting 51 when mid-market is 51.2 then that's going to be hard to beat.

JohnTett

Just tried deleting. They offer me 50.35. Kasikorn offers 50.8

bkk_mike

One thing you could change is your bank.

£25 is a bit steep. Online banking with Bank of Scotland or the Halifax is £9.50 to transfer to Thailand.

Pulaski

But that's still £9.50 more than an FX broker will charge you.

bkk_mike

But will the FX broker give me the TT FX rate in Thailand (like I get from Bangkok bank).

Compared to the FX rate you get in the UK - it's a no brainer... - compared to the rate you get if you transfer Sterling to Thailand - there's a lot less in it... - it's still maybe marginally better when you include the bank charge for the transfer, but you're in single-digit pounds as the difference.