# Money in thai banks



## mojacar2019

We have been wintering in Thailand for the last 12years with a retirement visa, 'jumped through all the hoops' including queuing at Chiang Mai Immigration at 6am in the morning to re-new our visas.
Just before we left in 2019 we asked 'Bangkok Bank' and 'Siam Bank' if we were to put 800,000 Baht into the bank and 800,000 Baht for my partner's bank would we be able to transfer it back to the UK when we didn't return back to Thailand, both banks said 'it's your money, you can take it out and could transfer it anywhere in the world'.
Now we are not going back to Thailand and have 3,000 Baht each in the banks, have been in touch with them several times via mail & email to discuss in getting our money transferred back to the UK and they don't reply at all.
So we are really glad we didn't deposit 800,000 Baht each in Thailand Bank Accounts.
We have done everything they say to stay in Thailand and have been very happy there but they are just making it harder for long term stayers and pushing everyone away.
So we cannot understand why they keep asking 'WHY ISN'T ANYONE COMING'


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## JuneWhite

One of the reasons I left a few years ago. Foreigners cannot export money directly from bank account to overseas without submitting a form prescribed by the Bank of Thailand in person. You may also have to show proof of funds (i.e where the funds came from). Its a pain.

Even the phone app I had came up with a message "Only for Thai Citizens" when I tried to press on the option for overseas transfers. 

June


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## JuneWhite

There are many things I miss about living in Thailand but difficulties in dealing with institutions just drove me away, I am an "older" lady and I needed the peace of mind that my family could access my assets if anything happened to me. I am much happier visiting as a tourist these days.


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## Richjohn

Yes, very difficult to get money out of Thailand and back to the UK.

I managed to do it on a couple of occasions, but that was because the local Asst Manager was "farang-friendly". After he moved on, they wouldn't let me do it, - said they would have to submit the paperwork to Bangkok for authorisation. (I believe there is a special certification that one should get when transferring money into Thailand). So, we drew it out in cash, converted it to sterling and dollars locally and then carried the cash back with us. Upon arriving into the UK you have to declare amounts of more than 10K Euros.

I believe the SCB ATM card does allow withdrawals internationally, including the UK, so one could take modest amounts out that way.


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## NoshowJones

i always keep the bulk of my money in my UK bank account, Thailand is far too unstable too trust putting a lot of money in a Thai bank. Think of all these coups in recent Thai history.
The vast majority of us expats can only live from year to year, you cannot be sure what is going to happen in the future.
Surely it is much more sensible to just keep your living expenses in your Thai bank.


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## late

Wow weird to hear of these troubles. I find Thai banking is pretty amazing, but I've been here a long time and have everything set up. No trust issues with large amounts in Thai banks. I have several bank accounts set up and freely transfer between then with high limits (1m THB per day). As for moving money out of Thailand, we do so regularly with a company account via wire transfer. As with any account you have to set everything up here ( internet banking, mobile banking ) and for sure best if you try when here. Personally never needed to send a wire out, but thats because there are plenty of alternative options. 

While sending money out of Thailand is not so easy with traditional routes, it's darn easy with Crypto. Set up a *Bitkub*, *Coins* or *LocalCryptos* account, buy crypto in Thailand, send it home and sell on a local exchange like *Coinbase* and sell it for local cash. Might be some fees to consider with this, but sometimes it even works in your favor.


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