How to Wire Money to Thailand

I wire money to Thailand every month.  I have tried several methods including wire transfers, Western Union, and Debit cards to send money to Thailand.  After trial and frustration, I settled on the best method for me to use.

Wire transfers or Western Union are the safest and fastest method to send money to Thailand. The Thai banks do not charge to receive a wire transfer, however, your bank will charge you plenty. This is the easiest for the girl since she can go to any ATM and get her money.

You can send money to Thailand using Western Union, since they have many locations in the populated areas such as Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket, however, they are not common in the rural areas of Thailand. Western Union is also expensive, and it is not easy for the recipient to retrieve the money in Thailand, but it works, and I see many girls lined up at the Western Union windows checking on their money. Be sure to check first to verify there is a Western Union office close to where your girl lives, and be sure she has good ID to show when claiming the money.

Remember that Thailand is many hours different from where most of us live. So a “Same-Day” transfer may actually end up being the next day, or a “Next Day” transfer may be two days.

I believe I have found the best, fastest, economical, and most trusted way to send money to Thailand.

• My girl opened an account at Bangkok Bank.  Bangkok bank has a New York branch.  Any funds you send to the New York branch using her account number will automatically get moved to her account in Thailand (one-day turn around).  Bangkok Bank New York will charge a small fee to send  money to Thailand, the Bangkok Bank in Thailand will charge a small fee to receive the money.  These fees are far less than the fees for a wire transfer or the Western Union fees.
• You open an account at Bank of America and set up the Internet banking option.
• Using the Bank of America web site, go to the Transfer tab, select “make a transfer outside of bank”, Select “Add an Account”, Domestic, Personal, IMPORTANT – on the question, “Is this account your own or someone else’s” Select Someone Else’s and enter her name and other information.  This will put her name on the transfer instead of your name and make it acceptable by Bangkok Bank.
• Use the Bangkok Bank New York routing number (026008691).
• Once this is set up, you can use the Transfer feature to send money 3 ways, Same Day, Next Day, or 3 Days.  The cost varies based on how fast you send the money, plus Bangkok Bank New York charges a fee to transfer the money to Thailand, then Bangkok Bank Thailand charges a fee to receive the money.  Over all, the cost is cheaper than all the other options.  I use the 3 Day option (which actually takes 4 or 5 days since Bangkok Bank adds another day) and the total cost is less than $10. I have also used the Next Day method which actually takes 2 days.
• DO NOT SEND CASH via the post office, Fed Ex, or any other method. She will never see the money.