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No matter what your reason, you may need to send money to somebody in Pattaya, or even to yourself. Advanced technology in the banking industry has made this easy. This section is about sending a small amount of money, not for investment – less then 10,000 US dollars to Thailand. Most banks now have limits and controls on the amount of money that can be sent overseas because of money laundering and terrorism issues. Banks in Thailand do mot use an International Bank Account Number (IBAN); instead, they use the SWIFT coding system for bank transactions. Here are some methods used to send money to Thailand:
- Bank transfer. This is convenient if both the sender and the recipient have a bank account. The money transfer can take one to five days depending on the bank. Not all bank branches do international money transfers. The fees are similar to Western Union, or may be less if you send larger amounts of money.
- Via Western Union, the world’s largest money transfer network. Many people find this convenient, cheap and fast. It takes only three simple steps and a few minutes to send and receive money worldwide. Very useful in emergency cases, it is a retail money transfer with no bank account required. The fees vary depending on the amount, the country you send from, and the country you send to. For example, the fee for sending 200 dollars to Thailand from the US is forty dollars. If you send more than 1,000 dollars, they will ask for more personal information and the reason for sending it. To send money via Western Union:
- Sending a debit card to a recipient in Thailand. The sender provides a debit card such as Visa or MasterCard to the recipient, along with the pin number. The recipient can withdraw money directly from and ATM machine in Thailand. This way, the sender can control how much money to put into the account and can stop the account activities at any time. The sender’s bank may charge a fee of two to five dollars per transaction, and the ATM machine in Thailand where money is withdrawn may charge a minimal fee (of about two dollars). Note: Recently, banks such as the Bank of America have added an additional one percent international exchange charge on each ATM withdrawal in Thailand. Your 300-dollar withdrawal in Thailand may end up costing you 34 dollars. Check with your bank to verify if it also includes an international exchange charge for ATM withdrawals.
- International money order. This is inconvenient because it can be cashed only at certain bank branches, and banks in Thailand charge a high fee for cashing money orders.
- Sending cash in a letter via the postal service. Some people put small bank notes in their letters. This method used to work, but recently there have been reports that letters never reach the recipients, even if the letters were registered. Bank notes in the mail can now be detected inside the envelope, without even opening it. To deter counterfeiters, bank notes now include certain security items, such as watermarks and metal strips, which can be detected with a metal detector. Part of the new security precautions at post offices, especially concerning international airmail, is detecting metal objects in the mail. If a metal object is detected, it will be X-rayed. Therefore, any bank notes sent through the mail can be detected and removed by someone involved in the scanning process. By PayPal. This is the safer, easier way to make an online payment and can also be used to send money to someone. PayPal lets you send money to anyone with an e-mail address. It is free, and works with your existing credit card and current bank account. There are a few ways to do this. Go to www.paypal.com to learn more about how to sign up and other details. This is the newest way to send money and it is nit yet widespread in Thailand. After you set up a PayPal account and add funds to your account from your bank with a routing number, you can then request a PayPal Visa ATM debit card and mail it to the recipient. You should make a copy of the card’s front and back before mailing it. Let the recipient know the four-digit PIN number. The money you put into the PayPal account can be withdrawn in Thai baht from any ATM machine that accepts the Visa debit card for the cost of one dollar per transaction. Via the Internet, you can add funds, change the PIN number, set the withdrawal limit, or get a new card whenever you want.
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