Big Ticket Purchase

A thought off of the top of my head is to communicate with your bank about this matter. My debit card has a 1 k limit per day. Oh, also I go into the bank with my passport to make the withdrawal. The atm's have a max on the machine limit.

I don't understand your aversion to cash.  Carrying an extra few thousand dollars in cash makes things a lot easier and saves on transaction fees.

If you don't mind paying the fees, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

I carried $10k last time I came over and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all... but, I made sure not to stop at any go-go bars before going home to put in safe... haha...

villagefarang wrote:

I don't understand your aversion to cash.  Carrying an extra few thousand dollars in cash makes things a lot easier and saves on transaction fees.

I prefer to err on the side of caution. Losing money is never a problem until it is lost.

Zeus.wmo wrote:

If you don't mind paying the fees, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

I carried $10k last time I came over and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all... but, I made sure not to stop at any go-go bars before going home to put in safe... haha...

I want to leave nothing to chance. Better to potentially lose a couple of hundred over a few "thousand". I want to leave my US accounts segregated from my Thai accounts in the "unlikely" chance of generating income in Thailand for tax and/or SSI issues.

themorn2112 wrote:

Zeus.wmo wrote:

If you don't mind paying the fees, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

I carried $10k last time I came over and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all... but, I made sure not to stop at any go-go bars before going home to put in safe... haha...

I want to leave nothing to chance. Better to potentially lose a couple of hundred over a few "thousand". I want to leave my US accounts segregated from my Thai accounts in the "unlikely" chance of generating income in Thailand for tax and/or SSI issues.

Then, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" transfers or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

Kindly

Zeus.wmo wrote:

themorn2112 wrote:

Zeus.wmo wrote:

If you don't mind paying the fees, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

I carried $10k last time I came over and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all... but, I made sure not to stop at any go-go bars before going home to put in safe... haha...

I want to leave nothing to chance. Better to potentially lose a couple of hundred over a few "thousand". I want to leave my US accounts segregated from my Thai accounts in the "unlikely" chance of generating income in Thailand for tax and/or SSI issues.

Then, Western Union is probably the best way to send money if you don't want to use "bank to bank" transfers or carry cash or use five days of atm withdrawals.

Kindly

The other option I was considering was opening multiple accounts in Thailand. Once my funds have been transferred to the Thai accounts, I would withdraw the money and close the account that received the money from the US account. I was informed that opening a Thai account would be easy under an education Visa for studying Thai Self-Defense because the course is ran by the Military.

Pre-paid credit cards and a hidden wallet in your trousers.
Just a thought.

themorn2112  Today 06:15:27

I don't understand why you would open a new account and have multiple accounts in Thailand then close the account. If you have an account already why wouldn't you do a wire transfer to existing Thai bank account. I don't understand the reasoning, please be kind enough to explain...

If you keep your balance below $10,000 USD in Thai bank account then it is not reported and you are not required to do FBAR reporting.

This is starting to sound more and more odd, beginning with 2500 being considered big ticket and now multiple bank accounts to avoid who knows what. All too strange for me.

2500 usd = nearly 80k baht so I think it's a fairly big ticket and given its a first I'd say it is healthy. Lets try and look at things from other people's perspective instead of our own. I read that somewhere recently.

I offer my perspective, you offer your perspective, someone else offers their perspective, and that's how it works. I can't really be expected to offer your perspective  now can I, sorry.

Straight the as the words "let's try and look at other people's perspective instead of our own" are your words. Not trying too hard I see.  But some great pictures of coffee you take. Absolutely stunning images of coffee.

You don't like me very much do you.

The quote should be, "Anyway this post comes from the idea that we often look at things from our own perspective and don't give enough thought to understanding the other guys point of view."

So my comment will stay as it is, “I offer my perspective, you offer your perspective, someone else offers their perspective, and that's how it works.”  It is then up to the individual readers to try to understand or make sense of what was said.

I am pretty certain that is nothing new to you. You clog up forums with a lot of useless non descript info.


Thanks for being pedantic and predictable, anything to refute and ye shall try.

I have come across a few people like you but too few to mention.  By all means, continue to do your thing and I shall continue to do mine.

i use transferwise, i bought a excavator in thailand and probably saved $2000 in fees and i got a great rate
regards dave

Transferwise is cheaper than western union and gives a better rate. transfered money from uk to thai bank for car purchase cost £11 and three days smooth transfer!😉

I use TransferWise.  They have saved me thousands over the last 3 months buying a new excavator
Regards dave p

Zeus.wmo wrote:

themorn2112  Today 06:15:27

I don't understand why you would open a new account and have multiple accounts in Thailand then close the account. If you have an account already why wouldn't you do a wire transfer to existing Thai bank account. I don't understand the reasoning, please be kind enough to explain...

If you keep your balance below $10,000 USD in Thai bank account then it is not reported and you are not required to do FBAR reporting.

Does that FBAR report exclude any transactions  originating from US bank accounts?

The main reason is that I want no links at all to the US federal gov't. Any kind of international transactions involving the US Govt can be traced. If I generate any income in Thailand, that income can be subtracted from my Social Security benefits (which I have paid into the moment I started working in the USA starting at age 16). 

The multiple Thai account idea is based on the idea of severing any USA ties to my Thai accounts. i am extremely uncomfortable with having (from my point of view) a large amount of money traveling through gov't security. The only account I would close would be the account that I used to receive my funds from my US bank accounts. Subsequent withdrawals can be done directly by ATM using my US Bank card. Considering the controversies involving the TSA, I don't want to risk losing money that I saved over the course of over a year due to mistakes and/or negligence.

The challenge I will be dealing with in regards to the conditions I am imposing is the transfer of a large amount of money in a very short period of time. For some here USD2500 is a drop in the bucket, but for me that's 6 months saving, so yes USD2500 is a big ticket purchase for me. Imagine what USD2500 is to a local Thai?