Here is how I handle payments to my construction consultant and may help you
First of all, forget the checking account option, there appears to be no real advantage to them in Thailand since no one accepts checks, everything is done with cash
Open two Savings accounts with the same bank, and obtain two ATM cards. Designate one savings account as your
master account and the second as the
spending account. You will only need Internet Banking for the master account. Give the wife's relatives the second ATM card and fund it at will from the master account. You will not be charged any fees for transfers to that account and the transfers will be instantaneous with online banking. You will not need to worry about SMS one time codes or anything like that once it is set up. The only time you would need to change anything via OTP (one time password) is if you want to change the limits for the ATM withdrawals
If you can insure that you don't have more than $10,000 US in the combined accounts for the calendar year then you will not have to report them to the US government. If you do, don't worry about it. It is only a reporting form required once a year to the Treasury Department and is called a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) ( TD F 90-22.1).
See this for information about FRAR reporting here:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/art ... 49,00.html
Of course you will have to report any interest if over a certain amount on your Federal Income tax but with the lousy interest rates on Savings Accounts here in Thailand I doubt if you will reach the "income tax " threshold
As far as your comment about
Bangkok Bank having to follow US law, that only applies to their non commercial branch in New York and has no effect on their operation in Thailand. The only advantage of Bangkok Bank having a US branch is because you can use it to set up funds transfers from a US bank account to BB in NY and then on to BB in Thailand using EFTS, instead of Wire transfers (SWIFT) to funds to your Thai bank account
See this for information on Bangkok Bank:
http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Ba ... 20USA.aspx
I find my system to be very efficient in getting funds to my project / constructions manager. Whenever he needs more money he emails me, then I just go online and transfer money from my master account to the "house" spending account and he has access to the money instantly via the ATM card he was given before I left Thailand
Just two things to make sure your wife does before she leaves Thailand. Get the
exact address of the main branch of whatever bank you decide to use for the accounts, including the SWIFT number of the bank. You will also need the
exact name that is on the account for SWIFT transfer purposes. Expect to pay between $25 to $50 per SWIFT transfer to Thailand from you US bank (fees are dependent upon the US Bank) plus a small, usually around 500 THB for the "correspondent " bank in Thailand (clearing house). All SWIFT transfers to Thailand go through their main branch in Bangkok and then are transferred to your local branch account
Secondly, establish the daily spending limits on the ATM card you are going to give to the relatives before she leaves, that way you will not have to deal with SMS messages for changes
Do some quick math and determine if using the Bangkok Bank international EFTS transfer system is the way to go versus SWIFT transfers.
My Tax return is complicated enough with out having to report on Thai bank accounts.I would like to keep things as simple as possible
You are a US citizen and thus are going to have to report worldwide income on all of your money so unfortunately there is no LEGAL way to make it "simple", all you can do is try to make it more efficient
