Help me get my money.

March 16, 2009 2:38 AM

I have 50 dollars in a checking account. I forgot my PIN. I am in Thailand. I have a paypal account. I have a second account that is empty, but I know the PIN. I am destitute. Money changers will not do less than $100. How do I get that $50 into usable form? I will have access to real money in about 3-4 days but am broke until then.
posted by Telf to work & money (12 comments total)

I assume you brought up Paypal because both checking accounts are linked to your Paypal? Paypal won't help you too much here though, because pushing money into a checking account from your paypal is not an instant process.

Other thoughts:

1. Is the bank where the $50 account is huge and multinational? If you had access to a branch that would take care of things.

2. Could you call the bank where the $50 account is and get the money transferred into the $0 account via wire transfer? Even if you don't have your PIN, for this small amount of money they could certainly authenticate that it is you using other information.

3. The $100 limit on money changers seems like it would be easy enough to get around if you were desperate. Are there any sort of illegal money changing operations where you are? Might a hotel, or some other place whose primary business is not changing money, offer money changing services at lousy rates but with possibly more flexible rules?
posted by david06 at 2:55 AM on March 16

Where are you in Thailand? If you are in Chiang Rai, perhaps I can help.
posted by thaivagabond at 2:56 AM on March 16 [4 favorites]

What do you mean, "Money changers will not do less than $100"?

If you're talking cash, I change smaller amounts than that all the time in Thailand (well, upon arrival & departure at the airport, at least).
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:09 AM on March 16

Out-of-left-field idea: find someone (maybe, yes, a therapist of some sort) who specializes in hypnosis; maybe that could help you remember your PIN.

But the other ideas here are probably more useful.
posted by amtho at 4:16 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Ubu is 100% right, unless you're talking about "dollars" from some obscure country?
posted by gman at 4:29 AM on March 16

In fact, here are the current rates at Siam Bank, which include lower denomination bills. Shit, they even take singles.
posted by gman at 4:31 AM on March 16

Is your money in a big enough bank that they have their own branch or partner bank in Thailand? (Citibank, HSBC...) Do you have a credit card through which you could get a cash advance? Can you live off a credit card for a few days? Or charge something for a friend who pays you cash? Or charge something with an extra amount added on to cash (hotel?)?
posted by whatzit at 5:37 AM on March 16

The American Citizens Services unit is available to handle emergencies either in person at the Embassy or by phone at 66-02-205-4049 during normal business hours. For emergencies after hours, on the weekends or on holidays, you can contact the Embassy duty officer at 66-205-4000.

most embassies are set up to help their citizens with petty cash in an emergency. note that being robbed or losing your wallet counts as an emergency but not "I just ran out of money due to poor planning."
posted by krautland at 6:35 AM on March 16

Go to sleep for a few hours, wake up and go straight to an ATM and try to enter your pin. Your memory is often best right after you have a good sleep.
posted by BobbyVan at 7:44 AM on March 16 [2 favorites]

Can you ring the bank and change your PIN over the phone? I have done that, although not from abroad.
posted by jacalata at 7:46 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Really belated afterthought: one of my student jobs was working in the cards call centre for a bank. Changing which accounts a particular card was linked to was a simple procedure which we could do over the phone. Unless banks where you come from are radically different to Australian banks, the PIN is associated with the card, not the account.

We also used to accept reverse charge telephone calls from overseas in emergencies.

Also: can't you just transfer the money across from one account to another via internet banking? Sorry if that's a stupid question. Cheque accounts are very, very antiquated here, and not really used by anybody other than old-age pensioners, so I don't know what kinds of rules are attached to them.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:29 PM on March 16

Hey guys,

Have been offline for a while. Just wanted to thank everyone for their responses. Things were interesting for a few days. Nothing a little be of prostitution couldn't fix. Thai people love my dimples.

I'm officially situated in Bangkok now. I even have an apartment like an adult. Very exciting.

Sorry for the frantic post.
posted by Telf at 8:04 AM on April 3