A little bit about my background.

I am a fresh graduate from the Philippines and I was offered an internship in a tourism NGO company as an associate here in Thailand. Even though I came from a lower part of the society, my mom pushed for it. She said if I am exposed to a different culture and working environment, it will help me grow as a person and it could be vital for my career. So I decided to grab this opportunity. It turned out to be that way actually. After 3 months of internship, another company offered me a job! So I’m really happy!

Giving Back

Okay. I will say for us Filipinos, we always always prioritize family and every fresh graduate dream is to be able to help their parents to make ends meet. For my first job ever, I have a salary of 25,000 baht (around $713). The very first month, I got my salary I stopped asking allowance from my mom (she is a single parent – I know she borrowed money most of the time to so she can support me here :< ) and I started to send money to her instead.

Salary talk

Ok, so here is the breakdown of my salary. The point of this computation is to show you why every cent counts for me. It may seem like very little to you, but to me and to every Filipino out there it’s quite a big deal. In reality of course because I’m on probation period for 3 months before i get officially accepted, I roughly get 21,500 baht. (My boss agreed to give me 22,500 but because of the tax, it is less)

Rent for my place – 7,000 baht ( including electricity and water)

My food allowance – 6,200 (200 per day)

Transportation – 2,000 (Bts card – 100 rides)

House expenses – 1,000 ( different every month: shampoo&conditioners/soap/trash bag/tissue/biscuits/water etc)

It’s a grand total of 16,200 baht. What I have left is 5,300 baht and I always send 5,000 baht to my family. Ergo, I have 300 baht left.

Remittance Experience

As you can see above, I have so little money on hand and thus I need to make sure that I am not wasting it. If I spend it unwisely, say I randomly buy a dress, it will compromise my whole budget. My mom really needs to pay back for what she has spent for me when I first came here. (Airplane ticket, my monthly allowance, apartment rental and everything else. And she still owes a lot for sending me to college. Even if I had scholarship, the daily allowance is still difficult for us.)

Disclaimer: I have no means to harm any company. I’m just stating facts and comparing their services that helped me best. Exchanges rates vary. We know that. You have to constantly check. Rarely, some companies have the same or better rates.

Here are the channels I tried:

As of April 22, 2016 Bitcoin PayPal Western Union CIMB Fixed Fees 1% 3-4% around 4% ฿199 below ฿50,000 ฿250 above ฿50,000 Exchange Rate (TH-PHP) 1.33 1.29 1.31 1.31 Cash out Fees Mostly FREE depending on the method of cash-out method PHP 50 /Free Free 0.25% Fund ( Min. of THB 200 and Max of THB 200)

Break down of the difference.

Cash to send: 5,000 Baht Bitcoin PayPal Western Union CIMB Fix Fees 1%(฿50) 3.4-4.4%

(฿170-220) around 4% (฿200) ฿199 if below ฿50,000 ฿250 if above ฿50,000 How much I am actually transferring 5,000- 50= ฿4, 950 5,000-220 =฿4,780 5,000-200= 4,800 5,000-199= ฿4,801 Exchange Rate

(TH-PHP) 1.33 1.29 1.31 1.31 How much my mom will get ₱6,583.5 ₱6,166.2 ₱6,288 ₱6,289.31 Cash out fee (paid by mom) Mostly FREE depending on the method of cash-out method PHP 50 – Free Free 0.25% Fund ( Min. of THB 200 and Max of THB 200)

As you can see in the table I provided. My mom can get so much more if I send the money through Bitcoin! I get less fee for the fixed fee and my money has more money because it has higher exchange rates. The Bitcoin company I used was http://www.coins.co.th. It is very convenient because they have a branch in the Philippines (http://www.coins.ph). More than that comparing the rates, they have better rates in terms of bitcoin ( buy and sell price)

If you want to send money with better rates, I suggest you look for a bitcoin company in your originating country. Don’t fret if there is no branch of coins Thailand in your country. Once you found one, you send it there from the wallet you have here in Thailand. It is not necessary that it is from the same company. Remember: What is important is whether the company has good rates.



Going back. For my mom to be able to receive more money means, less debt for us. I am thankful for all her support and hard work that she has done for me just so I can have a good life. I’m dedicating this article to all the awesome and supportive moms out there! I am definitely trying to pay mine back! Not only for the money I can earn but to give her all the love that she deserves.

P.S.

I will get my mom and so we can live together here! I am her whole life. She has never been outside the Philippines and I am sure she will enjoy it here. There is so much better food here that will be better for her health. Plus cost of living is much cheaper here. We would be able to celebrate her 60th birthday together in Bangkok this year. 🙂 So until then, I will use bitcoin to send money in the Philippines.