Question about money in bank acct owned by a thai national

[watgate]

A gentleman I know said that the thai gov't is constantly checking thai nationals for money in their bank accts. He said that many thai woman put their money in their mothers or someone else's name because if the thai gov't sees a big balance in their bank acct they can confiscate the funds based on money obtained illegally. If someone gives a thai national money as a gift and the money remains in their name, can the thai gov't confiscate that money even if it is explained to them that it was a gift?

[tonray]

It is only those who are running illegal businesses, not paying taxes, operating gambling dens, selling drugs or doing other illegal activities that the government (as ALL governments do) will step in to seize the account.

 

If you earned the money and pay taxes on it then no worries...but this is a great underground economy, one of the reasons for the 7% VAT tax is that income tax compliance is so low for self employed citizens. Those ladies selling fried chicken and streetside restaurants rarely pay proper tax on their earnings as they should.

 

I would not worry. Also most Thais will not save a gift of cash in the bank and it will either be spent on a large purchase (house, car, etc) or kept in the bedroom for spending on daily needs (gambling, booze, and Moo Ping)

Edited December 6, 2017 by tonray

[Dante99]

21 minutes ago, tonray said:

Those ladies selling fried chicken and streetside restaurants rarely pay proper tax on their earnings as they should.

They rarely earn enough to reach the minimum threshold where taxes become due.

 

But of course those looking for "proper" will not find much.  

[tonray]

1 minute ago, Dante99 said:

They rarely earn enough to reach the minimum threshold where taxes become due.

 

But of course those looking for "proper" will not find much.  

I know of a lady who runs a street-side place 4 days a week (Sat/Sun/Tue/Tr) and while I won't state numbers...she makes more than enough to meet the threshold. 

[Dante99]

12 minutes ago, tonray said:

I know of a lady who runs a street-side place 4 days a week (Sat/Sun/Tue/Tr) and while I won't state numbers...she makes more than enough to meet the threshold. 

One lady.

 

How much is the threshold for a lady with two children?

[XGM]

1 hour ago, watgate said:

A gentleman I know said that the thai gov't is constantly checking thai nationals for money in their bank accts. He said that many thai woman put their money in their mothers or someone else's name because if the thai gov't sees a big balance in their bank acct they can confiscate the funds based on money obtained illegally.

Never heard of that. Besides, the story isn't very clear - how is moving the money to their mother's account solve anything? Does the government look only in young women's accounts..??

Edited December 6, 2017 by XGM

[cyberfarang]

I would guess that if people are paying huge amounts of money, like millions of bahts regularly into Thai bank accounts they may fall under suspicion of the authorities. I believe that it is the duty of banks to report those they may suspect of money laundering or using their accounts for criminal activities to the police and these account holders will come under a police investigation,  probably even freezing the accounts while investigations are taking place.

 

But for us ordinary savers or those using their accounts for paying in and drawing out for living expediences, providing it does not involve ridiculous amounts of funds, then I doubt there is anything to worry about and it will continue to be business as normal. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by cyberfarang

[Just Weird]

"If someone gives a thai national money as a gift and the money remains in their name, can the thai gov't confiscate that money even if it is explained to them that it was a gift?"

 

No, of course it can't, unless there is a suspicion that the origin of the money was illegal, or laundering is suspected.

 

[Jeffrey346]

Thai banks are required to report any deposit in excess of 2 million baht.The Gov may or may not inquire as to where the money came from. They certainly do not confiscate any funds. They would have to go to court to prove the money was obtained illegally and by that time the money is usually gone.

[Pungdo]

The Thai government and the banks for that matter look closely at cash movements over a certain value, not sure what it is in Thailand, but back home in Oz a transaction worth $10,000 or more is considered a reportable transaction and must be reported to the government.

When we were buying our house here, I had to make 3 transfers over 3 days to bring enough over, after I did the first one I got a phone call from the bank enquiring what I intended to do with the cash, as soon as I said it was part 1 of 3 transfers to pay for the house they were happy and didn't query the next 2.

[wolfmanjack]

Yes, they can. When we sold some property the police seized 3 million baht from my wife's bank account without a court order and even after we proved where the money came from they would not give it back. We ended up hiring a lawyer that negotiated a payment of 100,000 baht to release the funds back to us. The lawyer said we could go to court to get the money returned without the payment but it might take a year or so to go through the court system.

[steven100]

I regularly transfer around 1,000,000 baht into thailand and the bank always calls to inquire what is the transfer to be used for ... i tell them it's for living expenses.  Beer & Lobster is not cheap you know   !  

[accord25]

News flash. ANY gov't in ANY country can seize your bank account with out cause. Gov'ts can do as they wish to all aspects of yo ur life. For example in the US if they want the land you live on they can just take it with no payment even though its yours. They even have a word for it, its calld eminent domain. 

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Thai banks are required to report any deposit in excess of 2 million baht.The Gov may or may not inquire as to where the money came from. They certainly do not confiscate any funds. They would have to go to court to prove the money was obtained illegally and by that time the money is usually gone.

Just to be clear, normal checks and balances over government abuse of power do not apply currently. The government, hence law enforcement agencies, fall under control of a military junta who has legal authority to use its absolute power (Article 44) to bypass laws, rights and liberties.

If for whatever reason the government decides someone is guilty until proven innocent, the government can legally take action against such person without due process of law.

 

[BsBs]

12 hours ago, tonray said:

It is only those who are running illegal businesses, not paying taxes, operating gambling dens, selling drugs or doing other illegal activities that the government (as ALL governments do) will step in to seize the account.

 

If you earned the money and pay taxes on it then no worries...but this is a great underground economy, one of the reasons for the 7% VAT tax is that income tax compliance is so low for self employed citizens. Those ladies selling fried chicken and streetside restaurants rarely pay proper tax on their earnings as they should.

 

I would not worry. Also most Thais will not save a gift of cash in the bank and it will either be spent on a large purchase (house, car, etc) or kept in the bedroom for spending on daily needs (gambling, booze, and Moo Ping)

 

This government is not able to seize anybody accounts except for important cases.

It almost never happen, and I feel sad for the OP to have met such a stupid person who have told this.

 

 

[tonray]

12 hours ago, Dante99 said:

One lady.

 

How much is the threshold for a lady with two children?

which is an irrelevant query for this thread... Go away now. 

[Arkady]

No, the government cannot just arbitrarily confiscate funds in a bank account.  It requires a court order first to freeze assets and then after years of legal proceedings there could be another court order to confiscate funds, if the owner has been found guilty of a criminal offence and the funds relate to that.  

 

There are reportable transactions, as others have pointed out, such as a deposit or transfer over 2 million baht or a foreign remittance over US$50,000 but Thai banks are not at all vigilant at monitoring customers bank accounts for suspicious activity. There is a huge black economy that goes through the legitimate banking system and huge amounts of corruption money are also openly transferred through bank accounts.  The banks are happy enough to wallow in all this liquidity and only take action if forced to. 

 

The OP was misinformed.     

[hawker9000]

1 hour ago, accord25 said:

News flash. ANY gov't in ANY country can seize your bank account with out cause. Gov'ts can do as they wish to all aspects of yo ur life. For example in the US if they want the land you live on they can just take it with no payment even though its yours. They even have a word for it, its calld eminent domain. 

Yeah, news flash for you - that's not how eminent domain works.  "Just compensation" IS required.  You can (and no doubt do) whine all day long about the "just compensation" being "imposed" rather than "negotiated" or bargained fairly for, but it IS required and they cannot "just take it".  Other names for the same thing in other countries ("compulsory purchase", "resumption", etc.).

 

Don't post rubbish.  (And please don't try & follow-up with some lame anecdote about some drinking buddy's 18th cousin 7 times removed double-secret hearsay...).

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by hawker9000

[smotherb]

53 minutes ago, BsBs said:

 

This government is not able to seize anybody accounts except for important cases.

It almost never happen, and I feel sad for the OP to have met such a stupid person who have told this.

 

 

Oh, please, governments have been known to confiscate more than just bank accounts, property, businesses, anything--it's often called nationalization when it is foreign assets, or simply asset forfeiture when involving citizens. True, it is not common unless the assets are determined to be illegal--and the owner does not have to have been convicted of a crime--but many governments in turmoil or change seize assets. Do any of you remember the fall of South Vietnam; all locals assets were forfeited.

[XGM]

If governments, in Thailand or elsewhere, would frequently seize bank accounts without very clear evidence for criminal activity and without due process, guess what would happen? People would hold less of their cash in the bank, they'd either stack it at home or hold more gold and similar liquid assets, plus move more funds abroad. The government will have less control of the economy in such a scenario and banks will become less stable.

 

The whole story is weird. What sums is your friend talking about? say millions of baht? who gives those kind of "gifts" anyway?

[Krataiboy]

Stop worrying - when the cashless society arrives in a few years' time you won't have any money to seize.

[agrow]

well here in the land of LAWS( Australia) .the tax office( which is the government) can seize your bank account if you owe them anything,making them a preferred creditor,no ony else can do that,once more if you do pay another creditor before them the tax office  can make them pay the funds to them.oh they do let you know it is going to happen about a week later.

[Jeffrey346]

3 hours ago, accord25 said:

News flash. ANY gov't in ANY country can seize your bank account with out cause. Gov'ts can do as they wish to all aspects of yo ur life. For example in the US if they want the land you live on they can just take it with no payment even though its yours. They even have a word for it, its calld eminent domain. 

That's not true. For them to seize land or money, they must have a court order to do so.

In the US, if they need your land to build a freeway, they must pay you market value.. they just can't take it.

It's called "Eminent Domain"

The power of eminent domain allows the government to take private land for public purposes only if the government provides fair compensation to the property owner. The process through which the government acquires private property for public benefit is known as condemnation.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Stop worrying - when the cashless society arrives in a few years' time you won't have any money to seize.

What about body parts?

See movie "Repro Men."

[WHYWHY]

HaHa i can tell you in Australia we can never get money into the Bank 

It gone in Taxes before you can blink 

[watgate]

Arkady thank you for the info. You have put my mind at ease. 

[smotherb]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

That's not true. For them to seize land or money, they must have a court order to do so.

In the US, if they need your land to build a freeway, they must pay you market value.. they just can't take it.

It's called "Eminent Domain"

The power of eminent domain allows the government to take private land for public purposes only if the government provides fair compensation to the property owner. The process through which the government acquires private property for public benefit is known as condemnation.

" Governments today are often as likely to undermine their citizens’ property rights by systematic undercompensation as by elastic definitions of what constitutes a proper “public use.” "

 

https://fedsoc.org/commentary/publications/the-sandbagging-phenomenon-how-governments-lower-eminent-domain-appraisals-to-punish-landowners

 

You shouldn't feel so secure in getting that fair market value for your property with eminent domain. Here is a good read on the subject with current viable sources and examples.

 

[smotherb]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

That's not true. For them to seize land or money, they must have a court order to do so.

In the US, if they need your land to build a freeway, they must pay you market value.. they just can't take it.

It's called "Eminent Domain"

The power of eminent domain allows the government to take private land for public purposes only if the government provides fair compensation to the property owner. The process through which the government acquires private property for public benefit is known as condemnation.

" Governments today are often as likely to undermine their citizens’ property rights by systematic undercompensation as by elastic definitions of what constitutes a proper “public use.” "

 

https://fedsoc.org/commentary/publications/the-sandbagging-phenomenon-how-governments-lower-eminent-domain-appraisals-to-punish-landowners

 

You shouldn't feel so secure in getting that fair market value for your property with eminent domain. Here is a good read on the subject with current viable sources and examples.

 

[tonray]

7 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Stop worrying - when the cashless society arrives in a few years' time you won't have any money to seize.

I experienced that after a weekend in Samui.....that 3 year old bag of Dried Pasta and a few Instant Ramen packs pulled me through until payday.