Transferring funds from US to Thailand for condo

[jeppolit]

Good afternoon,

    I am new to Thailand, and I need some guidance on this forum. How do you move funds from the US to Thailand to purchase a condo? I have bank accounts in both countries and have transferred small amounts using Wise. Thanks in advance.

                                                                                                                                                                  James E.

[gamb00ler]

It's been a couple of years since I last compared transfers using Wise to transfers using SWIFT.

That comparison assumed it costs $25 in SWIFT fees and 500฿ by the Thai bank to receive the transfer.  At that time the Wise fees were somewhat lower than today.

 

Using SWIFT right now sending $23K (includes $25 fee) to Bangkok bank will give you 841,304฿

Sending $23K via Wise will give you 842,211฿ if you do your own ACH transfer to Wise first with no fee.

 

It looks like if you send about US$25K or more SWIFT will be slightly better.. otherwise use Wise.

Edited June 26 by gamb00ler

[Thailand]

Won't such transfers now be liable to tax or has that been resolved?

[JohnnyBD]

I am in the process of purchasing a condo, and my contract shows two ways for me to pay for my condo as a foreigner.

 

One option is, I wire the money directly to the Developer's account, and they will convert it to THB, and get the FET Foreign Exchange Transaction form from their bank and submit it to the Thai Land Office. The form is still known by some as Thor Tor 3 Form.

 

Seond option is, I wire the money to my Thai bank USD account, then convert it to THB, then pay the Developer in THB. I am then reponsible for getting the FET form from my bank to give to the Developer to submit to the Thai Land Office. This part worries me, because the wire has to state that the money is for the purchase of "the exact name of my condo unit".

 

You can check Siam Legal's website on "Ways to Transfer Money to Thailand for purchase of Condo". They have a pretty good write up. I'm not sure if I am allowed to provide the link.

Edited June 26 by JohnnyBD

[gamb00ler]

45 minutes ago, Thailand said:

Won't such transfers now be liable to tax or has that been resolved?

It hasn't been 100% resolved but some clarifications have come from TRD.

 

It seems the source of the funds is also very relevant in determining if it is subject to Thai tax.

[KhunHeineken]

Why are you buying only one condo?  You should buy two condo's.  The second condo is just as good investment as the first condo. 

[Mike Teavee]

11 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

It's been a couple of years since I last compared transfers using Wise to transfers using SWIFT.

That comparison assumed it costs $25 in SWIFT fees and 500฿ by the Thai bank to receive the transfer.  At that time the Wise fees were somewhat lower than today.

 

Using SWIFT right now sending $23K (includes $25 fee) to Bangkok bank will give you 841,304฿

Sending $23K via Wise will give you 842,211฿ if you do your own ACH transfer to Wise first with no fee.

 

It looks like if you send about US$25K or more SWIFT will be slightly better.. otherwise use Wise.

Wise is only good for transfers up to 2Million THB (for 3-4 banks, rest of the Banks 50,000 THB) so probably not the right way to go for Purchasing a Property.  

[Skipalongcassidy]

Unfortunately because of restrictions imposed by Thailand the simplest and most proficient way is to just do a bank to bank wire transfer... it is not always the least expensive way to transfer but it evades restrictions as to amount of money that can be transferred in one lump sum. 

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Unfortunately because of restrictions imposed by Thailand the simplest and most proficient way is to just do a bank to bank wire transfer... it is not always the least expensive way to transfer but it evades restrictions as to amount of money that can be transferred in one lump sum. 

I assume that you think the restriction is by the Thai government.

 

There are several entities involved in the money transfer.  The restriction could be a choice by Wise or the participating Thai bank(s).  Since different Thai banks have differing restrictions, I lean toward the limit being the bank's choice. 

Edited June 27 by gamb00ler

[jeppolit]

Thanks to Gamb00ler, JohnnyBD, Mike Teavee, and Skipalongcassidy for responding to my question. I was primarily concerned with the amount (> $250k USD). From the responses, I gather that I need to wire the funds from my US bank directly to the seller or my Thai bank account. Thanks again!