House Building In Thailand

[Kanaloa]

My wife and I have just agreed to lease a piece of land and to construct a new house to retire to. I understand that as ferangs we can own the house, but not the land. As it will be for a reasonable amount of money, I believe that we can bring the money in through the Bank of Thailand and register it for the purpose of house purchase. As I understand it this will result in me not being subject to tax on the importation of the money and us or our heirs should be able to repatriate the money, including any capital gains, upon the sale of the property should we wish to do so. The questions are (a) am I correct in my assumptions? ( what are the mechanics involved to bring the money into Thailand and what instructions do I need to give my overseas bank? © how many times can I do this, as we know any construction project's budget always over runs, we may also need to make several stage payments to the constructor.

[Naam]

My wife and I have just agreed to lease a piece of land and to construct a new house to retire to. I understand that as ferangs we can own the house, but not the land. As it will be for a reasonable amount of money, I believe that we can bring the money in through the Bank of Thailand and register it for the purpose of house purchase. As I understand it this will result in me not being subject to tax on the importation of the money and us or our heirs should be able to repatriate the money, including any capital gains, upon the sale of the property should we wish to do so. The questions are (a) am I correct in my assumptions? ( what are the mechanics involved to bring the money into Thailand and what instructions do I need to give my overseas bank? © how many times can I do this, as we know any construction project's budget always over runs, we may also need to make several stage payments to the constructor.

open an account with any thai bank (to the best of my knowledge you can't have an account with the BOT) . talk to the manager and advise there will be transfers for the construction of a home. some documentation would of course be helpful. result: no problems.

[roietjimmy]

My wife and I have just agreed to lease a piece of land and to construct a new house to retire to. I understand that as ferangs we can own the house, but not the land. As it will be for a reasonable amount of money, I believe that we can bring the money in through the Bank of Thailand and register it for the purpose of house purchase. As I understand it this will result in me not being subject to tax on the importation of the money and us or our heirs should be able to repatriate the money, including any capital gains, upon the sale of the property should we wish to do so. The questions are (a) am I correct in my assumptions? ( what are the mechanics involved to bring the money into Thailand and what instructions do I need to give my overseas bank? © how many times can I do this, as we know any construction project's budget always over runs, we may also need to make several stage payments to the constructor.

open an account with any thai bank (to the best of my knowledge you can't have an account with the BOT) . talk to the manager and advise there will be transfers for the construction of a home. some documentation would of course be helpful. result: no problems.

Agree. Never heard of an account at BOT. A couple of further suggestions. To avoid minor charges, open the Bank account in Thailand in the province in which you intend to build the house. You will need to be in Thailand to do this. I have never had a porblem opening an account but recently have seen some people in this forum stating they have had problems. If you keep transfers less than $20K there will be no need to tell the bank you are building a house. When I have funds transferred, the bank calls me and asks me the reason for the transfer. If you say for "personal use" that's all they need to hear. Apparently they have to send some paperwork to the government when money is transferred into Thailand. As Dr. Naam points out, a talk with the bank manager with a builders contract/agreement will do the trick no matter the size of the transfer.

Edit; Regarding taxation, repatriation of funds, etc. should you sell the property. You need to have a lawyer check into this. Also, if you haven't done so already have a Thai lawyer involved with the lease agreement. This post will get more replies if it is moved to the Real Estate forum rather than the General Forum.

Edited October 2, 2007 by roietjimmy

[MrSquigle]

Whoever you bank with in your home country, ask if they are affiliated with any Thai banks and then use that bank, makes some things easier. But if not, then Bangkok Bank is good, several transfers and never a problem.

When you bring the funds in, just tell your bank to write 'for property/building purposes' this leaves it a little open and you keep all the incoming documentation. Also go get a 'Fet' form, think that is what it is called, foreign exchange transfer form when it comes in, apparently you may need this to send the funds back home one day and you can only get it for a period of time after the transfer, whatever it is, say 2 weeks, then you cannot get it any more so they say.

But having said this, I had interesting discussion with manager in Bkk bank head office foreign exchange section, she said I can trasnfer as much as I like whenever I like and did not need that form as such, so buggered if I know really, just safer to have it than not I figure, just in case.