Money Brought Into The Country

[sarg]

Hi

If I open an account the day after I arrive in the kingdom and deposit the money straight into the account, will this money be seen as money from abroad, or does the money have to be transfered into the account from an outside bank. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks

[Harry Palmer]

i'm no expert but in my experience it is not the same as money being transfered from abroad. if you wanna buy property with money deposited in this way then forget it, you need an audit trail from your home bank to the one in the Los.

[Up2U]

Agreed - any money to be shown to official bodies as having been transferred-in, must be done on a bank-to-bank basis.

Pulling out the money you have tucked under the mattress and bringing it to LOS may give you a ###### good time, but will not allow you to buy property / get visa / whatever.

The banks in LOS all have codes to put against each deposit / withdrawal. Not necessarily the same codes bank-to-bank, but the legal guys here will know whether you have paid in a cash deposit (whatever currency) or transferred money from abroad.

Also, with most banks, if you deposit foreign currency you will get a worse exchange rate than if you change the money at the currency exchange counter (even that same bank's).

[sarg]

Thank you for the help.

[logpoacher]

This is based on my personal experience of bringing money into the country to get an investment visa by buying a condo. A friend of mine who has also done this had the same experience:

You will need to produce a Tor Dor Saam (Tor Dor 3) form to demonstrate that you brought money in a foreign currency into Thailand from another country. As far as I know, you can only get this from a bank transfer from your bank in your home country to your bank in Thailand made in e.g. US dollars, UK pounds, Euros, etc. I didn't know this and instructed my UK bank to send Baht (because I knew how much I needed in Baht and thought it would remove the vagaries of the exchange rate). Unfortunately, becuase my money arrived in Baht in Thailand, the bank could only give me a Tor Dor See Soon (Tor Dor 40), and this caused me a load of hassle at immigration.

The Tor Dor Saam also needs to show the purpose of bringing the money into Thailand and you must instruct the sending bank in your home country to put the correct purpose on the transfer, e.g. to buy a condo. I forgot to do this on one transfer, and had to fill in another form to change the purpose from the assigned default of "living expenses". This was free, but best avoided as one more opportunity for things to go wrong!

You will also have to pay a small fee for the bank to issue you tour TD3 (not a bribe, a legitimate fee, about 400 baht as I recall) and it will take a few days.

I have also been told, but do not have personal experience, that if you want to take your money out of Thailand, you need the form showing you imported it and didn't earn it here, otherwise you will fall foul of the very strict exchange control regulations.

I hope this helps.

[ZOVOX]

you'll need to have the money transfered from your bank account back home. a large ammonut deposited in cash will also be considered suspicious - i know that currency conversions over a certain amount is reported to the authorities. i think they are worried about money laundering !!

[SnagMonger]

Paper Trail is a must.

Now I would also like to ad that one should wear a long sleeve shirt and tie to the early meeting with your new banker! Dummy me came in wearing shorts and a new J.W. Marriott Polo shirt putting my address down as the J.W. and put 10,000 USD that was secured to my body during travel. There is apparently some limit on the deposit of overseas cash the requires notification of somebody, etc etc.

Pay the charges and wire the money evey though it takes a few days. Still waiting for a bank card with my name!

[Begs]

10,000$ bought into the country in cash and changed at a money changer = All the money is yours.

10,000$ sent by a Bank and changed at the Banks rates = You are losing Money in Bank charges and low rate exchange.

Can't people not Declare at Customs that they are bringing money into Thailand in Cash ?

[lopburi3]

10,000$ bought into the country in cash and changed at a money changer = All the money is yours.

10,000$ sent by a Bank and changed at the Banks rates = You are losing Money in Bank charges and low rate exchange.

Can't people not Declare at Customs that they are bringing money into Thailand in Cash ?

The rate of exchange, as long as conversion is done in Thailand, will almost always be better than a cash exchange on the street, even including the bank fees. Unless you are only talking small amounts.

When you are making transfer to fulfill a legal requirement you do as you are told. We are told to use wire transfer.

[tuky]

you'll need to have the money transfered from your bank account back home

My pay gets transferred from the company I work for in the UK in GB pounds to my bank in LoS. I work and pay tax in Azerbaijan, all verifiable through passport chops and monthly payslips. My payslip states the money is coming from X with X amount tax paid in Azerbaijan, being paid to Mr tukyleith to Bangkok bank GBP X amount.

This is not a bank to bank transfer that I have control of. I will need to make the final payment for my house in a month or so, will my contract, my payslips and so on be enough to prove where my money comes from?

My wife doesn't seem to think there is a problem and we have had several financial institutions call on us offering to lend up to 10 million baht (I have cash, do not need a loan). We are buying in a moo baan.

The estate creator saysd we do not need to prove where the money came from etc because we are buying inside the moo baan off the estate creators.

What do you think?

[thaihome]

The estate creator saysd we do not need to prove where the money came from etc because we are buying inside the moo baan off the estate creators.

What do you think?

Sounds to me like you are buying land and the house that sits on it (not a condo), therefore your wife is actually buying it and there is no requirement for her (a Thai, I assume) to show the money came from overseas. Would not be surprised if you are required to sign a document saying it is her money and you have no claim (other then maybe a lease agreement with her) on the property.

TH

[tuky]

The estate creator saysd we do not need to prove where the money came from etc because we are buying inside the moo baan off the estate creators.

What do you think?

Sounds to me like you are buying land and the house that sits on it (not a condo), therefore your wife is actually buying it and there is no requirement for her (a Thai, I assume) to show the money came from overseas. Would not be surprised if you are required to sign a document saying it is her money and you have no claim (other then maybe a lease agreement with her) on the property.

TH

Actually TH your right. I got carried away with the above posts and wasn't thinking.

I do only have to sign a statement saying the money is from me and I have brought it from overseas.

Too easy. Thanks for the reply.

[Up2U]

you'll need to have the money transfered from your bank account back home

My pay gets transferred from the company I work for in the UK in GB pounds to my bank in LoS. I work and pay tax in Azerbaijan, all verifiable through passport chops and monthly payslips. My payslip states the money is coming from X with X amount tax paid in Azerbaijan, being paid to Mr tukyleith to Bangkok bank GBP X amount.

This is not a bank to bank transfer that I have control of. I will need to make the final payment for my house in a month or so, will my contract, my payslips and so on be enough to prove where my money comes from?

My wife doesn't seem to think there is a problem and we have had several financial institutions call on us offering to lend up to 10 million baht (I have cash, do not need a loan). We are buying in a moo baan.

The estate creator saysd we do not need to prove where the money came from etc because we are buying inside the moo baan off the estate creators.

What do you think?

Your pay situation is similar to mine.

How have you paid to date? You say 'final' payment due soon, so I assume you have paid the 'signing contract', 'deposit', 'connecting services' and so on.

How are you purchasing - in your name, wife's name or both?

I have yet to start on this part of my life - still living in rented accommodation. But I have talked to several lawyers and real estate people about this, so that I do not make mistakes and lose property / money / both. And I have had several conflicting pieces of advice.

The one I would pass on to you is : If someone says 'not a problem' check with someone else.

[Begs]

When you are making transfer to fulfill a legal requirement you do as you are told. We are told to use wire transfer.

Can't people declare cash at the airport?

[tuky]

Your pay situation is similar to mine.

How have you paid to date? You say 'final' payment due soon, so I assume you have paid the 'signing contract', 'deposit', 'connecting services' and so on.

We paid an initial deposit of half a mill, and we have been making 100k monthly "progress" payments since. The final payment is the remainder and will be made on the day the keys are handed over. This is good because it gives me the power to get the place right. We have had a great contractor who has done a fantastic job, the wife wants to slurge and buy him a bottle of lao kao to say thanks at the end

How are you purchasing - in your name, wife's name or both?

We have all heard the phrase "don't invest more than you can afford to walk away from" many times. Therefore the house and land will be in my wife's name. My reasoning is that if the worst was to happen I could not leave my wife and family without a place to live and so on anyway. As she said, she has put a lot of effort into the relationship and family so she is entitled to a reward if everything went pear shaped. I however can afford to walk away and start again.

Bear in mind this is notr going to happen as we are great together and our little family is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I have yet to start on this part of my life - still living in rented accommodation. But I have talked to several lawyers and real estate people about this, so that I do not make mistakes and lose property / money / both. And I have had several conflicting pieces of advice.

It is an exciting time in life, and costly too. My wife has so far bought the downstairs tiles three times, she keeps changing her mind. Bearing in mind that the downstairs living area is a little over 50 dtalang wah. Woman argh!!!

The one I would pass on to you is : If someone says 'not a problem' check with someone else.

Yes, I have. There is another farang dude (a sweaty sock) a couple of houses down from me and he is already in his home. He went through the same process as me. Although whereas I am in Azerbaijan he is offshore on the Bonga!

Thanks for the chat UP2U!

[astral]

Bringing large sums of money into Thailand without thought can be fraught with dangers.

If you are in the country more than 180 days in one calendar year then you are liable for tax on the money.

Once the funds are in it may be very difficult to get them out again.

Bank of Thailand can be very sticky on transfers out!!