Small Business Loan Possible From A Thai Bank For Falang?

[gtrinbkk]

Thinking about setting up a small business in BKK. Anyone have any experience getting a loan for this thru a Thai bank?

Can use deed of my condo if neccesary, also have filed thai tax returns for the last 2 years of working here.

Worth a shot or a waste of time to try?

Thanks!

[Soutpeel]

Thinking about setting up a small business in BKK. Anyone have any experience getting a loan for this thru a Thai bank?

Can use deed of my condo if neccesary, also have filed thai tax returns for the last 2 years of working here.

Worth a shot or a waste of time to try?

Thanks!

There is no reason why you cant try, but dont expect to get very far....if you have decent credit history with a Thai bank, ie credit card etc you might have a shot, but you would be better getting a Thai national to take out the loan somehow

[eljeque]

I wish you luck.

If you need the money, sell the condo.

Good luck

[aurelius]

Very unlikely. Banks are looking for business performance history and rarely fund start-ups.

As a foreigner you cannot take an equity line of credit on your condo b/c BOT rules prohibit lending to foreigners except for "personal expenses" - i.e. personal loans and credit cards.

[gtrinbkk]

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like selling the condo will be the only way then.

[monty]

Maybe a little to pessimistic here.

Try Bkk Bank, I had a business loan with them on surety of a condominium, in personal name.

They will however require very detailed business plans, then agree on a total amount they will lend you.

In my case it was for building a housing project, note that they did NOT require the land title deeds of the project (although I already owned the land), only the condo (more liquid for them anyway).

They drew up a detailed plan as to when they would release how much of the funds at which state of advancement of the project. Along with repayment requirements when a house could be sold.

There was no maximum term whatsoever on the repayment, only when a house or houses could be sold. Interest was only calculated at the outstanding amount, not the total agreed upon, and paid monthly.

Amount was 2.5 million with a 5.5 million condo as collateral. Market value of the condo would be higher of course, the used value was estimated by the banks loan officers.

In short, if you already have a part of the needed investment (say 40% or more), then the bank might be willing to consider your request. If you want to go 100% bank financed, forget about it!

[gtrinbkk]

Thanks Monty, I was sure somebody must have had success getting a loan here. I have been banking with BKK Bank for the last 5 years anyway so I'll check it out.

[kiakaha]

Thinking about setting up a small business in BKK. Anyone have any experience getting a loan for this thru a Thai bank?

Can use deed of my condo if neccesary, also have filed thai tax returns for the last 2 years of working here.

Worth a shot or a waste of time to try?

Thanks!

"farang" is not a legal term used by banks. I presume you are a foreigner..what is your legal residency situation in thailand ?

[ray08]

No problem getting a loan, but they normally ask for 3 years tax returns ( audited accounts ) if they stack up you should get a loan ,mine is without Thai shareholder , just my gurantee and company gurantee ,Make sure your accoutant has experience in dealing with banks as this will help

[soundman]

Getting a personal loan - not impossible, however, from my experience, forgot it.

Getting a loan to the "business" is hard, but achievable.

You will need all your docs, 6 months of banking statements showing "real" cashflow, all your accounting showing "profits" for maybe two finacial years and the loan manager will want to get a good indication of what is "actually" happening in your business considering most SME businesses run two sets of books.

You will, of course, need collaterol that the bank is interested in.

My sound business, of which I own 45% (on the books ), applied for a 2.5mB loan last year to cover a cashflow problem, it took 4 months to get it approved and once it was approved we didn't take it up because we had jumped the hurdle.