Cash To Pay Condo

[Aryana]

Hi there, I´ve got a problem to buy a condo in Chiang Mai. I didn´t have a bank account so I brought the money in cash and declared it upon arrival at the airport. The customs office gave me a receipt as a proof of bringing foreign currency into Thailand. It seems that this is not enough for the Land Office in Chiang Mai. I think If I exchange more than 20,000 USD the bank should provide me with the FETF, as I´ve got the proof for bringing the foreign currency from abroad. I read that is also possible to put the cash into a Foreign Currency Deposit account, and then the bank should give the FETF. I don´t know If the money changers can provide a Letter of Advice, for cash exchanges under 20,000 USD, but I think that could solve the problem , provided the Land Office also accept this documents. Couples of days ago I read in a post that somebody got a FETF from a money changer paying a 6,000 baht fee. Does anybody know If there is a money changer who can do this in Chiang Mai ?. Any helpful information will be welcomed

[PattayaParent]

Why don't you just open a bank account?

Solves all your problems and might come in handy in the future when you're living here don't you think?

[Aryana]

I´ve been able to open an account with Kasikorn . My application was rejected in two branches before I succeeded. This will certainly make my life easier. The problem is that when I arrived to Thailand I didn´t have a local bank account, so the money to pay for the condo was brought in cash.The money is already in Chiang Mai in euros and now I have to find a way to get a valid document to the Land Office. I read in another post that some money changers can provide you with a FETF, or a Bai Rap Rong , for a fee, If you supply them with legal documents . Do you know If this is possible to be done in Chiang Mai ?

[PattayaParent]

Ask your bank if they will give you a FETF if you deposit the Euros cash and they convert it into Baht.

[caf]

I might be haeding for the same problem though the land office is not chiangmai

I agreed with the sellers that they accept a cashiers cheque but when they showed it to their bank, krungthai, they were told it would take a long time to cash it and that it was "only a bit of paper". They certainly frightened their customers ( who are teachers) They had a solution though. I could close my bank account and open one with them and draw out cash for the seller. !!!

What is now agreed is that I cancel the cashiers cheques and do a transfer to my local thai bank and draw out cash. Apparently that is normal up country. The signed FETF is with my Bank in Bangkok. Together with the FETF for when I brought funds into Thailand a few years ago.

caf

Edited March 5, 2010 by caf

[Aryana]

I asked If they could give me a FETF in previous branches at Kasikorn. They seemed not to know what was this about, and after talking among them they decided they I couldn´t open a bank account with them. I decided not to raise this issue when I tried again at another branch, and may be that´s the reason I was able to open the account. I will wait a few days before coming back and ask them about the FETF. But this will be my last option since the exchange rates for euro notes are well below the ones offered by money changers and I may lose more than 20k. Apparently FETF can only be issued by a bank, but authorized money changers can make some kind of letters for amounts less than 20k USD, and may be this could be enough for the Land Office. Still, is difficult to know if this can work because depends largely on the officer in charge.

[PattayaParent]

Some branches of Kasikorn Bank are not very good when it comes to FETF, I had the same problem with them in Pattaya which got me so annoyed I closed my account.

But the bank can also give you the 'bai rap rong' for conversions under the $20k amount and they are acceptable at the land office (don't know if they are acceptable when issued by a money changer though)

[pkrv]

IMO print out the blank FET/FETF also available on the pinned thread - Show them, this helps ALOT. It can sometimes just be a massive issue of confusion. It certainly was with me.

In fact I probaly confused Thia Visa by asking questions that were caused by a just a Hiccup wih my developer - Apologies for that - PKRV

FX_TranForm.doc

[ThaiBob]

......

Apparently FETF can only be issued by a bank, but authorized money changers can make some kind of letters for amounts less than 20k USD, and may be this could be enough for the Land Office. Still, is difficult to know if this can work because depends largely on the officer in charge.

This was not my recent experience. I purchased a FET from a money changer for a condo purchase in Pattaya It was well over 1M baht (over 20,000 USD) and the fee was 6,000 baht (the fee depends on the amount). You need your passport and sales contract. This along with the FET from Thai Military Bank satisfied the Land Office and I registered my condo in my name. This was not the preferred route but was recommended by a realtor. I don't know if this will work at the Chiang Mai Land Office but the FET form was made by the Bank of Thailand and should work anywhere.

[Aryana]

This was not my recent experience. I purchased a FET from a money changer for a condo purchase in Pattaya It was well over 1M baht (over 20,000 USD) and the fee was 6,000 baht (the fee depends on the amount). You need your passport and sales contract. This along with the FET from Thai Military Bank satisfied the Land Office and I registered my condo in my name. This was not the preferred route but was recommended by a realtor. I don't know if this will work at the Chiang Mai Land Office but the FET form was made by the Bank of Thailand and should work anywhere.

Well , that´s good news because FETF issued by Bank of Thailand should work everywhere. I got a PDF copyfile of the FETF and I will print it and take it with me trying to let them understand what I need. If I have to pay 6000 baht to get it is still cheaper than exchanging euros at a bad rate in the bank. Otherwise I will try to get 'bai rap rong' . but this could be more diffcult to ex`plain .I see that I am not the only one having this problem. So , thank you all for sharing your experiences. My payment deadline is in two weeks, I will let you know whatever it happens.

[ThaiBob]

This was not my recent experience. I purchased a FET from a money changer for a condo purchase in Pattaya It was well over 1M baht (over 20,000 USD) and the fee was 6,000 baht (the fee depends on the amount). You need your passport and sales contract. This along with the FET from Thai Military Bank satisfied the Land Office and I registered my condo in my name. This was not the preferred route but was recommended by a realtor. I don't know if this will work at the Chiang Mai Land Office but the FET form was made by the Bank of Thailand and should work anywhere.

Well , that´s good news because FETF issued by Bank of Thailand should work everywhere. I got a PDF copyfile of the FETF and I will print it and take it with me trying to let them understand what I need. If I have to pay 6000 baht to get it is still cheaper than exchanging euros at a bad rate in the bank. Otherwise I will try to get 'bai rap rong' . but this could be more diffcult to ex`plain .I see that I am not the only one having this problem. So , thank you all for sharing your experiences. My payment deadline is in two weeks, I will let you know whatever it happens.

I'll admit I first had my doubts about using a money lender, but I need an FETF and had nothing to lose. Like you, I would have transferred money into the country and incurred transfer fees and a lousy exchange rate (and I also had the funds already in Thailand). I do not know if all money lenders are authorized to do transactions like this. If you need my details please PM me. A friend explained that foreigners without bank accounts transfer money into Thailand for a number of valid reasons (e.g, buy a car, start-up a business, $ for gf/bf, post bail, etc.) so they use the money lenders bank account. The money lender then "re-tags" the money (for a fee) for a condo purchase using a FETF. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

[Aryana]

Finally I´ve been able to get the FETF. Tried in a chinese money changer close to the night bazaar but , although I showed them a printed copy of the FETF they insisted that I didn´t need that paper. So, going back to the Land Office where they refused to register the sale unless I came with the FETF. At the end, the real state agent helped me in a branch of Bangkok Bank. It was not easy, and they didn´t want to accept the receipt of the Customs Department, but after almost one hour talking, my agent was able to convince them to call to the central branch in Bangkok, and they got permission to issue a FETF on the spot. I already made the title transfer in the Land Office and now I can breathe. My experience however, is that bringing cash to pay for a condo in Chiang Mai is extremely stressful, and I can only recommend to other people that they do transfer the money from abroad. But, in case you can´t do it, It´s good to know that is still possible to get the FETF. Thank you all for the posts!!

[PattayaParent]

^Glad it all worked out for you in the end.

Look forward to your next post on "How do I transfer my money out when I've sold my condo"