Condo Purchase- Do I Need A Foreign Currency Account?

[Phatcharanan]

Hi,

All advice appreciated.

I wish to purchase a condo in Bangkok at some point in the next 2 years. I have a savings account with Kasikorn Bank.

I will be working in Qatar soon and intend to transfer monthly deposits to my Thai bank. I will state on the transfer form (from Qatar) 'For purchase of Condo'. I intend to do these transfers for around 2 years and then look for a decent condo.

Is what I am thinking feasible or possible? Do I need to open a foreign exchange account say....UK Sterling account with Bangkok Bank? Do I need to know what the address of the condo will be at this moment in time?

Any help appreciated.

[PattayaParent]

You don't need to have a foreign currency account, you can make the transfer and have your Thai bank convert it to Baht on receipt and credit it to your Thai account.

I had a problem with Kasikorn when transferring funds from UK to my Thai bank account 'for condo purchase' as they refused to credit the money to my account until I had provided them a copy of the purchase agreement for the condo.

[Phatcharanan]

You don't need to have a foreign currency account, you can make the transfer and have your Thai bank convert it to Baht on receipt and credit it to your Thai account.

I had a problem with Kasikorn when transferring funds from UK to my Thai bank account 'for condo purchase' as they refused to credit the money to my account until I had provided them a copy of the purchase agreement for the condo.

Many thanks for your help.

[pkrv]

You don't need to have a foreign currency account, you can make the transfer and have your Thai bank convert it to Baht on receipt and credit it to your Thai account.

I had a problem with Kasikorn when transferring funds from UK to my Thai bank account 'for condo purchase' as they refused to credit the money to my account until I had provided them a copy of the purchase agreement for the condo.

Thanks for that info it looks like things are tightening up

[Darrel]

I had a problem with Kasikorn when transferring funds from UK to my Thai bank account 'for condo purchase' as they refused to credit the money to my account until I had provided them a copy of the purchase agreement for the condo.

I had no such problem with Kbank. They credited the money straight away. They also gave me a foreign exchange form without knowing exactly what the money was for.

Whilst it is not a requirement, the OP might want to consider keeping some or all of the money in foreign currency in Thailand as a hedge against possible exchange rate movements during the saving period in question. All Thai banks do currency time-deposits, as far as I know.

Another possibility to suit his circumstances might be to buy something off-plan, which would involve payment in stages during the construction process which would probably last a couple of years also. That way he would know in advance how much he would be paying and (in theory) might get some sort of discount on the final sale price.

Of course, it all rather depends which way prices/rates go over the next 2 or 3 years. And everyone here will have a different opinion about that.

[PattayaParent]

You don't need to have a foreign currency account, you can make the transfer and have your Thai bank convert it to Baht on receipt and credit it to your Thai account.

I had a problem with Kasikorn when transferring funds from UK to my Thai bank account 'for condo purchase' as they refused to credit the money to my account until I had provided them a copy of the purchase agreement for the condo.

Thanks for that info it looks like things are tightening up

That was 5 years ago pkrv, maybe they've loosened up a bit?

The money was held by Kasikorn head office until I'd presented the local branch with the copy of the purchase agreement and of course they never told me anything until I'd already confirmed with the sending UK bank that Kasikorn had actually received the money and I went to the local branch to ask where it was.

[Phatcharanan]

Thanks for all of the useful information guys.

@Darrel.

The thought about the exchange rates had crossed my mind (sort of) but my payments will be made in Qatari Riyals and that currency has been pretty stable against the Thai baht in recent years.

Or do you think Qatari Riyals sent to a UK sterling account may prove beneficial in the long run?

[Darrel]

Do I hear the sound of a can of worms opening?

No one, least of all me, has the faintest idea of where currencies will be in 3 hours time, let alone 3 years.

About the best I can come up with is "don't put all your eggs in one basket".

The other thing to look at is what interest you may get on your deposit, whether tax is payable (and where), and what sort of protection there is for the bank.

In all those respects the UK is pretty high up the list assuming you can find a bank that will take deposits from non-residents (they do exist, by the way).

[PattayaParent]

Thanks for all of the useful information guys.

@Darrel.

The thought about the exchange rates had crossed my mind (sort of) but my payments will be made in Qatari Riyals and that currency has been pretty stable against the Thai baht in recent years.

Or do you think Qatari Riyals sent to a UK sterling account may prove beneficial in the long run?

Isn't the Qatari Riyal like the other Middle East currencies and fixed to the US$?

So unless you can get more GBP every month (it was falling when I was in UAE so losing Quids) you'd be better putting it into a US$ account as you will have the same amount guaranteed every month and then only have the US$-THB exchange differences to worry about.

[Phatcharanan]

Isn't the Qatari Riyal like the other Middle East currencies and fixed to the US$?

So unless you can get more GBP every month (it was falling when I was in UAE so losing Quids) you'd be better putting it into a US$ account as you will have the same amount guaranteed every month and then only have the US$-THB exchange differences to worry about.

Good point. Thanks.

[fancyking]

Hi,

All advice appreciated.

I wish to purchase a condo in Bangkok at some point in the next 2 years. I have a savings account with Kasikorn Bank.

I will be working in Qatar soon and intend to transfer monthly deposits to my Thai bank. I will state on the transfer form (from Qatar) 'For purchase of Condo'. I intend to do these transfers for around 2 years and then look for a decent condo.

Is what I am thinking feasible or possible? Do I need to open a foreign exchange account say....UK Sterling account with Bangkok Bank? Do I need to know what the address of the condo will be at this moment in time?

Any help appreciated.