How To Transfer Money Out Of Thailand After Selling Condo?

[maigeng]

My friend wants to sell his condo but doesn't trust Thai banks. Once a buyer is found for his condo, is it possible to have the buyer deposit the settlement proceeds directly into a foreign bank account by doing an o'seas transfer?

[Boater]

is it a leasehold condo or freehold condo?

[maigeng]

It's a freehold condo in his name (not company or thai name) in central Pattaya..

He wrote on the remittance forms "for purchase of condo" when he brought the money in .. apparently this is required in order to take the funds OUT of Thailand when you sell. But he doesn't trust Thais or Thai banks so would like to have the settlement proceeds (and possibly the deposit money) deposited into an Australian or Hong Kong bank account, i.e. he does NOT want the money to go into a Thai bank account in case he hits a roadblock trying to get it out the country.

A friend of his had 400k go "missing" from his SCB account and no compensation was ever paid and the matter wasn't investigated. He will be seeing a lawyer soon about this but thought there may be someone on here who has some knowledge.

[Jingthing]

If you have a foreign buyer and a foreign seller, obviously you COULD do a SWIFT transfer between two foreign banks. Well, usually anyway. Say between the UK and France. If you are talking about the buyer doing a SWIFT transfer from his Thai bank account to an outside bank for purchase of property in Thailand, I reckon the answer is no, the Thai bank would probably deny that. The other question I have is about the local land office in Thailand. Would they accept a payment process such as foreign bank to foreign bank, also considering transfer taxation issues. I think you need a real estate lawyer for this one.

[terryq]

Swift transfer between two banks outside of Thailand would cause problems for the Buyer.

If the buyer is a foreigner he will need to transfer the full purchase amount to Thailand as "foreign currency" so the recipient bank in Thailand can issue a Foreign Exchange Transaction certificate (or equivalent) to show the Land Department when purchasing.

Even if the buyer has amassed the purchase price from declared income in Thailand the purchase money will be in a Thai bank. As a buyer I would offer to provide a bank draft or similar to the seller on completion. What he did with that would be up to him.

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I suspected the land office may need to see something like that for a purchase by a foreigner. That is part of the law allowing foreigners to buy condos in their name in Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

Swift transfer between two banks outside of Thailand would cause problems for the Buyer.

If the buyer is a foreigner he will need to transfer the full purchase amount to Thailand as "foreign currency" so the recipient bank in Thailand can issue a Foreign Exchange Transaction certificate (or equivalent) to show the Land Department when purchasing.

Even if the buyer has amassed the purchase price from declared income in Thailand the purchase money will be in a Thai bank. As a buyer I would offer to provide a bank draft or similar to the seller on completion. What he did with that would be up to him.

If there is so much paranoia about Thai banks, then deposit in Thailand with somelike Citibank, HSBC or Standard Chartered

If the person brought the money in legally to purchase the condo and has the paperwork to prove it, he will not hit a roadblock taking it out

[terryq]

Swift transfer between two banks outside of Thailand would cause problems for the Buyer.

If the buyer is a foreigner he will need to transfer the full purchase amount to Thailand as "foreign currency" so the recipient bank in Thailand can issue a Foreign Exchange Transaction certificate (or equivalent) to show the Land Department when purchasing.

Even if the buyer has amassed the purchase price from declared income in Thailand the purchase money will be in a Thai bank. As a buyer I would offer to provide a bank draft or similar to the seller on completion. What he did with that would be up to him.

If there is so much paranoia about Thai banks, then deposit in Thailand with somelike Citibank, HSBC or Standard Chartered

If the person brought the money in legally to purchase the condo and has the paperwork to prove it, he will not hit a roadblock taking it out

Agreed, my post of "Thai Bank" meant bank in Thailand not necessarily Thai owned so as said Citibank etc would be ok (better be quick with HSBC though). I think Thai (owned) banks have improved greatly over the years, of course horror stories occur, mostly imo employees ripping off accounts, both Thai and Foreign named. Personally have had no problems over many years and several banks here. Maybe just lucky (and hope it stays so). Yes, the "paranoia" is overblown. Also not had problems moving money out of Thailand if can show it was brought in.

[djlest]

i can confirm that scb has stolen money from my bank too

30,000 baht went missing from my account when i was out of the country, it was traced to an ATM machine, when i went there they said there was no camera installed in that ATM machine so no proof it was ever taken from there. i was not even in the country and definitely had my card with me.

i went to the head office in SIAM SCB and asked what could it be, a bank error or can i investigate and get my money back, the managers professional and customer service orientated reply to me was,, were you drunk that day, sure you didnt have a few drinks?'

NEVER TRUST THAI BANKS, especially not the SCB - keep the minimum amount in there and its safer to keep the rest in a safe

another reason i think its rigged is online bank statements are always only the last 3 months, if you want to check more you have to pay for paper statements to be made specially, i had to wait 10 days just to get a statement over 3 months. HSBC in the UK provide them for free and i can check up to 3 years ago or more.

Why just 3 months? surely hard drive space isnt that expensive for a few digits.

again... no way i trust them, its rigged in their favour because they know employees can and do rip them off and they cant do much to protect customers except delete past history.

Edited August 30, 2012 by djlest

[Barack]

i can confirm that scb has stolen money from my bank too

30,000 baht went missing from my account when i was out of the country, it was traced to an ATM machine, when i went there they said there was no camera installed in that ATM machine so no proof it was ever taken from there. i was not even in the country and definitely had my card with me.

i went to the head office in SIAM SCB and asked what could it be, a bank error or can i investigate and get my money back, the managers professional and customer service orientated reply to me was,, were you drunk that day, sure you didnt have a few drinks?'

NEVER TRUST THAI BANKS, especially not the SCB - keep the minimum amount in there and its safer to keep the rest in a safe

another reason i think its rigged is online bank statements are always only the last 3 months, if you want to check more you have to pay for paper statements to be made specially, i had to wait 10 days just to get a statement over 3 months. HSBC in the UK provide them for free and i can check up to 3 years ago or more.

Why just 3 months? surely hard drive space isnt that expensive for a few digits.

again... no way i trust them, its rigged in their favour because they know employees can and do rip them off and they cant do much to protect customers except delete past history.

Don't say a bank (scb) stole your money; you were scammed by atm professionals. I keep 2 accounts at a bank, but only one can be accessed via an atm card.