For me to buy a condo in my name, am I required to show how the cash arrived in my Thai bank account?

It may be tricky to show the full amount coming from my UK account.

My Thai wife has accounts in her own name here and there, as do I, and we have joint accounts in both countries, so we have several options for transferring funds from the UK. We already have a plot of land (in her name), a condo (owned jointly), and so it would be good to have this new purchase in my name.

Also, am I ok to do this on a tourist visa? (I needed a non-imm to buy my car. (Sorry, wrong sub-forum to ask that I know.))

Thank you in advance, folks

I bought a condo in my name in 2005.

You need to transmit the funds into your own Thai account and keep the records.

Each transmittal must have the wording like: "funds for purchase of condo at....(full name and address of the condo)".

You must have the condo address on the transmittal record.

Also I paid a Thai lawyer to take care of the paper work and transfer at the land office and they will explain step by step procedures, believe me it's money well spent!

Anyway good luck to you.

P.S I did mine on a tourist visa.

Also, am I ok to do this on a tourist visa? (I needed a non-imm to buy my car. (Sorry, wrong sub-forum to ask that I know.))

Just to correct you there, it is quite possible to buy a car on a tourist visa, you just need a letter from Immigration i think, confirming your address in Thailand. Last car i sold was to a chap on a tourist visa. No probs. Well, only the usual ones!

Regarding condo purchase. Is it a new condo you are buying? I have found that with new condos the sales staff have always been very good about walking me through all the steps and even accompanying me to the bank to make sure they rip me off. Oops, no, only joking, never been ripped off! Not yet anyway! They have always been very helpful. Does of course help if you can speak a bit of Thai. And yes, you do need a bank document confirming the funds have come from outside of Thailand. I don't think it's of any importance the source of the funds, Just that they are wired to you from overseas.

Also, am I ok to do this on a tourist visa? (I needed a non-imm to buy my car. (Sorry, wrong sub-forum to ask that I know.))

Just to correct you there, it is quite possible to buy a car on a tourist visa, you just need a letter from Immigration i think, confirming your address in Thailand. Last car i sold was to a chap on a tourist visa. No probs. Well, only the usual ones!

The law is you need a non imm.. Many tourist areas like Phuket and patts ignore this rule.. But the law is there and if you come up against a difficult DMV officer then theres not much you can do.

The difference between legal and what they actually practice on the ground.

Also, am I ok to do this on a tourist visa? (I needed a non-imm to buy my car. (Sorry, wrong sub-forum to ask that I know.))

Just to correct you there, it is quite possible to buy a car on a tourist visa, you just need a letter from Immigration i think, confirming your address in Thailand. Last car i sold was to a chap on a tourist visa. No probs. Well, only the usual ones!

The law is you need a non imm.. Many tourist areas like Phuket and patts ignore this rule.. But the law is there and if you come up against a difficult DMV officer then theres not much you can do.

The difference between legal and what they actually practice on the ground.

This was Bangkok.

So (legally) you can't buy a car but you can buy property. OK.

Thank you guys, that helps.

If we buy a condo, it won't be a new one, just an old 'shoe-box' type one for a relative. My wife would like it to be in my name if possible, so her family don't feel they can take the p*ss so much. Greng jai and all that.

We may buy a small 'townhouse' instead, in which case it would have to be in her name of course.

Yes, I do speak some Thai, understand conversation fairly well.

Thanks again!

On the same subject..

I also wish to buy my first Condo and here's the situation. I work 28x28 rotation outside Thailand so I only spend 1 month at a time in LOS thus not requiring anything more than the Visa on arrival. I have an SCB account to which I have transferred the amount for a condo I saw in Pattaya directly from my UK account, but don't have anything on a bank statement saying what it was transferred for.

I haven't yet looked at the property, but would like to know if I fulfill the criteria to own a property before a) paying for a lawyer to tell me that I don't, or wasting the sellers time.

Also, what are the lawyers/agents fees roughly? Do they take a percentage?

Sorry if I sound stupid, it's something I have never really looked into up to now.

Cheers.

You can get an FET certificate from your bank and this is all you need. Just ask them. Ideally it should say "for condo purchase" in the "purpose of transfer" box but in practice it doesnt seem to be important in Pattaya, as long as you have the FET. The FET was previously known as a Tor Tor Sam (TT3) and some people still refer to them this way.

You dont need a lawyer to buy a condo in Pattaya, assuming that you know what you are doing. It doesnt really sound as though you know what you are doing though, so the best advice I can give you is to assume that everyone involved in the transaction is out to scalp you, and that way you wont go far wrong.

You can get an FET certificate from your bank and this is all you need. Just ask them. Ideally it should say "for condo purchase" in the "purpose of transfer" box but in practice it doesnt seem to be important in Pattaya, as long as you have the FET. The FET was previously known as a Tor Tor Sam (TT3) and some people still refer to them this way.

You dont need a lawyer to buy a condo in Pattaya, assuming that you know what you are doing. It doesnt really sound as though you know what you are doing though, so the best advice I can give you is to assume that everyone involved in the transaction is out to scalp you, and that way you wont go far wrong.

Lol I try to do all my business in this way anyhow! Thanks for the info. This forum has given me a rough idea of what I need to check out before I hand over any money. The tor tor sam and the ownership quota sounds like the 2 most important things I need to check out, and to ensure that the name on the chanote matches the seller's name with no exceptions. I think I will scrap the idea of using a lawyer, and see if I can do this with only the advice from TV. I have a trustworthy Thai friend who could accompany me to any meetings to avoid any unforseen 'costs'.

Thanks again.