Transferring money from UK to Thailand for Condo

[living in Patts]

Does anyone have advice on transferring money for a Condo? With the pound to Baht good at the money I wanted to transfer £60k over never have done this before in large amounts. My money is with Natwest in the UK and when I checked the bank I found that I would lose about 120k baht with the crap exchange they gave and charges...this I find shocking and I am not willing to pay unless there are no other options.

Any advice you have would be appreciated

[Card]

You should not convert from pounds to baht BEFORE you transfer to thailand - if you do then you won't get a Forex Transaction form which is essential for the land registry office to register your condo in your name. Just ask your bank in the Uk to transfer the money 'unconverted' - when the pound sterling then arrive in your account in thailand it will be converted to baht and you should receive (u must ask) for an FET form to take to land registry. the exchange rate will then be the one at your Thai bank, not Nat west.

[TwinkleToes]

Yep when you transfer the funds, usually by priority payment, make sure the funds are sent in GBP with the conversion to THB at the beneficiary bank in Thailand. This will only incur a very small charge and the exchange rate will be much better.

Also, you will need to clearly state on the transfer form that the funds are for the purpose of purchasing a condominium and specifically state the name of the condominium and the unit.

[Card]

Yep when you transfer the funds, usually by priority payment, make sure the funds are sent in GBP with the conversion to THB at the beneficiary bank in Thailand. This will only incur a very small charge and the exchange rate will be much better.

Also, you will need to clearly state on the transfer form that the funds are for the purpose of purchasing a condominium and specifically state the name of the condominium and the unit.

Actually you don't need to state the name or unit number - "for the purchase of a condominium" has always been enough for me and I have bought 3 condos in the past - unless the regs have changed since 2007..

[jimbeam1]

http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromuk

I'm looking into this at the moment.

I think there might be a limit of £10000 unless you specify what it is for?

jb1

[Card]

http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromuk

I'm looking into this at the moment.

I think there might be a limit of £10000 unless you specify what it is for?

jb1

It seems there is a limit set by UK banks. I have just checked with my offshore Isle of Man (Nationwide International) account and they say there is no limit set by them - so must be those banks within the UK that set a limit. My provider goes through HSBC I believe.

[cassde]

Once you have satisfied yourself about any limits your bank may have, I would suggest you open an account at Bangkok Bank in Thailand, but make sure it is in your name only. Then you can take advantage of the Bangkok Bank's London Office to transfer your cash for condo purchase, in sterling, as previously advised. Doing this keeps the fees at a minimum.

I did this recently for the purchase of my condo and continue to use the BBL facility to transfer all my cash.

[Card]

Once you have satisfied yourself about any limits your bank may have, I would suggest you open an account at Bangkok Bank in Thailand, but make sure it is in your name only. Then you can take advantage of the Bangkok Bank's London Office to transfer your cash for condo purchase, in sterling, as previously advised. Doing this keeps the fees at a minimum.

I did this recently for the purchase of my condo and continue to use the BBL facility to transfer all my cash.

What might be more important than bank charges, which are often only a few hundred baht are exchange rates. I am checking on the difference between my banks - yesterday they were for TT transfers Citibank (52.7217), Kasikorn (52.40125) and BKK Bank (52.3875). Now for a 60,000 pound sterling transfer, that represents 3,163,302, 3,144,075, and 3,143,250

That is a difference of -20,052 baht for BKK bank. The difference in bank charges is small compared to this difference in TT rates that the banks provide.

[cassde]

You have to go to the bank offering the best TT rate on the day.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[starship]

As mentioned, you definitely want it sent in GBP. Check this carefully because as you've spotted it can make a huge difference when you're sending a lot of money. I have always done this but banks are crafty. I noticed a couple of years go that my bank had altered my default template for sending money from GBP to Thai Baht, and you had to manually change it back to GBP. Good job i always check! They rely on customers being uninformed about these matters to make piles of cash for themselves. I never had a problem with a limit but i transferred less than you so check first.

It is normally around 20 pounds to send the whole amount as a SWIFT transfer then a fee is deducted at the receiving Thai bank. I think it's around 0.25% from memory. I only required 'for condominium purchase' at my time of buying, it may have changed. First of course you will need a Thai bank account. I opened one while here in Thailand so i am not sure if it's possible to open open from abroad. Maybe contact Bangkok Bank London to see if they are able to do this for you. There have been many posts about this issue. If your in Thailand and you're refused by a branch, go to another or a different bank, there seems to be different criteria at each place.

Once you've transfered your money (as GBP) to Thailand get a foreign exchange certificate (Tor Tor 3) from your bank. You will take this to the land office along with your cheque when the title deed (chanote) is to be transferred to you. Also worth mentioning is checking if you have not done so already that the condo is in foreign name as there are restrictions on the level of foreign ownership in any given condo development.

[cassde]

For Bangkok Bank get your Tor Tor 3 form from their head office at 333 Silom Road Bangkok - 2nd floor window 27. Very quick service. Branches no little or nothing about such forms, I found.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[living in Patts]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have had a k bank account for a couple of years which I will use to transfer into. The key info you gave me was to transfer in GBP I was beginning to think of those other transfer companies.

Thanks again