Selling House In Australia Paid In Cash Bangkok

[Stefan Beck]

Gentleman,

I may have an Australian working in Bangkok who has cash to pay for my townhouse in Australia. I know that because he is an Australian there are no foreign board submission issues. I don't know if there any issues with

1. Banks and wire transfers (for example will they scrutinise where the $500 aud came from ?)

2. Legal issues - moving approx $500 AUD out of the country

3. Taxation issues at either end (for example will the Thai or Australian bank want commission or verification of where the cash is from. (Patricot Act - blah, blah) I am not in the habit of moving large sums around will this be considered.

4. Other possible nasty issues

Any possible ways around “it” if there are issues?

Any sincere advise is warmly appreciated

Kindest Regards

Stefan

[Old Croc]

Have you got any more townhouses to sell for $500? I'll have half a dozen.

And I wouldn't worry about the Patricot Act unless the US is involved.

[Donz]

Yeap sign me up for a dozen also.

[Donz]

actually, I will pay you double to what your mate is paying.

[Chang_paarp]

hel_l Croc I'll offer $5000 for the townhouse.

To the origional request of moving money.

Assuming it is for a legal and legitimate purpose moving the money is not hard.

It is better to transfer the money using a bank. Get a foriegn exchange cetificate from the recveiving bank. It will make moving the money out of LOS later easier. Use the swift codes of the relevant banks.

There will be bank fees. Both the sending and recieving banks will want thier pound of flesh.

The alternitave is to withdraw the lot in cash and carry it on the plane. This has some great risks at every turn, including the laws restricting how much cash can be taken out of Australia and in to Thailand.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Two Kgs of firm Patricots thanks

[udon]

The bugger's sold my shed!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The bugger's sold my shed!

The one in Bayroot ?

[splitlid]

The alternitave is to withdraw the lot in cash and carry it on the plane. This has some great risks at every turn, including the laws restricting how much cash can be taken out of Australia and in to Thailand.

there is,as far as i know no restriction on how much cash you can carry on your person when leaving Aus.

just as long as you declare it to customs.

[Stefan Beck]

Gentlemen,

The $500 dollar house was my friends doll house which has already been sold (sorry). My Townhouse is $500K - one would assume that you cynics understand (silly me).

Thank you Chang paarp - are you sure there are no “hurdles” when depositing approx $15m baht in one hit. I understand foreign exchange certificates but wont the powers that be want to know where the money originated from - or is this just really small change given the frequency of “other” transaction that traffic through the banks?

I have been working in BBK for 7 months and have my own account with SCB - would there be any questions if I declare this type of activity?

Sincerest

[grahamb]

######, missed out on buying the $500 house...

You don't mention why you want to transfer the full $500k into Thailand - do you have a use for the money or just moving it here because you live here? Personally I'd consider exchange rate risk, etc. if I was moving that much money around and keeping it here.

If you are moving that much money, you should check the various Foreign Exchange brokers that exist as they may give you a better rate than the standard bank rates. If you stick with the bank, make sure they give you a better rate than their standard walk-up rate.

[Chang_paarp]

Just tell them you are bringing the money in to the country to buy real estate or a business. Both are legit reasons to move the money. I hope it is close to the truth.

Remember that you will get two fifths of very little interest in a bank in LOS, better to park the money in Sinapore or Malaysia if you are reluctant to pay Au taxes on the interest. They both offer more stable and develloped banking than is available in Thailand.

If you are "non resident" I believe you only pay 10% tax on your earnings in Au.

Grahamb mentioned Foreign Exchane brokers, I don't know about them. Worth checking them out as a service. Not sure if they operate out of Au but worth the investment in time if they are going to save you some money.

Bottom line is to ask the various organisations how much you are going to be charged to move the money from A to BKK, so you can make a decision based on facts, not our collective wisdom which is worth the paper it is written on.

[Stefan Beck]

Thanks Guys, - all warmly appreciated,

the money is supplied in BKK (cash) and is then transferred to Oz.

My lawyer says that he will issue an invoice on behalf of the mortgaging bank (St George). The issue about using a foreign exchange dealer is very useful because the addition of the normal bank commission rates on both sides ends up at anywhere between 4-6 %.

My concern was in Australia you can’t just rock up to a bank and say here is $500 aud for a house - all sorts of bells start ringing and they want to know where you got the money from. In BKK it doesn’t seem to be as volatile as long as you have legal documentation (invoices)

Kindest Stefan

[grahamb]

the money is supplied in BKK (cash) and is then transferred to Oz.

My lawyer says that he will issue an invoice on behalf of the mortgaging bank (St George). The issue about using a foreign exchange dealer is very useful because the addition of the normal bank commission rates on both sides ends up at anywhere between 4-6 %.

Sorry, I got the direction wrong. I thought the buyer was paying you in Oz and you wanted the money here.

If you're transferring from BKK to Oz, my advice about foreign exchange companies may not apply. I used one to transfer money from BKK to the UK (less than AU$500k but significant enough that I wanted to get a good rate). I got a good rate and a lot of hassle. In the end, it probably saved me about B1000 overall.

The company that I used required me to transfer Baht to the UK where they would convert to GBP at a good rate and transfer the GBP to my UK account. They were completely professional and good to work with. However, getting Kasikornbank to accept that it is possible to transfer Baht overseas took about 2hrs and that was on the foreign exchange floor of their main branch on Paholyothin Road! The money was going a Baht account with HSBC in London and Kasikornbank only accepted it was possible after calling HSBC in Bangkok. If the London account had been with a bank that did not have a Bangkok presence, I don't know how I would have done it!

Kasikornbank also did the bait and switch on the charges which were about double what they had first told me and eliminated most of the benefit I got in the better rate. When I questioned the higher rates, I just got blank looks from the guy who 1 hr earlier had told me the lower rates

Foreign exchange companies may still be worth investigating for this much cash but check it carefully with your bank in Bangkok to see what hassle you're letting yourself in for

[Stefan Beck]

Thank you Grahamb,

Again my thanks

but..... did you actually "rock" up with cash or was the money somehow wired into your Bangkok account - and then from your account - it was passed through the foreign exchange.

The person that I am working with (funny enough) is a foreign exchange dealer. The issue is still the same - do Thai authorities question you - when you don' have a commercial history of handing over about 15M in baht - and asked to shift it into an over saes (Australian) account for the purchase of a house.

I mean anyone can "forge" or produce {lovely looking housing mortgages) from banks. (I suppose that they can verify the mortgage certificate directly with the bank) but will they want to know -

WHERE DID THE MONEY COME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Those is where I get a little itchy

Kindest

Stefan

[Thai-Aust]

As far as I know, if you want to transfer that much (1 mil + baht) money, you will have to make a request to a Reserve Bank to allow you take out the money. Not sure about this though. Better check with the bank.

[grahamb]

Thank you Grahamb,

Again my thanks

but..... did you actually "rock" up with cash or was the money somehow wired into your Bangkok account - and then from your account - it was passed through the foreign exchange.

In my case, it was salary money that I was wiring out for savings so it was 'legitimately' in my account. I was originally commenting on the way of moving the money but I don't know if it will raise flags when you initially credit your account or apply to move it.

Whenever I have been wiring money out of Thailand, they have always just accepted 'Savings' as the reason but again, I've not been moving AUD500k at a time. Officially, I am not allowed to send more money for savings than I earn in Thailand. When I was setting up electronic transfers with Bangkok Bank, they required a letter from my employer stating my salary so that they could set the transfer limit. I think that is a Bank of Thailand rule. Kasikornbank didn't require that letter but my salary is paid directly into there so if I try to transfer 'too much' that may raise a red flag in their systems (though seeing their systems on the foreign exchange floor, I doubt it...)

[Stefan Beck]

Conundrum

Seems like there are several ways

1. Seek legal advice and pay trough the nose

2. Try sending an invoice from Australia for the sale of property (legally constructed by my lawyer

3. Purchase shares in Thailand and sell in Australia (common way - but the financiers take 7.5%)

4. Smuggle Euros down your pants and hope to high heaven that you don’t go to hel_l

I will have to seek some legal advice first - I was just wondering whether anybody had shoved that wad of cash into their accounts without bells tolling. If you put more than $10,000 AUD in any normal saving, cheque, or “the like” accounts you have to fill in a form.

Thanks for the help so far - if you come across any legitimate avenues pleas reply again (anyone)

Thanks to all for your advice. I will contact my lawyer from Australia and see what he knows, and continue to ask around. I am just ‘Keen-eeeee-yeow’ (spelling?) - Stingy

If I find a really good solution, I will post it for others, for further reference

Thanks all