Foreign Exchange Transaction, Paypal, and buying a house or condo

[manutoo]

Hello,

I've been in Thailand for a while on Non-O and mostly sent money by Paypal every few months to live and save a bit.

Over the time, I accumulated the savings and I might want to use them to buy a house or a condo here (maybe next year, I'm not in an hurry ).

But I just read I'd need a "Foreign Exchange Transaction" form to buy a property to prove the funds came from oversea.

I'll also wire a complementary amount from my country, France, for which I'll have to fill the form anyway.

Does someone know if it's possible to get a form for each of the small Paypal transfer I did in the past years, and if they'll actually be required ?

I guess the best would be to head to my bank (Kasikorn), but I'd not mind to get some head-ups, as my bank agent may or may not be aware of this kind of situation.

Thanks in advance for any info !

[Langsuan Man]

Foreign Exchange certificates will only be issued by a Thai Bank for amounts over $50, 000 US or equivalent for the purchase of a condo

see this post in the Ask a Lawyer forum

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/749318-money-transfer-to-purchase-condo/

Since you cannot purchase a house as a farang you cannot take the money back out (and yes you can form a company to purchase the land on which a house may sit, but your company cannot obtain a Foreign Exchange Certificate)

[manutoo]

Langsuan Man,

thanks for these clarifications !

For the house option, if I got this right, I'll have to give the money to my wife, we'll be able to buy a house, but it'll likely not be possible to send back the money to my country in case of problem, right ?

[Griffo63]

Just a related thought. Paypal is one of the most expensive ways of transferring money into Thailand. Bank transfer or Foreign Exchange Transfer companies are much cheaper due to lower charges and better exchange rates

[54321]

FX certificates are automatically issued by the thai bank when the transfered amount is $50,000 or more, for smaller sums you need to ask your bank to issue the certificate. Thats what i did a couple of years back.

Foreign Exchange certificates will only be issued by a Thai Bank for amounts over $50, 000 US or equivalent for the purchase of a condo

see this post in the Ask a Lawyer forum

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/749318-money-transfer-to-purchase-condo/

Since you cannot purchase a house as a farang you cannot take the money back out (and yes you can form a company to purchase the land on which a house may sit, but your company cannot obtain a Foreign Exchange Certificate)

[cariden]

so, if i understand this correctly.. if i put 800,000 baht in an account for non immigration o, i can never take the money back out of the country?? wire transfer back to original bank?? no??

[inkmermaid1]

so, if i understand this correctly.. if i put 800,000 baht in an account for non immigration o, i can never take the money back out of the country?? wire transfer back to original bank?? no??

I am curious about this aswell .Indeed good question !

[Langsuan Man]

Langsuan Man,

thanks for these clarifications !

For the house option, if I got this right, I'll have to give the money to my wife, we'll be able to buy a house, but it'll likely not be possible to send back the money to my country in case of problem, right ?

You will not only have to give your wife the money to buy the house but in most cases the Land Office will require you to sign a form stating that you did not give her the money to purchase the house which is the bad news

The good news is that if you divorce then the property will become community property and the court will require that either the house be sold to pay you, or you wife will be required to pay you for your half, and then you would be able to repatriate the money your receive as proceeds of a divorce judgement

You might also want to read this thread about PayPal that was posted today:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/752930-paypal-proof-of-address/

[manutoo]

Langsuan Man,

ok, got it, thanks again !

About Paypal, I have been checked several times already and it went smoothly (but it's always a bit stressful ), hopefully, it'll stay like this..!

Griffo63,

I have some US$ income, so for me, it costs about same to convert them to EUR or to THB. But it's true that for a normal wire transfer, I'd be better using my bank, not Paypal.

[KittenKong]

so, if i understand this correctly.. if i put 800,000 baht in an account for non immigration o, i can never take the money back out of the country?? wire transfer back to original bank?? no??

I am curious about this aswell .Indeed good question !

If you wire the money in then you can wire it out again. Just ask for the FX certificate (which my bank gave me anyway without me having to ask).

[cariden]

thanks for taking the time for answering..