Stupidly wire transfer condo deposit in THB! Worried...

[domimiro]

Hi,

I am a foreigner and I am purchasing a resale condo through an agent. I was asked to pay 10% down. I did. However, I misunderstood the invoice the agent gave me and wire transferred the deposit in Thai Baht abroad. Am I still eligible to get the confirmation letter of international inward funds transfer? Will I run into any trouble when registering transfer of ownership? Thank you so much!!

[KittenKong]

You will probably have got a bad rate by buying Baht abroad and should avoid doing this in future, or at least check the rates very carefully first. Bear in mind that the receiving rate is often negotiable here, for larger sums.

As far as I know your transfer of THB will not allow you to get the FX certificate that the Land Office wants to see, though a word with your bank manager may allow you to smooth things over, assuming you transferred the money to your own account here and not to some third party. Either way, the FX certificate only has to cover the Land Office evaluation of the condo's worth, and you are probably paying more than this in total, so a discrepancy of 10% is probably not a problem.

Personally I would be extremely wary of transferring any money from anywhere to anyone in Thailand. Keep it in your account until you see the chanote. There are so many scams here, and as a general rule there is zero likelihood of another buyer wanting your unit, so why pay a deposit at all?

[rak sa_ngop]

You may still be OK if you transfer the balance of the purchase price in a foreign currency. This is because the Land Department will put a value on your purchased property which is generally lower than the actual price you pay for it. So you only need to bring in enough foreign currency to satisfy the the Land Department price.

[domimiro]

Hi,

Thank you for answering my question. I feel more relaxed now.

I have more questions about bringing money into Thailand and opening an account. I don't have an account in Thailand and will open one when I am here for title registration. The agent instructed me to bring all money in traveler's check and cash them when I open an account here. Is it the only way to bring in money? On Bangkok Bank's website, Q#17 says people can still TT to Bangkok Bank even I don't have an account yet. Is it SAFE??? Or any other suggestion to bring in money and I won't run into trouble in the land office?

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PERSONALBANKING/DAILYBANKING/TRANSFERINGFUNDS/TRANSFERRINGINTOTHAILAND/Pages/InwardFAQs.aspx#18

Thank you so much!!

[KittenKong]

The agent instructed me to bring all money in traveler's check and cash them when I open an account here.

Your agent is an idiot.

Get your funds organised in your home country. Explain to your bank there that you will be transferring the funds to Thailand later. Come here. Open an account (be sure to go to a bank branch that has lots of farang customers). Then call your home bank and arrange the transfer to your new account being sure to send the money as FX for conversion here.

Another option for the UK or US is to open an account here with Bangkok Bank and then you can arrange the international transfer as local transfer in your home country.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromuk/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx (there is a similar page for US customers, and for them the fees are much lower).

On Bangkok Bank's website, Q#17 says people can still TT to Bangkok Bank even I don't have an account yet. Is it SAFE???

I'm sure that it is, but I would still rather have my account sorted out in advance.

[Langsuan Man]

The agent just wants his money and could care less what it costs you

Listen to KittenKong, especially his characterization of the agent