Transferring money into Thailand to buy a condo

[Griffo63]

I'm buying a condo in Thailand but am very confused about how I need to handle the transfer of the money into Thailand. I've searched the Internet and there seems (to me) to be conflicting guidance.

I need about 6m baht for the transaction and have 2 options. Transfer £ into my Thai bank account from the UK and the Thai bank converts to baht or get my UK bank to convert to baht before sending it to my Thai bank account.

Which of those two options is the law as far as the Land Registry is concerned?

Some searches say one thing and others the opposite. All searches say you must get a statement from the Thai bank saying the money has come from overseas.

At some time in the future I may want to sell the condo and return the money to the UK and I don't want to miss my footing .

Personal experiences and guidance actively sought please.

[Jasun]

Either way, they just want to see the bank letter to know the money has come in from overseas - the letter from the bank should state the amount in baht.

[The Fat Controller]

Send the money in STERLING to your Thai bank and get it converted in Thailand, put in the remarks "For purchase of condominium"

If you can be in Thailand when the money arrives, negotiate with your bank for a better rate than the published TT Rate, it can certainly be done with SCB, maybe others.

Get a Foreign Exchange Certificate for the WHOLE amount.

[Griffo63]

Thanks to both

[william-pad]

The transfer should only be done in Sterling

otherwise you will have trouble with the tor tor sahm from the Bank

[thaiowl]

Agree with Fat Controller. I transferred in USD and Siam Commercial Bank did the exchange here into Baht. Make sure you get a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (example attached). Make sure the name in your passport matches your bank account name. I have two middle names so opened an SCB account with all my names so that the account name matched with my name in my passport.

Edited February 5, 2015 by thaiowl

[12DrinkMore]

Never use UK banks for currency exchange, they have among the worst rates on the planet.

If you send THB it does not count as inward forex.

Send GBP.

[Griffo63]

Looks like both options ok but transferring £ to Thailand and converted here seems best. Thanks to all

[Nemesis7]

At land office all they care is a bank certificate stating this money was transferred to your account from overseas, and this is more than enough for the land office.

[ray richards]

I recently transfered 14,000 sterling to Bangkok Bank Pattaya the rate was exchanged to 760,000 baht but Bangkok bank stopped 9,000 baht commission that was on top of 30 sterling (about 1,500 baht) to my English HSBC Bank to do the transfer a total of 10,500 baht i thought that was very excessive for the amount transfered?

[The Fat Controller]

Bangkok Bank charge a maximum of 500 Baht for incoming transfers !

I think you need to have a word with them Ray Richards.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/CurrencyExchange/Pages/Fees.aspx#1

[delgarcon]

I recently transfered 14,000 sterling to Bangkok Bank Pattaya the rate was exchanged to 760,000 baht but Bangkok bank stopped 9,000 baht commission that was on top of 30 sterling (about 1,500 baht) to my English HSBC Bank to do the transfer a total of 10,500 baht i thought that was very excessive for the amount transfered?

This is very strange, I've an account with the Bangkok Bank in Koh Phangan and have never been charged for a sterling transfer. I'd definitely take it up with their H.O

[ray richards]

Thanks, but i went to speak with the Bangkok bank & they said their commission is 1.4% on all transfers.I want to transfer future money to buy a condo maybe 40,000 sterling ( about 2ml baht) but im too scared of paying those commissions etc.if the 1.4% commission is deducted that would be 25,000 baht + the standard fee to transfer by HSBC in England. All help needed thanks.

[Griffo63]

I spoke with BB today and they confirmed for transfers it's the TT rate on their website (49.17 today) plus maximum 500 baht

[rabid old goat]

its like a black hole, once the money goes into thailand, it is impossible to make it go out again. dont transfer in any more than you can reasonably spend in a lifetime on daily expenses. what you are proposing is FAR too much

Edited February 5, 2015 by rabid old goat

[Griffo63]

Rabid old goat you need to get out more!

[rabid old goat]

Rabid old goat you need to get out more!

if you know so much why are you asking stupid questions. dont bother answering we know the answer already

Edited February 5, 2015 by rabid old goat

[Junkyarddog]

I think one thing you need to know is your right to own a condo because you transferred funds into Thailand cannot be passed to your heirs. So if you plan to will this property to your kids or someone back home, you realy can't. They would not be able to register the property with them as new owners and heirs. The land office will give your heirs one year to sell the property. If they cannot sell in a year they have to work out a deal with the land office. Thats when the fun starts for them and well "Welcome To Thailand". Maybe ok, maybe not.

[Griffo63]

Rabid old goat you need to get out more!

if you know so much why are you asking stupid questions. dont bother answering we know the answer already

[Griffo63]

Rabid old goat - i asked a reasonable question and with the exception of you everyone gave me very helpful answers . Still I suppose your non de plume says it all. Enjoy your life

[MiKT]

Foreigners can only purchase a condo with money from outside Thailand. You MUST open a US$ account with your bank and when you buy the condo, the Land Registry will need to see all the forms from the bank that prove you bought the money in from overseas. You cannot buy a condo with money from a Thai Baht account.

Normally the bank staff will accompany you to the Land Registry to prove the money was bought in from overseas.

You can only put money into this account by transfer from overseas, or (at least in the case of the Bangkok Bank) by personally going to the head office in Silom road and paying in directly over the counter (they will convert your Thai baht into US$). You cannot transfer the money directly from another Bangkok Bank account or from any other bank in Thailand. Again in the case of the Bangkok Bank, you cannot even transfer money in US$ from another branch of the Bangkok Bank. Must be in person in Silom.

NB Your foreign currency account will not earn any interest, so get the condo purchase transactions over ASAP after you transfer the money. You can (if you want) keep the account open with a few $ in it in case you want to buy another condo later.

I don't know if you can be paid in Thai Baht when you sell, but I expect that will be that will be the normal case unless you agree with the purchaser to pay you in foreign currency. But when you sell, you will be charged a "capital gains" type tax (in Thai Baht) by the Land Registry (sorry I don't know the rates) so presumably you might as well get paid in Baht or loose on the exchange rates determined by the land registry.

Hope this helps.

I forgot to say, normally when transferring money from the UK to Thailand to a normal Thai baht account do it in Pounds Stirling and the bank here will the convert it at their (usually lousy) rate and take as long as possible to do so (better now than it used to be). If (again for the Bangkok Bank) you transfer the money from the UK in Thai Baht, first the UK bank will convert it at their lousy rate, then the Bangkok Bank will convert it back to Pounds and then convert it back to Thai Baht, so its very expensive (this is why you see the huge transfer costs). At least this is what I was told a long time ago.

It's the same if you transfer from the UK in US$, the bank here will convert it back to pounds and then to US$ at their rates.

Presumably the cheapest option would be transferring US$ from the US.

Edited February 5, 2015 by MiKT

[The Fat Controller]

Rubbish above.

You need a Thai Baht account with the incoming transfer made in Sterling from the UK and then converted at the TT Rate.

You will get TT Rate x Sterling Amount - (200 to 500 Baht) however the amount credited to your account will be the NET amount.

Bangkok Bank DO NOT charge a percentage, just look at the FEES page I linked before.

There is NO NEED to deal with the London branch of Bangkok Bank, just use a SWIFT transfer direct to your Thai account from your UK bank, charge should be around the £25 mark .

The transfer will take maximum 48 hours, my last one took less than 5 hours.

Edited February 5, 2015 by The Fat Controller

[mjakob007]

Either way, they just want to see the bank letter to know the money has come in from overseas - the letter from the bank should state the amount in baht.

To obtain a foreign exchange transaction certificate, you have to send in GBP.

you can instruct your bank to hold in GBP (not convert on receipt), so that you dont lose out on GBP-THB rates. i think you can hold that for 30 days without conversion

[ronthai]

OMG, just rent

[DepDavid]

Some good info here thanks!

[MiKT]

Rubbish above.

You need a Thai Baht account with the incoming transfer made in Sterling from the UK and then converted at the TT Rate.

You will get TT Rate x Sterling Amount - (200 to 500 Baht) however the amount credited to your account will be the NET amount.

Bangkok Bank DO NOT charge a percentage, just look at the FEES page I linked before.

There is NO NEED to deal with the London branch of Bangkok Bank, just use a SWIFT transfer direct to your Thai account from your UK bank, charge should be around the £25 mark .

The transfer will take maximum 48 hours, my last one took less than 5 hours.

I have had Current and Savings accounts with the Bangkok Bank for 20 years. But, when I bought my condo 12 years ago the Bangkok Bank insisted on me opening an additional US$ account (which I still have) as you could not buy a condo directly with Thai Baht because by Thai law the money must come from overseas and the Land Office require proof of this. According to the Internet this law is still in force, although maybe you can have a Pounds Stirling account (or a shekels or probably a Rubles 555 account) now.

Otherwise everthing above is correct, I have been transfering money from the UK to my Thai Baht Current account by Swift direct transfer for 20 years. TT is not the cheapest way.

I never said Bangkok Bank charge a percentage, I said they convert at low rates which is correct. But they certainly did do the double conversion if you transfered in Thai Baht from your UK Bank. Maybe (as the Swift interbank transfer is now automatically made via the Bangkok Bank in London) they don't do the double conversion any more. It is certainly much quicker than it used to be - hours compared with several days. Both your UK and Thai banks will charge a money transfer fee. NB if you want to make regular transfers, talk to your UK Bank Manager about a discount (promotion) rate.

Dear Fat Controller, don't huff and puff so much; and do try harder to learn to read English properly before you start spouting rubbish criticising other peoples posts.

[Griffo63]

Dear all, many thanks for all your posts - particularly the Fat Controller and MiKT.

As I bank with Bangkok Bank I also spoke to their HO - foreign currency dept. They said I could bring in £ at their published TT rate less 500 baht OR transfer in Baht from a UK bank. In both cases they said they would issue the Foreign Exchange Transfer documents. The BB TT rate yesterday day was 49.17 which was very competitive against the UK interbank rate.

For further information I use a Foreign Exchange specialist company. I transfer to them at no charge from my UK bank, agree a rate of exchange over the phone and they send to my BB branch for a charge of £6.50.

So thanks again to all I think I've got a complete picture now.

[The Fat Controller]

I looked into the UK FX specialist companies, whilst their rates and fee were competitive, my own bank only allowed a maximum of £10,000 to a third party using Faster Payment via online banking, so I would have needed to make 5 transactions and incur 5 fees at both ends.

The would not allow me to pay by Debit Card either for my first transaction with them.

At the end of the day sending STERLING via SWIFT from Nationwide to my Thai bank and getting it converted at the TT Rate in Thailand was the most efficient and cost effective solution.

According to Bangkok Bank's own website, the only reason to open a foreign currency account would be to enable conversion to THB at a later date of your convenience, it is NOT a requirement to have one for buying a condo in Thailand.

[MiKT]

Dear all, many thanks for all your posts - particularly the Fat Controller and MiKT.

As I bank with Bangkok Bank I also spoke to their HO - foreign currency dept. They said I could bring in £ at their published TT rate less 500 baht OR transfer in Baht from a UK bank. In both cases they said they would issue the Foreign Exchange Transfer documents. The BB TT rate yesterday day was 49.17 which was very competitive against the UK interbank rate.

For further information I use a Foreign Exchange specialist company. I transfer to them at no charge from my UK bank, agree a rate of exchange over the phone and they send to my BB branch for a charge of £6.50.

So thanks again to all I think I've got a complete picture now.

That's useful to know thanks; and thanks very much for your thanks.

To answer the FC post that came after this one. I can only tell you that 12 years ago it WAS a requirement of the Bangkok Bank that I had a US$ account (as I said I already had more than one [actually several] Thai Baht accounts) and the Bangkok Bank people accompanied me (and my wife and the condo seller) to the Land Registry to give the papers to the Land Registry that confirmed that we had complied with their payment in overseas currency requirement. I would hardly have done this in US$ if I could have had a Pounds Stirling account as I had to suffer the extra exchange rate. But the payment to the seller and the Land Registry fees were both made in Thai Baht.

But, the Bangkok Bank has changed a lot since the advent of on-line banking and opening a UK branch, so I hope you have a lot less hassle than I have had over the years. My wife and I often sat in the Bangkok Bank in Silom for 5 or 6 hours to sort out relatively simple things. My wife hates them very passionately and we recenty took a loan (using the condo as colateral) with the SBC who are much better at this kind of thing.

However, in order to secure the loan, which had to be in my wifes name with me as guarantor, I had to transfer my half of the condo ownership to her, as they would only give a loan (of 50% of the condo value) to a 100% owner. As it was a "free gift'" to my wife, the Land Registry did not charge any additional "capital gains type" taxes. But if you sold to somone else they would. The (very helpful) SBC staff were also with us at the Land Registry to ensure everything was done as they required and this is very common. Since my wife already owns everything else of mine and our other properties, I did suggest (555) that I should be the one with 100% ownership of the condo. However, the SBC would not make the loan in my name since I could not be the borrower and the guarantor at the same time.

If you see a down and out expat begging outside the Bangkok Bank in Silom one day, it will probably be me.

[ray richards]

Thanks to you all, i need to take this commission fee of 9,000 bahts deducted from my transfer up with the Bangkok Bank management.