I'm working in Thailand for over ten years and I'm married here. My wife (Thai) has no currently no income or substantial assets. I have a decent income and we're completely debt-free. Most of my money is tied up in medium to long-term investments (Provident Fund, LTF/RMF, etc.) here and overseas. The investments are covering way more than the purchase price of the house we have in mind but I have limited possibilities to turn them into cash without incurring major losses through income tax.

We are planning on obtaining a home loan for buying a townhouse or similar (no condo).

My question: Is it possible to get a home loan from a Thai bank in our circumstances? If yes, what percentage of the purchase price would they be willing to cover? Any preferable banks?

Thanks for any useful advice.

Yes, with a work permit you should be ok, Wifey not working at all could be an issue as she will be the main mortgage holder but the only way to find out is to ask.

Exactly how much deposit is required is down to the bank (25% seems common).

Try SCB (the purple bank) we got a construction loan which later converted to a mortgage, slow processing but no real issues (but my wife has a good income).

UOB will lend up to 90%, but they do like to see the work permit going back a good few years. They also want payslips going back at least 6 months, preferably longer.

This can be done to buy a townhouse, and then as a bonus you even get to go to the land registry and have the person there tell you in no uncertain terms that you are forbidden from owning the house/land when they transfer it to wifey's name. Which is always nice.

The mortgage will be primarily in wifey's name, but will have your name on it too. My wifey's salary is significantly less than mine (like 30% of it), but it was no problem.

Where are you living ME4175. If you are living on Samui, I might be able to help you. Please PM me if you are.

Thanks for the hints.

I think we'll try UOB and see how it goes! I read elsewhere that they are the most "generous" in this regard as well.

Yes - you can't own anything but you can be used as security for the bank. Isn't it wonderful!

Yes - you can't own anything but you can be used as security for the bank. Isn't it wonderful!

Well, as we're married, half of it belongs to me - regardless of who is registered as owner. So that's not too much of a bother really. In the worst case, it would have to be sold and the proceeds split, but I can live with that.