The significant reduction (almost an elimination) of the property transfer tax from 10/19/15 until 4/30/16 which was announced today after the cabinet meeting has prompted the owner of the condo I rent to make an offer to sell it to me. Originally it was expected this reduction would apply to condos/houses selling for 3,000,000B or less but a newspaper article I read this afternoon seems to indicate there is no limit. I hope they don't exclude farang purchases.

Does anyone know of an economical way to move USD from USA to Thailand ? I have an FX dollar account with Bangkok Bank but the deposit fee is .25% which I consider excessive for a large amount.

Hello,

First I think this should be in the financial threads not in the condo....

I can not tell you exactly about US... But from swiss I transfer it (swiss money) to Thailand my Kasikorn account.

I have to pay about 300 baht transfer tax to my swiss bank. that's all.

In Thailand they will exchange my Swiss money to Thai baht and therefore i can receive interest rates (depends how long you want to let your money in the bank).

So I guess you can do similar from US. Why you have an FX account instead of exchange it to thai baht... I think at the moment the exchange rate seems very good for $.

transferwise.com

Take a look

It may be of benefit to you

Bitcoin is free.

Bitcoin is free.

Is it really free? After you buy it and convert it to baht... how much you made (what was your exchange rate if you check)?

You receive a Foreign Exchange Transfer Form when use Bitcoins (You need this to register a condo in your name)

If you need a FET form then maybe Bitcoin is not the solution for this.

If you need a FET form then maybe Bitcoin is not the solution for this.

ChaangNoi, you ever have transfered Money with Bitcoin?

I am really interested to know how this work, as I am actualy not have a very big knowledge in Bitcoin transactions. I only know the basics.

I would be interested in someone who already have down a transfer like that.

What would be the exchange rate compared to a bank exchange rate?

Thanks

Hi,

Bitcoin is very easy once you do it. The hard part for a new person will be finding where to buy and sell bitcoin. Depending on where you live there will be different options and different costs. Localbitcoins.com works world wide and they do charge a fee however they give a great escrow service.

Using bitcoin to send fiat to fiat is not really going to be the cheapest way to do things but it is great if you want money sent quickly or can't use a bank.

Eurp to Baht and you can wait a few weeks a wire should be the cheapest way, but if you need it in an hour and are sending massive amounts bitcoin might be best. If you need more help PM me:)

SWIFT.

Be careful to find out if your US bank will transfer USD to Thai bank as some like to exchange to Baht Before transfer, which can never be to your advantage.

I would wait a few days to find out exactly how the new "policy" is going to work

Just because the news reports one thing, what comes out may be different. Usually they announce some major change and then a few days later out come the "gotchas", in this case what types of property will be covered, will it cover existing structures or just new ones, is it applicable to individuals or just development companies, etc.

As they says, the devil is in the details

But as others have said in any event your are going to need a Foreign Currency Exchange certificate showing that the funds came from overseas if you ever want to take the funds back out of Thailand

Unfortunately, you don't tell us whether or not this condo is in the farang quota, because if it is not, then the whole question of how to pay for it is irrelevant

Best way is to have a Thai bank account in THB and have your US bank send over the money in US$ and let the Thai bank to the conversion. SWIFT is what it is called. Instruct your US bank that the receiver of the funds is paying all fees, since that is the cheapest option. I personally pay 5CHF to my Swiss bank for the transfer and a max of 500 Baht (depending on amount) to my thai bank for the conversion.

Yes, you need a Foreign exchange transfer form from the Thai bank (for amounts above US$ 50'000) which declares the transfer as "for property purchase", otherwise you can not use it for buying your condo. Therefore, bitcoin is no option and I would also be aware using any currency exchange online sites (transferwise or xe.com are often mentioned), as the Thai bank might not recognize them for issuing a FETF (they want to see the "real" source of the money, meaning a bank name and a country, both of which thex do not have with online sites)

Important: Langsuan Man gave the right advice: Wait and see how the details for this tax relieve will turn out. At present, it is loads of rumours, but I have yet to see and hear somebody who managed to put the ownership change into the land office records with the reduced taxes.