Which Thai banks are currently lending ?

[taxin]

Hi all, does anyone have any more recent experience as to which banks in Thailand are currently lending ?

Note that I am looking for feedback from people with recent experience, for example someone who has a Thai partner that has recently been granted a housing loan. I do not wish to start another thread full of opinions about banks and the overall economy, and why renting is better than buying (there is enough of them already on the forum), so please only people who have had direct recent experience.

I use the word recent as Thai banks are always on and off when it comes to lending, one bank lending 6 months ago might not be lending today, and vice versa. I hope this will answer the predictable replies from people suggesting why I do not do a search on the forum, as there is plenty of info on here already.

Thanks in advance !

[TobiasML]

UOB,SCB, Krungsri all approved our application within the last 2 month.

[oxo1947]

Buying is better than renting.................

Just joking taxin....I have had 2 friends (Thai Families)both just get loans from BKK Bank...however these were low end loans in Issan, 1 brought house & land for 400K but managed to get a 500K loan, the other was 670K loan, both the males had jobs with government. -- good luck with yours....

[fletchsmile]

They're all lending - particularly if you have a decent credit profile. What you may find is that some of the banks have tightened their criteria for lower quality credits. They are particularly interested in your debt servicing ability (DSA) and debt to income ratio.

In terms of which might be most likely:

All the big 4 are in this space. SCB is probably most active, and if I recall the biggest mortgage lender.

Land and Houses Bank (LH) is particularly focused on home loans, although a smaller and newer bank. Sometimes a bit difficult to deal with for foreigners involved. Normally banks don't lend to foreigners (not just LH) for home loans, but if you're looking to guarantee a Thai partner's loan, compared to them doing it all themselves, it might be a factor

StanChart has a nice offset mortgage - mortgage one, which is very flexible and allows you to offset deposit balances vs mortgage loan in calculating interest. Again relatively new in this space over the last few years, and probably higher credit standards, but their mortgage book is one they look to build. We did ours through them a few years back

TMB also has intentions to significantly grow its home lending business in the next couple of years to diversify, so would likely be keen on new business.

At the low end, GH bank are offering mortgages to Thai low earners (think under THB 30k) up to THB 3mn under state sponsored schemes.

[Bill Miller]

They're all lending - particularly if you have a decent credit profile. What you may find is that some of the banks have tightened their criteria for lower quality credits. They are particularly interested in your debt servicing ability (DSA) and debt to income ratio.

In terms of which might be most likely:

All the big 4 are in this space. SCB is probably most active, and if I recall the biggest mortgage lender.

Land and Houses Bank (LH) is particularly focused on home loans, although a smaller and newer bank. Sometimes a bit difficult to deal with for foreigners involved. Normally banks don't lend to foreigners (not just LH) for home loans, but if you're looking to guarantee a Thai partner's loan, compared to them doing it all themselves, it might be a factor

StanChart has a nice offset mortgage - mortgage one, which is very flexible and allows you to offset deposit balances vs mortgage loan in calculating interest. Again relatively new in this space over the last few years, and probably higher credit standards, but their mortgage book is one they look to build. We did ours through them a few years back

TMB also has intentions to significantly grow its home lending business in the next couple of years to diversify, so would likely be keen on new business.

At the low end, GH bank are offering mortgages to Thai low earners (think under THB 30k) up to THB 3mn under state sponsored schemes.

Hmm. Any info on the state sponsored schemes? My partner has agreed to purchase a house with me if we can, but she is limited to about a ten year amortization due to the sixty year age limit.

We are looking in Chiang Mai, in the 600,000 to 1.5 mil range.

[Daniel Boon]

good luck (I have no idea, but would like to be in the thread)

[William C F Pierce]

If your not Thai then its best to use an English speaking Thai lawyer in your negotiations. You would use one for a property purchase in your home country. It will save you from any costly mistakes, The bank contract is written for their benefit not yours. . Remember the saying "A FOOL AND HIS MONEY IS SOON PARTED"

[flyingdoc]

I understood that K Bank have an active financing strategy, particularly if you were to buy one of their numerous repossessed properties on their lists! Well worth looking into!

[fletchsmile]

If your not Thai then its best to use an English speaking Thai lawyer in your negotiations. You would use one for a property purchase in your home country. It will save you from any costly mistakes, The bank contract is written for their benefit not yours. . Remember the saying "A FOOL AND HIS MONEY IS SOON PARTED"

In the UK I'd use a lawyer in negotiations for buying the property and the legal process of ownership transfer.

I wouldn't use one for negotiating a mortgage agreement with a bank. They get enough money for old rope as it is

Yes the bank agreements are written to protect the bank. At the same time the agreements must comply with regulations which include unfair contract rules and other regulations that protect the consumer. It's also extremely unlikely you'll get a bank to alter their standard T&C. Things like the rate, payments, term, yes. But not standardised T&C

It's a valid point though to understand what you're agreeing to, as mortgage T&C will differ. The key elements to understand though are similar to the UK: interest rate, monthly payments, early repayment, penalties, default etc

[taxin]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

1st of all im not considering buying a property, so the "fool being parted with his money" comments are not warranted.

Fletchsmile you are absolutely right with the banks being more interested in your ability to service the debt, my wife has been knocked back from most of the banks despite offering collateral valued at 5 times the requested loan amount, they are not interested in your collateral, they just want to be paid back.

At the same time the wife was also knocked back based on her income v debt ratio being 20 times greater, and when I say greater I mean in favor of her income, not the other way. Reason for this is because she is self employed, her business is purely cash, not through a company or as an employee, if her income was 90% LESS over the last 6 months and through her company or employer she would get a loan, crazy logic yes, but as they say TIT ! I just thought I would share this for anyone who might think that simply turning over funds in your GF/wife's account will be enough, this is not the case.

So staying on topic here is my feedback so far.

TMB, Land & Houses and GH Bank. All replied saying they were not lending money, they did not even consider an application.

UOB. Waste of time, the staff at the bank are only interested in selling you insurance and the appraisal fee for valuing the collateral.

Krungsri, KTB and Kasikorn. My impression was they are lending but not really looking hard for your business, they considered but declined due to the above.

SCB and Bangkok Bank. These 2 seem the most keen on lending and are currently ongoing, they are not as concerned as the others and can actually see that our application is a zero risk for them. I have a feeling that one of them will lend, but possibly not enough.

Will keep you updated !

[Tomtomtom69]

Try MBK finance for foreigner mortgages, if that's what you're implying in the OP (which I think you are as nobody would ask this question on behalf of a Thai, who can, if they have a decent steady job and income get a mortgage from any lender that does home loan lending).

Getting a credit card for a foreigner seems to be no problem as long as you have a job (or are self-employed) have money coming in and a work permit.

[taxin]

Try MBK finance for foreigner mortgages, if that's what you're implying in the OP (which I think you are as nobody would ask this question on behalf of a Thai, who can, if they have a decent steady job and income get a mortgage from any lender that does home loan lending).

Getting a credit card for a foreigner seems to be no problem as long as you have a job (or are self-employed) have money coming in and a work permit.

Im not looking for a foreigner mortgage, I thought I made this pretty obvious when I referred to examples of experiences that someones Thai partner may have recently had. Im also not looking for a credit card, I already have one.

What would be so unusual about asking other foreigners about experiences their Thai partners may have had with obtaining home loans ?

As I am not looking for foreigner finance or a credit card, you haven't helped whatsoever in your response.