STOP ME....Repatriation of funds in Thailand

[SingaporeSteve]

torrenova said:

I wasn't under the impression that Thailand had currency restrictions but that there was a need to show money coming into Thailand for property purchases in order to avoid money laundering etc.

 

 

 

Thailand DOES have currency restrictions. Thai's for example are not allowed to make large transfers of money overseas without going through hoops and getting clearance from the Bank of Thailand.

 

I for example could not just walk into a bank and wire out 5,000 US$ without proof that it came in first. This is not to do with money laundry but is in fact currency controlling. Its unlike for example, HKG and Singapore which have NO currency controls. I used to regularly transfer 10,000 SG$ back to my account in the IOM, just by going into the bank and filling out the transfer form. Done in 10 minutes and sent.

 

When I asked at BKK Bank's foreign desk in Sukhumvit, they pulled up my current account details and said, in the last 3 months they can see inward remitance of US$XXXX - therefore I can transfer out US$XXXX but keep each transfer below US$10,000 per month otherwise they have to go the BOT for approval, despite them seeing that the money came in from abroad. I said well hang on I have actually transferred in something like US$XXXXXXXX over the last 4 years, to which they said, they need my bank statements going back that far and they would get copies of the inward transfer receipts (not same as Tor Tor Sam) and use those as justification why the transfer was being made. She said if I wanted to do one transaction over US$10,000 it was a really slow and painfull experience with the BOT, lots of form filling, reasons for transfers, proof of inward money transfer, show copies of work permits and tax returns etc etc - basically everything except a photo of my mother. This old lady at the BKK Bank foreign desk has been there years and knows her stuff - particularly given the location of the Branch, (SUk soi8) and the size of their foreign desk (always 3 staff excluding the exchange desk downstairs). So without me double checking what she has told me I assume she is correct and given thats where my money is, I dont really have any option other than trying to buy loads of foreign currency on the Quiet and filling a bag with it back to the UK. But of course that raises more questions in the UK about money laundering.

 

So, yes you can take money out but technically only as much hard currency as you bought in. ANything else you would have to dribble out in cash to say HKG or Singapore by personal visit.

[Zorro]

Is this the same situation for a registered company?

 

What if you buy a business for say 20 million baht and a few years later sell it for 80 million baht?

 

Are you saying that you cannot remit the money to another country?

 

That doesn't sound right to me.

[SingaporeSteve]

Zorro said:

Is this the same situation for a registered company?

 

What if you buy a business for say 20 million baht and a few years later sell it for 80 million baht?

 

Are you saying that you cannot remit the money to another country?

 

That doesn't sound right to me.

 

Absolutely - if you brought 20,000,000 in a hard currency to make the acquisition, sold it for a profit, you can only take out the equivalent of what bought that 20,000,000 baht whenever you did it. Anything else is Thailand money and cannot leave the country without Bank of Thailand approval. Its basically to stop people dumping the baht and it spiraling down in value.

 

There are ways round it but basically if you took your 80,000,000 baht into the bank and said send this to so and so in another country, they will not do it without the BOT approval. The BOT would unlikely ever give approval as the baht is being sold with no liklihood of any return flows to buy baht. A Thai company such as AIS could do it because if they buy a stake in an overseas company, the theory is that the profit they make from the overseas subsidary comes back to Thailand and buys baht to reported in the Thai company profits. Thai people can do it only by explaining what its for, such as a 10,000US$ transfer to the University of Chicago is to pay for little Jonny's school fee's.

[rickfarang]

I appreicate all the comments, and see your points, particularly SingaporeSteve's observatons about the precariousness of the baht -haden't realized it was that shaky. It seems that the answer to my basic question is that I can take out as much as I bring in, and that would be ok.

 

I don't have to worry about who would rent the place because I would live in it, at least for the first several years.

 

There seems to be a broad concensus that getting the money out of both the investment and the country would be a lot more trouble than buying in.

 

I will proceed with the investigation with all antennae up and the assistance of the proper professionals.

 

Thank you for your help.

[torrenova]

Cheers for that Steve, it certainly needs further looking into over and above taking bags of cash out with you.

 

Just a note here from the Thai customs website:

 

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Traveller/TravelEng.jsp?menuNme=Travel

 

V Currencies

 

Inbound Passengers: Inbound passengers are allowed to bring in unlimited amount of foreign and Thai currencies.

 

Outbound passengers: Unlimited amount of foreign currencies are permitted to carry out of Thailand. However, the amount of Baht 50,000 or more in Thai currency must be reported on departure, except those traveling to Lao PDR., Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam are allowed to take out Thai currency not exceeding 500,000 Baht.

 

I wonder what Citibak would do though as you can draw significant sums from Citibank ATMs all over the world. I think the standard in the UK is GBP 2000 = 140,000 so a few million wouldn't take long.

[dinkas]

SingaporeSteve said:

 

Absolutely - if you brought 20,000,000 in a hard currency to make the acquisition, sold it for a profit, you can only take out the equivalent of what bought that 20,000,000 baht whenever you did it. Anything else is Thailand money and cannot leave the country without Bank of Thailand approval. Its basically to stop people dumping the baht and it spiraling down in value.

 

There are ways round it but basically if you took your 80,000,000 baht into the bank and said send this to so and so in another country, they will not do it without the BOT approval. The BOT would unlikely ever give approval as the baht is being sold with no liklihood of any return flows to buy baht. A Thai company such as AIS could do it because if they buy a stake in an overseas company, the theory is that the profit they make from the overseas subsidary comes back to Thailand and buys baht to reported in the Thai company profits. Thai people can do it only by explaining what its for, such as a 10,000US$ transfer to the University of Chicago is to pay for little Jonny's school fee's.

 

In my experience, I would say SS is correct here in para 1 and para 2, but as a foreigner I found it somewhat easier to transfer money out of Thailand than what appeared on face value from the regulations. I got the distinct impression that the Bank of Thailand's policy seemed to be more aimed at Thais from investing their own money overseas and not foreigners. Where it concerns foreigners seems more related as monitoring of money laundering/illegal activities.

 

If the amount you are transferring is over a certain amount (100,000 baht ?), you just have to provide a reason for transferring the money. If you are a foreigner working in Thailand legally, I found it quite easy to transfer money out of Thailand - you can just say the money is your savings from your earnings here and that is sufficient.

 

You just give them a reason and list it on the form - I was never asked to provide supporting evidence to confirm my evidence whether it was correct, but decided to transfer the money 150,000 baht at a time to my own bank account overseas. The person at the bank told me if you are transferring the money to a bank account in your own name overseas it was almost never a problem. In all cases, the money was in my account overseas within 4 working days.

 

For those who are not working legally in Thailand, you might encounter more difficulties, but I have friends who were in this position and transferred amounts of money in the range of 100,000-200,000 baht at a time without much difficulty. I am guessing if you are from the Middle East/Africa and wanted to do the same thing you might come under more suspicion.

 

There is also a good fallback measure if you are going back to your homeland for a few weeks. Make sure you have 4-5 bank accounts, get an ATM which works overseas for each one. A friend cleared most of his money out in a few days. While that can be a pain it is not the end of the world and if you are ultimately worried about getting the money out. If you don't want to go back to your home country, I am sure you could fly to a place like Singapore (where I understand it is much easier to transfer money) open up a bank account and start depositing your money there through ATMs.

 

If you are transferring large sums, I am sure if you went to see a lawyer they could work out a way to do so.