oceanbreeze851

Same here. Transferred 100,000 baht from Schwab to K-bank 17-12-2021.

My Thai wife (Pfizer) and I (moderna) received our Vax shots in USA. I wish we could get our booster in Nakhon Ratchasima.

23 years in USAF military and 26 years as registered nurse.

It is not the bank but who you know. I went to 3 different banks and was turned down. It was like no one wanted my money. My Thai wife's aunt knew someone and we contacted her. She knew someone that worked in K-bank (one of the banks we were refused at). We met at K-bank and she talked with the assistant manager. I opened 2 accounts (1 for my 400K baht, 1 for my wife and I for a working account). All I had with me was my passport, Non -O visa and my rental agreement. Good Luck.

Thank you for all the input. I agree that the banking system in Thailand is F***. Right now, we (wife, stepson, stepson's wife, grandson and I) live together and I am paying for everything. We will be moving to Sattahip in June and will rent a place until we can afford the house build. My stepson is a hard worker and will be getting a job to help with the cost of the house build.

I am retired military and collecting social security which I started over 3 years ago. Collecting over 100K baht a month.

Wife and I live in Korat. We went to Sattahip with my stepson and his wife. I love the area. We decided to look for land to own and build a house. We found a 2 plot area with total size of 210 wah. Put down a deposit and will pay it off before end of January. We had looked at house designs and builders on the net and figure we could easily afford about a 4-5 million construction cost. I figured that I would pay about 1/4 down and finance the rest of the cost. I am being told now by a friend that no bank in Thailand will lend to a foreigner. The bank loan would have to be in my wife name and seeing she has not worked in Thailand for 10 years and has no assets in her name (until January when the land will be in her name), her loan would be refused. This seems wrong as we have our retirement IRA in Charles Schwab worth over $300K. I do not plan to move from Thailand as I have sold all assets in USA. I have not been to a bank yet. Any suggestions other than holding the land for a couple of years then selling or raiding the IRA and take the tax bit to pay for the house in cash?

Wife and I live in Korat. We went to Sattahip with my stepson and his wife. I love the area. We decided to look for land to own and build a house. We found a 2 plot area with total size of 210 wah. Put down a deposit and will pay it off before end of January. We had looked at house designs and builders on the net and figure we could easily afford about a 4-5 million construction cost. I figured that I would pay about 1/4 down and finance the rest of the cost. I am being told now by a friend that no bank in Thailand will lend to a foreigner. The bank loan would have to be in my wife name and seeing she has not worked in Thailand for 10 years and has no assets in her name (until January when the land will be in her name), her loan would be refused. This seems wrong as we have our retirement IRA in Charles Schwab worth over $300K. I do not plan to move from Thailand as I have sold all assets in USA. I have not been to a bank yet. Any suggestions other than holding the land for a couple of years then selling or raiding the IRA and take the tax bit to pay for the house in cash?

My suggestion is to apply for a marriage visa. She will get a green card and will be able to travel. It is hard to prove that she will return to Thailand on a tourist visa if there is no proof that she will return. The marriage visa will take over a year to process.

Philippines, Belgium and Vietnam. Cost and life style. Lived in Belgium for 6 years when in the military.

Google search https://www.legalserviceshuahin.com/visa-for-thailand/marriage-visa/

I finally went to the US Embassy to notarize my marriage affidavit. I went next door to "A Language Lovers' Translation service". They will translate the marriage affidavit and the marriage certificate, send it to the MFA and send it back to me in Korat. They said it will take 2 weeks to complete due to Covid-19. Just another step in the marriage visa.

I guess you can say my golf clubs were a luxury item. I expected to pay up to $ 2,000 but I was surprised to only pay 5116 baht.

So of this information is not true but it depends on the shipping company. I was fortunate as the shipping forms only allowed 1 line for each box. I put 3 or 4 items that were contained in each box on each line. 1 box was a set of golf clubs (new) that I opened up and placed a new pair of golf shoes and a box of balls and ties. I was told this was a prohibited item but no extra tax on this item.

Just for information, I received my shipment from the USA 1 week ago. I estimated the value at $4000. Total import tax was 5116 baht.