MEMBERS of IBAP left feeling disappointed from the Phuket Brewery on Friday night after Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikornbank failed to match the interest raised for the monthly business meeting initially billed as ?Bank Loans for Foreigners.?

Prospective IBAP member Colin Smith was one such disappointed attendee who had hoped to find out how to get a mortgage to buy a condominium, ?I wanted to find out some information, because when you go into banks, nobody speaks English.?

However, after both bank's spokespersons finished their presentations it was clear that as Product Officer for Siam Bank, Khun Tikumporn Seneevat said, ?there are still problems for foreigners.?

IBAP members began to get increasingly frustrated at the lack of coherence and clarity of both spokespersons until a guest asked, ?How do you get money from the bank?? this raised a laugh in the conference room, until the rather disappointing answer was given.

Khun Tikumporn who once feared being sent to jail after giving a loan to a foreigner said that it was basically still illegal to give loans to foreigners, however he did reveal that there were three ways around the current legislation.

? If you have been living in Thailand and have owned a house for at least three to five years, you are eligible to apply and become a Thai citizen. If the application is successful, you will need to give up your own citizenship and passport.
? Take a Thai wife/husband, and they can borrow the money, then you become the guarantor, therefore entitled to and responsible for 50%.
? If you own and run a company, you can get the company to borrow the money on your behalf.

And that unfortunately was the meager fruits of the seminar, attendees and members shuffled around and made the best of it, enjoying the refreshing draught beer from Phuket brewery whilst networking with old and new friends.

The fact that there were no pamphlets or information in English, unlike the spokespersons, spoke volumes.