Sending Money to Thailand to Buy a Condo: FET Form, Currency and Paperwork

Buying a condo in Thailand usually means making the largest international transfer of your life, often several of them. Your bank asks questions, the developer sends account details, a friend recommends an app with a better rate, and at some point you learn that not every way of moving money will let the land office register the unit in your name. This guide covers the transfer itself: why Thailand cares how the money arrives, what an FET form is, where to pay, what to write as the payment purpose, how exchange rates and fees eat into the amount, and which records to keep for the day you sell.

Please read this first: this is not legal or tax advice. Bank of Thailand rules, land office practice and the requirements of banks in your own country change, and every transaction has its own details. The text was checked on the date shown at the top of the page. Before the first payment, agree the route with an independent Thai lawyer. For the purchase process from reservation to keys, see how to buy property in Thailand.

Why the route of the money matters

A foreigner may own a condominium unit outright, but the Condominium Act attaches conditions. One is the building's foreign quota. The other concerns money: you need to show that the purchase price came into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency. The policy logic is straightforward. Thailand lets foreigners buy condos to attract money from outside, so it wants evidence that the money really did come from outside. Quota, freehold and leasehold are explained in foreign ownership: freehold, leasehold and the 49% quota.

The land office relies on paper, not on assurances. On registration day it expects a bank document showing that the funds arrived from overseas, in which currency, from whom and for what purpose. If the document is missing or does not match the contract, registration can stall, and fixing the trail after the fact is slow and sometimes expensive.

If you are taking a villa on a registered lease, where this condition does not apply in the same form, a clean paper trail still pays off. When you sell and want to send the proceeds home, the Thai bank will want to see where the money originally came from.

The FET form and bank certificates

FET stands for Foreign Exchange Transaction Form. A Thai commercial bank completes it when it receives foreign currency from abroad and converts it into baht, as part of the Bank of Thailand's foreign exchange controls. In property, "FET" has become shorthand for any proof that the money came from overseas. For some transfers the bank issues a confirmation letter or a credit advice carrying the same details instead of the form. Which document you get depends on the receiving bank and the transfer itself; which document the land office will accept in your case is a question for your lawyer before you send anything.

A detail that catches people out: the bank issues the document to the holder of the account that received the money. If you pay straight into the developer's account, the developer receives the document and presents it at registration. Ask for the contract, or a letter from the developer, to confirm that they will request the paperwork for every payment and send you copies. If the money lands in your own Thai account, you request the document yourself at the branch or through your relationship manager.

What the document should show

• The sender: the buyer, with the name spelled exactly as in the passport and the contract.
• The currency that was sent, and that it was converted into baht in Thailand.
• The purpose: purchase of a condominium unit, ideally with the project name and unit number.
• The amount, the date and the remitting bank abroad.

Check each copy as soon as it arrives. Correcting a spelling error a month later is easy; correcting it at the land office counter is not.

Where to send the money

For new developments, most buyers pay directly into the developer's company account in Thailand, using the details in the contract or invoice. It is the simplest route: no Thai account needed, and developers are used to collecting the bank paperwork for each payment. The downside is that the documents sit with the developer and you depend on them to pass copies on.

The alternative is to transfer to your own account at a Thai bank and pay the developer from there. It suits buyers who plan to spend part of the year in Thailand or to rent the unit out and receive income in baht, and it keeps the documents in your hands. Opening an account as a non-resident, however, depends on each bank's policy and may require a branch visit and extra paperwork. Discuss this route with your lawyer, because it changes the chain the documents need to show.

Already living in Thailand?

Foreigners who live and work in Thailand sometimes assume they can pay from baht they already hold locally. Money earned or converted inside Thailand does not, on its face, show foreign currency arriving from abroad for the purchase. Ask your lawyer which funds qualify before you pay a reservation fee from a local account.

Never into a personal account

Do not send purchase money to the personal account of an agent, a sales manager or anyone claiming to represent the developer, whatever rate or speed is promised. Money that passed through someone else's account no longer shows that you brought currency into Thailand. Before every payment, confirm the account details by phone, using a number from the contract rather than from a new email. Payment-detail fraud by email is common worldwide, and property deals are a favourite target.

What to write as the payment purpose

An international transfer has a field for the purpose of payment or a message to the beneficiary. Your own bank may barely look at it, but the Thai bank uses it to understand what the money is for, and the wording may carry through to the document the land office sees. Write it in full English, without abbreviations. A commonly used form:

• Purchase of condominium unit No. [unit number] in [project name as in the contract], [city], Thailand
• For a scheduled payment you can add: Installment [payment number] according to the sale and purchase agreement

Ask the developer for their preferred wording and confirm it with your lawyer. Some developers want a contract or customer number added; some banks cap the length of the field. Shorten if you must, but keep the words "condominium unit" and the project name.

The sender should be the buyer, from an account in the buyer's name. If the unit will be registered to two people, ask your lawyer whether a joint account is enough or whether each buyer should send their share. If parents, a family trust or your company are funding the purchase, stop and get advice before sending: it changes the picture.

Sending from your bank at home

From a bank in the UK, the EU, the US, Australia or elsewhere, this is a standard SWIFT transfer, usually in US dollars, euros or your home currency if the Thai bank accepts it. Large transfers often trigger anti-money-laundering checks: where the money comes from, why it is going abroad and who the recipient is. That is routine, not suspicion. Online banking limits may push a large payment to a phone or branch instruction, so contact your bank well before the payment date.

• The sale and purchase agreement or reservation form, in English.
• Full beneficiary details: company name, account number, bank, branch, SWIFT/BIC code and address.
• Evidence of source of funds: sale of a property, savings, investments, a loan or an inheritance.
• The agreed wording for the payment purpose.

Currency and conversion

The money should arrive in Thailand in foreign currency and be converted into baht by the Thai bank. Do not convert into baht at home before sending unless your lawyer agrees: a transfer that leaves your country already in baht may not look, on the Thai side, like what the land office expects to see.

Money-transfer apps and currency brokers

Licensed currency brokers and transfer apps can offer better rates than a high-street bank, and for many buyers they are worth considering. The question that matters here is how the money arrives. Some services pay out in Thailand from a local account, in baht. The developer's bank then sees a domestic transfer, not foreign currency from abroad, and the document you need for registration may not be available. Before using such a service, get written confirmation from the developer and your lawyer that the route works for a foreign-quota purchase. Check, too, that the provider is authorised by the regulator in your country.

Exchange rates and fees: why less arrives than you sent

The contract price is normally in baht, while you pay in your own currency. Three costs sit in between: the sending bank's fee; the margin in the exchange rate, which on large sums is usually the biggest cost even though it never appears as a line item; and charges from intermediary banks and the receiving bank, which are sometimes deducted from the amount in transit.

In a SWIFT instruction you choose who pays the charges: OUR means you pay everything and the full amount should arrive; SHA means each side pays its own bank; BEN means everything is deducted from what the beneficiary receives. If the developer needs an exact baht amount, even a small shortfall can turn into an email thread. Ask how the developer handles differences and consider OUR or a small buffer. We do not quote percentages here because they differ between providers and change daily. Ask your bank for the all-in cost before you send.

With a payment plan, each instalment is converted at the rate of its own day. Nobody knows where currencies will go, so a budget with no room for movement is a fragile budget. If you want to manage that risk, discuss the options with your bank rather than following forecasts online.

Payment plans: one transfer, one document

Off-plan purchases are usually paid in stages: a reservation deposit, a payment on signing, instalments tied to construction and a balance at handover. Each is a separate transfer from abroad and each needs its own Thai bank document. At registration the land office looks at the whole price, so a folder with every document in order saves a lot of stress. How these schedules work is covered in developer payment plans.

Keep things consistent: the same sender, the same recipient, the same purpose wording plus the instalment number. If something changes along the way — a new bank, a second buyer, a new developer account — tell your lawyer before the next transfer.

Mistakes that hold up registration

• Paying from a relative's or a company's account when the unit is registered to an individual.
• Converting into baht before sending, or using a service with a local baht payout, without checking first.
• Leaving the purpose field blank, or writing "investment", "gift" or "family support".
• Bringing cash or paying by card without knowing whether a suitable document will be issued.
• Splitting a payment across several senders to avoid bank questions; it only creates more questions.
• Not asking the developer for documents after each payment and finding a gap on registration day.
• Acting on an email about "new bank details" without confirming by phone.

Keep everything: resale, repatriation, tax

The transfer records matter long after registration. When you sell and want to send the proceeds abroad, the Thai bank will ask you to show that the money originally came from overseas, and the documents from the purchase are the simplest way to do it. Selling and exiting are covered in resale and exit.

They also matter in your country of tax residence. The exchange rate on the purchase date, fees and dates may be needed for calculations when you rent out or sell. How exactly is a question for your tax adviser.

• Transfer confirmations from your bank (the SWIFT confirmation, or MT103 if your bank provides it).
• FET forms or Thai bank certificates for every payment.
• The developer's invoices and receipts.
• The contract and any addendum that changes amounts or dates.
• The source-of-funds documents you showed your bank.

Keep a scanned copy in the cloud and a paper copy. Recovering a lost document years later from a bank on the other side of the world is hard work.

How ROMA ThaiProperty helps

We are a property agency, not a bank or a law firm, and we do not take purchase money into our own accounts. We pass on the developer's official payment instructions, remind you to ask for the purpose wording and the documents after each payment, and help in English when a bank or the developer asks for something unexpected. Your lawyer confirms the legal route of the transfer; your tax adviser covers the tax side.

What next

If you have not settled on a city yet, start with Pattaya, Phuket or Bangkok, or browse all projects. Each project page shows payment terms when we have them, and a manager can confirm with the developer which account to pay and which documents come with each transfer. For the costs on top of the price, read taxes and fees when buying.