When a foreigner buys a Thai condominium in freehold, the money for the deal has to arrive in the country in a very specific way. Without it, the Land Department will refuse to register the title — and the buyer is left chasing missing documents while the deal hangs over the cliff. The piece of paper that turns an ordinary international transfer into a “foreign payment for property” is called the FET — Foreign Exchange Transaction Form. This guide walks through exactly how to get one without tripping the common wires.
What FET is and why it matters
The FET (Foreign Exchange Transaction Form, sometimes called Foreign Exchange Transaction Certificate or FETF) is a certificate issued by a Thai commercial bank confirming that foreign currency in an amount of no less than USD 50,000 has arrived in Thailand and been converted to Thai Baht. The document lists the sender, the beneficiary, the original currency amount, the converted Baht amount, the date, and — critically — the official purpose of the transfer: “purchase of condominium unit.”
That single document is the Land Department’s (Department of Lands, dol.go.th) main evidence that the foreigner has paid for the unit with funds brought from outside Thailand. Without it, registration into the building’s 49% foreign-quota freehold under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 is legally impossible — no matter how much Baht the buyer already holds in a Thai account.
When FET is mandatory, and when it isn’t
You’ll need the document in three typical foreign-buyer scenarios:
- Condominium in freehold — mandatory. Without an FET, the foreigner’s name will not appear in the Chanote (title deed) for the building’s 49% foreign quota.
- Condominium in leasehold — technically not required, since no freehold title is registered. But most developers still ask for one to fix the foreign nature of the funds, so a future resale into freehold is cleaner.
- Villa or land via a Thai company — not required, because a Thai legal entity (not the foreigner) becomes the owner. But if the villa is held on a 30+30+30 leasehold, an FET may be needed to register the lease itself in the Land Department.
On the resale market, the FET is needed for the same cases as off-plan. There is no expiry date — clients who held FETs from purchases ten years ago still use them for resales today.
Minimum amount and accepted currencies
Since 2019, the Bank of Thailand (bot.or.th) has set the FETF threshold at USD 50,000 equivalent per single transfer. This means that for a 3 million THB condo purchase, you cannot break the payment into ten smaller transfers of USD 10,000 each — every one of those would clear as an “ordinary foreign-currency remittance” without FET eligibility.
Accepted currencies include USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, JPY, AUD, SGD, HKD, CAD, CNY, and about fifteen secondary ones. RUB is not accepted directly by most Thai banks, so Russian buyers usually convert to USD, EUR, or CNY on the sender side first.
If the transaction amount exceeds USD 50,000 but flows in tranches (developer payment plan), an FET is issued per qualifying transfer. On title transfer day at the Land Department, the buyer must present a complete set of FETs covering the total purchase price.
The step-by-step process
Step 1. Open a Thai bank account (optional but useful)
The FET is issued by the beneficiary’s bank. A personal Thai account is useful in two cases: (1) resale purchases from a private seller without a developer partner; (2) multi-tranche payment plans where holding funds in Thailand between stages is more convenient. For straightforward off-plan purchases directly from a developer, a wire to the developer’s account is enough — no personal account required.
Step 2. SWIFT transfer with the correct purpose
Three SWIFT fields will later appear on the FET:
- Beneficiary — exact name of the recipient (developer entity or private seller).
- Purpose / Reason for transfer — “Purchase of condominium unit at [project name], unit [number].” If this field reads “family support,” “investment,” or is left blank, the Thai bank cannot classify the inflow as a property purchase, and no FET will be issued.
- Sender details — buyer’s full name in Latin script, matching the passport exactly, without abbreviations. A mismatch between the SWIFT sender name and passport spelling is the single most common reason FET requests are rejected.
Step 3. Conversion to Baht
The receiving Thai bank converts the inbound foreign currency to Baht at the TT (Telegraphic Transfer) rate on the day funds arrive. That rate is locked into the FET and cannot be adjusted later.
Step 4. Request the FET from the bank
The FET is not printed automatically — it has to be requested. The recipient (developer or seller) files the request, and a hard-copy original is handed to the buyer. Processing takes one business day to a week. The fee is typically 200–500 THB per document.
Step 5. Hand it to the Land Department
On registration day at the Land Department, the buyer (or attorney-in-fact) presents: passport, FET totalling the full purchase price, signed sale agreement, and the building’s Foreign Quota Certificate from the management company. If any of these is missing, the registrar will refuse the transfer on the spot.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Splitting the payment. Several transfers of USD 10,000–40,000 “because the bank blocked the larger one” is the costliest mistake we see. Either send a single wire above USD 50,000, or coordinate with the sender bank in advance.
- Vague purpose field. “Investment,” “property,” or “real estate Thailand” without a specific project name may not work. Always use: “purchase of condominium unit at [PROJECT NAME], unit [NUMBER].”
- Name mismatch. Passport says “Aleksandr,” SWIFT says “Alexander” — the bank will refuse. Always reconcile the transliteration with the passport spelling.
- Wire to a middleman. If payment goes through a broker or partner, no FET will be issued — the wire must land directly on the seller’s or developer’s account.
- Pre-converting on the sender side. If you convert to Baht before the wire (say, through a Thai-Baht-denominated correspondent account), no FET is possible — the conversion to Baht must happen inside Thailand at a Thai bank.
Off-plan vs resale: how it differs
Off-plan (new development). Payment plans usually break into 3–6 tranches: reservation, deposit 25–30%, construction-stage progress payments, balance on completion. An FET is issued per tranche above USD 50,000. By title transfer, the buyer should hold a complete FET set covering the contract price.
Resale. The deal typically closes in a single payment: a 5–10% deposit into an escrow account held by a Thai lawyer, then the balance wired to the seller’s account on registration day. The FET is issued once for the full amount.
We’ve covered the broader trade-offs between new-build and resale in a separate guide.
What to do if the FET is lost
Thai banks retain FET records for 10 years. If the original is misplaced, a duplicate can be requested through the issuing bank’s branch — bring passport and the original transaction reference (date, amount, beneficiary). Duplicates typically take up to two weeks. If the title has not yet transferred, the Land Department registrar may insist on the original document, so losing it before the transfer is highly inadvisable.
After title registration, the FET keeps value as proof of “foreign source of funds.” You’ll need it when you eventually sell the condo and want to repatriate the proceeds. On request, the Thai bank will issue an outbound transfer up to the cumulative FET total, in the original sending currency.
FET and repatriation after sale
Here’s the angle most buyers miss: the FET is a two-way ticket. When the foreign owner sells the condo, presenting the original FET (from the original purchase) and the Chanote unlocks an outbound transfer in the original currency without further Bank of Thailand approval. Without it, repatriation is still possible but slow — typically a month or a quarter of additional paperwork and tax coordination.
For that reason, the FET isn’t really “the Land Department’s paperwork.” It’s the legal backbone of the entire ownership cycle for a foreign-held condominium.
Related reading
- Freehold vs Leasehold in Thailand: The Difference and What to Choose
- How to Buy a Condo in Thailand as a Foreigner: A Clear Step-by-Step Guide
- Buying Costs in Thailand: Taxes, Fees and Ongoing Property Expenses
- New Build or Resale in Thailand: What Is Better for Living and Investment
Sources
- Bank of Thailand — foreign exchange regulations and FET rules: bot.or.th
- Department of Lands — foreign ownership registration: dol.go.th
- Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) — the legal basis for the foreign quota: krisdika.go.th
