knowledge and practical thai legal information

Foreign currency exchange form

To qualify for foreign ownership under the Thailand Condominium Act a foreign purchaser of a condo unit is required to remit the full purchase price for the condo in foreign currency into Thailand, unless he is a resident in Thailand or eligible for foreign ownership under one of the other less common grounds of section 19 of the Condominium Act.

The purchase price for the condo should be transferred from abroad in foreign currency and exchange into Thai baht by the recipient bank inside Thailand. This bank must issue to the foreign buyer proof of the money transfer and exchanged into Thai baht. The foreigner buying the condo unit must show to the land department these bank documents in order to qualify for registration of foreign ownership.

FET-form, previously known as Thor Tor 3 form

For any foreign exchange transactions (buying, selling, depositing, withdrawing foreign currencies) between financial institutions and their non-interbank customers the recipient bank inside Thailand must prepare a FET form for each remittance and exchange of foreign currency with an equivalent of USD 50,000 or more and report this to the Bank of Thailand.

For lesser amounts the recipient bank in Thailand can but does not need to prepare a FET-form and issue a credit note letter based on the SWIFT document showing the same information as the FET-form. Such letter issued by the recipient bank can be used as proof of remittance of foreign currency into Thailand and exchange and withdrawal of Thai baht inside Thailand (similar to the official FET-form) and is accepted by the Land Office in Thailand when registering foreign ownership of a licensed condo.

These documents must show:

• The transferred amount in foreign currency
• The transferred amount in Thai Baht
• The name of money sender
• The name of money receiver
• The purpose of transferring (i.e. buying condominium unit x in the x condominium)

To qualify for foreign condo ownership registration the foreign exchange transaction forms or other bank documents must show the foreign buyer's name either as the sender or receiver of the money from the overseas bank.

Remittance out of Thailand

Whenever transferring money out of Thailand because the foreigner has sold the condominium a copy of the original FET-form and/or credite note together with the land office Thai apartment sale contract and the land office tax receipt is required for transferring money tax free out of Thailand.