Moving money in and out: exchange control, purpose declarations and the FET form

Thailand's exchange-control regime dates from the Exchange Control Act B.E. 2485 (1942); the Ministry of Finance has entrusted its administration to the Bank of Thailand, which works through 'authorized banks' — every commercial bank you deal with. That structure explains the everyday experience: any purchase, sale, exchange or transfer of foreign currency must go through a person licensed by the Minister of Finance — for most people an authorized bank, but also licensed money changers and transfer agents, and the bank must record the purpose of each transaction for the BOT. Your bank asking 'what is this transfer for?' is a legal requirement, not nosiness.

Bringing money in is free of limit. Going the other way, outward transfers are allowed through authorized banks for permitted purposes with the matching paperwork; retail investors may move up to USD 5 million per person per calendar year into foreign portfolio investment. For any foreign-exchange transaction of USD 200,000 or more the bank must collect supporting documents unless it has already done a know-your-business review of you. Physical cash has its own rules: Thai baht banknotes may be taken out up to 50,000 baht generally, or 2 million baht to bordering countries, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province, and foreign currency banknotes over USD 15,000 must be declared to customs.

Property buyers: the Condominium Act requires a foreign purchaser to show the money came from abroad in foreign currency, so ask the receiving bank for a Foreign Exchange Transaction form or credit advice for every transfer — the Land Department will want it, and it also smooths repatriating the proceeds when you sell.