The FET Form: What Every Foreign Condo Buyer in Thailand Needs to Know

If you're a foreigner buying a condo in Thailand, there's one document that stands between you and getting your name on the title deed: the FET form. Skip it, get it wrong, or misunderstand the rules around it, and your purchase can stall at the Land Office — even after you've paid in full.

Here's what it is, why it exists, and how to make sure you're on the right side of it.

What is the FET form?

FET stands for Foreign Exchange Transaction form. Older hands in the industry still call it by its original Thai name, Thor Tor 3 (ต.ท.3) — you'll hear both used interchangeably.

It's a document issued by a Thai bank confirming that a specific sum of foreign currency arrived from overseas and was converted into Thai baht inside Thailand. In plain terms: it's proof that your money came from abroad, not from a local Thai source.

What it's for

Thai law only allows foreigners to own condo units under the foreign quota (up to 49% of a building's total unit space, under the Condominium Act). To register a unit under that quota, the Land Department needs evidence that the full purchase price was funded with money from outside Thailand.

The FET form is that evidence. Without it, the Land Office will refuse to register the transfer into your name — regardless of whether the developer or seller has already been paid in full. It also matters later: if you eventually sell and want to repatriate the proceeds abroad, banks will ask for the original FET form (or confirmation letter) again.

A common point of confusion: does it have to be the same money?

No — and this trips a lot of buyers up. The Land Office and the bank don't trace specific banknotes. What the FET form actually proves is that a matching amount of foreign currency entered Thailand and was converted to baht, tied to your name and the purpose of the purchase. It doesn't have to be the literal money you then hand to the seller.

In practice, this means: if you already have baht sitting in Thailand — say, in a local bank account — you can pay the seller or developer with that baht, as long as you separately bring in an equivalent amount of foreign currency (matching the purchase price), convert it through a Thai bank, and get the FET form or confirmation letter for it. Money is fungible, so as long as the amounts line up and the paperwork points to your purchase, the "replacement" satisfies the requirement.

A couple of things to get right if you go this route:

• The foreign-currency inflow should match the purchase price and be reasonably close in time to the transaction.
• The FET form or confirmation letter still needs your name and the correct purpose of transfer on it.

The rules foreign buyers need to follow

1. The full purchase price must come from overseas, in foreign currency.Funds need to be wired in from an account outside Thailand, in a foreign currency (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, SGD, JPY, HKD are all commonly accepted), and converted to THB by the receiving Thai bank. Paying with baht already sitting in a Thai bank account generally won't satisfy the requirement for foreign-quota registration.

2. The transfer purpose must be stated correctly.When you send the money, the remittance instructions need to clearly state the purpose — something like: "For purchase of condominium unit no. XX/XXX at [Condo Name] by [Your Name, exactly as it appears in your passport]." Get the name wrong or leave the purpose vague, and the bank may not issue the right paperwork.

3. There's a threshold that determines what you actually get.For transfers equivalent to USD 50,000 or more, the receiving Thai bank is required to issue the full FET form and report it to the Bank of Thailand. For amounts below that threshold, the bank isn't obliged to issue a full FET form — instead they'll typically issue a credit note or confirmation letter referencing the SWIFT transfer, which serves the same purpose at the Land Office. Either document works, but you need one of them.

4. Only the bank can issue it — you can't self-generate it.The FET form or confirmation letter comes from the Thai bank that received and converted the funds. It's not something a buyer, agent, or lawyer can prepare. Specifically, it's the receiving bank's responsibility — whichever bank account the foreign currency actually lands in is the bank that issues the form.

That leads to two common ways the payment can flow:

• Direct to the developer. The foreign currency is wired straight into the developer's Thai bank account. The developer's bank converts it and issues the FET form, and the developer's team handles getting that documentation ready for the Land Office. This is the most common route for off-plan and new-build purchases.
• Via your own Thai bank account. The foreign currency is wired into your own Thai bank account instead. In that case, your bank issues the FET form directly to you. You then transfer the equivalent baht on to the seller yourself, and it's on you (or your lawyer) to present your FET form at the Land Office when the time comes.

Either route is valid — the difference is just whose bank ends up holding the responsibility for issuing the form, and who's holding the paperwork afterward.

5. Be careful with alternative payment platforms.Services like Wise or Revolut can be convenient for smaller transfers, but they don't always route funds in a way that produces bank-issued FX documentation recognized for foreign-quota registration. If the purchase needs to qualify under the foreign quota, it's safest to fund it via a traditional bank-to-bank SWIFT transfer rather than a fintech transfer app.

6. A few buyers are exempt.Foreigners who are Thai permanent residents, or who qualify under certain other grounds in Section 19 of the Condominium Act, may be exempt from the standard FET requirement. These cases are less common and worth flagging early with your lawyer or the developer's transfer team.

How to make sure you're covered

• Confirm the receiving Thai bank and account details before wiring funds — don't send money and figure out the paperwork afterward.
• Make sure your name on the transfer matches your passport exactly.
• State the purpose of transfer clearly, including unit number and project name.
• If your transfer is close to the USD 50,000 line, ask the bank directly whether they'll issue an FET form or a confirmation letter — and get it in writing.
• Keep the original FET form or confirmation letter safe. You'll need it again if you ever sell and want to move the proceeds out of Thailand.
• If in doubt, loop in your lawyer or the developer's transfer coordinator before the funds are sent, not after.

The bottom line

The FET form isn't a formality — it's the legal thread connecting your foreign money to your right to own a condo unit under Thailand's foreign quota. Get the transfer details right from the first wire, and it's a non-event. Get them wrong, and it can hold up your entire purchase at the finish line.

This post is intended as general guidance. Rules and thresholds are set by the Bank of Thailand and can be updated — always confirm current requirements with your bank and legal advisor before transferring funds.

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