Sending money to and from Thailand: the round trip nobody plans for

Two directions, two mindsets

Almost everyone researching money in Thailand starts — reasonably — with how to get it in: the cheapest transfer route, the exchange-rate margin, funding a Thai bank account. That half is well covered, and we cover it fully in the sending money to Thailand guide. The half that surprises people comes years later, when they want to send rental income home, move savings out, or sell a condominium and repatriate the proceeds. Thailand operates light exchange controls through the banks: legitimately-remitted money can leave, but the bank has to see where it came from and why it’s going. Get into the habit of keeping paperwork from day one and the round trip is painless; lose it, and the outbound leg becomes the hard part.

Bringing money in — the short version

Recapped briefly, because it’s covered in depth elsewhere: for everyday sums — rent, living costs, a pension or salary — a low-margin transfer app (Wise, Revolut and similar) usually delivers the most baht because it converts near the real mid-market rate. For a property purchase, the funds generally must arrive in foreign currency through a Thai bank so it can issue the FET form the Land Office requires. Always compare the baht actually received, not the headline fee.

For the full inbound playbook — routes, the rate margin, getting a pension or salary in, ATM traps — see sending money to Thailand, and opening a Thai bank account for where to receive it.

The FET form is a long-term document, not a receipt

The Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form — issued by your Thai bank when foreign currency lands and is converted to baht, for amounts at or above the reporting threshold — does double duty, and that’s the key insight most buyers miss:

• Going in: it’s the proof the Land Office requires to register foreign freehold ownership of a condominium.
• Coming out: it’s your evidence the money was foreign-sourced and remitted properly — which is what lets you send the equivalent, and a condo’s sale proceeds, back abroad cleanly through the banking system.

So treat the FET (and any bank credit advice for smaller transfers) as a document you keep for as long as you own the asset — scanned and filed, original safe. See the buying process guide and foreign-ownership guide for how the FET fits the purchase.

Sending money out — repatriating rent & sale proceeds

Outbound transfers are documented, not instant. The bank files the transaction with the Bank of Thailand and, once satisfied about source and purpose, converts and wires the funds abroad. What it asks for scales with the amount:

• Condo sale proceeds: typically the original FET / credit advice that proved the money came in, the sale-and-purchase agreement, and Land Office transfer documents.
• Rental income: evidence of the source — the lease and rent records — and, if relevant, that tax has been handled.
• Savings / personal funds: a routine smaller transfer is straightforward; larger amounts need a clearer paper trail of where the money originated.

The single biggest avoidable problem is discarding the inbound paperwork. Keep every FET and credit advice and the outbound leg is administrative; lose them and repatriating a large sum becomes a chase for reconstructed evidence.

Bank of Thailand reporting & outbound limits

There’s no flat cap on legitimately repatriating your own, properly-documented funds, but everything runs through the banks under Bank of Thailand exchange-control rules:

• Banks report foreign-exchange transactions to the BOT; you supply documents that scale with the amount and purpose.
• Some purposes (repatriating investment proceeds, your own income) are freely permitted with the right paperwork; others need more justification.
• The exact thresholds, forms and document lists change over time — this is general information, not a current rulebook.

Before you plan around a closing date or a wire deadline, confirm the current requirement and document list with your bank — the relationship and the paperwork, not the law itself, are usually what determine how fast a large transfer clears.

Cash at the border — declaration limits

Carrying physical cash is governed separately from bank transfers, and there are two different rules:

• Foreign currency cash above roughly the USD 15,000 equivalent must be declared to Thai Customs on entry and exit. Declaring is free — failing to declare is the offence.
• Thai baht banknotes are more restricted: there’s a per-person limit on taking baht out, higher for neighbouring countries than for the rest of the world.

These figures are set by the authorities and change, so check the current Customs and BOT limits before you fly. For any meaningful amount, a documented bank or app transfer is safer and usually cheaper than moving cash — and it leaves the paper trail you may need later.

Choosing a service — compare the landing amount

The same discipline applies in both directions: compare the total that actually arrives at the other end, not the advertised fee.

• Low-margin apps (Wise, Revolut, similar): usually cheapest for everyday sums in or out — near mid-market rate, small visible fee, fast and trackable.
• Thai-bank SWIFT wire: the route that produces an FET or documented bank record — the one you generally need for a property purchase or a large repatriation, even at slightly higher cost.
• The rule that hides the cost: the exchange-rate margin (often 1–3% on a bank wire) usually dwarfs any flat fee; “zero-fee” offers often bury it in the rate.

Whichever route, confirm with the bank that it generates the document you’ll need — not every app transfer produces a compliant FET. Detail on rates and routes is in sending money to Thailand.

Crypto — not a transfer shortcut

It’s tempting to think crypto sidesteps the paperwork. It mostly creates new problems:

• Thailand restricts using crypto as a means of payment.
• Moving money via crypto generally won’t produce the FET or documented bank record you need to register foreign condo ownership or to repatriate sale proceeds — so it can quietly defeat the goal.
• It carries exchange-rate, platform, regulatory and tax risk that a regulated transfer doesn’t.

For property and any sum you may need to send back out cleanly, use the regulated banking and transfer routes that leave a paper trail. Treat crypto as a separate, higher-risk decision — never the round-trip shortcut.

Scams & mistakes to avoid

And remember tax sits alongside all of this — how foreign income and remittances may be treated is in our Thai tax for expats guide.

Frequently asked

Sources & References

• Bank of Thailand

Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.