How to transfer money to buy real estate in Thailand

Buy a house in Thailand or an apartment in a busy tourist area – a task “with an asterisk”, but it is quite feasible. The laws of the kingdom concerning real estate are different from Russian, so the bureaucratic procedures at each stage of registration will be different. As a rule, the package of documents is small, but it should be prepared in advance to avoid problems in the future.

Let’s look into how to transfer money to Thailand to buy real estate.

Payment in cash at the developer’s office or at our RF office

The easiest, fastest and most obvious way of payment. We schedule a meeting with the developer, you come and pay the required amount in cash or the agency representatives pay the developer. In this case, the transaction is as safe and transparent as possible, you will instantly know the amount of commissions and get the exact terms of completion of the transaction, regardless of the final value of the property.

Our cash acceptance points in Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Simferopol, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Ufa, Sochi, Rostov on Don, Samara, Irkutsk, Omsk, Perm, Izhevsk, Voronezh, Tyumen.

Partner offices: Astrakhan, Barnaul, Biysk, Volgograd, Donetsk, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Kirov, Lipetsk, Mariupol, Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhny Novgorod, Novokuznetsk, Novorossiysk, Penza, Pyatigorsk, Saratov, Stavropol, Tomsk, Ulan-Ude, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk.

Other cities need to be discussed individually.

There are few nuances associated with cash:

• If you bring more than 20,000 USD into Thailand, you will have to declare the amount at customs. As a rule, there are no problems with this. This condition works if you are not entering from Russia.
• From March 2, 2022, it is impossible to take out of Russia more than 10,000 USD in any equivalent currency at the current exchange rate. The ban is “temporary”, but Central Bank regulators are constantly extending it. The only way is to first transfer funds by wire transfer (more on this below), and then, when you are already in Thailand, come to the Montmari office with the required amount for payment.
• If you have cash currency on hand, check the year of issue of each banknote before exchanging it. Virtually nowhere exchange old-style dollars issued before 2006, this is a key condition.
• Also do not accept torn bills and with torn corners (even if it is not noticeable at all).

The main thing – do not bring cash rubles: the rate will be unfavorable, moreover, it will be difficult to find a place to exchange a large amount.

The main disadvantage of this method is purely bureaucratic – not all real estate developers in Thailand accept cash for subsequent payment of the transaction. Other buyers are not comfortable carrying suitcases of currency with them even in such a safe country, so there is always a choice: pay in cash or choose another cashless method.

P.S. You can always bring cash to the Montmari offices, thus simplifying the real estate purchase procedure by several steps at once. Even if you have cash baht, we will help you organize the account and handle the transaction correctly.

Cashless payment by bank card

It is also possible to transfer money to Thailand to buy an apartment or house using a card, but it is not the easiest way. Whether it is a debit or credit card, each option has restrictions on its use. In order not to overpay for nothing and not to get your bank account blocked, you have to fulfill a number of conditions:

• The card must be issued by a foreign bank that has not fallen under international sanctions and be linked to any payment system other than MIR. UnionPay and American Express work well in the country.  
• The tariff supports large money transfers to far abroad. Some Russian banks have regional restrictions. You can see which country you can transfer money to in your application.
• Internal commissions for non-cash transfers are not “biting”. If the bank wants to charge more than 2-3% of the amount, such a transaction is unprofitable.

Finally, the main argument “against” is the limits on card transactions in Thai banks themselves. The amounts vary, sometimes they are limited to 200,000 or 300,000 THB per day. Does this mean that this method of transaction is not recommended in Thailand? Not at all. If tariffs allow, you can transfer money in installments, accumulating the necessary amount in the national bank account, so that after some time to pay the seller of real estate convenient for both parties.

Bank transfer

The most popular, though not the fastest way to send money to buy a home in Thailand is a traditional bank transfer using account details. With it, you get the maximum level of security, you can monitor the status of the transaction online, but the advantages do not end there:

• The vast majority of Thai real estate developers work under this payment scheme. The system is as transparent as possible, there are no pitfalls.
• Each bank has a fixed fee – from 0.5 to 2% of the total amount.
• Currency is converted at the exchange rate exactly once.
• The agency will help to choose a bank connected to SWIFT.
• In 99% of cases, fast installment processing is guaranteed.
• No restrictions on maximum transaction amounts.

The terms of bank transfers in Thailand are slightly different from those in Russia. It can take from 2 to 5 working days to complete the transaction, and once the security check has been passed, the money is credited to the target account.

Cryptocurrency

Since August 2025, the Thai government has officially simplified the circulation of cryptocurrency in the country, so it is now easier to make serious purchases for BTC, ETH and USDT, including the purchase of real estate. At least two exchanges have received a banking license – Binance and KuCoin, and there are also Thai exchanges: Bitkub and Bitazza. Choose a convenient way of instant transaction from your cryptocurrency wallet, the rest will be done by the agency.

What is an FET form, in which cases it is needed

The Foreign Exchange Transaction Form, aka Foreign Exchange Transaction Form or simply FET, is a mandatory form to fill out if you plan to buy a condominium apartment. In fact, it is required for any real estate transaction of 50,000 USD or more. The certificate is required for the buyer to confirm the legality of transferring money from abroad.

Getting an FET in Thailand is not difficult, you need to fulfill three conditions:

1. The funds must be transferred to any Thai bank account and converted into local currency. This may take a couple of working days.
2. The purchaser’s real name and details are mandatory.
3. The text of the application shall clearly indicate the address of the acquisition apartment so that it can be entered in the relevant register in the future.

The document is a one page form with each box duplicated in two languages, Thai and English. There are four key points:

1. Transfer amount in American dollars, USD (recommended currency).
2. Amount in Thai Baht, THB at the current exchange rate on the day of the transaction.
3. The full names of the sender and recipient.
4. Transfer Assignment.

Once received, the completed FET form must be kept with the rest of your ownership documents. Even if you bought a house and not an apartment in a condominium, it is still worth filling it out – a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form will be required for resale and other transactions. If there are nuances in the emergence of money, it is solved on an individual basis – contact us and describe your situation.

What other documents are needed to transfer money to Thailand

Collecting documents to buy real estate is not an easy step. In order for the transaction to be 100% legal and not cause any questions from the receiving party, it is necessary to comply with local laws, and the method of transferring money does not matter. The bank representative has the right to request the following from you:

• Chanote is a certificate of ownership of land and/or real estate in Thailand. It is provided by the seller, thus confirming that he legally owns the property without encumbrances. This is the main document that will be required for all transactions.
• The original sales contract, already signed by both parties. It must contain the terms of purchase (lump sum payment, installments with exact dates of future payments, etc.), as well as all the buyer’s details.
• Deposit check (the mandatory prepayment percentage specified in the contract). In a number of situations it is mandatory. The amount can be deposited in any way, even if it differs from the main transfer.
• A letter of guarantee from the Thai bank specified in the transaction details. The statement confirms that the funds have been sent in full.
• Power of attorney for another person. Necessary when the buyer cannot be personally present on the day of payment. It is formalized through a notarial application first on the territory of the Russian Federation with the seal of the justice authority at the place of residence, then the document must be translated into English, certified in the consular section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and only after that send it to Thailand. The timeframe for processing a power of attorney is the longest – up to 3 working weeks.
• Color copies of the passport of a Russian citizen and a passport with a valid visa suitable for the purchase of real estate. For 2025, this may be a Digital Nomad Visa or Thailand Privilege Visa, etc. The visa may be a Digital Nomad Visa.

A citizen of any country can buy a villa or house in Thailand, moreover, since 2020, the procedures of paperwork have been greatly simplified. However, each transaction is individual, and the list of required documents for payment may vary. Montmari Real Estate Agency guarantees the safety and confidentiality of each procedure, we transfer money by all means from anywhere in the world.

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