Buying a Thai condo from mainland China: moving money and the FET rule

You can buy a Bangkok condominium while living in mainland China — Chinese nationals are among the largest groups of foreign condominium owners in Thailand. The part that needs planning is not the property; it is the money. Two separate rulebooks apply at the same time: China's controls on foreign currency leaving the country, and Thailand's requirement that a foreigner's purchase money arrive from abroad in foreign currency. Both must be satisfied, and neither waives the other.

This article explains how the two systems fit together, factually and with sources. It is general information, not legal, tax or exchange-control advice, and we do not advise on how to move money out of China — that is a matter for a qualified adviser and your bank in China. What we do is make sure the Thai side is done correctly, so your ownership registers without a problem.

In brief

• Chinese nationals can own a Bangkok condominium freehold — the planning is about money, not eligibility.
• China's USD 50,000 annual individual foreign-exchange facility may not be used to buy property abroad (application-form declaration, in force since 1 January 2017).
• Pooling several people's facilities, or splitting a purchase into many transfers, is penalised in China — we do not help structure around exchange control.
• Thai law requires the purchase money to arrive from abroad in foreign currency (Condominium Act §19(5) and §19 ter); keep the FET form or credit advice.
• Send foreign currency to be converted in Thailand, plan extra time, and make offers subject to quota and funds arriving.

What do China's foreign-exchange rules let an individual send abroad?

Each Chinese resident has an annual foreign-exchange facility of USD 50,000 equivalent, per person, per calendar year. It is set out in the Detailed Rules for Implementing the Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange (effective 1 February 2007), whose Article 2 fixes the annual amount at the equivalent of USD 50,000 for each person each year. Within that facility, an individual can buy and remit foreign currency through an ordinary bank without case-by-case approval.

That facility is meant for current-account purposes — travel, study abroad, medical treatment and similar personal spending. Capital-account transactions — overseas direct investment, buying overseas securities, and buying property abroad — sit in a different category under the same Measures and under the Regulations of the PRC on Foreign Exchange Administration (State Council Order No. 532, revised 5 August 2008). They are administered by separate approval or registration rather than through the annual facility.

Can the USD 50,000 facility be used to buy a property abroad?

No. Since 1 January 2017 every individual buying foreign currency in China completes an Individual Foreign Exchange Purchase Application Form, and the form's declaration states that purchased foreign exchange may not be used for overseas home purchase, overseas securities investment, life insurance and investment-type dividend insurance, or other capital-account items that are not yet open. Buying an overseas home is named on that list. When it introduced the form, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange described this not as a new rule but as a restatement of one that already existed.

The declaration carries consequences. A person found to have used purchased foreign exchange for a prohibited purpose, or to have divided one purpose across several people to get around the annual limit, can be placed on a watchlist and lose access to the convenience facility for that year and the following two years. For these reasons the annual facility is not a lawful channel for funding a condominium purchase abroad, and treating it as one creates a real problem in China rather than solving one in Thailand.

So how do buyers in China lawfully fund a Thai purchase?

That is a question for a qualified foreign-exchange adviser or your bank in China, not for us — Suwanvara Property and Suwanvara Law Firm do not advise on Chinese exchange control, and we will not help structure anything designed to get around it. What we can say plainly is what does not work: pooling several individuals' annual facilities toward one purchase, or splitting a purchase into many small transfers, is exactly the divided-purchase conduct the Chinese rules penalise.

In practice, buyers who complete a purchase are usually drawing on foreign-currency funds they already lawfully hold outside mainland China — savings in an overseas account, income earned abroad, or funds moved earlier through a permitted channel. The lawful position depends on Chinese law and on your own circumstances, and it is worth confirming with a professional in China before you commit to a Thai purchase, because the Thai side depends entirely on the money reaching Thailand from abroad.

Why must the money reach Thailand from abroad in the first place?

Because that is what qualifies a foreigner to own a Thai condominium freehold. Section 19(5) of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) lists a foreigner who brings foreign currency into the Kingdom among the categories entitled to hold a unit, and section 19 ter requires that evidence to be produced to the competent official when the transfer is registered. Money already sitting in Thailand in Thai baht generally does not qualify, however it arrived.

This requirement is separate from China's rules and applies to every foreign buyer, so a buyer coming from China has to satisfy both ends of the transfer: the money must leave China lawfully, and it must arrive in Thailand in a way that meets the Condominium Act. Our companion guide, Sending purchase funds into Thailand, walks through the Thai-side mechanics in detail.

What is the FET evidence, and when do you need it?

It is the bank paperwork proving that foreign currency entered Thailand for your purchase. For an inward transfer of USD 50,000 or more, the receiving Thai bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form — still widely called the FET form — under the Bank of Thailand's foreign-exchange regulations; below that threshold a credit advice or confirmation letter from the bank does the same job. The document names the amount, currency, sender, recipient and purpose, and it goes to the Land Department with you on transfer day.

Two practical points follow. Send foreign currency, not Thai baht — whether that is renminbi, US dollars or another currency, the conversion to baht should happen at the receiving bank in Thailand, because that is what makes the remittance qualify. And ask your Thai bank for the FET document or credit advice as each transfer lands, rather than reconstructing it months later; you can remit in instalments, but each one needs its own evidence and together they must cover the price.

How should a buyer in China plan the timing?

Allow more time than the property alone would need, because the money is the slow part. Arranging lawful foreign currency, opening or using an overseas account, and remitting into a Thai bank can take longer than a resale purchase's usual four-to-eight-week rhythm, and larger transfers are more likely to be queried than a small routine payment. Line the sequence up early: confirm how your funds will lawfully reach Thailand, arrange the Thai receiving account, and make any reservation agreement conditional on both foreign quota and funds arriving, with your deposit protected if either fails.

You do not have to be in Thailand for the transfer itself. A notarised and legalised power of attorney can let a representative attend the Land Department for you, and the purchase can be reviewed and completed remotely — provided the remittance evidence is in order. If you would like the Thai side handled end to end, that is what a separate legal engagement is for.

The limits of this article

• It does not tell you how to move money out of China. Chinese exchange-control compliance is a matter for a qualified adviser and your bank in mainland China.
• It states no exchange rate, transfer cost or timing guarantee — those depend on your banks and the market on the day.
• It is general information current at the date shown, not legal, tax or exchange-control advice; rules on both sides change, so confirm the current position before you act.

Continue reading

• Foreign ownership and land structures (separate legal engagement)
• Currency and timing: sending purchase funds to Thailand
• Does buying a condominium give the right to live in Thailand?

Sources

• Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), sections 19(5) and 19 ter (checked 2026-07-25)
• [Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange (People's Bank of China Order [2006] No. 3) and its Detailed Rules, both effective 1 February 2007](https://www.safe.gov.cn) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration, State Council Order No. 532 (revised 5 August 2008) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Individual Foreign Exchange Purchase Application Form, in use since 1 January 2017 (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Bank of Thailand foreign-exchange regulations (checked 2026-07-25)