Not a trading platform — a transfer & banking guide
Plain-English guides to funding a retirement visa, buying a condo, sending money home, and keeping a Thai bank account open — written for expats, retirees, and property buyers, not currency traders.
Indicative mid-market rates (updated just now), not what a bank or transfer service will actually quote you — always compare the real rate before sending.
Three ways money moves
Every guide sits under one of these. We’ll keep adding to each as the rules — and the providers — change.
Funding a retirement visa, wiring a condo deposit, or moving your pension here for the first time — the forms Thai banks want, and the providers that don’t bury you in fees.
Read the guidesSelling a property, closing out an estate, or sending savings back home — what changes once the money’s leaving Thailand instead of arriving.
Read the guidesWhy accounts get frozen, which banks still open them for foreigners, and how to keep yours in good standing once you have one.
Read the guidesCase files
Fact-checked on publish, revisited when the rules move — Thai banking regulation shifts more often than most sites let on.
What the Bank of Thailand actually wants to see before your embassy or immigration office will accept the transfer as proof of funds.
The anti-mule-account crackdown, the separate visa-status account rules, and how to avoid looking like a flag on someone’s dashboard.
The 800k rule resets every renewal, not just your first application — the real two-month/three-month timeline, and what a balance dip actually costs you.
Two different fees get confused as one — what Thai ATMs actually charge, and which travel cards genuinely reimburse it versus just waiving their own cut.
The FET form your developer’s lawyer will ask for at the Land Office, and why the wrong wire wording can hold up your own transaction.
PromptPay QR now links to a growing list of countries, but not yet to Western banking apps — what the “tourist cards” foreigners can get actually are.
The 400k marriage-visa deposit doesn’t have to come from abroad, and the seasoning rules vary by immigration office — what actually qualifies.
A bank-by-bank look at current requirements, drawn from what expats are actually reporting at the counter, not just the official checklist.
Thailand taxes foreign income when you remit it, not when you earn it — the 180-day residency test, Por. 161/162, and the still-stalled exemption.
Smaller, recurring transfers don’t need a FET form — but they still need the right paper trail if a bank ever asks.
US, UK, Australian, and EU pensions each land in a Thai account differently — including the UK’s frozen-rate trap and Australia’s 26-week rate cut.
Selling a condo or moving savings home — why the FET form and the new USD 200,000/year transfer cap are two different rulebooks, and which one applies to you.
What OFX actually charges to move money into Thailand, how fast it lands, and whether Thai banks accept its paperwork for visa or property funds.
Bangkok Bank's NY branch can still route US money to Thailand cheaply — but the mechanics have changed, and a 2025 update affects visa paperwork.
An honest Wise review for Thailand transfers: current fees, speed, and a documentation quirk worth knowing before a visa or condo transfer.
WorldRemit's fees and speed for Thailand transfers, and the per-transaction cap that can catch larger visa or property payments off guard.
How CurrencyFair's peer-to-peer pricing compares for Thailand transfers, plus its USD 200,000 cap and markup on larger sends.
What Xe actually charges for Thailand transfers, its $3,000 wire minimum, and why its fee structure isn't published upfront.
Rates and reliability across Bangkok's main money changers — and why cash exchanged this way won't satisfy a Thai visa's proof-of-funds rule.
Inheritance, a house sale, or business proceeds — the $200k documentation rule, the tax questions, and which providers actually handle a transfer this size.
Speed comes from the funding method, not the provider's name — card-funded transfers, cash pickup, and the ATM option if you're already here.
Drain the account or keep it open? No FET form applies outbound, and for once, your own Thai bank usually beats the apps.
The outward transfer limit just rose to $200k — and why Flywire or Convera beats a direct wire for tuition payments.
The major banks are closed to DTV and tourist visas — Wise's new Thailand entity is the one genuine workaround, and the two to avoid.
Who’s writing this
SiamForex is written by Chris Larkin, who has spent years fielding exactly these questions from readers of ThaiCitizenship.com — his site on Thai citizenship and residency. The pattern was hard to miss: half the questions weren’t about paperwork at all. They were about money, and how to move it here without getting stuck.
The same rule applies on both sites: give away the real answer first. If a provider link ever appears here, it’s because we’d recommend it with the link removed.