Since 29 December 2025, Thai banks check documents for every transfer from abroad of $200,000 or more if the recipient is a Thai resident. This is required by Bank of Thailand circular No. 8434/2568. In 2026 new measures were added: a money changer can buy currency from one customer for no more than 800,000 baht a day, and a bank runs separate checks on cash withdrawals of 5 million baht or more at a branch. At the border, anything over $15,000 or 450,000 baht in cash has to be declared.
Transfers of $200,000 or more
The circular was signed on 26 December 2025 and is addressed to banks, not customers: it’s an instruction on how to check incoming money. It covers residents, both individuals and companies, and applies not only to converting currency into baht but also to crediting currency to a foreign currency deposit account (FCD). The Bank of Thailand doesn’t define in these documents which foreigners a bank treats as residents, so check with your bank.
The regulator gave its reason plainly. Residents’ transfers above $200,000 make up only 15% of incoming transactions but 85% of their volume. Until now no documents were required for them: the customer simply stated the purpose. The Bank of Thailand decided this channel was too convenient for money of unclear origin, and large flows also make the baht exchange rate swing.
Now the bank requests documents for every such transaction on the day of the deal. The exception is routine transactions by business customers the bank knows well and monitors continuously: for them there’s a simplified KYB (Know Your Business) regime. But even that doesn’t apply if the money is:
- going into property in Thailand;
- coming from digital assets, in which case you also need documents on the origin of the assets themselves or the money used to buy them;
- other capital, meaning anything other than investment in your own companies and branches, securities, loans and borrowing, and derivative settlements;
- for other purposes, meaning anything other than goods, services, income, transfers and donations, investments, banknotes and deposits.
On 6 January 2026 the Bank of Thailand explained to banks what to do if there are no documents. When the purpose is ordinary (income, a remittance, payment for goods or services), the bank can accept a written statement from the customer and will report the transaction to the regulator. For property, cryptocurrency and the other purposes on the list above, a written statement isn’t enough.
The circular singles out gold and cash. For currency from selling gold abroad, the bank checks documents at any amount, with no threshold. And if you sell foreign cash to a bank or put it into a foreign currency account in an amount of $15,000 or more, the bank will ask you to prove where it came from: a customs declaration on entry or a receipt from the Thai money changer you bought it from.
What was added in 2026
Nobody has scrapped or softened the $200,000 rule, but new restrictions have grown up around it. For life in Pattaya, money changers matter most. Since the end of January 2026, a licensed money changer can buy foreign cash and traveller’s cheques from one customer for no more than 800,000 baht a day, and special-category money changers near the border for no more than 200,000. You have to show your passport when exchanging. There used to be no cap, so a large sum in dollars or euros will now have to be exchanged in parts.
Since 1 March, trading gold on online platforms settled in baht has been limited to 50 million baht a day per person per platform, separately for buying and selling. Jewellery shops aren’t affected.
Since 1 April, banks have been looking especially closely at cash withdrawals at a branch of 5 million baht or more a day: they ask for the purpose, may ask for documents, and report unusual transactions to the regulator. Transfers aren’t affected.
Two more measures are still at the draft stage. The Bank of Thailand has discussed extending the 5 million baht rule to cash deposits and currency exchange at banks, from 15 October 2026 according to InfoQuest. And the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed capping stablecoin deposits and withdrawals on Thai platforms at 5 million baht a day per person, with no limit on transfers between Thai platforms themselves. The consultation ran until 25 September.
How much cash you can bring in and take out
You can bring in foreign currency and baht without limits. But if you have more than $15,000 in foreign currency, you have to declare it, both on entry and on exit. The figure of $20,000 that keeps doing the rounds online is out of date. A declaration is also needed when baht, foreign currency and bearer cheques together are worth more than 450,000 baht.
On taking foreign currency out, the wording differs: customs doesn’t name any limits, while the Bank of Thailand’s summary refers to currency bought from a Thai bank or money changer. If you’re taking out a large sum, keep your entry declaration or the money changer’s receipt with you.
You can take out no more than 50,000 baht per trip. To Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province, up to 2 million baht. Anything above that needs permission from the Bank of Thailand.
You hand the completed form to a customs officer at the border checkpoint in person, together with your passport. They count the money, stamp the form and give you a copy. It’s worth keeping: when exchanging at a bank or crediting a foreign currency account with $15,000 or more, it’s ready-made proof that you brought the money in.
Since 2016 the Exchange Control Act has treated cash as goods for customs purposes. That means undeclared money risks the same fate as any goods brought in without clearance, up to and including confiscation.
What to do before a large transfer
Ask your bank in advance which documents it will accept for your purpose, and make sure the stated purpose of the payment matches them. Keep contracts, invoices, statements and customs declarations. If a transfer of $200,000 or more is going into property, or it’s money from selling cryptocurrency, prepare documents on the source of funds straight away: a written statement can’t replace them.
Rules and banking practice change, so this article isn’t a substitute for individual advice. For a different kind of risk, getting your account frozen because of someone else’s fraud chain, see the article on P2P.
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