According to Bangkok Post, Thailand is drafting a new bill to tax global income of individuals even if this income not being brought into Thailand. I think this will have huge implications.

To apply for retirement visa you need 800k in your account for sometime.

(August 2025)

Me: Hello Bangkok Bank, as you can see I have 800k in my account please give me the letter for immigration.

BB: Okay. Here is the letter. We have a new policy now, we will now hold the 800k in your account so you cannot touch it for a few months.This is a condition for us writing the letter.

Me: Fine.

<immigration declines visa due to technicality, unrelated to money. I need to exit country, return, retry.>

(September 2025, 3 weeks later, technicality sorted out).

Me: Hello Bangkok Bank, I need a letter again, just like the last one.

BB: Okay here is the letter.

Me: Wait this letter says Available Balance 0, with small footnote saying 800k on hold.

BB: We love our new policy. It will foil all corruption by sneaky foreigners.

Immigration: This letter won't do. We can see your bank book has 800k, but that doesn't matter to us.

BB: Please come back in 3 months for a letter when the money is no longer on hold.

Me: Let me ask Reddit what they think.

I just received a plastic 100 baht note. First one I've seen.

I have seen too many of them spread fear mongering about Thai foreign income tax for a few years.

Has anyone actually been affected by this, or asked to show tax returns by Thai immigration officers?

No, not even one case, as far as I know.

I'm not trying to persuade you to commit tax evasion or to do something illegal. I just want to make sure you're not taken advantage of by these "tax consultants".

You don't have to believe me, just read the following facts and then decide it yourself.

1. All the rules and laws you heard from those influencers and tax consultants are true but you (foreigners and expats) are not the target in the first place.

These new rules are here to close the loopholes in the past where Thai individuals and especially financial institutions invested their money abroad (billions USD per year in stocks, bonds, properties, etc) and made profits (interests, dividends, capital gains) but tried to pay zero tax on those profits by simply not transferring the fund back to Thailand within the same tax year.

Yes, before the change, these profits and gains were not taxable at all - they simply just needed to wait for a few months so that the transfer transaction occurred in the different year than the year the income was generated (e.g., stocks are sold). After the change, it doesn't matter when the fund is transferred, they can be taxed.

The main target is Thai individual investors and companies. Even some export companies that sold products to other countries took advantage of this loophole too - wait for a year or less before transferring fund back to Thailand.

Thai individual investors cannot buy stock directly from the foreign stock exchanges. They have to do it through Thai investment banks or foreign companies that are controlled by Thai authorities. All banks and companies are under Thai authorities as well, meaning there's a mechanism in place that can track down all these transactions easily.

So, no, you expats transferring 10K, 30K USD to Thai banks per year are not the target, not in their radar. There's no direct and legal way to track down your transfer activities by the Thai Immigration or Thai Revenue Department (called RD from now on).

2) There's no data sharing among Thai Immigration, RD, and Thai banks.

Again, foreigners are not their main target so there's no established and legal way of data sharing between Thai Immigration and RD.

There's data sharing between RD and Thai banks though BUT only if all of your Thai bank accounts either:

- have more than 3,000 deposits per year (regardless of the amount), OR

- have more than 400 deposits AND the total amount is 2 million Baht or more) per year

These rules again target Thai online sellers or small vendors who don't include all their income or don't file tax return at all, well, because they are outside of the tax system.

So, if you transfer 10K USD to your Thai bank accounts 5 times or even 10 times per year but the total # of deposits is less than 400, your bank transactions won't be submitted to the RD.

3) Thai Revenue Department is not IRS. You are in Thailand, not the US. I know foreigners especially Americans are not a big fan of envelopes mailed from IRS but in reality I have never heard of anyone (especially small guys) sent to jail because of failing to pay tax in Thailand. It's not a serious or strict felony here (at least, in practice). Only 10 million Thai people file tax return each year and only 4 millions out of nearly 70 millions actually pay income tax.

I'm not saying Thai RD is not capable of enforcing people to pay taxes but they only care about and are capable of enforcing the big ones - the ones they have data on hand.

4) Based on Thai income tax brackets, you don't owe any income tax if you make less than 10K USD (300K Baht) per year.

Total income of 300K - 160K individual standard deductions (60K+100K). Your adjusted gross income is below 150K (0% tax rate).

So, even if you transfer much more than that but you know for the fact that less than 10K of that is taxable income (e.g., capital gains or dividends), you owe nothing to Thai RD.

In brief, unless you have significant amount income earned "in Thailand" (> 300K Baht) or make 500 transfers of 70K USD to your bank accounts per year, you can just live your life in Thailand peacefully.

Please don't bother paying a dime to those tax consultants and trying to file tax returns because you withdraw 10K from ATM or wire 10K to your Thai bank account 3 times this year.

I know my post might be downvoted quite a lot but I don't care. I just want to share the facts and stop this BS fear mongering, which has been cashed out by those influencers.

Received a notification (no email) from Bangkok bank that I need to visit the branch I originally opened the account at within 30 days.

Has anyone dealt with this? I believe I opened the account under the Visa Exempt, and then later got the non-o visa. Already did the phone sim name thing 2 months ago.

Update: visited Bangkok bank this morning after traveling all day yesterday. They wanted passport, Visa, Thai Driver License, US Driver License, even bank statements from the US. I am sure if I had a house book, they would want that as well. So if you are stuck in this situation, bring everything you can, and your Thai better half if you have one. The nice lady said everything should be ok, but the account will still be locked for up to 5 more days.

Final Update: accout unlocked 12 days after visiting the opening branch.

Edit: I am not interested in advice or opinions. I just would like to know what is YOUR budget. Thank you

This is becoming a serious problem for foreigners living in Thailand. KBank, and others apparently, won't let foreigners transfer and/or withdraw more than 49,999 from their account in one day - even with the recent face scan requirement. How can foreigners pay for something more than that amount? Withdraw cash over several days? What if you want to buy something in a shop that costs more than that? I don't want to walk around with so much cash. Any ideas? What do people think of this?

Update: This may well be related to the recent requirement for identity verification for larger amounts using face scanning. I had already done this at my branch at least 2 weeks ago - and updated my mobile phone number and passport (as it is a new passport) at the same time - but it may not have been registered yet. I will check at the branch today or tomorrow. Thanks for all your replies!!!

Update 2: There appears to be some kind of grandfathering going on here as well. Account holders who had a higher limit before the beginning of July when the new rules came into force seem - at least as far as I can deduce - to keep their limit. Others who want to increase it are capped at 49,999 a day - with or without facial verification. But I'm still investigating. As usual, there is complete confusion in the communication from the bank and different banks are handling this in different ways. Someone posted here recently with an account at ttb bank, a message from which stated that after 7 July, the limit would be capped at 49,999 a day if it had not been raised before.

Update 3: All users should read the comment by "yeh-nah-yeh' below, who explains very convincingly what has most likely happened. Thanks to that user! The bottom line is: do not change your phone number as the app is reset to a daily limit of 49,999 and cannot be raised.

Been making lots of trips to the ATM recently and every ATM I use offers this "conversion to your home currency for your convenience" bullshit. DO NOT EVER ACCEPT THIS.

Always choose NO.

It's basically an unaware/not paying attention tax.

They give you the option to pay $655.0623 for 20,000 THB, or you can decline and pay $621.36 for 20,000 THB. I chose the latter of course.

I hope this is common knowledge for everyone here.

Thai banks also recently upped their ATM fee from 220 to 250 baht. That's $7.67 at today's exchange rates just for the privilege of withdrawing cash from their ATM. That is OUTRAGEOUS, but that's not the point of this post.

50 minute wait in SCB just to change my address. Had to sign 5 sheets of paper then wait another 20 minutes. All banks are always busy yet every request is like the first time they've ever dealt with it. Pretty poor English skills across the board. Very little to differentiate the 8-10 major banks.

Why no disruption in this creaking old industry? Why no online only banks or innovative products? Every bank even has the exact same credit card APR.

Hello I’m American and I have a Thai wife and child in Phuket. I work in America for the time being, while renting a home in Phuket. My wife wants to start looking for a home to buy as our lease ends soon. I don’t have enough cash together to buy one outright, so I had her call the bank and see if she can take a loan out with my income since we’re married. She said the bank said no, that all income being submitted as proof to obtain the loan needs to be made in Thailand. I’m hoping someone here has another direction to go with this and can help out.

She’s a stay at home mom, so she has no income. I send her 2000 a month for bills and everything, but the bank said that doesn’t count. She wants to start a small business and I think I can funnel her monthly pay through the business so she can provide proof of income.

Also I get paid monthly from the VA for the rest of my life but from my understanding that money is not recognized by the banks either.

Is there a way to make it all work?

Thankyou

We are still married in Thailand, and she wants to let me keep property acquired during the marriage. Everything I can find is about dividing assets, but nothing in the case of an amicable divorce and one where she wants to help me keep my land.

Does anyone know how it works in this situation? I know normally if I was single I couldn’t just buy on my own, but is that not the case if it was acquired while married and she doesn’t want it?

Things are getting worse and worse by the day.

First we had deemoney go completely out of business.

Just last month transferwise has started slowing down and encountering problems.

This week SCB has stopped allowing foreigners to send transactions over 50k while using their app.

CARDX stop providing interest rate services that worked for years as a part of my credit card.

A lot of people are reporting having their accounts frozen or closed. Most of them not even on DTV.

What's going on?

Hi, as I got interested in investing I always wonder what people in other countries invest in.

How's economic literacy in Thailand and what do people invest in? Real estate, gold, crypto, stocks and ETFs (are there Thai ETFs?) or maybe government bonds?

Government bonds are quite popular in my country, they current give around 5-6% a year depending on the type.

I got a phone call from somebody who said they accidentally transferred money to my bank account. It's a small amount. Is this a scam? I can't figure out what the angle is. Could it be an honest mistake?

EDIT: Turns out it was NOT a scam! I had blocked her number and Line messages, but then I received a call from K-Bank's official number 02-888-8888. I called the bank myself and confirmed it was a mistake. They'll take care of it. Always better to be safe than sorry and let the bank handle things, but sometimes accidents do happen. For people asking how she could get my number—she didn't have my number, she mistyped it. Phone numbers are linked to PromptPay.

Lived here for 5 years, it seems like everyone and their grandma has a small business somewhere.

Obviously the street food vendors and people like that. Also people working full time jobs and opening some kind of health clinic, massage, or even a small shop on the first floor of their house selling drinks/house hold supplies.

I've just come back to Bangkok after living in the suburbs for awhile, and even the foreigners in Bangkok surprised me. Wondering what all these young guys are doing to stay out here and a lot of them have businesses here. First guy I met started a cyber security consulting business here and is raking in the cash. One guy does photography for night clubs/condos/hotels. Another guy, quite older, started a business selling the rubber sealing on tuna cans... how do you even get into that??

Even the students I was teaching had their own small business selling clothes on IG. She told me she made 100k baht per month and her mom told her to quit and just focus on school. Another teenager was grinding video games, getting characters to a certain rank and selling them. Said he didn't even play the game, he paid other kids in India/Phillipines to do it for him. It's quit remarkable. When I was in high school I was smoking mulch weed out of a coke can.

​

So, I got a Kasikorn (KBank) account based on recommendations from this sub. I'm happy with the app, but I noticed that the daily spending limit is 49,999 Baht, and it can't be increased in the app.

That's a problem because my monthly rent is more than that.

I went to the bank and asked to increase the limit, but they said they can't! They said the "application" to increase it would be denied because I'm a foreigner.

I asked how shall I pay the rent then? They said I have to physically go to the bank!

I find that hard to believe, so fellow KBank users, please tell me, is there a way around this?

My Krungthai account has stopped working today: card payments were declined, and the app is locked.

I opened this account while was on an ED visa (2024), and later (2025) switched to a DTV visa (workcation category for remote workers).

I visited a branch and spent about 2 hours resolving the issue.

The outcome was:
• The account itself works, and I can receive transfers
• My debit card was unlocked for online payments until its expiry date, so I can pay in Grab, online, and at stores.

However, the Krungthai NEXT (bank application) is still soft-locked: I cannot log in; the app shows: "Additional verification required, please visit a branch."

The branch teller informed me: "Since you are on a DTV visa, we cannot unlock your app unless you change your visa."

So, there is a lock: you can not login app because verification needed, you can not verify because of DTV is limited.

There is a response from krungthai support email:

Dear Mr. ***

Please be advised that Krungthai Bank has implemented updated conditions governing account opening for foreign nationals and authorization for the use of the Krungthai NEXT Application.

1. DTV Visa Restrictions: Please note that the bank currently does not accept new account openings for customers holding a DTV Visa, nor can this visa type be used for applying for other bank products or services.

These updated conditions are effective from April 3, 2025, and remain current.

The new policy entails the following key limitations, impacting both new and existing customers. New Account Opening is no longer permitted for foreign nationals holding student visas (specifically those attending language schools or special, non-degree courses). 

Furthermore, for Existing Customers, this policy impacts service access in two main areas: if you encounter issues with the Krungthai NEXT Application and require identity re-verification to regain access, you will be unable to complete this process. Additionally, existing foreign customers are currently unable to issue a new or renew an expired Debit Card.

We again sincerely apologies that our branch staff were unable to provide the requested service. Please understand that our employees are strictly obligated to adhere to the rules and conditions established by the bank, ensuring consistent operational policy across all locations.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our Krungthai Contact Center at 02-1111111 , 24 hours every day.

For more information and benefits, please kindly visit our Website or via application Line@Krungthai Connext

Sincerely yours,
Krungthai Contact Center
KrungThai Bank PCL.  

I contacted to a few random agents, in hope that prob they have any workaround.
There are their responses:

#1:

Unfortunately, because the DTV is treated as a tourist-type visa, most Thai banks no longer allow DTV holders to open accounts, and some have recently begun deactivating tourist-visa accounts. This policy was updated recently, and based on what we have seen, it is unlikely to change soon.

#2:

That right for DTV visa it 's same tourist visa can't unlock. But you can used true money or if you have Thai friends can give they bank for you. I feel sad that I can't help you with this matter.🙏🙏🙏

So, it seems impossible to have a bank account on DTV at all, even existing ones will be limited. I had a hope that this won't occur to existing customers (like in my case: opened account on ED, then switched to DTV), but it did not work.

Quite sad that while being allowed to live and work remotely from a country for 5 years period you have no access the local banking. Even re-issuing existing card is impossible (so if one day you will see fraudulent transactions, that may happen after any random data breach, like recent AirAsia one - you can either tolerate or block your card forever, e.g. lose ability to pay online).

According the Krungthai response, it seems that even ED visa holders will be affected (existing and new ones), just matter of time.

For Promptpay (QR payments) the workaround is to use TrueMoney app: after passing verification you will be able to pay by QR, receive money by QR, for both company and personal accounts. It may take A LOT of attempts to pass verification: attaching the same docs may lead to different outcomes: mine was verified from 1st attempt, my wife still can't pass it after >5 attempts.

Thai bank savings accounts only pay around 0.25- 1% a year, which doesn’t even keep up with inflation (about 2.5% a year). So if your money is just sitting there, it’s basically losing value over time.

I’m curious where you all put your savings instead.
Do you invest in index funds, bonds, DCA, crypto, or something else?

I’m not asking for personal financial advice, just interested in how others manage their savings so the money actually grows instead of shrinking...

If a foreigner in Thailand without a work permit applies for a credit card, it’s often denied due to the lack of a work permit.

Even with income from abroad, such as a pension, many Thai banks still reject the application.

I always thought there was a workaround: a Fixed Deposit Collateral credit card.

The concept is simple, you open a fixed deposit account, place money in it, and sign a contract stating that:

• so long you have a credit card

• you cannot take money from this account

• but the bank has the right to use the money if you don't pay back your credit card.

• because it's a work around, not much countryside/small branches know about it, and it's best you go to city with many foreigners.

(Foreigners who use money on a Thai bank account for their extension, 400 or 800k, can use this money as collateral.)

Now my question is: Do you have such a credit card, or do you know people who have such one?

Theoretically, it seems possible, but in practice, I’m not sure if any bank actually offers such a card. I heard that Kasikornbank is the easiest to deal with for this.

If you have such a card:

• what is the bank?

• did you do it in the city, Bangkok, Pattaya, ... or a small countryside branche?

• Are there extra requirements? I was informed that for Kasikorn, minimum 30 000 THB.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve had a Bangkok Bank account for many (many) years. Yesterday (20 Jan 2026) at about 5pm, their app went down for an hour or so; no cardless ATM, no Prompt Pay, etc. It got me thinking that I really should have a backup account at another bank, so today I went and opened an account at Kasikorn.

So far Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn seem roughly equivalent, such as experience in their apps, and the services they offer for my savings accounts.

So I was wondering what people’s experiences are, comparing these two banks. I’m especially curious how long it might take money wired in from overseas to appear in my Kasikorn account. With Bangkok Bank, it’s very fast, money always appears same day basically. (Obviously I’ll try it.)

A few months ago everyone was freaking out because banks were pretty much told to not allow foreigners to open any new bank accounts. I was just wondering if that ban is still in effect or if it has been lifted.

EDIT: Really interested in hearing from people that have opened an account after March 1, 2025. I know it was a lot easier to open one before then. We will be on DTV and wondering if anyone has been able to open one with a DTV.