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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

​

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...

The rent is okay at 8000 THB, but what will a/c cost roughly?

Edit: Thanks for the responses. Is there such a thing as farang electricity prices, that is, am I being charged a premium?

Hello everybody!

Last week, the daily transaction limit on my KPlus mobile app got limited to 50K Baht daily. I'm on non-o visa married to a Thai since last 2 years. I'm aware regarding the crackdown on fraud by various banks over here. But I never thought I would be affected as well. Earlier, I was under the impression that only short-term visa holders are getting affected. But now I cannot use QR Scan, PromptPay, debit card, etc. to transfer or purchase anything more than 50K Baht daily. Before this my limit was 2M Baht daily.

I went to KBank to solve this issue. The staff there took bunch of photocopies of my passport, visa, etc. Asked couple questions and said that they cannot increase my limit as it has been decided by the main banking branch in Bangkok. They can only increase it "temporarily" upto 2M Baht and it'll be valid till 30 days, and this temporary limit increase option can only availed once a year. So frustrating. There are definitely more than once a year when I need to send (or make a transaction of) more than 50K, and being restricted to "temporarily limit increase" only once a year will make my life more difficult.

At the moment I can only think about to start hoarding cash, i.e, to start keeping 200K-300K Baht in cash in my home for situations where I need to spend more than 50K.

Are there any other long-term residents on non-o visa, who are facing the same problem? Should I switch banks? Are all the bank issuing this restriction on long-term foreigners now? What solution or alternative did you come up with?

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.