PTPA: Hello, I just wanted to know if there are Philippines passport holders who have the DTV visa? Is it possible for me to go home to the Philippines and then go back to Thailand? Will I have any problems?

Hello I’m nervous! Sorry for a question, my application was submitted 2 days ago. Today I saw its pending approval. Could I get my visa soon? 🥺🥺

Was asked to post this.

It possibly can help someone. Hope it will.

If something didn’t help or it did. Good to share your experience. Good luck.

🇹🇭 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠’𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐬

More and more foreigners in Thailand are facing the same nightmare: accounts suddenly frozen.

No warning. No access. No way to pay bills or even buy lunch.

So… what’s your Plan B?

✅ Smart Safeguards

Multi-Currency Debit Cards

Wise → [members only]/

Revolut → revolut.com

N26 → n26.com

Payoneer → payoneer.com

Remitly → remitly.com

Hold THB or auto-convert from USD/EUR at real rates. Add to Apple Pay/Google Pay → works at stores that accept contactless Visa/Mastercard (not PromptPay QR)

Works at ATMs and most Visa/Mastercard terminals (some Big C stores, larger retailers). Note: Wise/Revolut cards don’t work with Thailand’s local PromptPay QR system, but they do work where contactless Visa/Mastercard is accepted.

Keep an Overseas Account Active

Don’t close your home account. Link your Wise/Revolut card to spend in Thailand. Even if your local account freezes, you’re still liquid.

Fintech Platforms

Use Wise, Payoneer, or Remitly for cross-border bill payments and transfers. Faster and cheaper than SWIFT.

Local Anchors

Property ownership, marriage visas, or long-term visas give stronger eligibility. Banks are far less likely to target these than tourist accounts.

Split Your Risk

Don’t rely on one bank. Keep part overseas, part in fintech, part local. If one channel freezes, the others keep you going.

❄️ If Your Account Is Frozen

Call 1441 → press 2 (anti-scam/unfreeze hotline)

If unresolved, escalate via BOT hotline 1213 (Financial Consumer Protection Center).

File a complaint with BOT’s Financial Consumer Protection Center (FCC):

Call 1213 or email fcc@bot.or.th

Submit via BOT Helps & Complaints portal

[members only]

Include passport, account number, branch, visa, proof of address, and evidence of legitimate transactions.

Visit your original branch with:

Passport & visa docs

Proof of Thai address

Thai mobile number in your name

Bank statements / recent transaction evidence

Show proof of legal status (work, retirement, marriage, long-term visa).

Ask the bank to release only the “suspicious portion” of funds (per BOT guidance).

⚠️ Reality Check

Crackdowns on mule accounts and scams are driving this — but many innocent foreigners are caught in the net.

👉 Don’t wait until your account is frozen. Build your backup plan now.

TM30 updating after leaving/returning to Thailand - my understanding is that it is no longer necessary to have TM30 updated (living in Chiang Mai on a tourist visa) after each short trip out of the country. Could a well-informed person please let me know if this remains the case? (I've searched the group but not found this issue addressed.)

Anyone know how much longer after submitting requested docs it takes to get approved? I submitted requested docs Friday, yet still on pending document check… I applied at HCMC consulate

I submitted the TM30 online a month ago. However, the website says you can only pull up the forms for 7 days after submission. How does one get a copy for 90 day reporting?

A few questions for those with DTV and Bangkok bank accounts

1. Do Bangkok bank notify you? Message? Email?

When we try to make any mobile banking transactions it now says "recipient invalid" (they were fine before), so we wonder if that means they have cancelled our account?

2. If we are cancelled, do we have to visit the branch where we setup the account?

Thanks for your help

Does anyone know of,

Or have experience of using

A Thai translation service ( from English into Thai )

And to Notarize a document,

That they could recommend please?

Prachinburi/Bangkok or Hua Hin

Many thanks ...

Bangkok Bank, the biggest one in Thailand.

Someone said (actually 100s posters here, may be more elsewhere) they (the Bangok Bank) do not care about their customers. They care about their profitability.

We, foreigners in Thailand are low value customers, a nuisance down to being junk customers.

We do not take, en masse, home loans, we have no credit cards from the BKK bank. That is what the BBKank (any bank) wants.

Look at this. CitiBank, in Japan, withdrew from retail banking, sold it to SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsubishi Banking Corporation).

CitiBank was the darling for all foreigners in Japan, English spoken at the branches, their site in English.

The hook is: you have to have something like 5 million THB in your account, in Japan. Then, all services are free.

The BKK bank may lose some customers, they actually want them out. Street vendors and foreigners.

I can only guess, BKK bank is not a payment processing system, it is costing them resources for minor irrelevant transactions.

With IBM for 40 years, i came to know how the banks work. They are shops where they sell money.

Probably, no drama when the banks explained to the Thai government what it is.

Yes, there was some response, uproar from the grass roots but nothing has happened.

Any recommedation for another thai bank other than Bangkok bank for foreigners that has customer service