Do I need a local bank account to pay rent and bills in Thailand while on a Privilege Visa with Wise?

If you don’t have a bank account, you can pay your landlord using an ATM machine associated with their bank. They will give you their account number and you enter it on the ATM, confirm their name and insert the amount. Then just save the receipt.

In Bangkok, you can pay your Electric Bill by card through MEA website. So that means, you can do everything without a bank account. But would be more comfortable to have a local bank account, I believe that you can contact an elite visa issuer and they assist in bank account opening.

I have both Wise and a Bangkok Bank account, and I can’t imagine doing it without the Thai bank. For the Promptpay feature alone, it’s worth it. Plus the convenience of fee-free ATM withdrawals. And instant bank transfers and top-ups.

Well worth the minor effort and expense to set up.

Hi Marvin different people will recommend different banks etc and also here even different branches of the same bank will say yes or no

If you’re in Bangkok and wanting to open a bkk bank account I would suggest you go to the corporate main branch in Silom

Go in and go to the left and at the end turn right

I opened mine there few years ago never had an issue ever

And I’m from banking and financial services

You would be able to pay your rent via Wise transfer, your water bill with cash to the juristic person office, and the electric bill at 7-11.

It would definitely be easier if you had a local bank account though. There's usually an annual fee of a couple hundred baht, depends on the account you choose and what options it has.