What are the practical benefits of having a Thai bank account for expats beyond using QR payments?

Nice to have a bank account where you spend your time pay all the fees and bad exchange rates if it’s better for you

Don’t think about it, you will not be eligable to get a Thai bankaccount as DTV holder.

At least you have to be on a proper long term visa, not a tourist visa as DTV, have stayed months on a permanent Thai adress with a long lease, and being able to put a significant amount into the account every month, to even be considered as a candidat for a Thai Bankaccount.

Banks in Thailand are like everywhere in the world, interested in having good stable custormers, that have a permanent address, a steady easy traceable income, and use the account all year round.

That is why the banks are reluctant to give accounts to people on short time ( read: tourist ) visas, and who only spend part of the year in Thailand.

Don’t expect to get a residence certificat, until you have stayed at a permanent adress in at least 3 month, since that is what the residence certificat should confirm.

Furthermore the added attention on whitewashing of money, is an added burden on the banks, so reluctant depositing large amounts isn’t a guaranteed way to open an account.

The value of a resident certificat, had gone down, since Immigration Officers are giving them to people that are not on a longterm visa, or have stayed severel months at 1 adress in Thailand, so even if it is a formal requirement, the bank make up their own assesment of the stability of the want-to-be customer.

9-thailand-to-implement-stringent-compliance-regulations-for-new-bank-accounts?

For American citizens, Charles Schwab is the way to go, they refund 100% of ATM fees every month, they have fee free, checking, add a complementary brokerage account, no minimum balances, and free wire transfers in and out of the country on the app. 

How can you get access to your foreign cash if you're living in Thailand? Eventually, your cash will run out and you'll need to hit up an ATM or make a withdrawal via a bank branch (cash advance).

You'll save a lot of money on withdrawal fees by transferring to a Thai bank account.

The QR code thing really isn't a reason and certainly NOT the main reason for maintaining a Thai bank account. Minimizing fees and being able to receive funds and make payments (the former not related to employment of course as you're not supposed to work in Thailand except remotely while on this visa) are the main reasons.

It's useful for splitting checks with your friends especially if they are thai.

You won’t know how awesome having QR is until you have it 💯

I can only pay my rent (20k) by cash which incurs fees each month along with withdrawals for electric/handy cash to give to my friends if they pay for dinner with their QR. All in all over the last 12 months I’ve paid around 5,600 in withdrawal fees!

I opened a Revolut account as it only cost about 90p to transfer rent to the agency, but their bank charged them almost 500 baht to receive an international payment which they then passed on to me! So it works out cheaper to withdrawal in cash!

QR/Thai bank would make things so much easier and would mean I don’t have to travel 25 minutes to the agency each month with 20k in my pocket!

Pay rent and utilities easily can be done with Wise. So besides QR payment there is very little benefit considering how much people pay agents to open account 😂

It's handy to make payments and not withdraw 20k baht at a time as paying 220 baht on every small withdrawals is silly. Good if your homeland bank rips you off on ATM exchange rates as you can send a large sum in one go via a money exchange service when rates are good and keep in the Thai bank. Useful to pay bills and pay for phone packages too. Was handy to buy a car too.

Honestly it's just the QR code thing. Like paying your internet and electric bills just by scanning it. I also pay my rent with a qr code. No need to carry large amounts of cash around when you go to the club or anything like that. I just need my phone.

Some would prefer saving on the withdrawal fees to pay for local shops that don't accept credit cards.