Why are foreign expats on a DTV visa in Thailand facing difficulties opening bank accounts?

Banks have a visa list now, I’ve seen it. DYT ain’t on it

try slipping a fat brown envelope..

immigration have no authority on banks....

Don't worry. Some of banks makes so many problems even I'm legally working for years and have few other bank accounts here wirh credit card, thai stock market account. They ask for rental agreement, house book from owner. I told them whatever, no point to keep money with them if they don't want it ;)

If you have 10 K IQ, you do not want a Thai bank account anyways

These situations are common in this country. Different departments enforce their own policies and regulations, leading to many ridiculous and even ironic situations. For example, I purchased insurance as a DTV holder. However, when it came time to claim compensation, I could only receive an AC cheque, which means I needed a bank account to deposit the cheque. In reality, DTV users don't have bank accounts. This is the rule gap between different sectors. Each department only cares about its own affairs and doesn't care about the regulations of other departments. And you only realize how troublesome it is when you actually encounter it.

Let us know what happens in the bank

🤔🤭

I've almost given up on the constant BS here. You can easily open a Thai bank account with Thai currency and a Card, and prompt pay in a Thai financial institution and have essentially exactly what you all say you cannot. It was literally launched 1st June!!!!

DTV can not be extended endlessly like nonO.

Therefore it’s equivalent to tourist visa. No bank account.

you can easily open a Bank of Thailand approved account with a DTV. The account is in Thailand and by an authorised Thai bank. There is no longer an issue. (i'm now waiting for the trolls who will tell me i'm wrong when i'm not). Everything changed on the 17th March....

That immigration officer is actually wrong. The DTV is officially a tourist visa and every bank has the right to deny opening an account. This is a fact.

liar liar pants on fire

You cant open a bank account on a tourist Visa DTV is a tourist visa. The end. Those with a DTV and a thai bank account probably opened the account before the current emphasis on Know Your Customer policies and the overall security crackdowns by the govmoment.

Some of my friends can't even get a Thai driver licence on DTV visa

Why would a tourist need a Thai bank account?

Good luck 555

Freakshow

Show it to an agent and ask for a discount for doing the groundwork. Seriously though it's a banking matter and your visa is considered a tourist visa you don't have a permission to stay for one year.

Visa is not an issue in my experience, but you need to show a lease agreement or something that proves you are more than a tourist.

I had good experiences with Kalasin immigration. Very friendly and helpful

I had a letter from immigration to the banks for my retirement visa. All 5 banks laughed at the letter. Banana 🍌 republic 😂😂😂😂

I went to immigration for the paper to open a bank accout, I had my photo taken and a paper was done giving my name and details, when I went to a certain bank and waiting there for an hour and 40 mins I was called and sat with a person thatI I gave the paper to, she asked me for identification and I gave my passport and she,asked for an ID çard so I produced my Thai ID but she said no I need your British ID card, I said we do not fave an ID card in England she then asked for a driving license andI produced my Thai license, she said no I need your English license, I said th had expired and she simply said then you ca not open an account. The very next day I went to a different branch of the bank gave the lady the paper from immigration along with my expired (by 10 years) English driving license and a account was opened.

Just doesn't make any sense but this is Thailand.

Im curious, why wouldn't a bank allow someone to open an account? Assuming they don't give credit cards, loans etc... what's the risk to them?

I opened an account with Krungsri a few years ago with no problems but they recently closed the local branch, so when my wife was in the GSB last week she asked about an account for me there. She was told that I must have a long term visa and a Thai tax ID ! Orders of government supposedly! Possibly their interpretation of a BOT guideline?

DTV is classified as a tourist visa and after the banks changed their policy stopping bank accounts for tourist visa holders this also impacted in DTV holders. Immigration have no control over what the banks decide and it makes things difficult with many visa applications now.

Be sure to post up when you return from the bank again with no account opened. Dtv is a tourist visa

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I read the policies of a couple of banks…. It clearly states they will not open accounts for tourist visas. It would not matter if immigration says you can, the bank policy could be different.

Seems like every day this question comes up, over and over… so…

Question: why is it so important to have a bank account in Thiland? If you on a DTV, all income comes from sources outside of Thiland. You can keep your money in a bank, or investment account in which you would likely make more interest. You can use Wise to spend in Thailand for just about everything, I have been doing it for years, and likely have less hassle to deal with in terms of taxes and other stuff.

So help us understand the burning desire to have a Thai bank account?

Wake up a DTV is not a long term visa you have no chance whatsoever.

Thai immigration do not have any binding control in what bank policy is you have no chance.

Yeah… good luck with that.

After quite a bit of research and several failed attempts myself, I’ve come to believe that many of the DTV holders who successfully opened Thai bank accounts simply got lucky with a particular branch, manager, or timing.

To be clear, there is no Thai law that explicitly prohibits a DTV holder from opening a bank account. Under Thailand’s anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, banks are required to verify a customer’s identity, visa status, source of funds, and residency information. While the Bank of Thailand establishes the regulatory framework, individual banks are allowed to set their own account-opening policies and risk criteria.

The problem is that many banks currently view the DTV differently from traditional long-stay visas. In practice, a lot of branches prefer to open accounts for foreigners holding visa categories they readily associate with long-term residence in Thailand, such as a Non-Immigrant B visa with a work permit, a retirement visa, a marriage visa, an LTR visa, or a Thailand Privilege visa.

I’ve personally tried three separate times at different branches. I even brought my Thai girlfriend with me to eliminate any language barriers—she’s highly professional and translated everything perfectly, and I speak some Thai myself. Every time the answer was essentially the same: they wanted to see a work permit, retirement visa, marriage visa, or another visa category that their compliance department considers suitable for banking. None of them were willing to accept the DTV on its own.

What makes the situation even more confusing is that banking policies often seem to vary by branch. You’ll hear stories of someone successfully opening an account at one branch, while another branch of the exact same bank rejects a DTV holder the next day. That’s why there are occasional success stories online. My personal opinion is that those people either encountered a branch that interpreted the policy more flexibly, used additional supporting documentation that wasn’t mentioned in their post, or applied during a period when the bank itself was still figuring out how it wanted to handle DTV applicants.

The reality is that Thai banks have become increasingly cautious in recent years due to tighter compliance requirements, fraud prevention efforts, and anti-money laundering regulations. Because of that, front-line staff often default to the safest answer when dealing with a visa category that doesn’t fit neatly into their established procedures.

So while opening a Thai bank account on a DTV visa is not technically impossible, I wouldn’t assume it’s easy or routine. Based on my own experience and the experiences of many others, if you walk into a branch today with nothing more than a DTV visa, you should be prepared for a very real possibility of being turned away.

If you do a search it will save you time, this is covered over and over. They are the rules.

For all the people suggesting that you cannot have a bank account on a tourist visa or that you must have a visa that’s valid for one year or longer; that’s incorrect.

It’s not a policy nor has it ever been.

It’s like most of the r”ules” in Thailand. It started as a guideline and morphed.

It was a guideline from the BOT to scrutinize certain account types and accounts held by certain categories of people.

Really they just wanted heads/numbers.

This all started because the BOT was pressured by the government when that YouTube video exposing the Thai bank’s involvement in laundering Chinese crime money (mostly from scam call centers in Laos and Berma) went viral.

Naturally the banks (and the government) weren’t going to do anything that would actually affect change or affect the real criminals. So instead they just looked for dead, empty and inactive accounts that were opened with agents and closed them.

Then they moved on to active accounts with low balances etc. till they had enough names and numbers to appease the BOT and the government.

Who themselves were just looking to appease the international community to get the spotlight off their corruption.

It will change when the rest of the world stops paying attention and enough time passes.

Then there will be the typical hurdle of dealing with frontline staff that don’t know law/policy/rules but only think they do because they were told X by whoever trains them etc.

Paper work from immigration for a driver's license? What's that?

That IO was not the smartest one 555

Dude, the DTV is a dud visa. Not long and it's gunna be extinct. Suck it up dude.

DTV is a tourist visa, it's not a long term visa. You can NOT stay 365 continuous days. It's good for 180 days plus ONE 180 day extension. The entire length of the visa is 5 years. It is not a visa if you intend on living in Thailand . I'm sorry if your didn't understand this, but this is what it is.

In order to open a Thai bank account you need a long term visa, one designed for living in Thailand. One that allows you to live here an entire year .

Immigration can say what they wany im afraid its the banks that make the ultimate decision .

Banks dont see a 5 year DTV as long term quite simple.

Had this myself years ago Immigration say one thing .

Other agencies/banks/DTO the list goes on have differing views

Looking forward to hearing about what happens tomorrow.

There's been so many on a DTV visas complaint about not being able to open bank accounts.

Waiting with bated breath!

What sort of fraud are you involved in champion

These threads are always fun 🤣

1. Under the law banks shouldn’t be opening accounts anymore for people on tourist visas which includes DTV’s;

2. Some still do, they shouldn’t, they could be closed at a whim down the line but this is Thailand;

3. Many have accounts that they opened on tourist visas, I mean some of us opened them on visa exempts in times past, but they are always at risk of closure;

4. Thai Elite (Privilege) is technically a tourist visa but is subject to a much more in depth review before issue (5 agencies review you in a way they don’t really even do for a work/business visa). This creates one of the privileges, you can legally open an account - it’s guaranteed under the visa.

Welcome to Thailand 🇹🇭:)

I opened my bank account without a visa. It's all about contacts here & you might just have found yours.

That’s very positive. Don’t take it for granted. Respect the decision.

In almost every country, you cannot open a bank account with a tourist visa. Except for those with a work visa, banks have become much stricter with their regulations, which is understandable. Ten or fifteen years ago, they were not very strict about it, but things have changed.

Funny how things change, I opened a bank account with Kasikorn bank in Pattaya on a Tourist visa, This was 20 years ago.

I had on me a fair wad of cash pI told them I was a frequent visitor.

Thailand politicians don’t want foreigners in their country. They don’t consider their economy or how the loss of tourism will devastate their country. The social media lies that only highlight random idiots who cause trouble have exaggerated the issues. Then the politicians over react to get attention to themselves.

He DTV is a tourist visa

So OP thinks bank will change their policies, because immigration officer gets involved. Egg on face time when he goes into the bank.

What a crock of nonsense ,I applied and got a DTV using my thai account for proof off funds ,wake up you rabbits

DTV is not eligible to open a bank account, been that way since it was created, everybody knows that, DTV is a sub-category of tourist visas, not the same as long term stay or retirement. Learn how to read and you'll avoid making yourself look foolish.

My immigration here in town also "knows everything better"

He told me. Go by plane and take SUV Airport and they let you in.

Anddd... they did send me back!

He even did call with immigration SUV, first my immigration said if you pay 10k baht they remove you from the list and let you enter.

He asked me or I was OK? I said yes.

And so they did call again.

Guess what?? It wasn't possible! So they did send me back to Laos.

Don't trust immigration always.

With DTV is no Thai Bank Account allowed, or has something changed since the new rules?

My friend opened his account 25 years ago with Bangkok b,

Hasn’t been frozen,

Can put 💰 in but not sure about getting it out as a different passport number,

He’s worried about going to the branch as he hasn’t a visa and doesn’t want one as still working in USA.

Anyone had a similar experience.

Let’s see the Stamp!

Why don't buy WP 🔥?

Getting angry at immogration doesn’t seem good. This is Thailand, right?

I've got 3,but I did open them 20 years ago, a lot harder now

Good luck, I opened a bank account with my tourist visa many moons ago, even then I got refused maybe in 4 branches...

But what's such a big deal about opening a bank account by foreigners (not even here but in many other countries), why are they so strict about it...!? I would have thought it's in their benefit to have foreigners brining in money and put in their banks..., if no activity and hassle then close it...!?

If worried about unsavoury stuff, scam, money laundering etc. , then that is an unrelated problem I think, with different solution, for example request a home bank reference etc. ...! 🤔

Keep us updated ,mate.

Immigration has no say whatsoever on bank policies and decisions

Follow your story

If you 50+ y.o. you can get 90 days retirement visa outside Thailand and open bank account.

Why open a bank account and put your money there only for the bank to flag your account later and make it extremely hard if not impossible for you to get your money back? Happened to me in another country...

Then you wake up

@David *******

update needed %

Hahahaha be an absolute comedy show id imagine. 😆🙏🏼

I hear that you need a sponsor/co-account holder with you to open an account. Anyone have experience with this?

I researched this before but can't find my notes. Basically, to open an account while under a DTV, the bank requires an Institutional or Personal Guarantor to sign a formal Letter of Certification / Guarantee (an internal bank document). The bank accepts two types of vouchers:

​A Reputable Thai Citizen / Established Client: A Thai national who holds a prominent or long-standing relationship (usually a premier or business account) at that specific branch.

​An Approved Thai Institution: A certified entity registered with the government that is directly tied to your stay, such as a licensed Muay Thai gym, a culinary school, or a medical institution where you are registered under the "Soft Power" DTV category.

Even though it's a 5 year visa, it's still a multiple entry tourist visa, with only a maximum of 180 days stamp per entry, which doesn't allow for a bank account, immigration officers are not experts in the banking industry here, so I wouldn't get to enthusiastic about trying to open one, lol , I can almost hear the argument in my head between the IO and bank manager saying, you do your job and I'll do mine

I had a retirement visa which wasn’t renewed for a couple of years and kept my bank account open. Got a DTV 1 year ago and went to the back to update my details and new phone number. They took note of the visa and were happy to keep my account open. Had no problems in the 1 year since.

All these other visa holders gloating over tourist visas. Bitter old fools

Ha, I think he gave me his business card too years ago.

Government ≠ Bank policy (privately owned)

Haha

Why are you guys yelling at the OP? Hes telling a story. Hes not making or trying to change bank policy

I told my bank I switched to DTV 2 years ago and they didn’t care.

No bank account tourist visa (dtv)

DTV is a tourist visa, what bit don't you get lol

Immigration and the banks have nothing to do with eachother.

It's a good laugh already

Unfortunately it's a bank policy they are pursuing, no immigration officer will change that unfortunately for you.

Did you bring a Thai person with you? Helps tremendously.

They have the full right to turn you away and you or the immigration officer has no right to ask them to call him and they have the full right to say ( No. We won't call anyone )

Plus... Immigration has no authority on them... they are thai... why would they worry

Plus... immigration has no power to change the instructions of B.O.T

Which decided ( No Bank account to DTV holder )

Last... for the banks your visa is not 5 years... it is the stamp they consider which is 180 days ( not 5 years stamp )

So it is

1- not a long term visa

2- it is not a non Immigrant visa

3- it is a special type of visa considers as tourist and tourist are not allowed to get a bank account with short term stamp like that.

So... update us tomorrow about this funny joke.. we are looking forward to hear about it

You might be new here. IO makes their own rules and we all must play their games. But the banks have been screwing with DTV holders since the very beginning. Bank accounts with a DTV simply are not working as IO has not defined DTV as anything other than a tourist visa.

BS your on a DTV visa no Bank account,,, does your home country open accounts for persons on a temporary visa ,,, head in the sand ,,,, go home idiot with a locked profile

No bank accounts on DTV that’s the rules

Bravo, 1 in the win column.

Hahaha good luck , he will get put back in his place 000%