Why do DTV holders want to open a bank account in Thailand?

I'm surprised nobody mentioned . Lowest fees, instant top-up from Wise/Revolut. Any cash withdrawals from ATMs in this case can be totally skipped.

Thank you mum/dad

The main reason is the ability to pay via QR codes more easily, and because Thailand banks have such excessive fees for foreign card withdrawals. If you're allowed to effectively live here for up to 5 years (yes I know that's not continuous) then the ability to have a local bank account would be welcome.

I'm considering applying for a DTV and I do work remotely, but before I do, I'll check out Indonesia & Vietnam first.

Actually, 99% of all crime in Thailand is the fault of the Thai government, nothing else.

You are too young too simple

I'm so glad your life sucks so much you took all this time to write this completely useless post.

You are asking why people want a bank account? If you can't figure that out, I didn't need to read the rest of your post to know the quality of content 😂

Coming from someone on a DTV who's been in Thailand 5 years without a bank account - yeah it's fine, I haven't tried any loopholes and don't need to. But it would obviously be nice to have one. I could pay taxes on money I bring in finally, as is I have no way to track it all.

Atm fees

You actually sat down and wrote this tripe? Thai banks are the laughing stock of the world. Banking access in the civilised world has nothing to do with a visa type. Fool.

I appreciate its still largely a cash economy, but having lived here for 15 years, variously with and without Thai bank accounts, I can assure you, by any measure, its easier and cheaper to operate day-to-day with a local account. No question.

Of course you CAN survive without one, no one is suggesting you cant, but its far from ideal. Wise transfer for standing monthly costs is fine, but for daily life, foreign currency transaction charges, steep ATM charges on THB cash withdrawl from foreign accounts and crappy FX rates on the THB by foreign banks all stack up over time.

There is also a degree of tension with how certain DTV categories are defined and how they function in reality. On one hand, its a long stay tourist visa by definition, while simultaneously it explicitly covers and actively promotes remote working. Those under the workcation category walk a fine line between working FROM rather than IN Thailand.

DTV also potentially triggers some long stay residency obligations, such as TRD tax filings after 180 days, so again there is friction between the tourist designation vs the tax resident status.

From the Thai authorities perspective, if you've long stay remote workers that do end up triggering Thai tax residency status, they are only taxable on foreign-sourced income remitted into the Kingdom in the same financial year. If they made it more efficient for remote worker to transfer larger volume of funds into the country on a regular basis by affording that category bank account privledges to take receipt of those funds, its maximises the likelihood that remitted income becomes taxable and is subject to PIT filing.

Ive no real skin in the game as such, but thats my two cents from the outside looking in as a non-DTV holder with a professional interest in the success of these visas. Good luck 🙏🏻

1. Get a driving license.

2. Open TrueMoney.

3. Top up at 711 or a true money kiosk.

This guy wanted attention so he decides to rage bait the group. Pathetic

My loophole is get my thai gf to open one for me and give me the card and access :D

What was the point of that post?

First you are allowed to work, thats what a digital nomad does, they work in thailand but dont make money in or from Thailand.

Bank accounts make money easier to work with. Thats why everyone including you has a bank account from somewhere.

WISE although very easy to use circumvents currency controls like money laundering. Thats why Thailand is cracking down and changing the rules of how it is used in Thailand.

Banking is important for any country that wants to control their economy.

Thailands main problem is the same as any country. How do you keep the freeloaders out who are a drain on your economy. Its why there is an immigration crackdown in the US and why retired folks need to prove income or 800k baht in a bank.

Having a bank account is the legitimate way to work with money around the world. WISE is a work around and could disappear in a moment. They just got on the NASDAQ this month (WSE) and gas steadily dropped in value.

Making day-to-day life easier. Tap to pay. Less fees. Don’t have to carry on loads of cash. Dudes ego tripping.

i use a thai bank account for the past ten years because it means i can transfer in using wise, then i have very little bank fees for my general expenses and i can scan pay at the local shop/market. i don't work in thailand and my investments are not in thailand, but it does add a significant amount of convenience and less slippage

The amount of self appointed police on there is wild. Get a life!

Thank you for stating four negative points of holding a DTV.

Thanks ChatGPT.

Who are you? Why not just shut up? DTV allows people to basically live in Thailand for 5 years (with few interruptions). Those people have long term rental contracts, need to pay bills etc. It is just stupid the the DTV is currently excluded from opening a bank account and will hopefully be corrected soon.

You are an idi with an ot at the end and desperately trying rage baiting

Just for simplicity really. Dont need but makes life easier.

I can pay rent with my wise but money takes 1-2 days.

If thai account would be instant.

Also good for scan easily instead of having the need for alot of cash

I use Deep Pocket app for promptpayQR. Works well, at least if you have a good internet connection.

I have DTV and I have two Thai bank accounts. Too bad for you that you couldn’t get one. But at least you had enough time to waste to make this post.

Sounds like you're thai and never lived in another country

Because of the street food that the government does not want people to support.

bro came to a DTV help group to complain about DTVers

QR code payment

Money laundering, tax evasion, or simply a mental perspective too narrow to know any better how to make it without what they used to have at home…

The answer to “why” is easy: Some just don’t know any better how to make it conveniently hence the urge to abuse the system, and others want to avoid taxes in their home countries or launder money - which is precisely what the authorities push back against

Gee that is an impressive rant the only way it could be improved is if it was actually correct. Not allowed a bank account on DTV? There is no explicit national law banning Destination Thailand Visa holders from opening a bank account. What you are referring to is a bank policy not regulation. The Bank of Thailand is the banking regulator for Thailand, they decide what the banks can and cannot do. There is nothing at all in the regulations referring to any type of visa. What the regulations do say in simple terms is that short term residents and those with no financial attachment or long term need for banking services in Thailand should be issued a Thai bank account. It's all part of the "Know Your Customer" (KYC) and anti-scam directives issued by the Bank of Thailand to stop fraud and money laundering. There is no mention of any visa anywhere in the regulations. Now moving from regulation to policy, Bangkok Bank have decided they wont open accounts for foreigners on a DTV. This is their policy based on the regulations but is not the regulation. Some others may follow a similar process but some like Kasikorn & SCB have their own policy and don't automatically exclude DTV holders. I can only talk to these three as these are the three I have had dealings with. These banks (SCB & Kasikorn) will look at your circumstances apart from your visa and decide if your a candidate for a local account. It is not simple and generally requires head office approval. I know because I have opened two accounts on DTV. No dodgy agents involved all just by sitting down and taking with the bank. So how do you get an account, firstly not everyone can, you need to satisfy the banks requirements. If you go to BKK they will probably just say no. If you go to any other bank and all you have is a passport and a DTV and you are doing a 6 month cooking class they will probably say no. If however you can satisfy the bank of your status and the need regardless of your visa it is possible and it is certainly "allowed".

No one will ask for a bank account if Thailand abolish ATM withdrawal fee. We stress for a bank account because:

DTV visa was allowed for bank accounts in first year. They removed it later due to Chinese money laundering issues. Why all of us suffer?

People who already had opened bank accounts on other visas, their accounts were closed without a notice if a bank know they are now on DTV. Is having a DTV crime?

YUZA Hard to miss something you've never had boy.

Yes mom

Tagthai - i understand you have to top up at a booth.

Paying electricity - i recently discovered ypu can pay via lazada, bills section, saves that queue at 7-11.

I use moreta, which is still in beta, for qr payments - which is the primary benefit for me.

Otherwise, its just a convenience thing. I have workarounds. I find revolut can take a few days to transfer my rent - also - there is recipient fees on the transaction from revolut, not much, but the landlord insists i cover them so he gets his rent in full. 🤷‍♂️

It's not "long term holiday" visa, it's visa for people who is working remotely outside of the country. When I was applying I was asked to show letter from my employee to proove I'm working. Don't you really understand why remote workers want to have a bank account in the country they live in? 🤦‍♂️

It's up to thai government to allow bank accounts or not - why do you care?

I know some people find it hard to believe a world exists beyond the tip of their own nose. Here are some examples from my experience in Thailand:

-food stalls. Often don’t have change, some foodcourts (Fortune Town BKK) only accept QR payments. Personal accounts so apps like Moreta don’t work.

-traffic tickets. Some police checkpoints only accept QR payments to pay fines on the spot. I got stuck and had to call in my Thai friends to scan 500thb for a traffic violation

-self service bike/car washes. Again, many of them are QR only.

And sure, you can avoid the food stalls that don’t have change, or go across town to a car wash that accepts cards. But convenience is the whole point. And I feel like your question is pretty self explanatory- if someone is here for 5 years, then yes it’s nice to have that additional touch of convenience that makes daily life a little easier.

Not a dealbreaker by any means and I do not have a thai bank account, but I clearly see why people would want one and I would also be the first to get one shall they become legally available for us.

I honestly dont think about it until people are repeatedly bringing it up. I only spend money on training. Which I transfer. Doing this won't ingratiate you with the Thai authorities, they actually find it quite disrespectful when non-Thais do this behaviour on their behalf, because it's their job to enforce any rules, not a tourists job.

Why do you care so much?

That sure was a long post about something you admit in the first line you don't understand. Good job Karen.

I don't want nor need to 🤷🏻

Been living very comfy using my home country account and cards since I moved here with my DTV in October 2024.

Sir, this a McDonald's. Would you like a regular Coke or a Coke Zero with your order?

No need to open an account.

One reason, 350 baht withdrawal fee to access my own money. Put that in to context for the average Thai person that's a few days of living expenses

Ffs this group doesn’t cease to amaze. Another idiotic take…

Ok just because someone has 16k USD in a bank account means they are financially disciplined.

For example this post where you said

"Withdraw cash from ATM once a week to lower fees" - actually its better once a month to use ATM. Not once a week.

Wise for bill payments or larger amounts needed.

Im on a student visa been here for a year and I can tell you that it makes life easier.

Untill June 2025 we were able to but thailand changed banking rules around when they did this it messed up alot of things dealing with visa qualifications and applications for thoes wishing to convert visa in country where a bank account was needed

What a horribly arrogant post. You don’t to make choices for other people, and you certainly cannot say that just because someone wants a bank account they are ‘not respecting rules’. Must be hard work thinking you are better than everyone else 🙄🙄

The DTV will be the next thing they're going to cancel.

Haha! It gives off the vibe that you're just jealous and looking for someone to blame because you missed the boat on opening a bank account with your DTV visa.

How to say you are arrogant without saying it

Can someone explain me why, if it’s not allowed, the immigration office released me a residence certificate for opening a bank account ? If you are staying in a country for 5 years why being so difficult ? I have already gave proof of my legit incomings and my legit founds, it makes no sense.

If all ppl would be like u, we would still live in trees and eat bananas.

Why do you care so much what other people want?

Thank you for your input, anonymous chatgpt copy-paster :)

Because bank accounts make life easier here.

Oh, you weren’t genuinely asking that question. My bad 🙏🏼

It's mostly jealousy. Some have it so they automatically want it too. I'm on dtv and staying in bkk for over a year now. My non-TH credit card works almost everywhere. I withdraw around 5000 thb once every 3 months for my night market purchases.

The main motivators for me wanting to open a Thai bank account would be a) for convenience, and b) to prevent having to read highly annoying and patronising posts from condescending people like you

Because of how much the atm charges are for foreign cards

Because many foreigners with this type of visa is intend to stay here permanently but DTV may be the easiest way to hold for long stay while other visa type may be too risk and difficult to apply.

This seems like a bit of a disingenuous post as you begin your post with asking why a DTV holder would want a local bank account, which should be obvious enough, but then use the entire remainder of your post providing you thoughts on why they shouldn't try.

Why not be upfront and just start your post with your opinion on the matter? Or do you really not understand why somebody staying in a country for an extended amount of time would like a local account? To be clear, wanting one and legally allowed to have one are separate issues. You asked why they would want one.....maybe just ask them to stop trying to break the law 👍 instead of being passively aggressive by asking a silly question.

Luckily not all countries have visa restrictions tied to bank account openings. In the USA you just need the proper ID and local address.

people are obsessed with bank

accounts… i think because they are unable to research the alternatives… its so easy to live here without an account.

Never go full retard.