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Why don't banks allow tourists to open limited bank accounts in Thailand?

Oct 14, 2025
a month ago
Lucie ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Why dont the banks / goverment allow people on tourist visas to open highly limited bank accounts that could be a win win. E.G limit transfer amounts in / out monthly. Limit transfers to foreign accounts etc that way day to day spening is possible but business / work isn't.

I don't know about you guys but I would be happy with a bank account with a tiny limit such as 1,000 baht per month all my large spending can be on credit card and my small day to day stuff on my thai account.

This limit would stop people running businesses or getting paid through their thai bank accounts but allow legitimate tourists to use the bank account
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The post discusses the reasons behind the restrictive policies of Thai banks regarding the establishment of bank accounts for tourists, suggesting that limited accounts could benefit both parties. However, several responses highlight the complexity of banking regulations due to concerns over money laundering, the enforcement of strict rules for all account holders in Thailand, and the banks' preference for customers with stable, long-term accounts. Other users mention alternatives like Truemoney Wallet and argue about the practicality and necessity of tourists having bank accounts in Thailand.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
Robert ******
Wrong forum to ask this question lol
Marko ******
Why tourist needs bank accounts?
Luit *****************
I still find it laughable that some people here claim that an advantage of DTV over non-o is that you don't need to have money in a Thai bank account, which is not a requirement for non-o either, and then complain that with a DTV they can't have a Thai bank account, which they hate so much.

Obviously they want an account, but not want to have money on it, so completely useless for banks.
Henrik *****
Banks in Thailand are like everywhere in the world, interested in having good stable customers, 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.

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Be aware there is a error in the start of the article ( and several other copy - paste media with the same article )

A Thai Bankaccount has never been a requirement to get DTV, on the contrary it has been one of the big advantage over other visa, that you could get DTV as long as you could show 500.000 Baht equivalent in any bank anywhere in the world.

It has never been the intention that DTV visaholders should be in need of a Thai bankaccount.

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929?
Henrik *****
Because tourists like DTV’s have their income in other countries, and that is where they can have a bankaccount.

It is a wellknown fact by now that DTV can’t have a bankaccount, so stop crying about it.

If it is essential to you change visa to a real long term visa, or forget about it.
Christopher ******
TrueMoney is like that
Andrew *********
Why do tourists need a bank account ?

Banks (worldwide) have claimed down since well for a good few years now. New banking regulations worldwide due to money laundering, fraud, scams and illegal workers and businesses. Its not something new right now. Bangkok bank weren't supposed to be opening accounts for tourists but turned a blind eye to the rules.
Sunshine ********
it will open to money laundering and all sorts of illegal activities. It's bigger than u think it is...
Greg ********
Not commercially viable - banks are a business.
Biff *******
It’s not just foreigners on tourist visas that are facing difficulties with Thai bank accounts. Lots of Thai people are having their accounts scrutinised, restricted and closed. There are signs in Thai in many branches warning customers not to let other people use their accounts. The restrictions we’re seeing now are part of an overall tightening of banking regulations due to the misuse of accounts all over the country.

The rules are quite strict, it’s just now they’re being enforced.
Alejandro ****
That would make too much sense so I guess that won't possible 🤣
Luit *****************
@Alejandro ***
It does not make any sense at all to let tourists open bank accounts.
Jussi ********
It's normaly almost everywhere in the world,, not account for turist.

Where you can get account if only turist, what country ?
Elías ********
@Jussi *******
in many countries you can get a bank account as a tourist
Luit *****************
@Elías *******
Do you have a list, and what is required? I think in a lot more countries it is not allowed or they have a lot of extra requirements.
Jirka ********
@Jussi *******
easy to everywhere…europe, usa, australia, zealand…with long term visa like that, everywhere
Jussi ********
@Jirka *******
but not with turist visa, same here in Thailand, DTV is turist visa
Mr *******************
@Jussi *******
Thailand allows other long term tourist visa holders to open bank accounts.
Luit *****************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts DTV is not long term, the stay is 180 days which can be extended till 360 days, which still is less than 1 year. Long term visa have stays of 1 year and longer without need to leave, what is so hard to understand about that?
Jussi ********
Mr 5 Bank Accounts what kind of visas ? DTV visa is turist visa
Mr *******************
@Jussi *******
Elite / Thailand Privilege is a tourist visa that allows bank accounts.
Mr *******************
@Jussi *******
it's a five year visa. I know it's technically a tourist visa but it's 5 years and many people will be living here on it. Elite is also a tourist visa, incidentally, so it's not all tourist visas.

Most countries will give bank accounts to someone who is living there for five years. Many will give accounts to people who aren't, including tourists.
Luit *****************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts Not much countries have a tourist visa with loopholes to stay 5 year. The maximum stay on DTV is 360 days
Mr *******************
@Luit ****************
it's a multi-entry visa with as many entries as you like over the 5 years. You can spend up to the entire 5 years here as long as you leave once or twice a year.
Luit *****************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts I know about the validity of 5 years, and I know about the loophole to get a new 180 stay immediately when you left, but that just does not make it a long stay visa officially, the trick makes it look like a long stay visa, but why should banks cooperate with this trick?
Mr *******************
@Luit ****************
it's not a "loophole" or a "trick", it's a multi-entry visa. That's how they work. They could have restricted it to 180 days in 360 (similar to Schengen's 90 in 180) but they didn't.
Luit *****************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts When you do not see a border run as a loophole or trick but as something which is intended, I expect your intellectual capabilities are too low too understand why DTV is not meant to live in Thailand full time. They could have restricted the visa in such a way that the stubborn people who don't want to apply for a real long term visa could not use DTV for this unintended use anymore, but that would also restrict the correct use for some people.
Mr *******************
@Luit ****************
if someone works online, goes home for a month to wherever they are from once per year, and then either extends, or takes one other holiday (say a week or two) somewhere else, how is this visa not suitable? What "real long term visa" is better aligned to this?
Luit *****************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts As I already expected you really are incapable of understanding this. When somebody for 5 years want to live in Thailand, only leaving a month and a few weeks each year, the non-o, LTR and elite visa are designed for this and the most suitable. With precise planning of moments you leave each year you mught be able to use DTV for this purpose. The fact that you have to make a very exact planning for leaving each year should be an indication for clever people that they do not make the best choice. But up to you as they say in Thailand when you still want to do so. You even might still be able to do with visa exemptions and paied fast lane entrance. But you should not expect banks to adapt this special use of a visa, while there are a number of better visa available for that purpose.
Mr *******************
@Luit ****************
why isn't DTV suitable if you're going to be leaving at least every six months anyway? I don't need "precise planning", I know I'm back to Europe every summer and I know I won't stay in Chiang Mai for smoke season.

So I'm not going to be spending longer than six months anyway. And unlike annual extensions, DTV is no dealing with immigration in country for the full 5 years. Come and go when you want and don't have to try to schedule to be back at a specific point for an annual extension.

DTV is also very explicitly *for* remote work, which the others are not (LTV excepted- and that has silly restrictions on the type of company). It maybe permitted on other visas, but the DTV is explicitly the visa for it, it's the one that there's no question of grey area.
Luit *****************
Up to you, you are dumb or you pretend to be dumb, DTV is a tourist visa for short stays, normal less than 180 days, with extension maximum 360 days.

And of course when you connect as much short stays after each other it looks more or less long term. If that is enough for you, that is OK

If you are so stubborn in choosing not the most suitable visa for the purpose, you have to accept banks do not support this, and don't want these people to have bank accounts.

Complaining banks do unlogical things while the visa holder himself is choosing an unlogical visa is a bit silly.

The solution to this non-problem is simple, just choose the visa that fits best with the purpose of stay.
Anonymous ******************
Mr 5 Bank Accounts It's a 5-year tourist visa that doesn't require you to show up at immigration each single year to renew it... Add to it the very easy requirements during application in comparaison with most other visas, DTV doesn't bring any guarantee to banks.
David *******
Mr 5 Bank Accounts wrong - I don’t know of any country that allows non-residents to open bank accounts
Paul *******
@David ******
You don't know anything...also, don't come up with a false equivalency here. Thailand has it's own rules, which are often vastly different from the west. This is true for banking as it is for many other things.

Land ownership rules, work authorization, the level of wokeness/liberalism (or lack thereof), liberalism/conservatism, wealth levels, debt levels and so many other factors are significantly different in Thailand compared to the west.
Mr *******************
@David ******
plenty do. Singapore and Hong Kong, for example. In the DTV case we are talking about someone who very well may be resident though, on a 5 year visa.
Bruce **********
John *****
It's incredibly unlikely that anything anyone says here will make a difference. Anyway, notice how you're suggesting a very limited account. It seems like people are accepting all this excessive control everywhere that didn't exist in the past.
Anonymous ******************
@John ****
Not allowing tourists to have bank accounts is not exactly "excessive control" - it's banks protecting their own interests against those doing the wrong thing
John *****
Anonymous participant 839 I'm married to a Thai so it shouldn't be a problem for me, but I sympathize with the others who do have the problem. DTV holders can stay almost the whole year in Thailand so while they are defined as tourists who would not be eligible to apply for PR later they still are completely able to set up base in Thailand for 5 years.
John *****
Anonymous participant 839 I guess you like inconvenience and the idea of guilty before proven innocent.
Anonymous ******************
@John ****
Don't quite see the relevance of guilty before innocent. Banks are entrusted with billions of dollars, why would they put solid customers at risk? Problem with many expats is they have a sense of entitlement
Kaler *******
They don't care hehe 😆
Sylvia ********
@Kaler ******
can you tell me which countries allow non residents to open bank accounts? My account of over 30years has been closed in the UK as they found out I no longer living there although my pension was being credited monthly
Greg ********
@Sylvia *******
HSBC allows overseas residents. They hve my Thai address.
Sylvia ********
@Greg *******
they allowed me to open HSBC offshore account, they had my Thai address for 23 yrs, tried to close my account 5 yrs earlier but this time although I own land there still rejected my appeal
Greg ********
@Sylvia *******
Wow. I opened my UK account from Singapore. Originally had UK address but changed to Thai. Been into bank in May and changed locations in Thailand. Added TIN too.
Paul *******
@Sylvia *******
They shouldn't be doing that if you're a UK citizen and then there are non-resident accounts. Don't make the mistake of assuming every country is the same. Thailand was fairly lenient in the past, but is now very strict.

Actually, Thailand was always VERY strict on outgoing international transfers, unlike western countries.

Proving where the funds are coming from and for foreigners, generally requiring that you're on a work permit and you can only remit a maximum per year equivalent to your salary.

Transferring money abroad from a European or Australian bank account is so easy...while there is a maximum daily limit, all you need to do is specify a simple reason when you make the transfer such as "savings" or whatever you want and the transaction goes through. No need to show payslips or other ridiculous proofs.
Kaler *******
@Sylvia *******
wise account. Or go to Singapore. But I used Binance , Visa card and Cash 😁.
Anonymous ******************
@Sylvia *******
You have to look at the terms and conditions of the respective account in the UK. I maintain a UK bank account, but I have a UK phone number and address, and I visit usually once a year
Sylvia ********
Anonymous participant 839 yes then I asked me for proof of living there, like a utility bill
Paul *******
Anonymous participant 839Yes, important to maintain some sort of mailing address over there, then it's OK but again, like you said, depends on the type of account you have.

In Switzerland for instance, non-resident accounts operate in much the same way as resident accounts, except you have to pay a monthly charge of CHF30 for account maintenance, which covers the sending fee for correspondence to your overseas address.

Of course, it's not like you receive much correspondence to justify this high cost, but that's Switzerland for you.

Ordinary resident accounts will cost anywhere from CHF5-20 so the only difference is that you pay a little more.

However, some banks will only issue a secured credit card to non-resident account holders (except possibly residents of neighboring countries such as France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria and Italy). Liechtenstein is generally considered a domestic domicile actually.
Sylvia ********
@Paul ******
I now have an offshore account as cannot produce an utility bill in my name
Paul *******
@Sylvia *******
I see, but a utility bill shouldn't be needed...you can produce a driver's license, a medicare card (or whatever you call it in the UK, NHS I believe?) or other equivalent.

Of course, if you've "abandoned" your residence there, such as by not even having a local address, then yeah that could happen, but it's nothing like in Thailand, where many farang are having their accounts frozen in an overzealous banking crackdown.

Also, it's now facial scan required for transactions of 50K Baht and above and you can't opt out (neither for Thais or foreigners). In western countries, facial scans for banking are still not a thing yet and will face widespread opposition (unlike in Thailand, where the locals accept anything).
Wille ***********
You already have that option with Truemoney Wallet. With the DTV you can unlock an advanced account which is basically what you describe. I just did it 2 days ago and it works fine.
Idan ******************
@Wille **********
They didn’t approve my request. Which documents did you use?
Elías ********
@Idan *****************
the DTV printed PDF and a photo of the last entry stamp on my passport.
Wille ***********
And yeah, you have to choose "Non O" visa, even though you are applying with DTV. There is no option for DTV right now. Just FYI.
Wille ***********
1. Take a photo of your DTV visa in paper form. TrueMoney does not accept screenshots, digital copies, or photos taken from a phone screen. It must be a printed paper original, and all visa details must be fully readable.

2. Take a photo of the page in your passport with the entry stamp. The entire page must be visible, including the stamp clearly showing it is a DTV visa. If only part of the page is shown, your application will be rejected.

3. Photograph the payment receipt for your DTV visa. This is the receipt you received after payment through the eVisa system. Print it out and take a photo — digital versions from email are not accepted. Again, the entire paper must be visible.

4. Provide your workplace. Many encounter issues here because TrueMoney requires you to select an option under “Workplace in Thailand.” However, the DTV visa is not linked to any employer. The solution is to choose “Freelancer” as the category and enter your home address in Thailand as your workplace. This is the only way to proceed further.
Anonymous ******************
Many DTV holders appear cash-strapped. You see many posts where applicants borrow money from parents to cover the 500k, and others asking how long it has to stay in there, and do they have to show it every time they bounce. They're not exactly a prime target for banks to invest time and money in, which is probably another reason why banks are flicking them
Lucie ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Anonymous participant 839 they could even charge a small fee for it if they are worried they won't make money but they might make a little money on the transactions. Other banks all over the world open accounts to people that hardly use them and don't worry about making money.
Lucie ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
I don't know about you guys but I would be happy with a bank account with a tiny limit such as 1,000 baht per month all my large spending can be on credit card and my small day to day stuff on my thai account.

This would stop people running businesses or getting paid through their bank accounts but allow legitimate tourists to use the bank account
Lucie ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Anonymous participant 839 fair point but given the ATM fees they could charge a small fee for a basic bank account and make money that way not to mention they do make money on transactions as well
Anonymous ******************
@Lucie *****
It's for a small market segment. It would cost more to set up and maintain than what they'd be making from it. The DTV segment is comparatively small, and many appear to be living very cheaply
Alex *********
Anonymous participant 839 well, there was an article on the Bangkok post dew months ago claiming the vast majority of Thai people have less than 40k baht in their account so I don't feel we're much more poor than Thai 😅
Luit *****************
@Alex ********
but those Thai people are lending money at the banks and have assurances, something DTV holders don't do
Andrew *******
Anonymous participant 839 i mean that’s horrendous speculation lol. You’ve seen a handful of applicants posting that online, and I agree I’ve seen it often enough aswell, but that’s probably an incredibly small percent like less than 5% of applicants. The same could be said for retirement visa or any visa where you need to show funds
Anonymous ******************
@Andrew ******
Didn't

take much scrolling to find one. Looking for the cheapest way to get a DTV. These forums are full of them. Now how much value will they bring to a Thai bank?
Andrew *******
Anonymous participant 839 I didn’t deny it, ofcourse I’ve seen many in this thread. Most are for people who have no intention to do the course, they just want the cheapest option to qualify for soft power as it’s the easiest. But again seeing a bunch of posts like that in the group has no relevance to how many people are poor or whatever you said. How many people are not in the group who have DTV’s? More than are in this group surely, it’s just not realistic to assume seeing a bunch of posts in 1 group reflects the reality of the situation. We can both be wrong as there isn’t enough info to extrapolate
Anonymous ******************
@Andrew ******
I don't know where you get the 5% from. I see so many posts in this group from people asking the cheapest Muay Thai course, the cheapest cooking course, the cheapest dentist. Digital Nomads forever seeking a "space" with free WiFi. Come on, the DTV was created to bring money into the country, but it's failed to do that. It's all about "cheap"
Anonymous ******************
@Andrew ******
Maybe but retirement visas and others require showing the money on a yearly basis and it's pretty restrictive. Plus, when you add all the other documents and annual checks required by immigration, it makes non-immigrant visas much safer for banks. The DTV doesn’t have those requirements. Risk VS Benefits ratio.
Paul *******
Anonymous participant 804 Ever heard of agents? I would imagine a large percentage of retiree and marriage visa holders use them to get their yearly extensions, with the funds being transferred to the account holder's account only for a few minutes or up to max a couple of days, in order to produce a bank letter.

I don't think banks face any particular risk with the DTV, especially since so few are seeking the extension in country pathway...a few offices require 500K in a Thai bank account to get approved (ironic, considering so many have found their accounts frozen once caught on a DTV) so that is a stumbling block for many.

The DTV hasn't been well thought out and various government bureaucracies are not on the same page regarding this visa, hence why for now at least, most banks have decided not to allow bank accounts for DTV holders, but this could change in the future...but not until this banking crackdown is well and truly over.
Paul *******
Anonymous participant 839 Not at all. How many retirement visa and marriage visa holders don't have the funds needed and use agents to get their extensions?

The reason banks are generally not allowing DTV holders to hold bank accounts especially during the current tumultuous period of crackdowns is because there is no consensus between government agencies on what the DTV is.

It's a special category visa that is sort of like a long term tourist visa but sort of isn't. It's not defined as a non-immigrant visa, hence why banks are avoiding it for now.

In time, some clarity might emerge.
Paul *******
Paul James Bank officials previously were making a tidy sum in backhanders from cash-strapped retirees. Now they're putting a stop to it. That's why accounts are being frozen and customers booted. They're of no value to the banks
Paul *******
@Paul ******
Yes and these cash strapped retirees and to some extent, marriage visa holders under 50 (or over 50 but choosing to remain on a marriage visa) were doing the same thing, although it's mostly the agents benefitting here, not the banks.

Now there are still agents offering extension services, but they're slowly being squeezed out of existence and/or becoming stricter in how they process applications.
Michael ********
Anonymous participant 839 💯
Anonymous ******************
Anonymous participant 839 actually banks have been doing this on any tourist visa