Thai Bank Account for Foreigners: KBank Refuses DTV

Check your visa first. KBank will not open an account on a tourist visa, Visa on Arrival, Free Visa or DTV, and wants a non-immigrant visa of any type. SCB wants a passport and work permit. Savings accounts open from THB 500 at SCB and Bangkok Bank.

Here for three to six months on visa-exempt entry or a DTV? KBank will turn you away, because it names Visa on Arrival, Free Visa and the DTV as visas it will not open an account for. It takes a non-immigrant visa. If that is not you, try Bangkok Bank: it tells foreigners to contact any branch, and the manager has the final say. Check the visa in your passport before you queue.

Which visas get turned away

KBank will not open an account for a tourist visa or other travel visa, and it names Visa on Arrival, Free Visa and the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) as examples. Krungsri closes its foreign-currency account to foreign customers on a tourist visa, and that rule covers only that account.

Your way in at KBank is a non-immigrant visa of any type. See the DTV, long-term resident visa and retirement visa guides if you need one.

What to bring

At KBank, bring your passport and the non-immigrant visa. Add a paper that matches why you entered Thailand, such as a work permit or a school certificate, plus ID from your home country. SCB asks for a passport and work permit as the ID. Bangkok Bank publishes no foreigner list, so ask at a branch.

KBank may ask for more documents on the day.

What it costs to open

KBank sets no minimum deposit for a savings account. Bangkok Bank savings opens with THB 500, and so does SCB savings. An SCB current account for an individual needs THB 10,000.

For debit cards, KBank’s K BASIC carries no fee. SCB’s Let’s SCB card costs THB 100 as a joining fee and THB 200 a year. Check the current fee table at the counter, and see the ATM fee guide for cash withdrawals.

Bangkok Bank: go in person

You can open an account at any Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand, but you have to turn up yourself, because the bank does not open accounts from abroad. A Non-Resident Baht Account is the exception to “any branch”: it is opened at the Head Office, 333 Silom Road, Bangkok.

A local account lets you bank in baht without the extra charges that may apply when you use an overseas account and cards.

If you are staying a few months

The bank guide the BOI publishes for long-term residents is the best picture of what banks ask someone who lives here, so treat it as a hint about long stays rather than a rule for tourists.

Bangkok Bank does not take a hotel or P.O. Box address as your address. Immigration papers do not stand in for it either, because the bank does not accept TM6 or TM30 letters for account opening. It asks you to open at a branch in the same city as your registered residence, and it wants a contact phone number backed by a tax invoice from your mobile provider.

For an account for daily expenses (not for retirement), the guide accepts a rental agreement of more than 1 year with a recent utility bill as address papers. Even with every paper in hand, the branch manager has the final say.

Kasikorn asks for one additional document, and a digital work permit is one of the options, and it also names condominium ownership documents or a residential lease agreement as the address document.

PromptPay and money from abroad

Once you have an account, PromptPay lets you transfer money with a phone number or citizen ID. Link your account to one of them in mobile banking, at an ATM or at a branch.

Money sent from abroad is treated differently above a certain size. Below USD 200,000, a resident customer states the purpose of the transfer and the bank need not ask for documents. At USD 200,000 or more, the bank asks for documents showing where the money came from.

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Not confirmed: None of the four banks names a residence certificate or lease letter, so ask the branch before you go. Krungsri's foreigner rules are for its foreign-currency account only. Branch staff decide in practice.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not financial or tax advice for your situation. Rules and fees change; confirm with your bank, the Revenue Department or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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