Mmm, so does this mean that my account will be suspended, since foreigners on a DTV are not allowed to open bank accounts in Thailand? I currently have a Wise account which I opened in my home country. The main currency is EUR, it has a Belgian IBAN and it's registered to my Thai address. However, I am worried that with the "additional documents" required by the bank of Thailand, this might not be allowed anymore.

ALSO: will money in my Wise bank account then automatically count as money remitted to Thailand for tax purposes?

7 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

For those unable, or unwilling to, to open the link here is the news:

Upcoming Changes to your Wise Account in Thailand

At Wise, we’re always working to deliver better, more localised experiences for our customers. As part of this commitment, customers in Thailand will soon be served by Wise’s local Thailand entity which will be fully licensed and regulated by the Bank of Thailand. These changes will come into effect on or after 19 May 2026.

In line with these changes, we'll be introducing some exciting new features for our customers in Thailand. At the same time, certain restrictions and changes will apply to how Wise’s services can be used moving forward.

New features being introduced

Product Details

Wise Transfers Send THB overseas: You'll be able to send THB abroad using Wise from your local Thai bank account or from the THB balance in your Wise account. As always, you'll enjoy mid-market exchange rates (the same rates you see on Google) with no hidden fees.

Wise Account Adding money to your Wise account: You'll be able to add money to your Wise Account using a local Thai bank account. Once added, you can convert and hold that amount in over 40 currencies.

PromptPay payments Local payments via PromptPay: You'll be able transfer money from your Wise account to any PromptPay ID (mobile number or Citizen ID). You'll also be able to receive payments via PromptPay, using your e-wallet ID or PromptPay QR .

Scan-and-pay using PromptpayQR / ThaiQR Scan-and-pay using PromptPay QR codes: You'll be able to scan-and-pay both individuals and businesses using PromptPay QR / ThaiQR codes. This will make it easier for you to pay for purchases at smaller stores that don’t accept credit / debit cards.

Wise Card Order digital and physical Wise cards: You'll be able to order a physical Wise card that will be delivered to your doorstep in Thailand, as well as digital cards that can be used for online payments. With a Wise card, you can spend online, in-store and abroad without hidden fees or inflated exchange rates.

Upcoming changes and restrictions

The following restrictions and changes will come into effect on or after 19 May 2026.  

What's changing	Example of what is no longer supported	Alternative solutions
Transfers between non-Thai bank accounts: You'll no longer be able to use Wise to transfer money between two overseas bank accounts outside of Thailand.	For example, you won't be able to use Wise to transfer money from a US bank account (USD) to a Singapore bank account (SGD).	You can use Wise to transfer money from your US bank account (USD) to your Wise Account THB balance. You can then transfer money from your Wise Account THB balance to a Singapore bank account (SGD). This will involve two currency conversions: USD to THB, then THB to SGD. Currency conversion fees will apply.
Sending money overseas in non-THB currencies: You'll no longer be able to send non-THB currencies from your Wise account (e.g. USD, GBP) to an overseas bank account.	For example, you won’t be able to send USD from your Wise Account to a bank account in the US. Similarly, you won’t be able to send GBP from your Wise Account to a bank account in the UK.	You can convert the USD in your Wise Account to THB first, and then remit that THB amount to an overseas bank account in the US. This will involve two currency conversions: USD to THB, then THB to USD. Currency conversion fees will apply.
Receiving payments in non-THB currencies: If you receive payments in currencies other than THB, we'll automatically convert the amount to THB and add it to the THB balance in your Wise Account. Relevant currency conversion fees will apply. This includes non-THB payments received from other Wise users or using account details (e.g. USD account details).	For example, if you receive a 1000 USD payment from a Wise user based in the US, we'll automatically convert the 1000 USD to THB at prevailing mid-market exchange rates, and deduct any relevant currency conversion fees. The remaining THB will then be deposited into your Wise Account THB balance. Similarly, if you receive a 500 EUR payment using your EUR account details, we'll automatically convert the 500 EUR to THB at prevailing mid-market exchange rates, and deduct any relevant currency conversion fees. The remaining THB will then be deposited into your Wise Account THB balance.	You can still receive payments from overseas Wise users, or using foreign currency account details. The only difference is you'll no longer be able to hold that payment as foreign currency in your Wise account. The payment will be automatically converted to THB. Currency conversion fees will apply.
Cash withdrawals at ATMs in Thailand: You won’t be able to use your Wise card to withdraw cash from ATMs in Thailand. However, you can still use your Wise card to withdraw cash from ATMs abroad.	For example, if you order a Wise card in Thailand, you won't be able to use it to withdraw cash from ATMs located in Thailand.	Instead of withdrawing cash locally, you can use the scan-and-pay feature in your Wise app to pay individuals and businesses via PromptPay QR.

From now until May 2026, there will be no changes to your Wise account, and you can continue using it as usual.

In April, we’ll email you to request some additional verification documents, in line with the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory requirements. We’ll share clear instructions and more details regarding this at a later date.

If you're no longer residing in Thailand, please ensure that your address in Wise is updated to reflect your current country of residence. Find out more on how to update your address here.

We’re excited about what’s coming and are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for our customers in Thailand. We’ll continue to keep you updated every step of the way.

After a quick read that looks ok for me, main changes, can get a physical card sent to Thailand and scanning QR code now looks doable

11 minutes ago, JimmyTobacco said:

Mmm, so does this mean that my account will be suspended, since foreigners on a DTV are not allowed to open bank accounts in Thailand? I currently have a Wise account which I opened in my home country. The main currency is EUR, it has a Belgian IBAN and it's registered to my Thai address. However, I am worried that with the "additional documents" required by the bank of Thailand, this might not be allowed anymore.

ALSO: will money in my Wise bank account then automatically count as money remitted to Thailand for tax purposes?

That's the million dollar question at the moment, what documents will Wise request for verification purposes for us registered with a Thai address.

Maybe a tax ID number, Thai bank statement to match the address Wise have, will Wise accept a statement in Thai language, a long term visa etc etc

BTW i never got an email from Wise on this presumably because I registered in UK not Thailand

28 minutes ago, dayo202 said:

That's the million dollar question at the moment, what documents will Wise request for verification purposes for us registered with a Thai address.

Maybe a tax ID number, Thai bank statement to match the address Wise have, will Wise accept a statement in Thai language, a long term visa etc etc

Indeed my Thai bank statement won't exactly match the address I gave Wise as I put Pattaya in the field for 'city'.Perhaps I should have put Banglamung who knows they haven't questioned it yet.

45 minutes ago, chang50 said:

Indeed my Thai bank statement won't exactly match the address I gave Wise as I put Pattaya in the field for 'city'.Perhaps I should have put Banglamung who knows they haven't questioned it yet.

You can edit your address in the Wise app to match your bank address.

Best to do it now lava than wait for the changes

2 hours ago, CallumWK said:

That confirms what I actually have been posting all the time. It only affects Wise customers with Thai nationality

Surely you mean Thailand residential address and Not Thai nationality!

5 hours ago, SamSpade said:

I haven’t received this msg from Wise, Is your registered address in Thailand?

I can’t see the same changes applying to my Wise account (registered in Singapore & now listed as being in the UK).

Having said that I might switch to a Thai account as I use Revolut for everything nowadays so might be handy to be able to send THB outside of Thailand.

Yes, I am registered with my Thai address.

31 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Surely you mean Thailand residential address and Not Thai nationality!

Surely I don't mean that, which is also confirmed by the reply @chickenslegs , who has a Thai residential address, got from Wise

4 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Wise will no longer be of any benefit to me. I may as well get my pensions paid directly to my Thai bank.

With Wise, you may get a better currency conversion rate and may also avoid the standard charge made when sending money to a Thai bank from abroad.

This is definitely a net negative for me, especially "Receiving payments in non-THB currencies". I suppose it also closes the loophole, whereby money spent from a Wise account doesn't count as money remitted to Thailand.

2 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

With Wise, you may get a better currency conversion rate and may also avoid the standard charge made when sending money to a Thai bank from abroad.

Yes, I'm happy with the conversion rate and fees with Wise but I want to choose the timing of the conversion.

As I stated above, it seems that Wise will not be automatically converting my GBP when received .... no plans at this time they say .... so I will wait and see.

29 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Yes, I'm happy with the conversion rate and fees with Wise but I want to choose the timing of the conversion.

As I stated above, it seems that Wise will not be automatically converting my GBP when received .... no plans at this time they say .... so I will wait and see.

My understanding of this is they will automatically convert non-THB into THB:

Receiving payments in non-THB currencies: If you receive payments in currencies other than THB, we'll automatically convert the amount to THB and add it to the THB balance in your Wise Account. Relevant currency conversion fees will apply. This includes non-THB payments received from other Wise users or using account details (e.g. USD account details).

Please tell me I've got it wrong!

1 hour ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

This is definitely a net negative for me, especially "Receiving payments in non-THB currencies". I suppose it also closes the loophole, whereby money spent from a Wise account doesn't count as money remitted to Thailand.

I don't think that's true. If you spend money from a Wise account in Thailand, you are there and then remitting it to Thailand. However, there's currently no way for them to check. That will become much easier when the Bank of Thailand is involved obviously.

1 hour ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

My understanding of this is they will automatically convert non-THB into THB:

Please tell me I've got it wrong!

I read it exactly the same as you did, but I had an online chat with Wise and got this reply:

Based on current information, any GBP you receive in your Wise account after May 19th, 2026 is expected to remain as GBP until you decide to convert it. Wise is not planning to automatically convert incoming GBP to THB at this time. If there are any changes to this, you would be notified directly. You should have control over when to convert your GBP balance to another currency.

This seems to conflict with the information in the OP. So, I will have to wait and see what happens after May 19th.

6 hours ago, dayo202 said:

That's the million dollar question at the moment, what documents will Wise request for verification purposes for us registered with a Thai address.

Maybe a tax ID number, Thai bank statement to match the address Wise have, will Wise accept a statement in Thai language, a long term visa etc etc

They do already accept documents in Thai language. Once they open shop in Thailand, that should be even less of an issue.

I get money sent over every month, transferred from HSBC in the UK to my Bangkok Bank account. I can't see any way that the new rules will change that. It appears that they mainly affect those sending money out of Thailand or who keep money in a Wise account (something I don't do).

I wonder whether Wise will go the way of PayPal and restrict accounts to Thai citizens.

I have just spoken with Wise rep. I asked if a UK citizen residing in Thailand, but not a resident would be affected by having their funds automatically changed to Thai Baht?

Response:

There’s no confirmation that GBP you send to Wise will automatically convert to Thai baht starting May 2026. Currently, Wise isn’t issuing new currencies or account details in Thailand until May 19th, 2026, but this doesn’t mean your incoming GBP will be converted automatically. You can continue to hold and receive GBP in your Wise account and convert it to THB whenever you choose. If there are any updates about automatic conversion, Wise will inform customers directly. For now, you can manage your currencies as usual.

20 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

The way I'm reading this is that my UK pensions (paid into my Th Wise account) will be converted to THB at whatever is the rate at that moment.

A Wise account in Thailand has never been a proper Wise account due to a lack of local regulation. Looks like they are tryng to become officially recognised which means conforming to local regulations.

Both positives and negatives with the changes which will affect some more than others, fortunately my account is in the UK.

On 2/26/2026 at 6:23 AM, Nozem said:

Some big changes ahead as to how Wise will operate in Thailand and specifically for Thai residents:

https://wise.com/help/articles/3hVTV4OmZimsLpW0Z8LB6l/upcoming-changes-to-your-wise-account-in-thailand

Thanks for the heads-up @Nozem

40 minutes ago, Raindancer said:

I have just spoken with Wise rep. I asked if a UK citizen residing in Thailand, but not a resident would be affected by having their funds automatically changed to Thai Baht?

The way I read it that would only apply to accounts opened in Thailand.

The way I understand it, at the moment there are no accounts that have been opened in Thailand, what current "Thai" accounts there are have been opened in another jurisdiction and then changed address to Thailand.

It would appear the changes are intended to make accounts available in Thailand(from May) and it is those accounts that may have a restriction on inbound currency.

On 2/26/2026 at 6:23 AM, Nozem said:

Some big changes ahead as to how Wise will operate in Thailand and specifically for Thai residents:

https://wise.com/help/articles/3hVTV4OmZimsLpW0Z8LB6l/upcoming-changes-to-your-wise-account-in-thailand

Interesting Statement as to " how Wise will operate in Thailand and specifically for Thai Residents "

I wonder how that will work and how that will be interpreted not just by Wise but buy the BOT and relevant government departments in a legal sense for " Retirees on 1 year Retirement Visa and extensions "

By definition , we are not " Residents" and have no "Resident Status" We may have a "residence" but are not permanent residents of Thailand apart from the Revenue department deeming us " resident for tax purposes if staying over 180 days".

Retirees on 1 year Retirement Visa and extentions are , in reality , 1 year tourists and can be kicked out at the drop of a hat and it's why retiring in Thailand is NOT the ideal retirement destination it is portrayed to be !!

Since I bank at Bangkok Bank, I don't see any way these changes will affect me. The week-long transfer time for "long term funds to stay in Thailand" is PITA and doesn't look like it's going to change.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

The way I read it that would only apply to accounts opened in Thailand.

The way I understand it, at the moment there are no accounts that have been opened in Thailand, what current "Thai" accounts there are have been opened in another jurisdiction and then changed address to Thailand.

It would appear the changes are intended to make accounts available in Thailand(from May) and it is those accounts that may have a restriction on inbound currency.

Not quite sure where your post is leading to. I opened my wise account here in Thailand with my Thai address.

As a Thai resident they already restricted my USA banking. With these changes there will be almost no reason to use Wise. Put another way, I don’t see any advantage to maintaining my Wise account. It’s easier to just wire funds into my local USD account and then do FX exchanges with my bank as needed. Their fees and FX rates aren’t that much more competitive IMHO.

On 2/26/2026 at 6:51 AM, KhunBENQ said:

As usual it's a PITA to open links from the forum. Worse than before. Copy/paste as text to a browser address field.

I just noticed that you can click on the link and a box to click marked 'open' appears above.

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

The way I understand it, at the moment there are no accounts that have been opened in Thailand, what current "Thai" accounts there are have been opened in another jurisdiction and then changed address to Thailand.

No, you could already open a Wise account with a Thai address years ago. That's what I did.

2 minutes ago, Caldera said:

No, you could already open a Wise account with a Thai address years ago. That's what I did.

Me too way back in 2018 or so.

This is absolutely terrible news. I'm making two reasonable assumptions: Wise users will no longer be allowed to directly transfer into and out of multiple currency accounts, and any money placed into Wise will count as a remittance under Thai income tax laws. Frustratingly, the linked page does not clearly state this but it is implied with everything else they write.

None of this will be relevant to pensioners simply transferring income to Thailand or people with simple lifestyles occasionally transferring money outside of Thailand. I'm talking to people who have global financial interests.

Most expats with serious funds will follow the standard practice of A to B to C: citizenship of A, bank savings/investments in B, living in C. This minimises tax implications.

One of the major functions of Wise is to act as a global bridging mechanism. That is, to move money from A to B or from B to A using local access accounts. But with these changes it appears that Wise will force the money to go via C (since the auto-conversion to Thai baht is likely to count as a remittance in law), creating a huge tax liability and creating a double conversion charge.

You might suggest that the expat should simply use a competitor to Wise such as TorFX. But that will not work because most financial institutions require that your money is withdrawn to an account in your name. And for whatever reason only the "virtual" accounts of Wise are accepted (e.g. it is currently remarkably easy to set up a Singapore bank account with Wise, which is widely recognised by financial institutions). Other competitors do have virtual accounts which you can open various countries but they are simply not recognised by the financial institutions.

Running various scenarios through Gemini AI, I found the cost implications to this Wise change to be unbelievable. I strongly recommend others in this position take a look. Not only will you be charged for a double conversion of the money but you will also be hit with an income tax bill on it (30%+ of the sum transferred?).

There are no viable FinTech alternatives to Wise for these global bridging mechanisms. I think the only choice is to open a premier/priority bank account such as with HSBC or Standard Chartered or Citibank etc.

I'm interested to hear how other people are handling this.

(I think for the basic user of Thai resident Wise the access to a wise card and being able to transfer out of Thailand will be mostly beneficial.)