3 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

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

Plus foreigners with permanent Thai residency, maybe? Based on my experiences with them a few months ago regarding 3 separate verification checks, I would definitely not rule this possibiity out.

Firstly they asked me for proof of my ID, which I was able to satisfy with a copy of my passport photopage. They then asked me for proof of my Thai address, which I was able to satisfy with a copy of my latest UK bank statement.

So far, so good. But then they threw a curveball in my direction, in the form of a request for proof of my right to reside in Thailand! Which, seeing as I have neither permanent residency nor citizenship was a complete impossibiity. However, they were, for some reason, prepared to accept a valid Thai driving licence for this purpose. But the little problem for me was that I don't possess one of these.

So, faced with a 1-month deadline which Wise imposed on me for complying with this request before they closed my account, I had one more final hurrah with them to transfer a sizeable balance on my UK account across, and then proactively closed my account in protest before they could do so.

From my viewpoint, therefore, those who rely on Wise for their monthly ฿40k or ฿65k IMM transfers do so at their peril (thankfully I use the ฿800k method for my retirement extensions).

.

I just did a Wise transfer and something new popped up. When I make a transfer I always indicate it is for 'Property purchase' . This time it asked me if I wanted a FET generated, yes or no. Out of curiosity, I clicked on 'yes', and there was a message to go to Bangkok Bank about doing the paperwork. I didn't pay too close attention to what exactly was involved but Bangkok Bank is where I was sending the money so Wise knew that is where the FET would be generated. I don't need an FET right now so I changed yes to no, but on the next screen I could still indicate the money was for 'Property purchase', which I did. Perhaps Wise is working on making an FET easier to get with money transfers to purchase property.

5 hours ago, OJAS said:

Plus foreigners with permanent Thai residency, maybe? Based on my experiences with them a few months ago regarding 3 separate verification checks, I would definitely not rule this possibiity out.

Firstly they asked me for proof of my ID, which I was able to satisfy with a copy of my passport photopage. They then asked me for proof of my Thai address, which I was able to satisfy with a copy of my latest UK bank statement.

So far, so good. But then they threw a curveball in my direction, in the form of a request for proof of my right to reside in Thailand! Which, seeing as I have neither permanent residency nor citizenship was a complete impossibiity. However, they were, for some reason, prepared to accept a valid Thai driving licence for this purpose. But the little problem for me was that I don't possess one of these.

So, faced with a 1-month deadline which Wise imposed on me for complying with this request before they closed my account, I had one more final hurrah with them to transfer a sizeable balance on my UK account across, and then proactively closed my account in protest before they could do so.

From my viewpoint, therefore, those who rely on Wise for their monthly ฿40k or ฿65k IMM transfers do so at their peril (thankfully I use the ฿800k method for my retirement extensions).

.

Permanent residents were not spared PayPal's closure of accounts owned by foreigners.

6 hours ago, OJAS said:

But then they threw a curveball in my direction, in the form of a request for proof of my right to reside in Thailand! Which, seeing as I have neither permanent residency nor citizenship was a complete impossibiity. However, they were, for some reason, prepared to accept a valid Thai driving licence for this purpose. But the little problem for me was that I don't possess one of these.

They don't require you to be a citizen or permanent resident. But if you are neither, they still want to see some Thai ID, so their request for a Thai driving license or pink ID card - which you can get as a non-immigrant visa holder - is quite reasonable. Let's face it, they do need to establish where their customers actually reside, and that they only accept documents issued by that country (not, for example, your UK bank statement with a Thai address on it) doesn't look outright unreasonable to me.

13 hours ago, Gaccha said:

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.)

Please don’t use AI for things like this. People put way too much stock in the things it says. I catch people doing this all the time. A total misuse of the tool.

On 2/26/2026 at 5:14 PM, dayo202 said:

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

Thanks done already.

7 hours ago, Everyman said:

Please don’t use AI for things like this.

I only used the AI for the tax revenue modeling. I had it present the calculations so I could check.

Obviously AI cannot be reliably used for researching these changes, but in the last year, certain AI models have massively improved with pure maths calculations.

The only factor that matters to show huge cost implications are the assumption that there is a tax remittance when a conversion to Thai baht is made in the Wise system. This is my assumption. It is unconnected with AI.

Obviously, Wise will not provide tax advice so they will not say if there is a tax implication, and I'm sure the Thai tax revenue lawyers are now licking their lips to argue about this.

The entire spirit of my original post remains valid. You are free to do the calculations yourself, even using an old-fashioned Excel spreadsheet if you want.

On 2/27/2026 at 10:53 AM, GmailJen said:

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 !!

I'm now thinking what they (and you) mean is that this will apply to anyone with their address as Thailand !

On 2/27/2026 at 11:09 AM, Raindancer said:

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

Only what I have seen & heard over the years, not a full account.

Did you get the the debit card with that account?

On 2/27/2026 at 12:29 PM, Caldera said:

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

Did you get a debit card with that account? It was my understanding that only countries where Wise was locally regulated could be issued with the debit card.

The Wise card is available to personal customers that live in these countries and regions:

• Australia

• Brazil

• Canada

• EEA + Switzerland + French overseas departments and regions*

• Japan

• Malaysia

• New Zealand

• Philippines

• Singapore

• UK + European microstates and overseas territories**

• USA except for residents of Nevada

https://wise.com/help/articles/2968915/can-i-get-the-wise-card-in-my-country

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

Did you get a debit card with that account?

No, that will be new for residents of Thailand, that hasn't been possible.

I have been wanting to get a Wise Card for years.

After waiting all this time I can now have one but cannot use it in Thailand to withdraw cash.

Absolutely useless for me, I won't bother getting one.

My address with Wise is in Thailand, and I have not been sent any email or notification on this. I suspect it is because my physical Wise account is in Australia, and not Thailand. I can see how it may soon be possible possible to remit money from Thailand using a Wise account in Thailand, but can't see how this is applicable to my account in Australia, which I feed from an Australian bank account in AUD. I don't see what business it is of Thailand's banking regulators what I do with this Australian account, how many Australian dollars I hold in it, and where I choose to transfer that money to (I use it to remit to my banks here and in Singapore).

I may be wrong, but I'd say that these changes are relevant only to those who have a physical Wise account here, in Thailand. The only way I can see these changes affecting anyone with a physical Wise account outside Thailand, no matter where their address is, is by forcing us to move our accounts here, which negates the whole purpose of Wise, which is having a local account in the country of our funds' origin, and remitting to Thailand (and elsewhere) from that account.

16 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

My address with Wise is in Thailand, and I have not been sent any email or notification on this. I suspect it is because my physical Wise account is in Australia, and not Thailand.

There isn't anything like an "physical" account. Your account is an electronic file on a server somewhere. Only your residential address and perhaps your tax residency decides about your juristic residency. You should be prepared that Wise will treat you as a Thai resident, if you are living in Thailand.

12 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

My address with Wise is in Thailand, and I have not been sent any email or notification on this. I suspect it is because my physical Wise account is in Australia, and not Thailand. I can see how it may soon be possible possible to remit money from Thailand using a Wise account in Thailand, but can't see how this is applicable to my account in Australia, which I feed from an Australian bank account in AUD. I don't see what business it is of Thailand's banking regulators what I do with this Australian account, how many Australian dollars I hold in it, and where I choose to transfer that money to (I use it to remit to my banks here and in Singapore).

I may be wrong, but I'd say that these changes are relevant only to those who have a physical Wise account here, in Thailand. The only way I can see these changes affecting anyone with a physical Wise account outside Thailand, no matter where their address is, is by forcing us to move our accounts here, which negates the whole purpose of Wise, which is having a local account in the country of our funds' origin, and remitting to Thailand (and elsewhere) from that account.

Ballpoint I can see why you would assume that [ref notification] but I opened my Wise account in Thailand with my Thai address and I haven't received any email or notification either. What do you mean by 'Physical Wise account' just a manner of speech I presume as aren't all Wise accounts virtual by their very nature?

Totally agree though with your idea of saying what's the point of a Thai Baht Wise account if you are not Thai? The whole purpose of having it is so you can hold your home countries currency for sending here as and when you need or wish to, eg attempting to catch the most favorable exchange rates etc.

All of the account numbers, IBANs, sort codes etc formats on my Wise account are associated with my home country not Thailand so no idea how that will change either? Maybe this is what you are implying when you were saying physical.

If this becomes a totally Thai based account I don't think it will be very useful anymore so I'll probably be closing it.

38 minutes ago, andre47 said:

45 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

My address with Wise is in Thailand, and I have not been sent any email or notification on this. I suspect it is because my physical Wise account is in Australia, and not Thailand.

There isn't anything like an "physical" account. Your account is an electronic file on a server somewhere. Only your residential address and perhaps your tax residency decides about your juristic residency. You should be prepared that Wise will treat you as a Thai resident, if you are living in Thailand.

I have an AUD Wise account, with a branch address, BSB and account number in Australia. It is, of course, all digital, but then again, so is my "real" Australian bank, and is to all intents and purposes an Australian account, regulated by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Transfers to that account are treated like any other domestic Australian transfer by my Australian bank, and are in Australian dollars. I can hold those dollars in that account, and then transfer them to one of my international accounts anytime I'm ready to - though I usually transfer to Wise when I need to / exchange rate is good, and then immediately remit the money elsewhere. I do not have a Wise account with a Thailand branch / account number, and the only way my KBank account here could be linked to my Wise account from this end is by making an international transfer from Thailand to Australia.

As I said, the only way that they can force my account to be in Thai Baht is by "closing" the AUD account and opening a THB one, with a Thai IBAN and account number - effectively moving the account from Australia to Thailand, (which they may well be trying to do for anyone with a Thai address). In my opinion, it is unlikely this will happen, unless the Bank of Thailand make it a condition in order to authorise Wise to operate here. However, this would invalidate the whole purpose of Wise for expats. I would have to make an international remit from Australia to a Thai based Wise account, and then transfer domestically from that to my Thai account. It makes no sense at all, and I would no longer be using the service if that were so. Until it happens, though, I won't be losing any sleep over it.

I just applied for a "proof of account" for my Wise AUD account. It may well be an electronic file on a server somewhere, but it does have a physical address in Australia:

Account holder

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Account number

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

BSB code

774-001

Swift/BIC

TRWIAUS1XXX

Bank name and address

Wise Australia Pty Ltd

Suite 1, Level 11, 66 Goulburn Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Australia

3 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

As I said, the only way that they can force my account to be in Thai Baht is by "closing" the AUD account and opening a THB one, with a Thai IBAN and account number - effectively moving the account from Australia to Thailand, (which they may well be trying to do for anyone with a Thai address). In my opinion, it is unlikely this will happen, unless the Bank of Thailand make it a condition in order to authorise Wise to operate here. However, this would invalidate the whole purpose of Wise for expats. I would have to make an international remit from Australia to a Thai based Wise account, and then transfer domestically from that to my Thai account. It makes no sense at all, and I would no longer be using the service if that were so. Until it happens, though, I won't be losing any sleep over it.

You got it. They will force you to change your account and accept their conditions, because the Thai National Bank forces Wise. Wise will not be allowed to operate in Thailand if they don't follow the rules. For Wise customers which are living in Thailand this change will dramaticaly worsen the use of a Wise account.

2 minutes ago, andre47 said:

You got it. They will force you to change your account and accept their conditions, because the Thai National Bank forces Wise. Wise will not be allowed to operate in Thailand if they don't follow the rules. For Wise customers which are living in Thailand this change will dramaticaly worsen the use of a Wise account.

They won't force me, because I'll close my account. Bye bye Wise. I wonder, just how many Thai citizens will open accounts in Thailand to remit funds abroad, and if they'll balance the loss in custom from expats. Though, this being Thailand, there's probably a bunch of rich individuals pushing for it as an easy way of moving their money abroad.

Yea this is how it is looking to me also i.e. the PayPal road. Absolutely pointless having it if this is what they have planned. Your Thai bank details is probably what they are referring to when they state 'In April, we’ll email you to request some additional verification documents, in line with the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory requirements'.

I imagine that what the below statement actually means is most likely you will only be able to add funds to your Wise account from a Thai bank account after May. Some people after chatting with the help desk said otherwise, but they probably don't even know the full details themselves yet.?

The changes appear to be completely reversing the accounts usefulness for expats. Bye bye Wise from me too if this turns out to be the case.

2 hours ago, Jerzy Swirski said:

I have been wanting to get a Wise Card for years.

After waiting all this time I can now have one but cannot use it in Thailand to withdraw cash.

Absolutely useless for me, I won't bother getting one.

If you reside in Thailand (and only then do these changes apply to you), why would you want to use a Wise card to withdraw cash in Thailand? Wise charges fees for ATM withdrawals above a fairly low monthly amount. Thai banks charge insanely high ATM fees when using a foreign card.

I'm looking forward to being able to get Wise cards for purchases at shops and online, but even if I could, I wouldn't use it to withdraw cash in Thailand.

Was just making transfer to Japan a few days back. When selecting currency to send in (THB to JPY) the THB account balance was listed as "Unavailable", and only thing I could do was select EUR, and pay 2x conversion plus additional non-EUR card fees.

If I read it correctly, this option will also disappear. So, at least to me, with verified address and documents, Wise is quickly becoming totally useless.

Internet bank also stated that I need to go to the branch to make transfer - wasn't possible from their banking page online.

I understand about the Chinese gangs robbing people worse than Nigerians ever did, but these restrictions are making it near impossible to transfer funds anywhere without getting on the plane and carrying cash abroad...

33 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Was just making transfer to Japan a few days back. When selecting currency to send in (THB to JPY) the THB account balance was listed as "Unavailable", and only thing I could do was select EUR, and pay 2x conversion plus additional non-EUR card fees.

If I read it correctly, this option will also disappear. So, at least to me, with verified address and documents, Wise is quickly becoming totally useless.

Converting from Thai baht to any currency has never been available with Wise

4 hours ago, Gaccha said:

I only used the AI for the tax revenue modeling. I had it present the calculations so I could check.

Obviously AI cannot be reliably used for researching these changes, but in the last year, certain AI models have massively improved with pure maths calculations.

The only factor that matters to show huge cost implications are the assumption that there is a tax remittance when a conversion to Thai baht is made in the Wise system. This is my assumption. It is unconnected with AI.

Obviously, Wise will not provide tax advice so they will not say if there is a tax implication, and I'm sure the Thai tax revenue lawyers are now licking their lips to argue about this.

The entire spirit of my original post remains valid. You are free to do the calculations yourself, even using an old-fashioned Excel spreadsheet if you want.

Yes, the spirit of your post remains valid. I don’t want to argue tax issues. There are enough threads about that.

It’s only

7 hours ago, Jerzy Swirski said:

I have been wanting to get a Wise Card for years.

After waiting all this time I can now have one but cannot use it in Thailand to withdraw cash.

Absolutely useless for me, I won't bother getting one.

I can’t work out which customers this will benefit. I think it is nobody.

I never saw the point of the Wise card anyway, I have something like 5 US based checking accounts with better debit cards.

3 hours ago, Everyman said:

I never saw the point of the Wise card anyway,

We've gone from a situation of famine of 15 years ago where there really was a lack of choices for expats who wanted a Visa or MasterCard (to pay online purchases like Agoda etc) unless they were prepared to pay for premium credit cards, to the situation today, where we are absolutely saturated with debit cards using Visa, MasterCard etc.

Any standard debit card now issued from a Thai bank is always linked to Visa, Mastercard or UnionPay etc.

15 years ago I only had the famous Kasikorn "web shopping card" as the way to make Visa or MasterCard payments. Now I have everything from a crypto card to a global money/journey card to a UnionPay card.

My wise account is registered in Canada and I see now that my THB virtual account is completely removed. Is this the part of the "changes"?

7 hours ago, Celsius said:

My wise account is registered in Canada and I see now that my THB virtual account is completely removed. Is this the part of the "changes"?

Probably not, since the link provided in the OP indicates that the changes will come into effect on or after 19 May 2026. I would contact Wise if I were you to see why your THB account was removed.

On 3/1/2026 at 7:16 PM, Caldera said:

No, that will be new for residents of Thailand, that hasn't been possible.

Exactly my point.

Existing "Thai" accounts were not full accounts in respect of regulation. The proposed changes will make accounts locally regulated which will allow the card to be issued.

On 3/1/2026 at 7:31 PM, Jerzy Swirski said:

I have been wanting to get a Wise Card for years.

After waiting all this time I can now have one but cannot use it in Thailand to withdraw cash.

Absolutely useless for me, I won't bother getting one.

I have withdrawn cash in Thailand from my UK Wise card and I use it all the time to pay on Lazada. Always put some THB on the account when rate favourable.

Card has been a godsend for me, particularly food and drink at airports. Will expire shortly so need to order a new one.

Clear as mud. I'm a US resident although I live here (I have a permanent US address). All I want to do is to continue to transfer funds from my US Bank account to my Thai Bank account at SCB which I believe they have arrangements with for transfers.

I don't think this will have any affect, but who knows?

On 2/26/2026 at 4:04 PM, scubascuba3 said:

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

Good catch. Me neither. Just check my email attached to my Wise account and I see nothing. But I have a US address.