8 hours ago, Gaccha said:

....

The issue is that any movement of money from anywhere to anywhere will result in an autoconversion to Thai baht if your account is Thai based. The autoconversion will almost certainly count as a remittance in Thai tax law (experts are currently seeking clarification from Thailand's tax offices). And that means every satang will count towards your taxable income of that year.

....

These changes then are extremely significant, indeed they are existentially significant, if you are Thai based and if you use Wise as a global linkage mechanism for tax avoidance (not to be confused with tax evasion) and other sensible measures.

That is a good example IMHO - where one might be inappropriately subject to taxation. In such a case, one would need to make an extra effort to show such funds were covered already by a Double Tax Agreement between one's source country (and Thailand) or extra effort to prove such funds were covered by Thai ministerial directives PAW.161/162 (and were pre-1-Jan-2024 savings). ... Having to keep internal records to document that would be a bit of an annoyance given the funds were never intended to be (in practice) remitted to Thailand as the end destination of the funds.

And it further illustrates that a Thai based Wise account/card is not very suitable for use outside of Thailand if the source of one's funds is not Thailand. Only LTR visa holders (such as LTR-WP or LTR-WGC) don't have to be concerned about the taxation aspect. ... But even they (LTR visa holders), if using a Thai based Wise account, get 'hit' with the double conversion fee (ie say Euros > Thai Baht > Hong Kong dollars ). ...

So the 'Thai' based Wise account is more limited, than say a 'Germany' based Wise account.

A tax expert website has offered a rather nice list of those people who will be especially affected in these upcoming May changes.

The key point is the issue of "remittance" in Thai tax law. Thailand has a remittance tax system unlike many other countries (the UK, by contrast, has for its tax residents a global tax regime). So controlling and timing or avoiding remittances is extremely important to minimise tax levels.

If like clockwork you simply move money month by month through Wise from a specific income source then probably nothing needs to be done.

But if you use Wise in a more sophisticated manner then this website will be worth reading:

https://www.expattaxthailand.com/wise-thailand-tax-update-2026/?hl=en-GB

I can think of a couple of crucial problem areas where the Wise account is used as a bridging mechanism:

-If you move money between two countries, neither of which are Thailand.

-You use the Wise virtual accounts for local transfers within a country between your own accounts. (If you have no idea what Wise virtual accounts are then you have nothing to worry about)

This website also makes similar points although not getting to the issue of tax:

https://neobanque.ch/blog/wise-bank-of-thailand-regulated-money-transfer-app/?hl=en-GB

I think I'll stick with my Revolut card that just got banking approval in the UK.

11 hours ago, Gaccha said:

A tax expert website has offered a rather nice list of those people who will be especially affected in these upcoming May changes.

A point worth noting, mainly for those who know nothing about Wise , is that the some of above mostly applies to those who have a Thai address in their Wise. it is not fully applicable to those with a Wise card with an address from outside of Thailand.

Each year I pay my medical insurance annual premium by transferring GBP from an offshore investment a/c to Wise using BACS (no charge). This transfer can only be made to an a/c in my name.

I then transfer the GBP to the UK insurer's UK GBP a/c, once again using BACS. As the funds do not enter Thailand there is no tax liability.

So, does this mean that I will now have to transfer GBP from my offshore a/c to Wise Thailand, presumably by SWIFT with charges. Have the GBP converted to THB, at cost, convert back to GBP, at cost, and then transfer to the UK using SWIFT, at more cost. And then, to add insult to injury, pay Thai tax on the premium of several thousands of GBP?

As I live in Thailand with no other address, UK or otherwise, does anyone know of an alternative to Wise? Thanks.

In addition just noticed on the Expat Tax web site that non-THB balances can not be sent directly to overseas bank accounts. Effectively meaning I can not even pay the premium using Wise!

1 hour ago, RupertIII said:

Each year I pay my medical insurance annual premium by transferring GBP from an offshore investment a/c to Wise using BACS (no charge). This transfer can only be made to an a/c in my name.

I then transfer the GBP to the UK insurer's UK GBP a/c, once again using BACS. As the funds do not enter Thailand there is no tax liability.

So, does this mean that I will now have to transfer GBP from my offshore a/c to Wise Thailand, presumably by SWIFT with charges. Have the GBP converted to THB, at cost, convert back to GBP, at cost, and then transfer to the UK using SWIFT, at more cost. And then, to add insult to injury, pay Thai tax on the premium of several thousands of GBP?

As I live in Thailand with no other address, UK or otherwise, does anyone know of an alternative to Wise? Thanks.

In addition just noticed on the Expat Tax web site that non-THB balances can not be sent directly to overseas bank accounts. Effectively meaning I can not even pay the premium using Wise!

In all those various ways you just described you are exactly the kind of person who needs to act before the May date arrives. You don't have much time. You'll find that moving the money around and trying to liquidate assets and filling in all the paperwork will take a good solid month.

You might determine that simply taking the tax hit as well as the various conversion charges is the best way ahead.

From checking around I simply could not find a truly equal alternative to Wise among Fintech alternatives. There are certainly other companies that will send your money at cheap cost direct from your offshore account to a non-Thai location, but I think you'll find they do not offer the same auto transfer option or an option to sit the money with them. You would lose a lot of your flexibility and a lot of time.

An option that you might consider is opening a high-value or elite bank account in the third country to act as a new bridge between your various financial locations. Unfortunately this requires quite a large sum to be in the account for the bank to be willing to open it (banks typically do not want to open accounts for people not resident in a country) but they will open it for free and in fact they will throw money at you to open it.

Examples are Standard Chartered Priority, HSBC Premier, Citigold etc. the absolute cheapest that I can think of would be HSBC Premier in Malaysia which is probably only around $100, 000 of funds needed for them to open it. This option is very popular among wealthy Thais.

They all have pluses and minuses. HSBC will automatically upgrade all your accounts across the whole world to premier level and link the accounts. So if you opened the Malaysia one on the cheap then you would also get your UK account upgraded to Premier level as well. Suddenly you would find free transfer across the globe between the accounts.

By contrast the Citigold is exceptionally good for travellers with a great deal of perks, and has a very deep well of wealth fund options.

The details are really what will make them the right place for you and only you can decide that. But you must act.

I started looking around almost the instant I heard about this and it has taken me until this week to get it all done.

31 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

In all those various ways you just described you are exactly the kind of person who needs to act before the May date arrives. You don't have much time. You'll find that moving the money around and trying to liquidate assets and filling in all the paperwork will take a good solid month.

You might determine that simply taking the tax hit as well as the various conversion charges is the best way ahead.

From checking around I simply could not find a truly equal alternative to Wise among Fintech alternatives. There are certainly other companies that will send your money at cheap cost direct from your offshore account to a non-Thai location, but I think you'll find they do not offer the same auto transfer option or an option to sit the money with them. You would lose a lot of your flexibility and a lot of time.

An option that you might consider is opening a high-value or elite bank account in the third country to act as a new bridge between your various financial locations. Unfortunately this requires quite a large sum to be in the account for the bank to be willing to open it (banks typically do not want to open accounts for people not resident in a country) but they will open it for free and in fact they will throw money at you to open it.

Examples are Standard Chartered Priority, HSBC Premier, Citigold etc. the absolute cheapest that I can think of would be HSBC Premier in Malaysia which is probably only around $100, 000 of funds needed for them to open it. This option is very popular among wealthy Thais.

They all have pluses and minuses. HSBC will automatically upgrade all your accounts across the whole world to premier level and link the accounts. So if you opened the Malaysia one on the cheap then you would also get your UK account upgraded to Premier level as well. Suddenly you would find free transfer across the globe between the accounts.

By contrast the Citigold is exceptionally good for travellers with a great deal of perks, and has a very deep well of wealth fund options.

The details are really what will make them the right place for you and only you can decide that. But you must act.

I started looking around almost the instant I heard about this and it has taken me until this week to get it all done.

Many thanks Gaccha. I will consider this but the downside would seem to be that I will have USD100k sitting there not earning. My other option is to transfer direct to my GDB FC a/c with Bangkok Bank and suffer their high charges for international transfers, not to mention the hassle of going to one of their few international branches and completing the numerous required forms in duplicate, cannot be done from my online banking without converting to THB first and then back to GDB! Alternatively cancel the insurance which seems a shame after 30+ years.

3 hours ago, RupertIII said:

the downside would seem to be that I will have USD100k sitting there not earning.

In fact that is not the case. They will encourage you to invest into shares or mutual funds or ETFs or bonds on their platform since they will want the commission.

And if you don't want to invest, they typically offer multiple currency accounts (normally around 15 currencies are automatically opened for you) so you can simply tactically slot your money into a high interest currency.

You might also want to leave a bit of money to be "frozen" (around $10,000) so that you can be given a free, extremely desirable credit card with infinite lounge access etc. That's not my thing but I know it is on offer.

They don't actually require money to sit in the account but simply require that you have in total enough across their various products. They will add that all together every three or four months to make sure you have enough. They will provide some leeway if it goes a bit below for a time. If it does go a bit below they typically charge about 10 or $15 a month. There could be a problem if there is a major share collapse etc.

Make sure when you open it you mention the freebies offer (just check on their websites for their latest cash giveaways etc). Free money is free money after all.

I am still wondering if I will be allowed to keep my Wise account. My Wise is registered to my Thai address, but I am on a DTV, which is normally not enough to get a bank account in Thailand.

I would love to use my Wise account as my Thai bank account for PromptPay payments, but I am still not sure if I will be allowed to do so.

In any case, I will have to find a solution for my monthly income payments, which have been coming into my Wise account from an EU-based business. I will have to change the bank account those payments are coming into.

I do still have a Revolut and N26 account, so it should be no problem.

It may seems WISE meets Dumb, however WISE formerly transferwise seeks Thais keen to export cash no doubt on an app. They or any other platform needs adhere to whatsoever Thai law requires.

As others suggest, oin addition to less flex on timing and fees, the real rub is a potential tax liability for thise already paying or close to the pretty low thresholds.

I have opened a Revolut account in Europe for this very reason and will probably just make donations to wife and buy my 12 grand per year air tickets and similar sms booking of cars hotels leisure from outside Thailand . I doubt the BoT cares a jot for small fry like me nor expats in general.

For many retirees one account here and one at home is simple but may wish to fund kids or grandkids education, travel to Thailand, many others perhaps never need to send out remittances.

I will await experts here and the law clarification but for those who can get an account elsewhere can do little harm. I can highly recommend Citibank and Raifissenkasse as an ex employee! HSBC and Standard Chartered not so much for small players. Life is get more complex for those who have income spending in various tax authorities for obvious reason, rental oncome dvidends may escape double tacation via refunds but we all know they will grab first and refind later, For averga person employing lawers and accountanst even free from family member is just too much hassle in your 80s!

For Italians

https://rob.raiffeisen.it/nibank/MAIN?TPMAP=NEWLOGIN&client_id=OYh98Uhwp6ek7JrdBeU3tK8Z0zsa&commonAuthCallerPath=%2Foauth2%2Fauthorize&forceAuth=false&passiveAuth=false&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Frob.raiffeisen.it%2Fnibank%2FMAIN%3FTPMAP%3DNEWLOGIN&response_type=code&scope=openid&tenantDomain=carbon.super&sessionDataKey=0ead20b8-0868-4b2c-ab83-3487f7312f3d&relyingParty=OYh98Uhwp6ek7JrdBeU3tK8Z0zsa&type=oidc&sp=rob.raiffeisen.it&isSaaSApp=false&callbackUrlRaiffid=https%3A%2F%2Fridp.raiffeisen.it%2Fcommonauth%3FsessionDataKey%3D0ead20b8-0868-4b2c-ab83-3487f7312f3d%26authenticatorName%3DRaiffeisenIdNoCertAuth&authenticators=RaiffeisenIdNoCertAuth%3ALOCAL&isrsso=false&callbackParams=eyJsb2dpblRpbWUiOiIyMDI2LTA0LTIyVDA2OjQ0OjUzLjc1NzA1MjU0MFoiLCJsb2dpbkNvdW50IjoxfQ%3D%3D

The reason that Wise wanted to become a local financial service provider in Thailand is not for the few expats, but for a larger market of Thai citizens who want to spend money abroad or send money to family/friends working and living abroad.

They will not become a Thai bank, but acquired 5 licenses from the Bank of Thailand so it's Thai customers can send money abroad, exchange currency, have a E-money wallet and faciliatate payments.

If you have a Wise account with a Thai address, your bank account is an E-money wallet and will not have the benefits of the 1M baht depository warranty as other Thai bank accounts. In case Wise Thailand goes bankrupt, your wallet is kept separate from Wise' assets and you will get your money back up to a limit. There may be audit/retrieval costs involved, like with other entities of Wise in other countries.

Why would a Thai resident or citizen would want to have a Wise account?

1) Wise' debit card can be used in Thailand and abroad. The requirements to get a debit card are low, compared to a credit card at a Thai bank. Only Krungsri bank has a similar service, called the onboarding card.

2) faster and cheaper service to transfer money abroad

Other facilities of a Wise account are not better, or more expensive or non existent:
1) transferring money between Wise and Thai accounts will cost money

2) you cannot withdraw money from an ATM [ similar to Krungsri's onboarding card]

I don't see any added value for an expat to keep/get a Thai Wise account, other than the advantages mentioned above. The requirements to keep or acquire a Thai Wise account will be increased at least at the level of a Thai resident I assume, i.e. certified address, a visa other than tourist or DTV.

21 hours ago, 4myr said:

Wise' debit card can be used in Thailand and abroad.

Their own (withdrawn) press release said their card would no longer be usable in Thailand (for Thai residents).

I got an email today with new information:

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

Interestingly enough:

From now until 3 Aug 2026, there will be no changes to your Wise account, and you can continue using it as usual. In June, we’ll email you to request some additional verification documents, in line with the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory requirements. Non-immigrant visas such as Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) and Education Visas (ED) will be accepted for verification purposes. We’ll share clear instructions and more details regarding this at a later date. 

It is however unclear what the tax implications are of bringing money into the Wise account. Does this count as remitted income or not?

I noted that under new rules ( if I am not mistaken)"all transfers into Thailand will first be exchanged into Thai Baht "

So how does this apply to ones existing Sterling Deposit Account where sterling is directly transferred to ones Sterling Deposit Account ? Surely that sterling transfer is not going to be exchanged into Thai Baht then exchanged back into sterling ???

If that were case I forsee all foreign currency deposit accounts being closed !!

1 hour ago, GmailJen said:

Surely that sterling transfer is not going to be exchanged into Thai Baht then exchanged back into sterling ???

If you transfer Pound Sterling into Wise then Wise will autoconvert it to Thai baht and then you are free to convert it back into Pounds again and place it in your Pound Sterling account.

You will 'lose' some money from the double conversion exchange rate spread and charges. This might also be deemed a "remittance" for Thai tax purposes.

Any Pound Sterling you currently have in your Wise account will remain as Pounds.

3 hours ago, GmailJen said:

I noted that under new rules ( if I am not mistaken)"all transfers into Thailand will first be exchanged into Thai Baht "

The changes only apply if you use a Thai registered address for your Wise account.

New features being introduced for all Thailand personal customers

We'll be introducing the following new features for all Wise personal customers in Thailand, i.e. Wise customers with a personal account (not business account) whose registered address is a Thai address.

I've just done a transfer of funds from Australia via Wise to BKKBank here in Prasat Surin.

Today, as on 2 previous occasions since February but far from all, the transfer went thru in seconds rather than waiting till 1400 the next day. And instead of being marked on BKKBk's screen as 'International Transfer' - as it always has for the last several years and mostly has since February - it's showing as 'Deposit/Transfer via e-channels'.

How's that going to go down when I front up to Immigration in October for my annual O/A-derived renewal? I suspect I'll have to get the usual BKKBk letter affirming my account status with them to add a note saying that the 'Deposit/Transfer etc' deposits are actually international transfers.

All a bit weird because (a) inconsistent since February and (b) nothing in the Wise process has changed except that you get to tick a box saying Yes I do want this transfer to be noted as international transfer ... and then, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.

???????

Edited May 6May 6 by mfd101

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

How's that going to go down when I front up to Immigration in October for my annual O/A-derived renewal? I suspect I'll have to get the usual BKKBk letter affirming my account status with them to add a note saying that the 'Deposit/Transfer etc' deposits are actually international transfers.

You'll need to obtain a credit advice note confirming the foreign origin of this particular transfer from whomever is Wise's banking partner as stated at the end of their transfer confirmation document. Most likely this will be Kasikorn, I think, and attached below is an example of a Kasikorn credit advice note.

EDIT: If Wise's banking partner is, indeed, Kasikorn in this instance, then you'll need to obtain the credit advice note from one of their International Trade Centres:

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/branch/Pages/result.aspx?qs=inter&qw=&qn=n

Edited May 6May 6 by OJAS

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

How's that going to go down when I front up to Immigration in October for my annual O/A-derived renewal? I suspect I'll have to get the usual BKKBk letter affirming my account status with them to add a note saying that the 'Deposit/Transfer etc' deposits are actually international transfers.

Check your bank statement via the App or online banking and it should be recorded as 'International Transfer'.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Check your bank statement via the App or online banking and it should be recorded as 'International Transfer'.

It isn't. As explained above, on 3 occasions since mid-Feb (including the last 2 this month & last) it is recorded on BKKBk's online as 'Deposit/Transfer via e-channels'.

9 hours ago, OJAS said:

You'll need to obtain a credit advice note confirming the foreign origin of this particular transfer from whomever is Wise's banking partner as stated at the end of their transfer confirmation document. Most likely this will be Kasikorn, I think, and attached below is an example of a Kasikorn credit advice note.

EDIT: If Wise's banking partner is, indeed, Kasikorn in this instance, then you'll need to obtain the credit advice note from one of their International Trade Centres:

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/branch/Pages/result.aspx?qs=inter&qw=&qn=n

I have a marriage visa, and transfer money from my UK account to Thailand via Wise every month. In case I ever need it I screenshot both the Wise transaction showing where the money has come from, and my Thai account showing that same amount as a credit. So it's clear where the money came from and when* and where it has been deposited. *Wise used to show the year as part of the transaction date, but since 1st January this year they don't. Why they would change that is unfathomable, but I guess they have their reason. A minor thing, as the out/in amount shown marries up.

12 hours ago, Liquorice said:

The changes only apply if you use a Thai registered address for your Wise account.

New features being introduced for all Thailand personal customers

We'll be introducing the following new features for all Wise personal customers in Thailand, i.e. Wise customers with a personal account (not business account) whose registered address is a Thai address.

Of course I use a Thai registered address , I live here ! I would think most peiople with a foreign currency deposit account live here with a Thai address. SO - that does not answer my query .

21 minutes ago, GmailJen said:

Of course I use a Thai registered address , I live here ! I would think most peiople with a foreign currency deposit account live here with a Thai address. SO - that does not answer my query .

You might be surprised at how many 'aliens' live in LoS who have a registered address with Wise from their home country for various reasons.

From the Wise update:

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. You’ll still be able to add money to your Wise account from a foreign bank account. For example, you can add money to your Wise account USD balance from your US bank account.

3 hours ago, GmailJen said:

Of course I use a Thai registered address , I live here ! I would think most peiople with a foreign currency deposit account live here with a Thai address

Not necessarily, I opened my Wise account long before I moved to Thailand and still have a UK registered address.

3 hours ago, GmailJen said:

SO - that does not answer my query .

Then it's as posted by @Gaccha .

If using a Thai registered address for Wise and transferring from a UK bank to a foreign currency account with a Thai bank.

18 hours ago, Gaccha said:

If you transfer Pound Sterling into Wise then Wise will autoconvert it to Thai baht and then you are free to convert it back into Pounds again and place it in your Pound Sterling account.

You will 'lose' some money from the double conversion exchange rate spread and charges.

23 hours ago, GmailJen said:

I noted that under new rules ( if I am not mistaken)"all transfers into Thailand will first be exchanged into Thai Baht "

So how does this apply to ones existing Sterling Deposit Account where sterling is directly transferred to ones Sterling Deposit Account ? Surely that sterling transfer is not going to be exchanged into Thai Baht then exchanged back into sterling ???

Slightly contrary to Gaccha's reply I understand that the example you give of GBP from UK account to Wise GBP balance will remain in GBP if the originating account is in your name. Similarily for USD origin funds to a user's USD Wise balance etc.

If a third party send you funds, in GBP or any other non THB currency, then they will automatically be converted to THB within your Wise account with the associated fees deducted.

I also think (not 100% sure) this is different to the first reported iteration of the changes that was removed by Wise shortly after being published, which would have been as Gaccha explained.

The key sections in the current document which make me think this are screenshot here:

and from the section referred to (last sentence) :

On 5/7/2026 at 3:13 PM, treetops said:

Slightly contrary to Gaccha's reply I understand that the example you give of GBP from UK account to Wise GBP balance will remain in GBP if the originating account is in your name. Similarily for USD origin funds to a user's USD Wise balance etc.

If a third party send you funds, in GBP or any other non THB currency, then they will automatically be converted to THB within your Wise account with the associated fees deducted.

I also think (not 100% sure) this is different to the first reported iteration of the changes that was removed by Wise shortly after being published, which would have been as Gaccha explained.

The key sections in the current document which make me think this are screenshot here:

and from the section referred to (last sentence) :

@treetops I agree with your interpretation above. I had 2 pensions paid directly into my Wise GBP balance which I have now changed so they are paid into my UK bank account, which I can then transfer from my own UK bank account to my Wise GBP balance as GBP. This is to prevent them being automatically converted to THB on arrival in my Wise account as the pensions providers fall into the "other/third party" payments category. I can then send from my Wise GBP balance to my Thai bank account as I did previously.

Edited May 9May 9 by Mutt Daeng

On 5/7/2026 at 3:13 PM, treetops said:

Slightly contrary to Gaccha's reply I understand that the example you give of GBP from UK account to Wise GBP balance will remain in GBP if the originating account is in your name. Similarily for USD origin funds to a user's USD Wise balance etc.

I agree with this. Although I'm left annoyed at the clunky way they've explained the upcoming changes since it still leaves open giant questions.

This is all my guess:

If you use the "Add" button with the App then any funds arriving from any accounts in your name will not be autoconverted. If however you "push" (you simply send without "warning") funds into your account even if they are in your name then they will be autoconverted.

The funds will be initially checked and if the accounts are not yet verified from previous transactions then the funds will be held until confirmation, probably via simple AI analysis or a slower human verification.

I am not happy with the changes to Wise so I have been looking for alternatives.

I only need to send money from Australia to Thailand.

I have ruled out XE (they refuse to do it)

I have ruled out OFX (too many fees)

I have ruled out REMITY (they require an address and phone in Oz)

Does anyone have any recommendations please?

3 hours ago, Jerzy Swirski said:

I am not happy with the changes to Wise so I have been looking for alternatives.

I only need to send money from Australia to Thailand.

I have ruled out XE (they refuse to do it)

I have ruled out OFX (too many fees)

I have ruled out REMITY (they require an address and phone in Oz)

Does anyone have any recommendations please?

Western Union ?

Thanks Liquorice.

WU exchange rates look good but unfortunately WU are the same as the others and require an address in Australia which I do not have.

I am reluctant to use a friends address in case there are consequences later.

Looks like I am stuck with Wise.