On 3/27/2026 at 7:42 AM, Jingthing said:

It's my understanding that many popular expat destination countries (especially in Latin America) REQUIRE a rather easy to obtain specific foreigner ID card to function there as a longer term resident (for example to open a bank account).

Surely, that foreigner ID is called as passport, which they must have to enter the country. Are you saying that isn't accepted as ID?

I thought hotels were required to report to immigration when a foreigner checked in/checked out. How would they be able to do this without a passport number? If the pink ID card does not contain your passport number, then the hotel must be registering you as a non-foreigner, possibly in order to circumvent the TM-30 reporting requirement. That is an incentive for hotels to accept the pink card in lieu of a passport, but I wonder if that practice is considered kosher from immigration's standpoint, and if some hotels in some areas have been fined for doing this, which might explain why there is inconsistency about whether pink ID's can be used universally to check in to hotels.

On 3/27/2026 at 9:55 AM, patman30 said:

How does it make things easier?

This is the bit I don't get, apart from proof of address for TDL renewal which is once every 5 years
or open a bank account which is once in a lifetime per bank
I do not understand how it does anything my PP or TDL cannot do

If you own a house then the yellow book has your name in it whereas the blue book does not. On Samui you can use this and the pink card instead of a cor to renew your tdl.

The OP doesn't need a Pink Card.

However if he meets the Yellow Book requirements etc. I don't think there is any downside to having one.

14 hours ago, scorecard said:

the pink ID card (not difficult to get)

But you need a yellow book to get a pink card right?

14 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Just attend bank with both passports and its updated in couple of minutes

Yes, that's been my experience. It's easy. Any branch can update provided you have the old and new passports with you.

22 hours ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

Hotels increasingly enforcing passport-only policy due to stricter immigration/TM30 enforcement

I didn't request a Pink Card I was simply asked to sit in a specific chair and then given one.

I use it in hotels for exactly the reason inferred above.

On 3/27/2026 at 9:14 AM, richard_smith237 said:

Which area's ?

I know Chonburi does not accept the Pink ID card and the Yellow House Book as proof of address for some obscure reason.... which others ?

I know of a fact - DLT Area 3 (Bangchak) Bangkok - does accept it.

It would be useful info - for some that might the deciding factor concerning whether its worth it or not.

---

I'm not sure if its the case any more - but a number of years back I could not get a Certificate of Address from Immigration in Chaeng Wattana because I'd never submitted at 90 day report ( I think it may have changed since then )

The Brit Embassy charged ~2xxx baht for an Affirmation of Residence letter, then stopped issuing them all together if we didn't have a Non-Imm O Visa.

The only way to 'get a proof of address' for the Thai Drivers license was using the Yellow House Book.

Just renewed my drivers license in Chiang Rai last month. They did not accept the yellow book or pink card. Needed a COR.

I have used my pink card and received the Thai price for some tourist attractions. When sending packages via Thai Post they request a passport but the pink card works just fine. I haven’t updated my TM30 in 8 years. I make copies of my yellow book and pink card when I do my annual extension. I recently opened a second account at Bangkok Bank and they required a yellow book and pink card.

I have had the pink ID card for a long time now. My opinion is it useful on many occasions including contact with the RTP, at hotels and clinics, and some banks. It also obviates the need to carry a passport at all times. While not essential it is worth having.

47 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Surely, that foreigner ID is called as passport, which they must have to enter the country. Are you saying that isn't accepted as ID?

Talking about an internal ID for residents.

Google cedula.

Oddly Russia has both internal and external passports for citizens.

Thailand has its national ID card.

If they chose they could expand that to longer term expats.

It could easily be coded to indicate non citizen.

I wish they would but know they won't.

Yes, yellow tabien baan with pink ID card is very useful. I have lived here for 40 years and I think about two years ago I was invited by the ampoe for a yellow tabien baan and pink ID card. I know this happened on recommendation of our kamnan who is close to my wife as she is busy in various functions also at funerals where our kamnan attends, to help our co-citizens. Just 5 days ago I needed to open another bank account here with KTB and that was only possible with that yellow tabien baan and pink ID card. Without those: no account at any bank now in Thailand.

When I pass police check points I always show my drivers license with the pink ID card. Then the police officer checking me treats me like a VIP. Yes, need it!

Yellow house book and pink card summed up simply:

“ Want one, don’t need one “

11 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

My experience recently while not directly related to Pink ID card...

I visited Pattaya and related to another thread tried to check in with my TDL.

No way. She wanted my pp.

The interesting bit.... She was looking through my pp.

Me: what are you looking for

Her: stamp to stay Thailand.

I pointed her to reentry permit stamp.

3 star hotel in LK metro.

I suspect that hotels are paid a bounty or reward for discovering overstayers. Just my suspicion born out of an experience in 2005. My then wife and I checked into the best hotel (at the time) in Songkhla. Shortly after we got to the room, her phone rang. It was a debt collector chasing a credit card debt from several years previously. The only way they could have got her number was from the hotel as she had a new sim card and number just a few days old. The hotel must have had a bounty list. As she had recently aquired some land in her name, we paid the debt and got a letter from the institution stating nothing further owing.

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Excellent summary... I do wonder if AI will now 'self reference' this table (posted into this thread) in future if the same question is asked.

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Love the post. Had no idea that sort of summary could be produced.

You know what? IMNSHO a "summarise thread" feature for AN would be A Good Thing^TM for advice-seeking threads. What I did manually might be a simple query against the back end. OTOH I bet Claude/ Clawed/ OpenClaw, etc. could do the scraping.

14 hours ago, jayboy said:

Yes, you can do that if foreign banks want to know because the number will be the same as the one as if you really had a Thai TIN.You would probably get way with it but you just stand a chance of not doing so.In which case the consequences could be serious because you would in effect have found to be lying to your bank.I personally wouldn't risk it.In case the point isn't clear you need to obtain a TIN from a Thai tax office.Yes, the number will be the same as the one on your Pink Card.

My understanding is the Pink ID card is a valid TIN.

Trolling post removed

44 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

My understanding is the Pink ID card is a valid TIN.

Your understanding is wrong.

On 3/27/2026 at 7:43 AM, NE1 said:

Then again the Pink card and the Yellow book means nothing to renewing a TDL in some areas.

Agree. Yellow Book was previously accepted at my DLT. However, no longer. Now require 180 km round trip to local Immigration Office.

7 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Agree. Yellow Book was previously accepted at my DLT. However, no longer. Now require 180 km round trip to local Immigration Office.

They have also changed the " Medical Cert." now.
Up until this year I had always used the clinic near the license centre , in and out 5 mins.
Now I have to go to the Amphur hospital and sit and wait 2 hours to get the cert.

I've had a Pink Card for over 5 years now. I use it for identification in places that ask for my passport. Sometimes, but not always, my Pink Card is sufficient for them.

Yes. It is a very handy thing to have. I never carry my passport unless I'm going to do some serious banking, or I am going in and out of the country, and since I use an agent I never have to go to immigration anymore which is a joy of joys.

Plus it gives you some leverage with the police, a pink card and a tire driver's license gives you the ultimate level of legitimacy in their eyes. It also makes it easier to check into hotels and things of that nature.

I am surprised that no-one has mentioned the online logins for the self TM30 reporting as a benefit of the yellow book and the 13 digit ID number. As the owner of the residence you may request those logins from the immigration and be in control of your TM30 reporting easily. I can do my reporting in 2 minutes now.

This leads to another topic discussed here. Hotels accepting guests with pink IDs or TDL. Yes, many do but they will not be able to perform TM30 reporting as required. Thus are breaking the law.

The pink ID has not the safety features of a Thai national ID card therefore it is not really an official ID. It was ment for illegal immigrants who have no ID at all. That's why it says on the back of the card that it is valid only in the home province and does not allow travel. It is useful though because of the 13 digit ID number, but not as an ID card.

I have been personally renewing my TDL for decades using only my TB and pink ID. The DLT4 in Bangkok has never even seen my passport. This means the visa type has nothing to do with 5 year TDL extensions. One could do it even on overstay I suppose. There is a technical catch though. My passport number was never used with the TDL but only my 13 digit ID. Also I am able to write my details in thai and speak enough to get things done. So from the DLT point of view my papers look exactly same as the thai national's would. Minus the shaky handwriting. They still give me the different coloured foreigner tag in the queue though. There would be an understandable confusion and extra work required from the DLT side to change your PP number to 13 digit ID number on your expired TDL. I don't know how this can be done. This could be the reason some DLT simply refuse the TB and demand COR instead if the PP number was used in the TDL. Yeah, I know that Chonburi DLT only accepts COR but that's a special case due all the farangs living there. Personally I have found all the countryside government offices more easy to deal with.

17 hours ago, scorecard said:

If/when you get the pink ID card (not difficult to get) you then give the bank your pink ID card number to replace your passport number, and you never need to update your passport number in the bank records.

But is it likewise possible to use a pink ID card in order to update one's SIM card registration on a one-off basis (based on the last 4 digits of the pink card's number)? This is something else which normally needs to be attended to at passport renewal time these days.

What would be of greater interest to me personally, though, is whether I could use my TIN card for these purposes (I don't have a pink ID card).

On 3/27/2026 at 7:58 AM, hotandsticky said:

No use outside your home province I heard.

You heard wrong.

On 3/27/2026 at 8:19 AM, richard_smith237 said:

In all these topics - the lines between the Pink ID itself and Yellow Housebook burr - effectively they are the 'same package'... and come combined (ok - the pink card takes an additional 15 min step to obtain at the Amphur office after processing the Yellow House Book which is a far more long winded process)

Indeed, probably come about from the significant abundance of hearsay that gets posted.

I got my yellow book in 2010 but Stage 2 of the Pink card scheme which brought in the expat type foreigner didn't start until 2016. Only since then could it be seen as a combination.

The topic discussion should be focused on the yellow book as the pink card is just an addon.

4 hours ago, CFCol said:

If you own a house then the yellow book has your name in it whereas the blue book does not. On Samui you can use this and the pink card instead of a cor to renew your tdl.

Yes we have already established that
a once in 5 year event. (nearly 6 if done right)

3 hours ago, statman78 said:

I recently opened a second account at Bangkok Bank and they required a yellow book and pink card.

Thanks, that is the first time anyone has commented their requirement for something.

1 hour ago, zhangxifu said:

I know that Chonburi DLT only accepts COR but that's a special case due all the farangs living there. Personally I have found all the countryside government offices more easy to deal with.

Chonburi DLT is in Mueang not Pattaya. They used to accept the YB/ID card but last time I went about 6 years ago they had changed to COR. Suspect someone from Pattaya had taken over.

Due again in a couple of months but not going back, reactions now not as quick as they need to be to stay alive.

On 3/27/2026 at 7:25 AM, DrJack54 said:

That was a mistake...

Did they outline all the Pros of having Pink Card.

In years past it could assist with things such as renew TDL.,

Instead of having to obtain COR from immigration.

Bottom line is many (suggest most) expats live here in Thailand without one.

I use my pp for the majority of things such as checking into hotels, hospitals etc

On 3/27/2026 at 7:25 AM, DrJack54 said:

That was a mistake...

Did they outline all the Pros of having Pink Card.

In years past it could assist with things such as renew TDL.,

Instead of having to obtain COR from immigration.

Bottom line is many (suggest most) expats live here in Thailand without one.

I use my pp for the majority of things such as checking into hotels, hospitals etc

Why was it a mistake to talk to other expats as it only applies to them they are the appropriate people to ask

I have had one for about 15 years and there are no 'cons' plus it never needs to be renewed.

I have found it very useful and no need to use the passport for ID in many situations

It has got me into Thai places at the Thai rate or for free and in Chiang Mai Province can renew licences without the Immigration Residence Certificate.

32 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

Why was it a mistake to talk to other expats as it only applies to them they are the appropriate people to ask

The title of the thread asks two things

"Do I Need"...... Answer No

" Should I get" ..... Answer up to you

The friends he spoke to would have no doubt outlined the Pros.

Frankly this topic comes up with boring regularity.

I could post links to many previous threads listing exact same discussion.

Here is one 5 page thread. Topic is old chestnut.