On 5/5/2026 at 12:03 AM, Jimbolkb said:

did you all get the new wise announcements about the crazy new controls of our money, inside and outside of Thailand, by the bank of Thailand starting in June 2026 ?

Very informative - What should we tackle next?

Just now, Surasak said:

A good VPN could overcome that problem.

Just now, newbee2022 said:

Use a vpn

Financial apps check for that, including PayPal. Might work for a while, but PayPal will notice and start scrutinizing.

Thai banking apps also will reject VPN traffic.

Too late for me, but worth a try for others, I guess.

13 hours ago, Farmerslife said:

From the email I received yesterday from Wise

"Effective 3 August 2026
your Customer Agreement will change from Wise Payments Limited to Wise Payments (Thailand) Limited.

From June 2026, we’ll ask you to provide a few additional documents to meet Thai regulatory requirements. We’ll send you instructions closer to the date. Until then, you can continue using your Wise account as usual.

By continuing to use Wise on or after 3 August 2026, you confirm that you accept the updated Customer Agreement."

But wait, there's more....

The changes indicate that if you are sending money from a non-Thailand account, say in the US for example, to another non-Thailand account, say for example India, the funds will transfer to Thailand and converted into Thai baht from USD, then get converted into Indian rupees.

That is the point. The additional documentation is irrelevant.

The point is that the addition currency FOREX will necessarily increase costs to transfer funds.... and potentially length of transfer time, though that is by no means clear.

Its very blatant extraterritotial interference that's unprecedented.

Just now, davb said:

Financial apps check for that, including PayPal. Might work for a while, but PayPal will notice and start scrutinizing.

Thai banking apps also will reject VPN traffic.

Too late for me, but worth a try for others, I guess.

I don't use PayPal, so no comment. The VPN I use, (Eset) does not cause me any problems with my Thai banks or my UK bank. If you are using a free VPN, that may be the problem?

Just now, Surasak said:

I don't use PayPal, so no comment. The VPN I use, (Eset) does not cause me any problems with my Thai banks or my UK bank. If you are using a free VPN, that may be the problem?

FAFO

So suddenly Wise is enforcing Thai immigration law and Thai banking rules regarding visas and immigration. So why is Wise recognizing the DTV as a long term visa when Thai banks and Thai Immigration does not?

Just now, Surasak said:

I don't use PayPal, so no comment. The VPN I use, (Eset) does not cause me any problems with my Thai banks or my UK bank. If you are using a free VPN, that may be the problem?

The VPN is irrelevant.

I use ExpressVPN 100%.

Its where the account holder with Wise has registered the account as place of residency.

You could potentially claim/change registered residency in a different country, though that would involve verification which would be at a minimum difficult, and more broadly illegal as it would constitute financial fraud.

Just now, Celsius said:

FAFO

????

My understanding, having spoken to Wise, is that only those with a Thai address (nothing to do with VPNs) are impacted by these changes.

As my Wise address is in the UK they state that the changes will not impact me and that is why I, and all non-Thai registered users did not get any messages wrt these changes!

In other words, if you got a message from wise then read the info they are sending you.

If no message-no impact!

4 hours ago, Front Row said:

With Thai residency, Wise has become useless to me. There’s really no advantage to transferring funds thru Wise. It’s easier to just do bank to bank wire transfers. I doubt that my situation is all that unique.

Assuming you can do bank wires not in person or some such nonsense.

I signed up for Wise, used my Thai address. After reading through all that nonsense I'm wondering if I won't drop it all together.

I've never actually used wise. I still have a good bit of money here in Thailand in both USD and THB.

I think by the time that I need to use to Wise it will probably be even bigger hassle

It looks like the transfer a thousand US is about $10. Well that's far better than a wire I figure that 5 is about fair. That's 50 bucks on $5,000 and that's pretty much what I pay for a wire transfer.

I became interested in wise with all the hoopla here on this forum. It seems quite onerous and I really can't be bothered.

The fact that they've never sorted out a card for Thailand rubs me raw as well. I think I might just delete the app and probably better for it

5 hours ago, John Drake said:

FWIW, Monday morning I set up a transfer from my US bank to Bangkok Bank using Wise. I used to have these process in seconds. A few years ago they slowed to one or two days. This time, I was told I will not get the money until Friday. On Monday, my US bank shows that they processed and closed the payment to Wise. Wise tracking showing that they are still "waiting for my money."

So I decided to try Remitly. Signed up this afternoon, using my US address and a telephone number from Freetone. Set up a transfer and it went through in seconds. Just like Wise used to do. I shifting to Remitly for all my US to Thai transfers.

What documentation did you need to provide to open a Remitly account?

And are you suggesting that they don't require a wet signature on any documents to open and activate an account on the sane day / immediately?

I stopped using WISE after they required multifactor authentication using face recognition.

"Hold the camera steady". Too bad if one has Parkinsons.

Recent data indicates about 65% of customers abandon digital banking or fintech after experiencing difficulty with such applications more than twice.

WISE is DUMB.

38 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I stopped using WISE after they required multifactor authentication using face recognition.

"Hold the camera steady". Too bad if one has Parkinsons.

Recent data indicates about 65% of customers abandon digital banking or fintech after experiencing difficulty with such applications more than twice.

WISE is DUMB.

Are you registered with them in Thailand or home country as I have never been asked to do that as a registered UK customer!

Use a Wise Pre Load Card, then load it in your Country currency, but withdraw in a Thai ATM in Thai Baht, Not the cheapest option, but easy, if easy is what you value.

24 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Are you registered with them in Thailand or home country as I have never been asked to do that as a registered UK customer!

Same for me.

4 hours ago, statman78 said:

Good comment!

Also, since the money moves through Thailand there is a chance that it could be considered “remitted” to Thailand therefore subject to Thai tax even though it doesn’t stay in Thailand.

4 hours ago, statman78 said:

Good comment!

Also, since the money moves through Thailand there is a chance that it could be considered “remitted” to Thailand therefore subject to Thai tax even though it doesn’t stay in Thailand.

4 hours ago, statman78 said:

Good comment!

Also, since the money moves through Thailand there is a chance that it could be considered “remitted” to Thailand therefore subject to Thai tax even though it doesn’t stay in Thailand.

My thought is that in order to get my German pension I have to transfer Euros from my German account to a Wise account in Belgium and I then get Baht credited to my Thai account, is this going to be a problem now Germany to Belgium ?

1 minute ago, soalbundy said:

My thought is that in order to get my German pension I have to transfer Euros from my German account to a Wise account in Belgium and I then get Baht credited to my Thai account, is this going to be a problem now Germany to Belgium ?

1 minute ago, soalbundy said:

My thought is that in order to get my German pension I have to transfer Euros from my German account to a Wise account in Belgium and I then get Baht credited to my Thai account, is this going to be a problem now Germany to Belgium ?

You can also let the German Pension insurance transfer the amount directly to your Thai bank account. It usually arrives 1-2 days earlier in Thai Baht but the exchange rate is not the best.

57 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Are you registered with them in Thailand or home country as I have never been asked to do that as a registered UK customer!

Australia

On 5/5/2026 at 10:43 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Although someone on Facebook reckons Wise will be looking at the app to see location of use

Facebook, great that is guaranteed to be real verified source of proof. 😀

4 hours ago, davb said:

Financial apps check for that, including PayPal. Might work for a while, but PayPal will notice and start scrutinizing.

Thai banking apps also will reject VPN traffic.

Too late for me, but worth a try for others, I guess.

Not true, I have use my Bangkok banking app on my iPhone for the last four years using a VPN.

Also PayPal, no problem.

Same with my UK bank accounts and iPhone banking apps, ten of them.

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

My understanding, having spoken to Wise, is that only those with a Thai address (nothing to do with VPNs) are impacted by these changes.

As my Wise address is in the UK they state that the changes will not impact me and that is why I, and all non-Thai registered users did not get any messages wrt these changes!

In other words, if you got a message from wise then read the info they are sending you.

If no message-no impact!

Great, it is good to read something right out of the 'horses mouth' rather than what someone has told someone, who saw it on Youtube.

I am in the same situation as you as my WISE account is registered in the Uk and the funds are fed into it in the UK by a UK bank so it looks like it will not affect me too.👍

Edited May 6May 6 by JamesPhuket10
typo

11 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Australia

Sorry but I failed to ask how long you have had the Australian addressed account, and have you had any of the reported Thailand banking/wise messages?

45 minutes ago, Doctor Tom said:

Use a Wise Pre Load Card, then load it in your Country currency, but withdraw in a Thai ATM in Thai Baht, Not the cheapest option, but easy, if easy is what you value.

If you have a Wise account registered in your home country and have a Thai bank account why not transfer from home country bank account to your wise account and then to the Thai bank account and skip the foreign ATM card fee?

14 minutes ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

Not true, I have use my Bangkok banking app on my iPhone for the last four years using a VPN.

Also PayPal, no problem.

Same with my UK bank accounts and iPhone banking apps, ten of them.

I assume you are accessing the BKK account outside of Thailand!

6 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I assume you are accessing the BKK account outside of Thailand!

No, I leave my VPN connected to a private dedicated VPN in the UK while I use the Thai banking app while I am physically in Thailand as I do not want to have to remember to turn it on when I use my UK account as having the UK account shut down by the UK bank would be a big problem.

My thinking is if I use the Thai bank with the UK VPN and it is closed down then no problem as I could then open a new Thai bank account right away as I live in Phuket and then buy a new sim card and use that for my Thai bank account with no VPN attached to my backup iPhone.

Edited May 6May 6 by JamesPhuket10

I checked my wise account, and I do not have registered any address Wise has my Thai phone number,I could switch to my Vietnamese number, if that helps

What if I am in Vietnam, and transfer money from the US or Europe into my Thai account, any changes for me then?

31 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Sorry but I failed to ask how long you have had the Australian addressed account, and have you had any of the reported Thailand banking/wise messages?

About ten years. WISE changed its name a few years ago from something else. I had the demand for facial recognition come from them about a year ago. I got the message about requirements a couple of days ago. I deleted it.

WISE still thinks I am a customer. I have no means of informing them I am not, without facial recognition.

Edited May 6May 6 by Lacessit

9 hours ago, Front Row said:

With Thai residency, Wise has become useless to me. There’s really no advantage to transferring funds thru Wise. It’s easier to just do bank to bank wire transfers. I doubt that my situation is all that unique.

Pretty much so - if your Wise uses a Thai address ...

.... An exception ... if you have Thai income, then in such a case Wise (registered in Thailand) can be useful when you travel internationally. Or if you already have a LOT of Thai baht (in Thailand - say from selling real estate (condo) in Thailand ) and if you wish to use that Thai baht when you travel internationally.

Both cases, IMHO, relatively obscure for an Expat. ... For Thai citizens thou, who both reside in Thailand and who have a Thai income, then it can be useful.

Again, not helpful for us as expats.

Best way for using Wise, if one can do legally, is to have a reputable foreign address in a country that Wise accepts better than Thailand.

Edited May 6May 6 by oldcpu

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I stopped using WISE after they required multifactor authentication using face recognition.

"Hold the camera steady". Too bad if one has Parkinsons.

How are you treating this in Thailand?

Edited May 6May 6 by Celsius