I haven't been to Thailand for just over a year, nor have I made any transactions. My SCB Easy app has now marked my account as dormant. The balance is just over 4,000 baht.

I no longer live in Thailand, but do usually spend a few months a year there, so it's convenient to keep this account open. Do recent changes to banking regulations mean that having a Thai bank account is no longer viable if you don't have a long-term visa?

I realise there may not be a clear-cut answer to this question, but would be interested in hearing any opinions or recent experiences.

1 minute ago, purplesage said:

I haven't been to Thailand for just over a year, nor have I made any transactions. My SCB Easy app has now marked my account as dormant. The balance is just over 4,000 baht.

I no longer live in Thailand, but do usually spend a few months a year there, so it's convenient to keep this account open. Do recent changes to banking regulations mean that having a Thai bank account is no longer viable if you don't have a long-term visa?

I realise there may not be a clear-cut answer to this question, but would be interested in hearing any opinions or recent experiences.

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If you have more than 1 SCB account you can just transfer 1 baht from one account to the other to lift the dormant issue.

Otherwise, just go to SCB whenever you are again in Thailand, and get it sorted instantly.

Your account doesn't get closed or funds removed.

Edit : If you balance is below 500 baht, an amount will be deducted every month until it's zero, and then closed

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by CallumWK

Once a Thai bank account gets locked for dormancy, you usually have to visit a bank branch in person to reactivate it. This is largely a security measure, partly to prevent fraud if the account holder has passed away. Simply trying to perform a transaction remotely to reactivate the account typically won't work.

Also, for foreigners, many Thai banks no longer allow you to maintain an account unless you hold a long term visa and can provide proof of residence in Thailand.

On top of that, some banks charge maintenance fees on dormant accounts, amounting to few hundred Baht a month. If you leave an account sitting with only around 4,000 Baht left in it, those fees can completely wipe out your balance after a couple of years.

There is also an older thread on this topic here in case it might be of interest:

14 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

On top of that, some banks charge maintenance fees on dormant accounts, amounting to few hundred Baht a month. If you leave an account sitting with only around 4,000 Baht left in it, those fees can completely wipe out your balance after a couple of years.

Nope, there is no Thai bank the charges a few hundred baht A MONTH for dormant accounts, and neither is the balance for charging a fee at 4000 baht.

Most banks the minimum balance is 500 baht, with a very few banks requiring a balance of 1000 or 2000 baht.

18 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

Once a Thai bank account gets locked for dormancy, you usually have to visit a bank branch in person to reactivate it.

Another ignorant comment. I have 3 SCB account, as soon as one of them shows as dormant in the app, I transfer 1 baht from one of the other 2, and instantly it isn't dormant any more.\

This doesn't apply to every bank, but it does with SCB

1 hour ago, purplesage said:

I haven't been to Thailand for just over a year, nor have I made any transactions. My SCB Easy app has now marked my account as dormant. The balance is just over 4,000 baht.

I no longer live in Thailand, but do usually spend a few months a year there, so it's convenient to keep this account open. Do recent changes to banking regulations mean that having a Thai bank account is no longer viable if you don't have a long-term visa?

I realise there may not be a clear-cut answer to this question, but would be interested in hearing any opinions or recent experiences.

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give me your account number... I'll send you 10฿ to wake up your account. Don't spend it all in one place!

Actually, I have a monthly 10฿ transfer scheduled to one of my accounts at another bank and also to my wife's account at a third Thai bank. Only takes a minute or two but should work to keep our backup accounts alive.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by gamb00ler

5 hours ago, FriscoKid said:

Once a Thai bank account gets locked for dormancy, you usually have to visit a bank branch in person to reactivate it. This is largely a security measure, partly to prevent fraud if the account holder has passed away. Simply trying to perform a transaction remotely to reactivate the account typically won't work.

Also, for foreigners, many Thai banks no longer allow you to maintain an account unless you hold a long term visa and can provide proof of residence in Thailand.

On top of that, some banks charge maintenance fees on dormant accounts, amounting to few hundred Baht a month. If you leave an account sitting with only around 4,000 Baht left in it, those fees can completely wipe out your balance after a couple of years.

There is also an older thread on this topic here in case it might be of interest:

My previous post applied to experiences with K-Bank and BBL about monthly charges and when an account gets locked from dormancy. Luckily SCB is much more customer friendly when it comes to handling dormant accounts. It's all covered on their website here in terms of dormancy, reactivation, and monthly charges:

https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/faq/deposit-faq