This stems from a ฿2.2 billion scam covered by multiple outlets:
15 Chinese nationals entered Thailand on Mar 9, left Mar 13
Assisted by 4 Thai bank staff (including a branch manager) in Pattaya
209 bank accounts opened with forged documents
฿118M deposited, ฿91M withdrawn before fleeing
Accounts linked to 106 fraud cases and 462 mule accounts
Total damages: ฿2.2 billion
Can't open an account on a tourist visa. Fair enough.
But it’s not just Bangkok Bank — reports mention Kasikorn accounts being frozen too. SCB seems unaffected so far, but if you’ve got serious money in any Thai bank, it’s worth being cautious.
What if you opened an account years ago on a non-immigrant visa but now hold a DTV (which is classified as tourist)?
I see secondhand claims of BKK Bank freezing these, but nothing firsthand.
So I called both SCB and Kasikorn today:
Kasikorn: spoke for a couple of minutes but in a nutshell said nothing to worry about.
SCB: More detailed:
“It doesn’t have a problem as you used the correct visa in the first moment.”
“We don’t update visa type, only passport or phone number. Visa is only needed to open the account.”
“You can still ask at a branch — they may have more specific info.”
Also worth noting: SCB now requires face scanning for app access (as of June 5). Without it, you’re limited to 50,000 THB per transfer, though the agent said multiple back-to-back transfers are fine.
Other thoughts:
How will this affect the long-term visa market: need a Thai bank to get a such and such visa, but need a visa to get a Thai bank.
How will this affect the condo market: yes, you can transfer directly to a developer, but if you don’t use your own Thai bank account, you won’t get a credit advice document — required to move money back out of Thailand later. No control if there’s a transfer issue, either.
The situation feels messy and opaque. Could definitely be handled better.