BANGKOK, THAILAND – QR codes at supermarkets and street stalls across the capital showed how deeply cash-free payments had taken hold among residents, expats and tourists.
What PromptPay Offered in Thailand
The national system PromptPay functioned as Thailand’s QR payment backbone under the Bank of Thailand. Scanning a QR code triggered a direct transfer in real time, often without any fee, and was supported by almost all local banks and several e‑wallets.
Using the service remained straightforward for customers. They opened their banking app, scanned a merchant’s QR code, entered or confirmed the amount, and completed the payment. With dynamic QR codes, the amount appeared automatically, and merchants typically displayed their code at the checkout terminal.
How Expats Used Thai Bank Accounts
Foreigners living in Thailand with a local bank account could activate PromptPay directly in their online banking. In the banking app, they accessed the payments section, navigated to PromptPay, accepted the terms of use and linked their mobile number as an identifier.
Thai banks generally issued accounts only to holders of long‑term visas such as work, student or retirement visas. For those who met these conditions, this route offered the simplest and most affordable way into the QR payment ecosystem.
Tourist Options Outside the ASEAN Region
Short‑term visitors from outside the ASEAN region had dedicated solutions. One option involved downloading the TAGTHAi app and applying in person for a PAY&TOUR prepaid card at a K‑Bank foreign‑exchange counter, loading it with baht and linking it to the app for QR payments.
Currency conversion costs could arise when topping up the card, and specific terms were provided directly at the FX counter. Travellers from the United States and many other countries could alternatively use the Moreta Pay app, which connected to the PromptPay network and could be funded via a multicurrency account such as Wise.
Moreta Pay handled conversion from dollars or euros into baht automatically at the moment of payment through its partner banks. This allowed visitors to pay local merchants by QR scan while drawing on foreign balances.
ASEAN Visitors Paid With Their Home Apps
Travellers arriving from ASEAN countries enjoyed the broadest range of options. Through the ASEAN Payment Connectivity agreement, PromptPay was linked to several neighbouring payment systems, letting visitors scan Thai QR codes directly with their home banking apps.
This applied to visitors from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China and Hong Kong. Supported services included Touch ’n Go and BigPay from Malaysia, Alipay and WeChat Pay from China, Octopus from Hong Kong, and CIMB and OCBC from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, with Bank of China branches in Malaysia and Hong Kong also connected.
More Apps for Long-Term Expats
Long‑term foreign residents had additional digital wallet choices. The popular e‑wallet TrueMoney was widely used by expats and supported everyday QR transactions, while LINE users could set up LINE Pay and Kasikorn Bank customers relied on the K‑Plus banking app.
Those transferring money from abroad to fund Thai wallets needed to watch fees closely. Services such as Wise converted at the mid‑market rate and displayed all costs transparently in advance, unlike many traditional banks that added hidden margins to exchange rates.
What Users Paid in Fees
PromptPay itself was almost always free to use, as most banks chose not to levy the transaction fees they were allowed to charge. Transfers up to 5,000 baht incurred no fee, those up to 30,000 baht cost at most 2 baht, up to 100,000 baht up to 5 baht, and amounts above that no more than 10 baht.
Costs tended to arise elsewhere in the payment chain. Charges could appear when loading an e‑wallet with foreign currency, through exchange‑rate mark‑ups or via foreign transaction fees on linked cards. Travellers and expats who checked all three cost points in advance were less likely to face unpleasant surprises when paying.