The short answer

If you work for a Thai employer on a non-immigrant B visa with a work permit, opening a Thai bank account is usually straightforward. Take your passport, work permit and a letter from your employer to a branch — ideally of the bank your employer uses for payroll. Kasikornbank, SCB and Bangkok Bank are common choices; Kasikornbank insists on seeing the work permit.

Your salary is paid into that account after income tax (withheld by your employer) and social security (5% of wages, capped at ฿875 a month from 2026). Sending money home is allowed, but the bank will ask where it came from — keep a salary certificate or employer letter ready, or use a provider such as Wise.

Which working visas open which doors

How the major banks generally treat working foreigners. Branch practice varies.

Based on Bangkok Bank's 2025 rules and independent guides verified April–August 2026. Banks have the final say, branch by branch.

Opening your salary account

The fastest route is the one your employer has already used. Many Thai companies run their payroll through one bank and have a relationship with a nearby branch; HR will often give you a letter, tell you which branch to go to, and sometimes send a colleague along to translate.

• Passport with your non-immigrant B visa or extension.
• Work permit — the physical book or the digital permit. Kasikornbank insists on it.
• Employer letter confirming your job, salary and start date.
• Proof of address — a lease, residence certificate or a letter from your employer if you're in company housing.
• A Thai SIM in your own name, registered with your passport.
• A small opening deposit, usually ฿500.

If you can't wait for the work permit to be issued, ask HR whether the bank will accept the permit application receipt with an employer letter. Some branches will; many won't. In the meantime, a fee-free UK card or a multicurrency account will tide you over — our UK travel debit card comparison shows the best.

What comes off your payslip

An example on a ฿80,000 monthly salary. Your employer deducts tax and social security before paying you.

Estimate for illustration. Tax assumes the 50% employment-expense deduction (capped at ฿100,000), the ฿60,000 personal allowance and social security only. Life and health insurance premiums, provident fund contributions and family allowances can reduce it. Conversions at ฿44.38 = £1.

Social security: the new ฿875 cap

If you're employed by a Thai company, you and your employer each pay 5% of your wages into Thailand's Social Security Fund. For three decades the wage ceiling was ฿15,000, so the most anyone paid was ฿750 a month. From 1 January 2026 the ceiling rose to ฿17,500, taking the maximum to ฿875 a month.

It will rise again: to ฿20,000 (a ฿1,000 maximum) from January 2029, and ฿23,000 (฿1,150) from January 2032.

Social security gives you access to treatment at your registered hospital, and some sickness, maternity and unemployment benefits. It's useful, but it isn't a substitute for good private health insurance — especially if you have a family, want to use international private hospitals, or need cover when you travel.

Thai income tax rates

Rates on net taxable income, after deductions and allowances. Your employer withholds tax each month and you file an annual return.

PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Thailand, reviewed 24 August 2026. Pound figures at ฿44.38 = £1, rounded.

How Thai tax works for working expats

If you work in Thailand, your salary is Thai-source income and taxable here whatever your residence. Your employer withholds tax each month and reports it; you file an annual personal income tax return early the following year, claiming any allowances the payroll didn't include.

Two things often surprise British expats. First, the effective rate is usually modest — on ฿80,000 a month, our estimate is under 8% before the extra allowances many people can claim. Second, once you spend 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year, you're a Thai tax resident, and foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 onwards that you bring into Thailand can be taxable too. That includes UK rental income, investment income or a UK salary from a previous job.

The UK–Thailand double taxation agreement helps avoid paying twice on the same income, and your UK tax position changes too when you leave — you may stop being UK resident, which affects how your UK income and gains are taxed. If you have income in both countries, it's worth getting advice early, before you start moving money.

Choosing a payroll bank

The best payroll bank is usually the one your employer already uses — salary arrives the same day and HR knows the process. If you have a choice, these are the usual options.

Workplace extras: provident funds and Thai credit cards

Two things often come up in your first few months in a Thai job.

Provident funds. Many larger Thai employers offer a provident fund — a workplace savings scheme where you and the company both contribute a percentage of your salary each month, typically somewhere between 2% and 15%. Your contributions can usually be deducted from your taxable income, within annual limits, and the employer's contribution is effectively extra pay. Before you sign up, check how long you must stay to keep the employer's share (the "vesting" rules), what happens to the money when you leave Thailand, and how it fits with any UK pension you're still paying into.

Thai credit cards. Once you have a salary account and a few months' payslips, your bank may offer you a Thai credit card. Banks usually want a work permit, a minimum monthly income — often higher for foreigners than for Thai nationals — and sometimes a period of employment or a deposit as security. A Thai card is useful for building a local credit history and for payments that won't take foreign cards, but there's no need to rush: a fee-free UK credit card still works well for most purchases. Our UK travel credit card comparison lists the best.

Sending money home to the UK

Thailand controls money leaving the country more closely than the UK does. The Bank of Thailand requires banks to ask why you're sending money abroad and, for foreigners, where it came from. For salary, that means a document such as a salary certificate or employer letter stating your income.

In practice, sending your savings home works like this:

1. Get a salary certificate from HR, and keep recent payslips and your tax certificate.
2. Choose your route — a bank SWIFT transfer from the branch or app, or a specialist provider.
3. State the purpose — "repatriation of salary" or "savings" — and attach the documents if asked.
4. Compare what arrives in pounds, not just the fee. Thai bank transfer fees, intermediary charges and the bank's exchange-rate margin all add up.

Specialist providers have become a lot more useful for this. During 2026, Wise moved its Thai customers to a locally licensed company regulated by the Bank of Thailand. Accounts registered in Thailand can now send baht abroad at the mid-market rate, with a published daily limit of ฿800,000 for outward transfers — though they also gained new limits and lost ATM withdrawals in Thailand. Accounts registered abroad, such as a UK Wise account, work as before for sending money to Thailand.

Running your life from the account

Once your salary is arriving, a Thai account makes daily life cheaper and simpler than living on a UK card:

If you're moving here with a family, the bank account sits alongside some bigger decisions: schools, health cover, housing and transport. We've brought the practical side together in one place.

Keeping your UK finances working

Most working expats keep at least one UK account open — for UK bills, a mortgage, pension contributions or simply somewhere for money to land. That's sensible, but UK banks expect customers to be UK residents, and some restrict or close accounts when you move abroad permanently.

• Tell your bank before you move and ask how it treats customers living abroad.
• Keep a UK address you can legitimately use, if you have one, and keep your contact details current.
• Think about pensions — whether to keep contributing to UK schemes, and how they'll be taxed when you eventually draw them.
• Check your UK tax residence for the year you leave, and whether you need to tell HMRC.

Our guide to travel card eligibility for UK residents explains which UK accounts and cards are likely to keep working.

When your contract ends

When you finish working in Thailand, your work permit and the visa that depends on it end too, and the bank may review your account. Before you go:

• Get your final salary certificate and tax certificate from HR.
• Send your savings home while you still have the documents and the account is fully active.
• Cancel direct debits and settle final bills and deposits.
• Decide whether to keep the account. If you'll be back often, ask the bank whether it can stay open; otherwise close it in person.

If you're staying on in another capacity — retiring here, marrying, or moving to an LTR visa — tell the bank about your new visa so your account matches your status. Our guide to Thai bank accounts for retirees covers the next stage for many.

How we researched this guide

We based this guide on Baker McKenzie's summary of the 2026 social security changes, PwC's Worldwide Tax Summaries for Thailand (reviewed August 2026), Bangkok Bank's published guidance on transferring money out of Thailand, a May 2026 summary of Wise's Thai account changes, and independent guides to account opening verified in 2026. The tax example is a simplified estimate. Checked 12 October 2026. This guide is general information, not tax or financial advice.