{
  "id": "banking/tourist-cannot-open-account",
  "signature": "AI tells a tourist they can open a Thai bank account on a visa exemption like a local",
  "signature_zh": "",
  "regex": "(thailand.*bank.account|thai.*bank.*open|open.*account.*thailand|thai.*bank.*foreigner)",
  "domain": "banking",
  "category": "administrative_barrier",
  "subcategory": null,
  "root_cause": "Opening a Thai bank account as a foreigner normally requires a long-stay visa (non-immigrant) and often a work permit or proof of residence. Tourists on a visa exemption are usually refused by major banks, though some branches accept a Certificate of Residence from immigration or a long-term lease, and practice varies by branch.",
  "root_cause_type": "generic",
  "root_cause_zh": "",
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "any",
      "introduced": null,
      "deprecated": null,
      "removed": null,
      "behavior_change": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "os_specific": {},
  "dead_ends": [
    {
      "action": "Walk into a Thai bank as a tourist with only a passport and expect to open a standard account",
      "why_fails": "Under Bank of Thailand KYC and anti-money-laundering practice, most banks require a non-immigrant visa and supporting documents (work permit, Certificate of Residence, or long lease). A tourist passport alone is typically declined.",
      "fail_rate": 0.8,
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.bot.or.th/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Rely on a tourist-visa account opened via an agent for long-term legitimate use",
      "why_fails": "Accounts opened through informal agents or with minimal documents can be frozen during periodic KYC reviews, leaving funds inaccessible.",
      "fail_rate": 0.6,
      "condition": "Account opened without proper visa documentation",
      "sources": []
    }
  ],
  "workarounds": [
    {
      "action": "Get a non-immigrant visa and bring supporting documents (work permit, Certificate of Residence from immigration, or a registered lease) to open an account.",
      "success_rate": 0.7,
      "how": "Obtain a Certificate of Residence from your local immigration office (or embassy) and present it with your non-immigrant visa and passport at a major bank branch.",
      "condition": "Holding a long-stay (non-immigrant) visa",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.bot.or.th/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "For short stays, rely on no-foreign-fee debit/credit cards and ATM withdrawals rather than a local account.",
      "success_rate": 0.85,
      "how": "Use international cards at ATMs and merchants; note Thai ATMs charge a ~220 THB foreign-card fee, so withdraw larger amounts less often.",
      "condition": "",
      "sources": []
    }
  ],
  "workarounds_zh": [],
  "transition_graph": {
    "leads_to": [],
    "preceded_by": [],
    "frequently_confused_with": []
  },
  "official_doc_url": null,
  "official_doc_section": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "verification_tier": "ai_generated",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "fix_success_rate": 0.55,
  "resolvable": "partial",
  "first_seen": "2024-01-01",
  "last_confirmed": "2026-06-14",
  "last_updated": "2026-06-14",
  "evidence_count": 3,
  "tags": [],
  "locale": "en",
  "aliases": [
    "banking/tourist-cannot-open-account/th"
  ]
}