In most cases a Thai bank account is restricted by the bank's anti-scam system: it has put you on a lower daily transfer limit, it wants a face scan or updated identity documents, or it has flagged the account as a possible "mule account" used to pass on scam money. The first two are routine and fixed at a branch or in the app; a mule flag is serious, and if it is a mistake the government line is 1441.
Since 2023 the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has made banks check customers far more closely, with new rules in 2025 and 2026. Foreigners notice this more than most, because their documents expire and change. How to open an account in the first place is covered in our guide to opening a Thai bank account as a foreigner.
Restricted Thai accounts in brief (November 2026)
- Legal basis
- Emergency Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crime B.E. 2566 (2023), amended by Emergency Decree (No. 2) B.E. 2568 (2025)
- Face scan
- Required for mobile transfers of 50,000 baht or more (BOT)
- Daily limit tiers
- Under 50,000, under 200,000 or above 200,000 baht, set by each bank
- Wrongly suspended
- Anti Online Scam Operation Center, 1441 (press 2, per the government)
- Police online
- thaipoliceonline.go.th (Thai only): reports and a mule-account status check
The law behind it: an emergency decree, not a royal decree
Many websites call the legal basis a "Royal Decree on technology crime". The BOT names it the Emergency Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crime B.E. 2566 (2023). It set up the Anti Online Scam Operation Center (AOC) and makes it an offence to open an account for someone else, or to let another person use yours, in connection with a crime. The 2025 amendment added a "shared responsibility principle" for banks and e-payment providers, so banks now act first and ask questions later.
A lower daily limit under customer profiling
The most common "restriction" is not a freeze at all. Under the BOT's customer-profiling rules, each bank places every mobile-banking user in a tier with a daily transfer limit. A BOT assistant governor told the Bangkok Post (19 August 2025) that the tiers are under 50,000 baht, under 200,000 baht and above 200,000 baht, based on the bank's risk view and its identity checks. New and inactive customers may start on a low tier.
Each bank sorts its own customers. You can ask your bank for a higher limit, usually after a fresh identity check. Accounts of children and teenagers get separate daily digital limits of 3,000 to 10,000 baht, which banks were due to apply from September 2026 (BOT, August 2026). That matters if you opened an account for your child.
The face scan and a KYC update
The BOT's 2024 annual report lists a facial scan for transactions of 50,000 baht or more, one mobile-banking account per bank and no links in bank SMS or e-mail. Our page on phone and online scams in Thailand explains why scammers try to talk victims into raising their own limits.
Banks must also keep "know your customer" (KYC) records current. No BOT or bank page we read says that an account is frozen automatically when a foreigner's visa expires. What happens in practice depends on the bank. If the app suddenly blocks transfers after you renewed your passport or got a new extension, your bank may simply want the new document; ask the branch.
Update the bank the week your new passport or extension arrives. Take the passport with the current visa stamp to the branch where you opened the account, together with the phone that holds the banking app. If you moved, bring proof of your new address, such as a yellow house book (Tor Ror 13) if you have one.
Flagged as a possible mule account
Since 31 January 2025 Thai banks may not process transfers to or from suspected mule accounts. They may freeze incoming and outgoing payments, refuse to open an account "if the applicant's circumstances are unclear" and set low limits from the start (BOT deputy governor, Nation Thailand, 30 January 2025). Accounts that regularly receive money and pass it quickly to crypto exchanges are one pattern the BOT named.
Rules announced by the government in August 2026 go further: once someone is identified as a mule-account holder, mobile banking, ATM and online services are suspended at every bank, the person cannot open new accounts, and high-risk accounts may be suspended before any victim complains (NNT, 10 August 2026). This is why lending your account to a friend, or agreeing to "receive a transfer" for someone, is a real risk; gangs recruit account holders through the kind of fake job offers that promise easy pay. Our guide to sending money to Thailand covers how to bring in your own funds without odd patterns.
The BOT said in September 2025 that claims that moving money between your own accounts gets it frozen are false.
Restricted after a police report
When someone reports a scam, the receiving accounts can be frozen through the AOC and the banks. The government said in 2024 that the 1441 line suspends suspicious accounts typically within 10 minutes of a call. The Royal Thai Police portal thaipoliceonline.go.th, in Thai only, offers online reports and a check of an account's mule status.
Theft can also lock you out: if your phone is stolen, the bank may block the app until you prove who you are. The steps are in our page on a stolen phone or pickpocketing.
Getting the account working again
- Read the message in the app. A limit or face-scan request is often solved there.
- Call the bank's fraud line (the number on your card) and ask what kind of restriction it is.
- Go to the branch (check its opening hours first) with your passport, current visa or extension, work permit if you have one, and the phone with the app.
- If the bank says it is a mule flag and you think it is a mistake, call the AOC on 1441 and choose 2 to verify your identity; the government says the bank then reviews the case and restores the account.
- If money is at stake or the case drags on, a Thai lawyer can take it up with the bank; our guide to finding a lawyer in Thailand explains how.
A caller who offers to "unfreeze" your account is a scammer. Banks, the AOC and the police do not ask you to transfer money, install an app or raise your limit to release an account. Hang up and call the bank yourself.
This page is not legal or financial advice; only your bank can say why your own account was limited.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Thai bank freeze my account when my visa expires?
No BOT or bank page we read says that accounts are frozen automatically when a visa expires. Banks do keep identity records current and may limit an account with outdated documents, so take your new passport or extension to the branch as soon as you have it.
Why can I only transfer a small amount from my Thai banking app?
Your bank has probably placed you in a low daily-limit tier under the BOT's customer-profiling rules, which new and inactive customers often start on. You can ask the bank for a higher limit, normally after a face scan or a fresh identity check.
Who do I call if my account was suspended as a mule account by mistake?
The government's advice is to call the Anti Online Scam Operation Center on 1441, press 2 and verify your identity, after which the bank reviews the case. Contact your own bank as well, so that both sides have your details.
Can I still get a Thai credit card after my account was restricted?
A routine limit or a KYC request should not stop you once it is solved, but banks are cautious with foreign applicants in general. Our page on credit cards for foreigners in Thailand explains what banks look at.
Sources
- Bank of Thailand – Financial fraud prevention measures (checked November 2026)
- Bank of Thailand – Annual Report 2024, measures against financial fraud (checked November 2026)
- Bank of Thailand – New measures to tackle financial fraud, 9 March 2023 (checked November 2026)
- Bangkok Post – Thailand tightens mobile banking transfer limits, 19 August 2025 (checked November 2026)
- Nation Thailand – Banks to block mule-account transactions, 30 January 2025 (checked November 2026)
- Nation Thailand – Daily limits for youth accounts, 2 August 2026 (checked November 2026)
- Pattaya Mail (NNT) – New rules on mule accounts, 10 August 2026 (checked November 2026)
- Government Public Relations Department – Anti Online Scam Operation Center and 1441 (checked November 2026)
- Royal Thai Police – Online crime reporting (checked November 2026)