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October 2026 · 5 min read

Big cash at a Thai bank: from 1 November, be ready to explain where it came from

The Bank of Thailand has widened its cash rule. From 1 November 2026, the source-and-purpose check that applied to large cash withdrawals also covers deposits, currency exchange and cash payments for insurance, investment and derivative products. From THB 5 million, a bank that cannot check the answer must not process the transaction.

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1

What happened

On 20 October 2026 the Bank of Thailand signed Notification No. 57/2569 on managing the risk of cash-related transactions at financial institutions. It was published in the Royal Gazette on 22 October and takes effect on 1 November 2026. It replaces Notification No. 16/2569, which since 1 April 2026 had covered cash withdrawals and withdrawals by uncrossed cheque only.

The new rule keeps withdrawals and adds the other ways cash enters or leaves a bank: deposits, currency exchange and cash payments for financial products. The Bank of Thailand announced it in news release No. 40/2569 on 26 October 2026 and linked it to the Bangkok Blueprint for Fraud-Resilient Financial Services, developed with the IMF and the World Bank Group.

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What now counts as a cash transaction

  • Deposits. Cash, and cheques or drafts whose source is unclear, paid into an account or into a product that is not an account, such as a deposit card. The Bank of Thailand's FAQ says personal and company cheques can be deposited as before; a cashier's cheque or bank draft of THB 5 million or more draws the source-and-purpose question.
  • Exchange. Exchanging Thai baht banknotes (damaged notes excluded), buying, selling or exchanging foreign banknotes, and paying cash for a cheque or draft.
  • Payments for financial products. Insurance premiums, investment products and financial derivatives paid in cash or by a cheque or draft of unclear source. Loan repayments are not included.
  • Withdrawals. Cash withdrawals and withdrawals by uncrossed cheque or draft, already covered since April.
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What the bank must do

  • Identify everyone, every time. Before every cash transaction, including a one-off, the customer, anyone acting for the customer, and a walk-in who is not a customer show identification. The FAQ lists an ID card or passport, a phone number or email, and a signature. For walk-ins the bank also keeps the identification details from THB 2 million, or from THB 500,000 for foreign banknotes.
  • Offer a traceable route first. For THB 5 million or more, the bank must encourage a method other than cash that can be traced, such as a transfer or a crossed cheque.
  • Account transactions: count the day. When deposits or withdrawals reach THB 5 million in one day, all channels counted together, or look unusual, the bank asks at the branch: the purpose for a withdrawal; the source and purpose for a deposit. If the answers do not fit what it knows about the customer, it carries out enhanced due diligence. If it cannot, it must not process the transaction.
  • Other cash transactions: no fit, no deal. For foreign banknotes or product payments of THB 5 million or more in a day, and for baht-note exchange or cash for a cheque or draft of THB 5 million or more per transaction, the bank asks for the source and purpose. If the answers do not fit, it must not process the transaction.
  • Monitor, keep, report. The bank monitors cash behaviour, keeps the identification and the answers for the periods the law requires, and reports unusual cash transactions to the Bank of Thailand. It must also help, quickly and fairly, a customer who was held up and later turns out to have done nothing unusual.
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Where it sits on the map

This is a Bank of Thailand rule for the financial institutions it supervises, on the BOT's side of the map. It works alongside, and does not replace, the customer due diligence and suspicious-transaction duties those institutions already carry under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which AMLO enforces across every row of the map.

Figure 8 — Thailand's financial regulatory landscapeThe Ministry of Finance signs most financial licences. Three sector regulators recommend: the Bank of Thailand (banks, payments, supervised lending, foreign exchange), the SEC (securities, funds, digital assets) and the Office of Insurance Commission (insurance). AMLO's anti-money laundering duties and the PDPC's data protection rules apply across all of them.MOFMinistry of FinanceSigns most licencesHOW A LICENCE IS GRANTED1 The regulator assesses and recommends2 The Minister of Finance grantsSome approvals stay with the regulator (below)BOTBank of ThailandCommercial and virtual banksPayment and e-money servicesSupervised lendingMoney changers and transfer agentsDIRECTRegisters some payment servicesSECSecurities and ExchangeCommissionSecurities brokers, dealers, underwritersFund managers and investment advisorsDigital asset exchanges, brokers, dealersCustodial wallets, DA fund managersDIRECTApproves ICO portalsOICOffice of InsuranceCommissionLife insurersNon-life insurersInsurance agentsInsurance brokersDIRECTRegistrar licenses agents and brokersRECOMMENDSRECOMMENDSRECOMMENDSAPPLIES ACROSS EVERY ROWAMLOAnti-Money Laundering OfficeCustomer due diligence and transaction reporting for financial institutions and listed businessesPDPCPersonal Data Protection CommitteeThe PDPA applies to businesses that collect, use or disclose personal data — licensed or not
Figure 8 — Thailand's financial regulatory landscapeThe Ministry of Finance signs most financial licences. Three sector regulators recommend: the Bank of Thailand (banks, payments, supervised lending, foreign exchange), the SEC (securities, funds, digital assets) and the Office of Insurance Commission (insurance). AMLO's anti-money laundering duties and the PDPC's data protection rules apply across all of them.MOFMinistry of FinanceSigns most licences1 The regulator assesses and recommends2 The Minister of Finance grantsBOTBank of ThailandCommercial and virtual banksPayment and e-money servicesSupervised lendingMoney changers and transfer agentsDirect: Registers some payment servicesSECSecurities and ExchangeCommissionSecurities brokers, dealers, underwritersFund managers and investment advisorsDigital asset exchanges, brokers, dealersCustodial wallets, DA fund managersDirect: Approves ICO portalsOICOffice of Insurance CommissionLife insurersNon-life insurersInsurance agentsInsurance brokersDirect: Registrar licenses agents and brokersAPPLIES ACROSS EVERY ROWAMLOAnti-Money Laundering OfficeCustomer due diligence and transaction reportingfor financial institutions and listed businessesPDPCPersonal Data Protection CommitteeThe PDPA applies to businesses that collect, use ordisclose personal data — licensed or not

Figure 8Thailand's financial regulatory landscape — the BOT pathThe regulator recommends; for most licence families the Minister of Finance signs. AMLO's duties and the PDPA apply across every row. As of October 2026. See the full map and table

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What it means for you

  • Pay large amounts by transfer. Transfers and crossed cheques can be traced and are not cash transactions; the Bank of Thailand's FAQ says they go through as before.
  • Have the paperwork to hand. If you deal in cash, keep the source and purpose of each large amount ready before you go to the branch: the sale, the contract or the invoice behind it.
  • A question is not a freeze. The FAQ is plain: the check on a large cash transaction has nothing to do with freezing an account. The account stays usable for everything else.
  • Cash-heavy businesses: follow the money in. A business that takes cash from its own customers — a money changer, a dealer in high-value goods, an agent collecting premiums — will now be asked where its takings came from when it banks them. The trail from sale to deposit is the answer.
  • Applying for a licence. The bank that holds your capital and operating accounts applies this rule to you as a customer. Plan to inject capital and settle with counterparties by transfer, not in cash.

The full map, the who-regulates-what table and every source are on the landscape page.

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Frequently asked questions

When does the Bank of Thailand's new cash rule start?
On 1 November 2026. Notification No. 57/2569 was signed on 20 October 2026, published in the Royal Gazette on 22 October and replaces Notification No. 16/2569, which had covered cash withdrawals since 1 April 2026.
Does the THB 5 million check apply to bank transfers?
No. Transfers and crossed cheques are not cash transactions and can be traced. The rule asks banks to steer large cash amounts toward them.
How is THB 5 million counted?
For deposits and withdrawals, foreign banknotes and product payments, across all channels in one day. For exchanging baht notes and for paying cash for a cheque or draft, per transaction.
What happens if I cannot explain where the cash came from?
The bank must not process the transaction. For deposits and withdrawals it first carries out enhanced due diligence; it refuses only if that cannot be done.
Will my account be frozen?
No. The Bank of Thailand's FAQ says the check on a large cash transaction is not related to freezing an account; the account can still be used for other transactions.
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Sources

  1. Bank of Thailand Notification No. 57/2569 on risk management of cash-related transactions for financial institutions (signed 20 Oct 2026; Royal Gazette 22 Oct 2026; in force 1 Nov 2026; replaces No. 16/2569), clauses 4, 5.1 and 5.3 (Thai, PDF)
  2. BOT news No. 40/2569 (26 Oct 2026): BOT extends supervision of cash transactions of THB 5 million or more (Thai)
  3. BOT — FAQ on the rules for cash-related transactions (rules effective 1 April and 1 November 2026) (Thai)

Accessed and last reviewed . Each figure and table cell is traced to a source above.

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