Though cash remains the dominant payment method for tourists in Thailand, cashless options are gaining traction due to their convenience, accessibility, and flexibility, according to a new paper by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and Visa Thailand.

Released in December 2025, the paper shares key insights into the payment trends of international tourists in Thailand. It highlights the growing adoption of cashless transactions, emphasizing the rapid rise of inbound cross-border QR payment.

Cross-border QR payment, a relatively recent addition to Thailand’s payment landscape, was first introduced in 2018 through linkage with Japan before expanding to other countries across Asia-Pacific (APAC), including most of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies, and Hong Kong. Mainland China joined most recently in October 2025, through linkages with the country’s card payment network UnionPay, as well as fintech platforms Alipay and WeChat Pay.

This payment method relies on linking PromptPay, Thailand’s real-time retail payment system, with those of partner countries. It allows a foreign visitor to scan a Thai merchant’s PromptPay QR code to initiate a payment through the user’s home banking or e-wallet app. The fund is then automatically converted from the payer’s currency to the merchant’s local currency using agreed foreign exchange (FX) rates, and the transaction is settled through linked banks and central bank-supported clearing arrangements.

In Thailand, cross-border QR payments have seen strong adoption. In 2024, inbound cross-border QR payments totaled nearly THB 2.5 billion (US$80 million). This figure is particularly noteworthy considering that countries with QR payment linkages accounted for only 29% of Thailand’s total tourist arrivals, underscoring both the strong adoption rate and growth potential of this payment method among international visitors.

Among the nine countries whose residents can use domestic payment systems for QR payments in Thailand, Malaysian tourists were the largest users in 2024, accounting for 44% of all inbound cross-border QR payments by value. Indonesia followed with a 15%, Laos with 11%, and Cambodia and Hong Kong with 9% each.

E-money was another popular payment method among tourists coming to Thailand in 2024, reaching a transaction value of THB 34 billion (US$1.1 billion). However, this market remained concentrated among a few key players primarily serving Chinese tourists, presenting both challenges and opportunities for e-money providers.

Card payments also continued to grow significantly. In 2024, card transactions reached a new record of THB 327 billion (US$10 billion) in value and recorded 100 million transactions, marking a 19% YoY increase in value and a 22% YoY increase in volume.

The paper also looks at payment preferences by the country tourists come from, and found that Malaysians, Indians, and South Koreans have a strong preference for card payments. An analysis of Visa card usage among South Korean tourists revealed a clear inclination toward card payments over cash withdrawals.

In 2024, 95% of Visa cardholders from South Korea used their cards primarily for payments in Thailand. Only a small segment, 2%, solely used their cards for cash withdrawals, while 3% utilized them for both card payments and withdrawals.

Similarly, 87% of Malaysian cardholders used their cards exclusively for purchases in 2024, while 13% made cash withdrawals either exclusively or alongside card payments.

Indian tourists displayed comparable behavior, with 71% of accounts utilizing their Visa cards exclusively for payments, while 14% relied on their card solely for cash withdrawals.

Cash remains top payment method

Though cashless transactions are growing in prominence among tourists visiting Thailand, cash remains the top payment method. In 2024, tourists withdrew THB 160 billion (US$5.1 billion) from local ATMs, while THB 1,107 billion (US$35 billion) worth of foreign currencies was exchanged within Thailand and overseas prior to arrivals. These figures gave cash a share of 78% of total transaction value by tourists visiting the country in 2024, positioning it as the unrivaled leading payment method for foreign visitors, far ahead of cards (20%), e-money (2%), and cross-border QR payments (0.2%).

These findings highlight the continued reliance on cash likely due to its widespread acceptance and the limited availability of digital payment options among small businesses across Thailand.

Thailand’s tourism industry has made a remarkable recovery since COVID-19. In 2024, the country welcomed 35.5 million international tourists. Although this figure remains below pre-pandemic levels, it represents nevertheless more than a threefold increase compared to 2022.

In 2024, tourism generated revenue of THB 1.7 trillion (US$54.2 billion), contributing approximately 9% of the overall country’s GDP.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on images by Frolopiaton Palm, EyeEm and pakorn1981 via Freepik