Pay like a local: QR payments in Thailand for foreigners

What it is

Thais pay for almost everything by scanning PromptPay QR codes. It works at street food stalls, markets, taxis and small shops, exactly where cards don’t (Thaiger, PromptPay, fetched 2026-09-28).

The one thing to understand: two kinds of QR

• Merchant QR: issued by a bank or payment processor to a business. These can accept cross-border apps.
• Personal PromptPay QR: tied to one person’s phone number, ID or bank account. These don’t accept foreign payment apps or bank cards. Street food stalls, market vendors, taxis and small businesses often use them.

(Thaiger, expat’s QR guide, fetched 2026-09-28.)

So the question isn’t “does my app do QR?” but “can my app pay a personal PromptPay QR?”

Your options today

Option	Works now	Needs
TrueMoney	Yes, this is the main working option without a Thai bank account	Thai mobile number, passport
Thai bank app (K PLUS, SCB Easy, Bangkok Bank)	Yes	A Thai bank account (not available to DTV holders or tourists)
Wise, account registered abroad	Only QR codes with the Alipay+ mark	A Wise card from an eligible country
Wise, account registered in Thailand	Coming soon, not live yet	Thai address on Wise
Moreta Pay	Paused for most users since 29 June 2026; business QR still works for US/Canada passports	A US or Canada passport, for the current exception
Home banking app from a linked country	Merchant QR only	A bank in one of the linked countries

TrueMoney: the main option

Open the wallet, tap Pay and show your code for the cashier to scan at 7-Eleven (Thaiger, fetched 2026-09-28). Setup is in Money and banking.

Wise: coming soon

• Registered in Thailand: Wise says Thai-address customers will be able to scan and pay “both individuals and businesses using PromptPay QR / ThaiQR codes”, rolling out between March and October 2026, with limits of 30,000 THB a day to start and 10,000 THB per payment (Wise Help Centre, fetched 2026-09-28). This is not confirmed working yet (founder, 2026-09-30) — use TrueMoney in the meantime.
• Registered abroad: you can scan Alipay+ QR codes if you’re a Wise customer from the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia or Brazil travelling outside your home country (Wise Help Centre, fetched 2026-09-28). Look for the Alipay+ logo near the merchant’s QR; if it’s missing, pay by card instead (Wise, fetched 2026-09-28).

Linked countries

Travellers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and China can scan Thai QR codes from their normal home banking app (Thaiger, fetched 2026-09-28). These cross-border links pay merchant QR codes, not personal ones (Thaiger, expat’s QR guide, fetched 2026-09-28).

Moreta Pay: paused since 29 June 2026

Thailand QR payments on Moreta are paused for all users since 29 June 2026, with no return date given. The one exception: customers verified with a US or Canada passport can still pay business Thai QR codes (not personal ones). Everyone else should use TrueMoney for now (Moreta Pay Help Centre, fetched 2026-10-01, last updated by Moreta 28 Jul 2026).

Visiting from Asia?

If you’re just visiting rather than living here, you may not need any of the above. Alipay+ connects wallets including Alipay to merchants in Thailand, so Chinese visitors on Alipay can often scan the same merchant QR codes with their usual app (Alipay+, fetched 2026-10-01). Travellers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia can also pay with their normal home banking app, via the cross-border links described above (Thaiger, fetched 2026-09-28).

How a QR payment goes

1. Find the printed QR at the stall or counter.
2. Scan it in your app and type the amount yourself (or scan a code that already has the amount).
3. Confirm, and show the vendor the success screen. They may just glance at it.

(Thaiger, fetched 2026-09-28.)

Cost

• 7-Eleven has no minimum for QR payments, unlike the 200 baht minimum for cards (Thaiger, fetched 2026-09-28).
• Provider fees and exchange rates vary; check each app’s terms.

Common pitfalls

• Walking away before the vendor sees the success screen. Show it every time.
• Relying on a foreign app for street food. It will often fail on personal QR codes; carry a little cash as a backup.
• Expecting Wise to pay Thai QR codes today. That’s coming soon, not live; use TrueMoney.
• Expecting Moreta to work in Thailand. Personal QR payments are paused there since 29 June 2026; use TrueMoney instead, unless you qualify for the US/Canada business-QR exception.
• Paying the wrong amount. On a static QR you type the amount, so double-check before confirming.