Thailand Links PromptPay with China’s Alipay for Seamless QR Payments from Chinese Tourists
Bank of Thailand partners with Ant International and Krungthai Bank to allow Chinese visitors to use Alipay via Thailand’s PromptPay QR system
Thailand’s digital-payment infrastructure has taken a major leap forward with the launch of a cross-border QR payment scheme enabling Chinese tourists to use the Alipay mobile wallet to scan Thailand’s PromptPay QR codes at millions of merchants across the country.
The initiative was formalised through a partnership between the Bank of Thailand (BoT), National ITMX (NITMX), Ant International (parent of Alipay) and Krungthai Bank, which will serve as the settlement bank for the linkage.
Under the arrangement, Chinese visitors arriving in Thailand will no longer need to carry cash or credit cards and can instead pay through the Alipay+ ecosystem by scanning domestic Thai QR codes.
NITMX’s managing director described the move as opening “new business opportunities for Thai merchants of all sizes … by connecting Thailand’s payment infrastructure to the global financial network.”
For Thailand’s tourism-centred economy, the scheme aligns with the government’s drive to enhance inbound Chinese visitor spending and to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) outside major tourist hubs.
Krungthai Bank emphasised that the QR-linking will particularly benefit SMEs by expanding their access to Chinese wallet users and thereby broadening income sources.
The initiative also reflects Thailand’s ambition to become a regional hub for digital payments as part of its broader fintech strategy.
PromptPay, launched in 2016 as Thailand’s national real-time transfer and QR payment platform, has already been integrated into multiple cross-border payment systems within Southeast Asia; the new link with Alipay marks its first major tie-up with a major non-ASEAN ecosystem.
While the scheme enters an initial phase focused on Chinese tourists, details of the merchant onboarding timeline and full rollout across regional provinces will follow.
Thailand now positions itself to capture higher Chinese-tourist spending by offering payment convenience at the point of sale while strengthening its financial-infrastructure credentials in the process.
The initiative was formalised through a partnership between the Bank of Thailand (BoT), National ITMX (NITMX), Ant International (parent of Alipay) and Krungthai Bank, which will serve as the settlement bank for the linkage.
Under the arrangement, Chinese visitors arriving in Thailand will no longer need to carry cash or credit cards and can instead pay through the Alipay+ ecosystem by scanning domestic Thai QR codes.
NITMX’s managing director described the move as opening “new business opportunities for Thai merchants of all sizes … by connecting Thailand’s payment infrastructure to the global financial network.”
For Thailand’s tourism-centred economy, the scheme aligns with the government’s drive to enhance inbound Chinese visitor spending and to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) outside major tourist hubs.
Krungthai Bank emphasised that the QR-linking will particularly benefit SMEs by expanding their access to Chinese wallet users and thereby broadening income sources.
The initiative also reflects Thailand’s ambition to become a regional hub for digital payments as part of its broader fintech strategy.
PromptPay, launched in 2016 as Thailand’s national real-time transfer and QR payment platform, has already been integrated into multiple cross-border payment systems within Southeast Asia; the new link with Alipay marks its first major tie-up with a major non-ASEAN ecosystem.
While the scheme enters an initial phase focused on Chinese tourists, details of the merchant onboarding timeline and full rollout across regional provinces will follow.
Thailand now positions itself to capture higher Chinese-tourist spending by offering payment convenience at the point of sale while strengthening its financial-infrastructure credentials in the process.
