Paying tuition to universities and schools in Thailand: a guide for education agents, sponsors and scholarship programmes

Short answer. An institution in Thailand issues a fee note in baht with the student's admission number. The organisation paying it — an education agent, an employer sponsoring a scholarship, a foundation, a government scholarship office — pays that exact figure to the institution's bank account through Storspay at the mid-market rate for 1% all-in, with the student's name and admission number as the reference, and the bursar sees a domestic credit that matches the fee note, usually within minutes.

Who pays fees in Thailand, and why wires fail them

Thailand's international schools and universities — in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket — enrol students from China, Myanmar, India, the Gulf, Africa and Europe, and Thai universities run English-language programmes popular with sponsored students. Fees are paid in baht to the institution's account with the student ID as the reference, usually by an education agent, a sponsoring employer, a scholarship office or a foundation. Storspay is for those organisations and for the schools collecting from them.

How a fee payment runs on Storspay

Add the institution once as a recipient (its registered name, bank and account number — Storspay verifies the name). For each student, type the baht figure on the fee note and put the student's name and admission or invoice number in the reference. A scholarship office paying thirty students pays them in one batch and downloads one statement; each student's fee is its own credit on the institution's side.

If you are the institution

Schools and universities with sponsors in North America, the UK, Europe or Africa can send a Storspay payment request instead of chasing a wire: the sponsor pays, and the institution's Storspay balance is credited. Getting paid from Thailand itself is not live yet; collecting from sponsors abroad is. See Get paid.

Documents, tax IDs and what the recipient's bank may ask

Thai banks ask the purpose of an inbound foreign payment under Bank of Thailand rules, and amounts at or above US$50,000 equivalent require a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form completed by the recipient's bank. Because Storspay delivers baht through a local partner, the recipient sees a domestic credit and the documentation stays light: keep the invoice and the Storspay receipt, and make sure the recipient's registered company name matches the account name. Thai businesses invoice with their 13-digit tax ID; a VAT-registered recipient will issue a tax invoice in baht.

How a payment to Thailand works on Storspay

1. Fund your balance in USD (ACH or wire), CAD (Interac e-Transfer or EFT), GBP (UK bank transfer) or EUR (SEPA) — to account details in your own business name. Funding is free.
2. Add the recipient once: their name as it appears on the account, the bank (Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank (KBank), Siam Commercial Bank, Krungthai, Krungsri, TMBThanachart and the other Bank of Thailand-licensed banks) and the account number. Storspay checks the account name before you confirm.
3. Type the amount in either box. Enter what you want to send and see the baht that land, or type the baht figure on the invoice and see what it costs you. The rate is the mid-market rate; the 1% is on its own line.
4. Confirm. The money goes over the domestic interbank rail and usually lands within minutes — the same business day at most. The recipient gets a notification with the exact amount, and you get a receipt with the invoice reference.

Nobody in Thailand has to sign up, install an app or touch anything other than their own bank account. Everything on the recipient side looks like an ordinary domestic transfer.

What it costs

Storspay charges 1% all-in on payments to Thailand, with a minimum of US$2, at the mid-market rate. That one line covers conversion, settlement and delivery; there is no FX markup, no intermediary-bank charge and nothing deducted on the recipient side.

Rates in this guide are the mid-market rate on the day of writing (1 USD = 33.5341 THB); the calculator on the homepage shows today's. Large payments are split automatically under the local channel cap, under one reference and one fee.

See what your team in Thailand receives →

Questions businesses ask before the first payment to Thailand

Can a family use Storspay to pay their child's fees?

Storspay is for businesses and organisations. A family business can pay from its business account with the student named on the reference; a family paying from a personal account should ask the school or its agent whether they accept Storspay through their own account.

Does the institution need a Storspay account?

No. It receives an ordinary domestic credit in baht to its existing bank account, with the student reference you typed.

Can I schedule the next instalment?

Yes. Scheduled payments run on the date you set from your balance, with the same reference, and you get a receipt each time.

Can you pay PromptPay?

Not yet. Storspay pays Thai bank accounts by account number today; PromptPay is on the roadmap. Every PromptPay ID is linked to an ordinary bank account you can pay now.

Will the recipient's bank ask for documents?

For most business payments, no — the money arrives as a domestic baht credit. At or above the equivalent of US$50,000 the recipient's bank completes a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form; your invoice and the Storspay receipt are what they ask for.

Can I pay a Thai hotel or supplier in baht for a quote they gave me in US dollars?

Yes. Type the dollar amount and Storspay shows the baht figure at the mid-market rate; or type the baht figure on their invoice and see the dollars it costs — both boxes are editable.

Who this is for — and who it is not for

Storspay is for businesses and organisations: companies, agencies, schools, hospitals, facilitators, foundations and sole traders paying other businesses and professionals for work, goods and services. A sole trader counts as a business and signs up in their own name.

What Storspay is not is a personal money-transfer service. We do not open personal accounts, and every payment has to be a business transaction: an invoice, a contract, a fee note, work delivered. Money to family and personal transfers are not what this is, and we would rather say so now than at verification.