# Thai QR

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/thai-qr
> research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-06
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [PromptPay / Thai QR — BOT](https://www.bot.or.th/en/financial-innovation/digital-finance/digital-payment/promptpay.html)

## Overview

**Thai QR Payment** is **Thailand's national QR-payment standard**, anchored by the **PromptPay** national instant-payment infrastructure operated by the **Bank of Thailand (BOT)** + member banks since **2016** <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [Thailand report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH)</sup>. The Thai QR technical standard is **built to EMVCo international security specifications + uses ISO 20022 messaging standards** ensuring interoperability domestically + across a growing network of cross-border linkages. By **March 2025**, PromptPay processes **2.1 billion transactions / over THB 4.43 trillion monthly** with **nearly 80 million registered users** — striking for a 70M-population country (reflecting multi-account registration).

The structural significance: Thai QR is **one of Asia's most-developed national QR-payment systems** + **the global cross-border-QR-mesh pioneer**:
- **PromptPay × FPS (Hong Kong)** — launched December 2023.
- **PromptPay × Indonesia QRIS** — multilateral interoperability.
- **PromptPay × Singapore PayNow** — bilateral.
- **PromptPay × Malaysia DuitNow** — bilateral.
- **PromptPay × Cambodia Bakong** — bilateral.
- **PromptPay × Vietnam VietQR** — bilateral.
- **PromptPay × Laos LaoQR** — bilateral.
- **PromptPay × China (Alipay + UnionPay + WeChat Pay)** — launched October 30, 2025.

**October 30, 2025 cross-border-QR linkage launch with China's three major payment services** (Alipay, UnionPay, WeChat Pay) marks **major milestone for Thai inbound-tourist payment acceptance**. The **BOT 2025 draft guidelines** propose **real-time fraud detection + reporting obligations** for payment operators + **end-to-end encryption mandate** for all electronic transactions.

## History

**Background — Thai payment landscape** <sup>[Thailand report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH)</sup>:
- **Bank of Thailand (BOT)** — central bank.
- **National e-Payment Master Plan** since 2014.
- Pre-PromptPay: card + cash-dominant.

**2016 — PromptPay launches** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- Citizen ID, mobile, bank account, other ID as aliases.
- Built on ISO 20022 + EMVCo QR.

**Multi-year cross-border-QR mesh expansion**:
- **2018 — PromptPay × Singapore PayNow** (first bilateral).
- **2021 — Cambodia Bakong** bilateral.
- **2021-2022 — Vietnam VietQR + Indonesia QRIS** bilateral.
- **Dec 2023 — Hong Kong FPS** [[hk-link]].
- **Malaysia DuitNow**.
- **Laos LaoQR**.

**March 2025 — 2.1B monthly transactions / 80M users** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- Substantial scale.

**October 30, 2025 — China-linkage launch** <sup>[2][2]</sup>:
- Alipay, UnionPay, WeChat Pay simultaneous.

## Technical specification

Thai QR is **BOT-coordinated national QR-payment standard on PromptPay + EMVCo + ISO 20022** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>:

| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| **Operator** | **Bank of Thailand (BOT) + member banks** |
| **Underlying rail** | **PromptPay** |
| **Currency** | THB (Thai baht) + cross-border |
| **Standards** | **EMVCo QR + ISO 20022 messaging** |
| **QR types** | **Customer-presented + merchant-presented (static/dynamic)** |
| **Users (March 2025)** | **~80 million registered** |
| **Monthly transactions (March 2025)** | 2.1 billion |
| **Monthly volume (March 2025)** | THB 4.43 trillion |
| **Cross-border links** | **SG, MY, ID, HK, KH, VN, LA, CN** |

**Cross-border QR via PromptPay** [[hk-link]]:
- One of the most extensive cross-border-QR meshes globally.

**BOT 2025 draft guidelines** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- Real-time fraud detection + reporting obligations.
- End-to-end encryption mandate.

## Use cases

**Domestic P2P + P2B** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Cardinal.

**Customer-presented QR (CPM)** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Customer shows QR.

**Merchant-presented QR (MPM)** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Static/dynamic.

**ISO 20022 business-data transmission** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Large-business use.

**Cross-border tourist payments** [[hk-link]]: 8+ international links.

**Bill payment + government services** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Tax + utilities.

**E-commerce checkout** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Online integration.

## Implementations & ecosystem

**Operator**: **Bank of Thailand (BOT) + member banks**.

**Major Thai banks**: Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank (KTB), Kasikornbank (K-Bank), Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), TMBThanachart Bank, Government Savings Bank, others.

**Cross-border partners**: SG PayNow, MY DuitNow, ID QRIS, HK FPS, KH Bakong, VN VietQR, LA LaoQR, CN (Alipay + UnionPay + WeChat Pay).

## Fun facts

- **2016 PromptPay launch**: 10-year history.
- **~80M users in 70M-population country**: Multi-account context.
- **2.1B monthly transactions (March 2025)**: Massive scale.
- **THB 4.43 trillion monthly volume**: Substantial economic flow.
- **EMVCo + ISO 20022**: International-standards alignment.
- **8+ cross-border QR links**: Global cross-border-mesh pioneer.
- **December 2023 HK FPS launch**: Major bilateral.
- **October 30, 2025 China-linkage**: Alipay + UnionPay + WeChat Pay simultaneously.
- **BOT 2025 fraud-detection draft guidelines**: Regulatory modernisation.
- **National e-Payment Master Plan 2014 origin**: Long-term strategy.

## Comparison

| Feature | Thai QR / PromptPay (TH) | [QRIS](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/qris) (ID) | PayNow (SG) | [KHQR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/khqr) (KH) | UPI (IN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | BOT + banks | BI + ASPI | MAS + banks | NBC | NPCI |
| Type | **National QR + ISO 20022 + EMVCo** | National QR | National instant payment + QR | National payment + QR | UPI national instant payment + QR |
| Launch | 2016 | Aug 2019 | 2017 | Oct 2020 | 2016 |
| Users | **80M (2025)** | 56.5M | n/a | n/a | 530M+ |
| Monthly transactions | **2.1B (Mar 2025)** | High | n/a | n/a | 16B (May 2025) |
| Cross-border links | **8+ (SG, MY, ID, HK, KH, VN, LA, CN)** | 6+ | 4+ | 4+ | 6+ (Multi via BHIM-UPI) |

## Status

**Active, mature, expanding cross-border** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>:
- **BOT operator** + member banks.
- **PromptPay + Thai QR (EMVCo + ISO 20022)**.
- **~80M users / 2.1B monthly tx / THB 4.43T monthly (Mar 2025)**.
- **8+ cross-border-QR links**.
- **October 2025 China-linkage**.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.bot.or.th/en/financial-innovation/digital-finance/digital-payment/promptpay.html "PromptPay — BOT"
[2]: https://www.bot.or.th/en/news-and-media/news/news-20251030.html "Cross-border QR China launch — BOT"
[3]: https://www.bot.or.th/en/financial-innovation/digital-finance/digital-payment/cross-border-payment.html "Cross-border Payment Linkages — BOT"
[hk-link]: https://fps.hkicl.com.hk/eng/fps/consumers/fps_x_promptpay_qr_payment.php "FPS × PromptPay — HKICL"

- [1] [PromptPay — BOT][1]
- [2] [Cross-border QR China launch — BOT][2]
- [3] [Cross-border Payment Linkages — BOT][3]
- [hk-link] [FPS × PromptPay — HKICL][hk-link]
- <sup>[Thailand report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH)</sup> `reports/countries/TH-thailand.md`

## Deployments

Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`):

- **TH** — [TH-thailand.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH)