Yes. Thai citizens who worked or studied in Australia on a temporary visa can claim their full super balance as a DASP once home, provided the visa has expired or been cancelled. The rate follows the visa you held: Work and Holiday makers (subclass 462) are taxed at 65% on the taxable component, while student (500), skilled (482) and temporary graduate (485) visas are taxed at 35% on the taxed element. Payment goes directly to your Thai bank account, normally within about 28 days of a complete application.
For most Thais, the 462 sets the rate
Australia's Work and Holiday arrangement with Thailand, under subclass 462, is capped at 2,000 grants a year (Department of Home Affairs), and the places are consistently taken: Home Affairs pauses lodgements once a year's cap fills. That is four times Brazil's allocation and double India's, so unlike those countries, a large share of Thais who worked in Australia really were working holiday makers. If that was you, your DASP is taxed at the 65% working holiday rate, and the honest arithmetic of claiming anyway is below.
It is not the whole story. Thailand also sends a steady student cohort to Australia on the subclass 500, many of them working part time through their course, with 485 graduate and sponsored 482 visas following on. Those visas pay 35% on the taxed element, roughly half the working holiday rate. So before you assume the backpacker rate, check the visa grant email that names your subclass; if you cannot find it, we can establish it from your passport details.
| Visa you held in Australia | DASP rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Work and Holiday 462 | 65% | 35% |
| Student 500, skilled 482 or graduate 485 (taxed element) | 35% | 65% |
| Any visa, once the money has moved to the ATO | 65% | 35% |
What the 65% rate really means in baht
The working holiday rate is the harshest number in the whole DASP system, and it is legislated: no agent, including us, can lower it. What it does not change is whose money it is. Super was paid on top of your wages at a legislated rate, currently 12%, by every employer you had. A year of cafe shifts, cleaning contracts and harvest work commonly leaves A$2,000 to A$4,000 in super; a second year can double it. Keeping 35% of that is a four-to-five-figure transfer to your Thai account, for money that otherwise never reaches you at all.
Run your own numbers on the DASP tax calculator, which shows both rates side by side in dollars.
The six-month clock costs students the most
Six months after your visa ends and you have left, your fund must hand your balance to the ATO as unclaimed super. From that moment it is taxed at 65% regardless of which visa you held.
For a 462 holder that transfer changes little, because the working holiday rate was 65% either way. For a Thai student, graduate or sponsored worker it is the difference between keeping 65% of the balance and keeping 35% of it. On a balance of A$10,000 that is roughly A$3,000 that stops being yours. If you are inside the six months, that timing is the single most valuable thing you control.
Several jobs usually means several funds
A Work and Holiday year is a string of employers: a kitchen in Melbourne, a season picking fruit in Queensland, a warehouse in the suburbs. Each one had to pay super, and each one may have defaulted you into a different fund, so the money ends up scattered across accounts you never chose and may never have heard of. Student work does the same on a longer clock, part-time hours through a course and full-time wages on a 485 or 482 afterwards. Finding every account in your name, including money already sitting with the ATO, is the core of what we do, under one flat fee.
Paid to your Thai account
Your DASP is paid to a Thai account using your bank's SWIFT/BIC. Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krungthai, Krungsri and the other major banks all receive international transfers to an account in your own name. The money arrives in Australian dollars and your bank converts it to baht at its own rate; some people use a multi-currency account to control the conversion themselves. We never hold your money, the fund or the ATO pays you directly.
No certified copies, no embassy queue
Identity is verified electronically with your passport and a selfie, from your phone, in about two minutes. There are no certified copies and no appointment at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. Funds approached directly will often ask for certified documents, particularly above about A$5,000, and removing that step is a large part of why people use a registered tax agent.
How the claim works from Thailand
- The five-minute form. Short, in English. If you do not know which fund holds your super, say so and we find it.
- Identity check. Passport plus selfie, on your phone.
- A registered tax agent lodges it. We search every fund plus ATO-held money, prepare the application and chase it through.
- The money reaches your account. Paid by the fund or the ATO directly to you, typically within about 28 days of a complete application.
One flat fee of $149 + GST covers all of it, however many funds you turn out to have, and it is refunded in full if we recover nothing. If your situation is simple, the ATO also runs a free DASP application system you are welcome to use; there is an honest comparison on doing it yourself for free.
Common questions
Which visa was I probably on?
For Thais, the Work and Holiday 462 is the best first guess. Australia caps the arrangement with Thailand at 2,000 grants a year and the places are consistently taken, so a large share of Thais who worked in Australia really were working holiday makers. But Thailand also sends a steady student cohort on the subclass 500, with 485 graduate and sponsored 482 visas following on, and those pay a different rate. The distinction matters: 65% for working holiday makers, 35% on the taxed element for the others. Your subclass is on the visa grant email you were sent, and if you cannot find it we can establish it from your passport details.
I held a 462 Work and Holiday visa. Is it still worth claiming?
Almost always. The 65% working holiday rate stings, but the 35% you keep is real money you earned: super is paid on top of wages at a legislated rate, currently 12%, so a year or two of hospitality, cleaning or harvest work commonly leaves a balance of several thousand dollars. Left unclaimed it does not come to you at all; it sits with a fund, then moves to the ATO. There is no minimum balance for a DASP.
Can the money be paid into a Thai bank account?
Yes. Your fund or the ATO sends the payment internationally using your bank's SWIFT/BIC details, so accounts with Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krungthai, Krungsri and the other major banks all work, provided the account is in your own name and accepts international transfers. It arrives in Australian dollars and your bank converts it to baht at its own rate.
I studied in Australia on a student visa. Which rate do I pay?
Student 500, graduate 485 and sponsored 482 holders pay 35% on the taxed element while the money is still with a super fund, roughly half the working holiday rate. That only holds while a fund holds the money: six months after your visa ends and you leave, the balance moves to the ATO and is taxed at 65% instead. Part-time shifts through a course commonly leave a few thousand dollars in super, and there is no minimum balance for a DASP, so it is usually well worth claiming.
I left Australia years ago. Is it too late?
No. There is no deadline for claiming a DASP and the money is still yours. What the delay changes is where it sits: six months after your visa ended and you departed, funds must hand the balance to the ATO, and ATO-held super is taxed at 65% whatever visa you held. For a 462 holder that changes little; for a student, graduate or sponsored worker it is the difference between 35% and 65%, so it is worth checking sooner rather than later.
Will Thailand tax the payment when it arrives?
The payment has already been taxed in Australia at the legislated rate. How it is treated in Thailand depends on your residency status, current Thai rules on foreign income and the Thailand-Australia double taxation agreement, and we are not licensed to advise on Thai tax. That is a question for a local tax adviser, and we provide the payment summary you would need for that conversation.
Ready when you are. 5 minutes, flat fee.
$149 + GST · every fund plus ATO-held super · paid to your bank worldwide in about 28 days.