In Thailand and Malaysia the species has been mist netted whilst feeding over streams and open fields (Payne et al. 1985) and Medway (1983) reported it in lowland foothills. It is found from about 100 m asl (S. Bumrungsri pers. comm. 2006), elsewhere its upper elevational range has been recorded as 1,200 m asl. This species is gregarious and roosts in hollow trees and plantations, roofs of rural areas, and occasionally is found with Scotophilus kuhlii.

This species is found on Sumatra and Borneo (Suyanto et al. 1998, Khan 2008, Huang et al. 2014), through to the Philippines where it is known from a single specimen from Mindanao (Zamboanga del Sur Province) (Heaney et al. 1998, Tanalgo and Hughes 2018). It also occurs in Peninsular Malaysia (Khan 2008; Jayaraj et al. 2013a,b, 2016; Lim et al. 2017) Singapore and southernmost Thailand (Bumrungsri et al. 2006, Soisook 2011).

The species occurs in a number of protected areas throughout its range but is lacking of data in the Philippines where there is need to reexamine its occurrence and distribution.