AS some one who brings cash to thailand , I have wondered, how guys change money , ie Enough to last a week, and then a few days at a time or enough to last the whole holiday
AS some one who brings cash to thailand , I have wondered, how guys change money , ie Enough to last a week, and then a few days at a time or enough to last the whole holiday
Get yourself a plastic ATM/Debit card linked to your home account. Then draw down money in 10,000 or 20,000 Baht amounts.
Expect to pay B 150 - 200 per withdrawal as banks in LoS have found another easy way to gouge foreigners.
Generally speaking, ATM exchange rates (ER) are among the best available.
Personal Opinion: I would not have large amounts of foreign and Thai cash in my wallet or my hotel room. That is just fool-hardy.
However, if you have an at-home surplus of cash and it makes sense to use it, find a SuperRich currency exchange for the highest rates.
Withdrawing cash from your home account to exchange after arrival in LoS (a) is fool-hardy, and (b) does not give the best ER.
If you shop around in your home town, the ER for Baht may be beneficial and you have Baht in your pocket when you arrive.
All ER are available on the Internet.
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arsenal (January 17th, 2017)
One of the subjects that come up regularly and is better treated in kind of a wiki. I made an attempt here:
http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/201...-exchange.html
I exchange enough for 2-3 weeks (I don't frequent areas that have exchange booths with good rates, so I have to plan my trips there in combination with other activities in the area, and I only spend about 10 kTHB per week).
Not in my case. Last time I withdraw from ATM, I lost about 2.5% compared to exchange booth (1% from 200 Baht fee for 20 kTHB withdrawal and 1.5% poor exchange rate).Originally Posted by Yraen
That brings me back to a recommendation on a recent tread on the same subject: when I withdraw with Visa card, the transaction is shown only two days later on my bank statement (online banking, I checked immediately, following morning, evening: nothing).
Last edited by christianpfc; January 17th, 2017 at 11:47.
1) Open an account with the Bangkok Bank (the others can be a bit fussy with farangs) you will need your passport and a Thai correspondence address. You will be given an account book and a Be1st debit card on the spot.
2) Use a specialist currency transfer outfit to move funds (I use SAT Worldwide) DO NOT use a UK high street bank, unless the amount is less than £1k. They will cut a deal for you that is at the published rate, and make their money from a flat service charge.
You BACS them the funds and they forward the THB to your BB A/C
3) You then draw funds as needed from Thai ATMs - there is no 200 baht fee.
This way I get over 99% efficiency in converting GBP in my UK A/C to THB cash
fountainhall (January 17th, 2017)
Re above post. Fees for wiring money depend on home bank, and my home bank can't send money to Thailand at all! For ATM withdrawal you have combination of home bank, home currency, and bank at whose ATM you withdraw THB that determines how much you lose.
When exchanging cash, rates are better than everything else I tried and there is only one variable (where to exchange cash).
Like christianpfc I wonder how many times this subject has come up on all the Boards in recent years!
If someone is visiting Thailand regularly (at least once a year) surely the best way is to open an account in Thailand. I realise not all banks and branches will do this for non-residents, but others do. Then you transfer your cash in one lump sum in your home currency (never convert with the outgoing bank). Agreed there will be one quite high transfer fee. Against that you have freedom of mind and complete ease of accessing any ATM anywhere (apart from a Bt. 25 fee when you withdraw from a different Province).
I used to withdraw using my overseas bank's debit card at its branch in Bangkok. But the exchange rate fees completely offset any benefit. I hear that some banks/building societies in the UK have very reasonable rates but certainly that doesn't happen where my banks are based.
It always amazes me that some visitors will happily spend Bt. 60-70 on the Skytrain or more on taxis to get to a SuperRich exchange just to cover expenses for a few days. Change $500 at Krungsri today and you will get Bt. 17,525. At SuperRich you will get Bt. 17,675. Is that extra Bt. 150 really worth the time and money to get there? If you are changing in excess of $1,000 the benefit is certainly more favourable - provided you have somewhere safe to keep the cash.
Travellers cheques were always my preferred way to carry funds when I lived in The UK. Easy, cheap. 100 per cent safe...what more do you want?
I used travellers'cheques for seventeen years but stopped doing so two years ago for the following reasons. Firstly, the charge per cheque went up to 150bht. Secondly, long waits while the teller made phone calls held -up both me and disgruntled people in the queue.. And thirdly, the exchange rate on offer elsewhere was better.
christianpfc (January 18th, 2017)
Oliver wrote:
"I used travellers'cheques for seventeen years but stopped doing so two years ago for the following reasons. Firstly, the charge per cheque went up to 150bht. Secondly, long waits while the teller made phone calls held -up both me and disgruntled people in the queue.. And thirdly, the exchange rate on offer elsewhere was better."
I haven't used them for many years, the fee used to be 30 baht and there was never any phone call needed, just my passport. The 150 baht fee wouldn't worry me as I'm only cashing perhaps 6 at 200 pounds each which is 900 baht and worth it for the peace of mind. Slightly better exchange rates too if I remember.
"When exchanging cash, rates are better than everything else I tried and there is only one variable (where to exchange cash)."
Next time you're changing cash, note the difference between the buy rate and sell rate for notes - and see how far adrift the average of the two is from the buy rate - that's what your losing on the deal when you change cash.
My method is far more efficient..
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