11 hours ago, elviajero said:

It would be useful if you could post a link to the rule that states it must be “a MAJOR convertible currency”.

I think the term equivalent is all that needs to be said, Vietnam and Thailand are both ASEAN nations. It would be logical that both nations recognize each others currency. 

30 minutes ago, Grumpy Duck said:

I think the term equivalent is all that needs to be said, Vietnam and Thailand are both ASEAN nations. It would be logical that both nations recognize each others currency. 

I'm not sure logic has much to do with it.

2 hours ago, thecyclist said:

I am also curious about the dong exchange rate in Thailand, as I might be heading over there with lots of don't myself.

The rates at both SuperRich (https://www.superrichthailand.com/#!/en/exchange#converter-section) and Vasu (http://www.vasuexchange.com/) are excellent., but SuperRich is better for most less exchanged currencies like VND.

7 hours ago, midas said:

Well  good luck with trying to convert Laos Kip or Cambodian Riel in Thailand

and I don't see why Vietnamese dong should be any different?

The OP isn’t asking about exchanging the Dong, however, Bangkok Bank are offering rates.

12 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

 Would you trust those shops not to give you any counterfeit notes?

I change money in Gold shops all the time in Vietnam............I trust them as reputation means everything in Vietnam........they start dumping bogus money, won't take long for them to be out of business, or fire bombed.

Edited December 19, 20178 yr by TunnelRat69

Load of fuss about nothing. Nobody asked to see 20,000 baht. As for the best rates, the most competitive ones in Thailand are a lot better than the ones at Saigon airport. Beware the typical Vietnamese scam of listing one rate on the window but giving a much less favourable one when you hand over the money. These rates are better: http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

Edited December 19, 20178 yr by edwardandtubs

7 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

Pretty easy if you can count to 30. You seem to be down on dong - have you ever been to Vietnam?

Was there just three weeks ago actually and when I noticed how anxious people were to get rid of their dong as quickly as possible. Not surprising though really when you see it featured on a list of " currencies that are worth next to nothing " alongside Somalia and Uzbekistan 

 

https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/64739/are-these-the-worlds-most-worthless-currencies

 

 

I came back from Hanoi a few days ago , I only carried with me a credit card and a few Dong I forgot to change .   Nobody asked me to show any money , why should they ?  But I dress nicely and do not look like a backpacker. 

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, balo said:

I came back from Hanoi a few days ago , I only carried with me a credit card and a few Dong I forgot to change .   Nobody asked me to show any money , why should they ?  But I dress nicely and do not look like a backpacker. 

A "scruffy" young person is more likely to be targeted, but we have had reports from older Europeans who come to stay 6-mo per-year being questioned.

 

But unless you have a longer-stay history and are entering on an ED Visa, Tourist Visa or Visa-Exempt, it's very unlikely they would begin the process of looking for a reason to deny-entry - which is what they are doing when they ask to "see the money."

Edited December 20, 20178 yr by JackThompson

15 hours ago, elviajero said:

The OP isn’t asking about exchanging the Dong, however, Bangkok Bank are offering rates.

That is surprising (to me), but good for the OP. About 5 years ago I came back from Vietnam and tried to change a few VN Dong at the airport booths in BKK (Suvarnabhumi), where I was told that nobody would take them (granted, after having asked at the airport, I didn't go try anywhere else in the city, since I knew I was gonna go back to VN within a year). If that were still the case, immigration probably wouldn't accept Dong instead of Baht. 

 

I am probably wrong, but I was under the impression that dong were only good in Vietnam because the government wanted to keep the value stable and didn't want anybody trading in dong and causing the value to fluctuate on the open market. But somebody here will know the real story.

1 minute ago, Mansell said:

I am probably wrong, but I was under the impression that dong were only good in Vietnam because the government wanted to keep the value stable and didn't want anybody trading in dong and causing the value to fluctuate on the open market. But somebody here will know the real story.

Yes, I was also told that the government keeps the exchange rate of the Dong stable, which would mean that it's not a freely convertible currency. But I guess that doesn't exclude money changers to sell or buy VN Dong.

Superrich in Bangkok will give you a good exchange rate , the Vietnamese economy is on its way up. Very different from only 5 years ago.

On 12/19/2017 at 7:56 AM, Juan B Tong said:

I did it for years and years.  But just keep your useless Dong in your pants if you are fearful.

 

 

 

 "But just keep your useless Dong in your pants if you are fearful."    ?????

 

WOW

 

I'd love to have several billion of the useless Dong.    

 

To add;

 

If the OP ever plans to return to Vietnam it'd be wasteful to exchange back and forth and pay the accompanying  commission.

Edited December 20, 20178 yr by watcharacters