Unhappy with exchange rate used by SCB

[JR Texas]

Hi.......I just arrived in Thailand after spending time in China. I went to my bank, SCB, and exchanged 29400 RMB (China currency) to Thai baht and they charged me 15124 baht (about US$398) to make the exchange. I could not believe it. Is this pure theft? It seems that way to me.

[Barney_the_Dinosaur]

Have you kept the docket showing the (clearly excessive) charge?

[Florin]

BTW, since it was simply a currency exchange, why didn't you just walk away when presented with the fee and just try another bank?

[Naam]

Hi.......I just arrived in Thailand after spending time in China. I went to my bank, SCB, and exchanged 29400 RMB (China currency) to Thai baht and they charged me 15124 baht (about US$398) to make the exchange. I could not believe it. Is this pure theft? It seems that way to me.

RMB is not a currency which trades without restrictions. in such cases losses of 10-15 or even 20% are quite normal.

Edited January 17, 2007 by Dr. Naam

[topfield]

Hi.......I just arrived in Thailand after spending time in China. I went to my bank, SCB, and exchanged 29400 RMB (China currency) to Thai baht and they charged me 15124 baht (about US$398) to make the exchange. I could not believe it. Is this pure theft? It seems that way to me.

RMB is not a currency which trades without restrictions. in such cases losses of 10-15 or even 20% are quite normal.

HI,

I know nothing whatsoever about trading RMB but can tell you that when in Super Rich last week I looked at the rate board and noticed a very small spread on the RNB .Indeed the difference between buy and sell was miniscule

[jbaldwin]

Why do you go ahead with the transaction on these terms?

You say that you were cheated but it was up to you whether do wanted to do business on this basis.

[backflip]

What was the exchange rate they gave you for the RMB?

[simcity]

Hi.......I just arrived in Thailand after spending time in China. I went to my bank, SCB, and exchanged 29400 RMB (China currency) to Thai baht and they charged me 15124 baht (about US$398) to make the exchange. I could not believe it. Is this pure theft? It seems that way to me.

RMB is not a currency which trades without restrictions. in such cases losses of 10-15 or even 20% are quite normal.

I take US dollar when i go to china , the baht to the yuan is :

CNY China 3.806330 ( buy ) 5.05639 ( sell ) that is 32 % difference .. today rate kasikorn bank

[backflip]

Why didn't you exchange the RMB in China? It takes time, and you need proper documentation, but banks will only charge you 1.5-2% to convert to another currency.

[JR Texas]

Why didn't you exchange the RMB in China? It takes time, and you need proper documentation, but banks will only charge you 1.5-2% to convert to another currency.

JR Texas to all respondents: The international exchange rate was 1RMB = 4.60341 Thai baht. They gave me: 1 RMB to 4.05 Thai baht.

Yes, I still have the receipt.

My bank in Thailand is SCB....I have an account with them, so I thought that is the place to go to get the best rate.

My bank in China told me that I would get a better rate making the exchange in Thailand (obviously wrong information).

I was mad.........I hesitated.........I asked them to check and recheck the rate...........the said that was the rate for the day. I assumed all banks would have the same rate. I needed money...........I went ahead and agreed to the exchange thinking there was nothing else for me to do............it is Thailand....grin and bear it!

It was a stupid move.........in retrospect I am not sure what I should have done......I think the banks in Thailand are cheating people........worse than loan sharks!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Firefan]

Pretty bad exchange rate - but quite normal for restricted-trade currencies like the Yuan. At my last China visit I exchanged back to USD before heading back to Thailand. Very small spread on USD here in Thailand. Cheers!

[JR Texas]

Pretty bad exchange rate - but quite normal for restricted-trade currencies like the Yuan. At my last China visit I exchanged back to USD before heading back to Thailand. Very small spread on USD here in Thailand. Cheers!

JR Texas to Firefan: I think I should have done precisely what you did: exchange the RMB to US$ and then US$ to Thai baht. I probably would have saved some money that way.

It still makes me upset.........I could have gone to Bali for three days on what they took from me.

[lannarebirth]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

[monty]

They actually do this on quite some currencies!

Check out the Philippine pesos...

They give you 54 Baht for 100 Pesos, but they let you pay 81 Baht if you want to buy 100 Pesos...

If it's any consolation, Bangkok Bank would only have given you 3.92 Baht, another 3% less!

[JR Texas]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

JR Texas to Lannarebirth: When money changers are giving better rates than banks, something is terribly wrong.

Firefan provided good advice for people who need to change RMB to Thai baht: Do it in China before coming to Thailand and get US$ (I think even HK dollars would have been better).

You know.........I was thinking about all of the Chinese tourists that are coming to Thailand now....how many of them are exchanging RMB to Thai baht in Thailand? How much money are the banks making off of this SCAM?

[steveromagnino]

JR Texas to Lannarebirth: When money changers are giving better rates than banks, something is terribly wrong.

Firefan provided good advice for people who need to change RMB to Thai baht: Do it in China before coming to Thailand and get US$ (I think even HK dollars would have been better).

You know.........I was thinking about all of the Chinese tourists that are coming to Thailand now....how many of them are exchanging RMB to Thai baht in Thailand? How much money are the banks making off of this SCAM?

Money changers are always better rates than banks...sorry I am missing something here?

Pratunam money changer rates are about .1 - .5% better usuallythan the bank rates....

[bendix]

It's not a scam. It's simply a question of supply and demand. You will get a terrible rate for yuan because, frankly, the banks will have a hard job reselling them. Same for other 'limited demand' currencies such as Philippine Peso (already mentioned), Indonesia rupiah etc.

The advice to change to US dollars and then into baht sounds counter-intuitive (two transactions can't be better than one, surely), but it's something I do all the time when I travel to such places and it saves a small fortune.

[pampal]

Come to Yaowarat and change your money at the many money changers or gold shops.

If you want to send money to china Baht-Renminbi

you can use the travel agencies in chinatown, they will charge you at most 200 baht.

[Maestro]

SCB...charged me 15124 baht (about US$398) to make the exchange.

The international exchange rate was 1RMB = 4.60341 Thai baht. They gave me: 1 RMB to 4.05 Thai baht.

“SCB charged me...” is obviously a wrong choice of words. They used an exchange rate that you consider too low.

Suggestion: check out the buying rate for RMB cash on the websites of different Thai banks and post the comparison here.

(Incidentally, on the Bangkok Bank site, I see only CNY listed for China, not RMB)

--

Maestro

[thedivezone]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

JR Texas to Lannarebirth: When money changers are giving better rates than banks, something is terribly wrong.

Firefan provided good advice for people who need to change RMB to Thai baht: Do it in China before coming to Thailand and get US$ (I think even HK dollars would have been better).

You know.........I was thinking about all of the Chinese tourists that are coming to Thailand now....how many of them are exchanging RMB to Thai baht in Thailand? How much money are the banks making off of this SCAM?

Don't worry, the Chinese are not so stupid as to bring Chinese currency to Thailand !

Mike

[Gaudente]

Some currencies simply get terrible exchange rates.

I remember when I went to Batam (the Indonesian isle in front of Singapore ) and thought to change some Thai baht in Indonesian Rupee at the airport: the official rate was about 240, but they offered just 190 ! I simply declined the offer and went to the nearest ATM machine with my Bangkok Bank ATM card...got the right exchange rate (minus an about 1% commission)and paid only a 75baht fee for the withdrawal.

It seems that for certain places certain currencies are terribly hard to sell back, that's probably the reason for such absurd spreads between buy and sell rates. Probably no one in Batam ever buys or sells THB. On my way back to Singapore checked that the same operation there costed about 2% only.

Anyway best thing is to change the "exotic" currency in US $ in its country of origin first, then change the greenbacks in the country of arrival. Or just use your ATM card.

Edited January 21, 2007 by Gaudente

[Gaudente]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

If you change RMB to BHT I suppose you travel to China, probably Kumming in Yunnan. As I am considering possible alternatives to Thailand for my retirement, could you give me your impressions about China ?

[JR Texas]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

If you change RMB to BHT I suppose you travel to China, probably Kumming in Yunnan. As I am considering possible alternatives to Thailand for my retirement, could you give me your impressions about China ?

JR Texas to all posters: Hi...I no longer have access to internet except via internet cafes, so I can't post daily. About China:

1) Very smart people...very kind....very generous....willing to listen to new ideas (and will understand them)

2) Some girls/women are beautiful.........I was living in Zhuhai (across from Macau) and it even has a very nice "walking street."

3) Very easy to get a work permit: I came in on a tourist visa and my employer went with me to immigration and I paid US$50 and was asked two question and that was that.....they changed my visa status and gave me a work permit......no leaving the country to get a different visa........no big expense.....EASY...and no reporting to immigration every 90 days....in fact, to get it renewed all I had to do was give a representative of my employer anohter US$50 and it was taken care of...did not even have to show up (COMPARE WITH THAILAND)

4) Food is great and inexpensive

5) Housing can be found for abourt US$230 for a nice, small apartment

6) Zhuhai is on the ocean and is extremely clean and the air was wonderful........mountains in the background (expats do not know much about it).....KFC, McDonalds, etc

7) In sum: I like China and think it is a good place to live..........also the economy is booming and it is a good place to start a business (Hong Kong has some of the best banks in the world)

8) This ia about Zhuhai/Macau/Hong Kong and not other places..........Shanghai would be a good place to be, but expensive like Hong Kong.....Dalien is a very good choice up north....good luck!

[fxm88]

Don't worry, the Chinese are not so stupid as to bring Chinese currency to Thailand !

But then why are they so stupid as to come to Thailand on zero-dollar tours? Hmmm....

[Gary A]

Some time back I exchanged US dollars into baht at the Kasikorn Bank in Bangkok. They rejected several of the bills saying they were no good. I was telling a Thai friend of mine about it and she offered to take them to a street money changer. I gave them to her and figured I'd get hit pretty hard by the street exchange rate. She came back with the baht and I was amazed that the exchange rate was slightly better than the bank for bills the bank wouldn't even accept.

[topfield]

Some time back I exchanged US dollars into baht at the Kasikorn Bank in Bangkok. They rejected several of the bills saying they were no good. I was telling a Thai friend of mine about it and she offered to take them to a street money changer. I gave them to her and figured I'd get hit pretty hard by the street exchange rate. She came back with the baht and I was amazed that the exchange rate was slightly better than the bank for bills the bank wouldn't even accept.

The bank was doing what all banks in SE Asia do namely rejecting all notes that have writing or a chop on them or are torn.

Indonesia is the most severe in this regard. A pinprick on a note means rejection

I once was given in Thailand a 20 dollar bill which had written on it "<deleted> RODNEY KING" I believe there were at one time millions of bills in circulation in the US that had this slogan written on them.

Needless to say I had to wait until I was in the US before I could use this bill

[thedivezone]

Don't worry, the Chinese are not so stupid as to bring Chinese currency to Thailand !

But then why are they so stupid as to come to Thailand on zero-dollar tours? Hmmm....

Touche !

[JR Texas]

Don't worry, the Chinese are not so stupid as to bring Chinese currency to Thailand !

But then why are they so stupid as to come to Thailand on zero-dollar tours? Hmmm....

Touche !

JR Texas to tedivezone and fxm88: Are you calling me stooohpead? Well, get in line.........and, of course, in this case I was most definitely STUPID.

A bank manager in China suggested that I make the conversion from RMB to Thai baht in Thailand. She said I would probably get a better rate.

Chinese people are, for the most part, anything but stupid. But I am not sure how many are fully aware of how much they stand to lose my converting their Chinese dollars to Thai baht in Thailand. I don't think the average person pays much attention to these things.

I think there is something wrong when a major bank (in any country) takes 12% to make a simple monetary conversion. It does not seem right to me.............it seems very excessive no matter what the excuse.

I wonder what the international standard is for this sort of thing. How about the USA? Do banks take as much at 12% on certain monetary conversions? Is this normal now?

Does the US govt. place restrictions on what banks can charge customers to change foreign currency to US dollars? 2-3% cap?

[samran]

I think there is something wrong when a major bank (in any country) takes 12% to make a simple monetary conversion. It does not seem right to me.............it seems very excessive no matter what the excuse.

I wonder what the international standard is for this sort of thing. How about the USA? Do banks take as much at 12% on certain monetary conversions? Is this normal now?

Does the US govt. place restrictions on what banks can charge customers to change foreign currency to US dollars? 2-3% cap?

Try any high street bank or money exchanger in the UK or OZ for converting money for the simple traveller.

From travelex.com.au. One AUD will cost 31.8 baht to buy, but when you are selling AUD they'll only give you 25.24 baht.

In the UK they'll give you this crap rate, plus charge you three pounds for the pleasure of their woeful service.

Give me a Thai exchange booth any day, their spreads are the smallest you'll get available to the general public. And, for less traded currencies, converting your money to USD to change at your destination seems to be the best bet. I personally change my THB to USD for travel to the Philippines and India, and then change the USD there for the local currency.

[Gaudente]

I live in Chiang Mai and use a Chinese lady money changer when changing Yuan. She gives much better rates than the banks. If you ask around there are probably similar, low key establishments in Chinatown, there in Bangkok.

If you change RMB to BHT I suppose you travel to China, probably Kumming in Yunnan. As I am considering possible alternatives to Thailand for my retirement, could you give me your impressions about China ?

JR Texas to all posters: Hi...I no longer have access to internet except via internet cafes, so I can't post daily. About China:

1) Very smart people...very kind....very generous....willing to listen to new ideas (and will understand them)

2) Some girls/women are beautiful.........I was living in Zhuhai (across from Macau) and it even has a very nice "walking street."

3) Very easy to get a work permit: I came in on a tourist visa and my employer went with me to immigration and I paid US$50 and was asked two question and that was that.....they changed my visa status and gave me a work permit......no leaving the country to get a different visa........no big expense.....EASY...and no reporting to immigration every 90 days....in fact, to get it renewed all I had to do was give a representative of my employer anohter US$50 and it was taken care of...did not even have to show up (COMPARE WITH THAILAND)

4) Food is great and inexpensive

5) Housing can be found for abourt US$230 for a nice, small apartment

6) Zhuhai is on the ocean and is extremely clean and the air was wonderful........mountains in the background (expats do not know much about it).....KFC, McDonalds, etc

7) In sum: I like China and think it is a good place to live..........also the economy is booming and it is a good place to start a business (Hong Kong has some of the best banks in the world)

8) This ia about Zhuhai/Macau/Hong Kong and not other places..........Shanghai would be a good place to be, but expensive like Hong Kong.....Dalien is a very good choice up north....good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experiences.There are a few other questions I would like to ask if you happen to know the anwers:

1)Is it possible for a foregneir to buy real estate in China ?

2)Being holder of an European Union passport gives you a VISA exemption or you must apply for a VISA on arrival or for a VISA from an outside Embassy ?

3)Can you own 100% of your business in China or do you need to resort to the 49% company crap like in Thailand ?

4)Is English enough for daily communication needs like it is in Pattaya ?

5)Can a foregneir open a bank account ? Can a foreigneir open a stock brokerage account ?

Thank you in advance for whatever info you can give.