New 'thai Visa' Exchange Rates

[topfield]

On Shore Vs Off Shore rates.... if you are on ground in thailand - the rates TV are providing are quite correct.

http://www.bot.or.th/Bothomepage/databank/.../exchange_e.asp

Sorry to disagree but the rates offered at the banks are those quoted by the Bangkok Bank via the Bangkok Post web site which i believe T.Visa used previously.

That is if you are " on the ground " and changing at the local exchange facilities :-

GBP United Kingdom

Buying Rates Selling Rates Sight Bill TT Bill-DD-TT

68.69, 70.53, 69.42000, 69.59750, 70.27750

I have used the current recommended T.Visa site several times recently and found it mis leading regarding actual over the counter exchange transactions.

These transactions are the ones most relevant to on the ground members and consequently are not factual to actual ex. rates. given over the counter.

Hence the confusion IMHO of course.

Perhaps it would help if they were made applicable to the above which after all the majority of people need to refer to.

E.G. Basic baht exchange rates as quoted by the B.Bank. and applicable to the majority of transactions.

My most recent visit was this morning where i found once again the rates from the recommended site were out of sinc. to the pound / baht rates.

Incidently my last overseas transfer was related to the B.Bank quotes as per F. E. Rates and NOT the T.Visa site. ?

Quoted from the following url :-

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/We...es/FX+Rates.htm

marshbags

You are both right......and wrong

Right as yes the rates published by the major Thai banks are the only true source of information as the banks concerned with put their baht where their mouth is and deal at those rates, unlike the TV info rate sheet .

Wrong as the rate sheet is as ephemeral as the wind with replacement rates sheets up to 12 times a day.

[Maestro]

I have used the current recommended T.Visa site several times recently and found it mis leading regarding actual over the counter exchange transactions.

These transactions are the ones most relevant to on the ground members...the majority of transactions

....my last overseas transfer...

Please define “over the counter transactions”. In my vocabulary it means cash transactions, i.e. you hand cash in a foreign currency over the counter to the bank teller and the teller in return hands cash in Thai currency over the counter to you. Yet a few lines later you mention your “overseas transfer” as if this were one of the over-the-counter transactions you talk about.

The majority of my own currency transactions in Thailand, in fact all my transactions, have been inward SWIFT remittances, not over-the-counter transactions.

--

Maestro

[marshbags]

I have used the current recommended T.Visa site several times recently and found it mis leading regarding actual over the counter exchange transactions.

These transactions are the ones most relevant to on the ground members...the majority of transactions

....my last overseas transfer...

Please define “over the counter transactions”. In my vocabulary it means cash transactions, i.e. you hand cash in a foreign currency over the counter to the bank teller and the teller in return hands cash in Thai currency over the counter to you. Yet a few lines later you mention your “overseas transfer” as if this were one of the over-the-counter transactions you talk about.

The majority of my own currency transactions in Thailand, in fact all my transactions, have been inward SWIFT remittances, not over-the-counter transactions.

--

Maestro

Over the counter transactions in my case relate to travellers cheque exchanges for cash ( pounds stirling.)

I also see " over the counter transactions as personal physical visits to the exchange facilities in Thailand.

These in my view therefore are the relevant " on the ground " exchanges as refered to by B.M. and i again find in every comparison before making a transaction regarding the 2 sites the one being exchanged on is the B.Bank site and NOT the T.Visa one.

Regarding the overseas reference, i only added that to to enable those quoting overseas transfers / rates to see what my last result was in this area.

Mine are also done via swift by the way ( N.Wide ) and with transfers over a certain amount my bank insist on a personal visit with I.D. ect. to O.K. the completion.

If i do not visit within a certain time, they send it back without doing so.

I now provide them with a moblie No. for contact as and when it is needed.

This is to their credit, from a security point of view, as i feel sure you will agree, Maestro

This was just adding what rates i received / exchange results, and the fact that it was converted from Sterling in Thailand to Thai baht.

This in turn was at the T.T. rate quoted by the B.Bank on the day of the actual transaction and not T. Visas regarding the swift transfer.

I class it as an " over the counter " exchange because it took a physical visit to confirm the details ect. and this in turn completed it.

On hindsight perhaps i am wrong and mis leading everyone, apologies are in order if this is the case.

Over the counter transactions / on the ground, terminology in these instances, as i see it, are ones that are done via a physical visit.

I took B.M,s on the ground and my over the counter transactions to mean the same ???

The O.P. said he was confused while offering different ex. sites as examples of varying rates.

My conclusion was that the B.Bank via my experiences was the only true indicator as in Thailand exchange facilities only use this site ( generally ) as their guide.

So as a result i have to disagree with the new T.Visa facility regarding accuracy, in this instance, i,m sorry to say.

Most members want the actual rates they will get from the bank / exchange booth, not offshore / onshore quotes IMHO.

In turn, i apologise for any confusion my post may have caused, while assuring members of my intensions to provide the best indicator via my experiences since the new site was introduced.

I am NOT in any way questioning T.Visa and their continual best intentions on all our behalfs.

marshbags

Edited February 24, 2007 by marshbags