ChipButty Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 I've got some friends coming soon, Yes I do have some, I understand most of what to tell them, They want to stay 2 months 60 days the visa I get that, the TM 30 I've done that so no problem there, I guess my only question is do they need to be carrying 20,000 Baht cash? Its a couple so would both have to have that amount? or just cover any <deleted> both carry 20k? I can confirm their booking Thanks guys, CB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Denis Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 I don't know whether the cash requirement would be lower as a couple, but sounds improbable to me. By the way, it's the equivalent of THB, so no need to exchange beforehand - their home country money in cash is also OK. If they stay in your place, you are expected to do a TM30 of their stay there (done within 24 hours of their arrival at your place). I would suggest they put the address of your place on the TM6 entry/departure cards handed out during their inbound flight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ubonjoe Posted October 4, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2019 It is the equivalent of 20k baht each or for a family 40k baht in cash that can be asked for on entry to the country. They may be asked to show a bank account with at least the equivalent of that amount to get their visas. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krabi local Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Most people are not asked to show but the IO can ask. personally I have never been asked but my brother was on his first trip to Thailand on a visa exemption. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loong Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 22 hours ago, ubonjoe said: It is the equivalent of 20k baht each or for a family 40k baht in cast that can be asked for on entry to the country. They may be asked to show a bank account with at least the equivalent of that amount to get their visas. Don't Travellers cheques count? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 17 minutes ago, loong said: Don't Travellers cheques count? They would be accepted instead of cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipButty Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 37 minutes ago, loong said: Don't Travellers cheques count? Dont know of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elkski Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Are the Chinese required to show 20,000.?. This requirement shows the greed and the fact that thailand only wants people's money. I can walk into any casino in America and they don't care how much money I have at the door. In this day and age with ATM machines and venmo PayPal this requirement is dated and stupid and represents the greedy stupid thinking of Thai government. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emptypockets Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 9 minutes ago, Elkski said: Are the Chinese required to show 20,000.?. This requirement shows the greed and the fact that thailand only wants people's money. I can walk into any casino in America and they don't care how much money I have at the door. In this day and age with ATM machines and venmo PayPal this requirement is dated and stupid and represents the greedy stupid thinking of Thai government. Irrelevant. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max69xl Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 On 10/4/2019 at 4:37 PM, Peter Denis said: I don't know whether the cash requirement would be lower as a couple, but sounds improbable to me. By the way, it's the equivalent of THB, so no need to exchange beforehand - their home country money in cash is also OK. If they stay in your place, you are expected to do a TM30 of their stay there (done within 24 hours of their arrival at your place). I would suggest they put the address of your place on the TM6 entry/departure cards handed out during their inbound flight. The address on the TM6 doesn't really matter,they are on tourist visa. They might go somewhere before or after staying with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipButty Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 Im not sure about having the equivalent in foreign currency is accepted, last night I asked a guy who arrived last month about the 20k and he said he had 12k in Thai Baht and the rest was Aussie $$$ they made him change it at the airport 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, ChipButty said: Im not sure about having the equivalent in foreign currency is accepted, last night I asked a guy who arrived last month about the 20k and he said he had 12k in Thai Baht and the rest was Aussie $$$ they made him change it at the airport That's a scam, the IOs are getting some small kickback from the currency exchange booth. The airport rates are already ridiculous, but guaranteed traffic from the IOs will allow them to really screw visitors. Right now, at interbank rates, 20K is around USD $660. In my experience, the rates in the city, away from the tourist trap areas, are a couple of percent worse than that, but the airport booths are generally around 10% worse. I could imagine a situation in which the only airside booth would be able to be 20% worse than the interbank rate, lifting the requirement to around $800 and giving a nice profit to the police and the exchange booth. The actual rules state that the equivalent in foreign currency or foreign-denominated travelers checks fulfills the requirement but I would not be at all surprised if they start forcing both to be exchanged at the airport. Don Mueang? The takeaway lesson here is that, if you're using non-Thai currency, do not base the amount on the regular exchange rate, add about 20% to avoid failing to fulfill the requirement in this sort of situation. I fear, given the recent increase in the number of more straightforward scams by IOs - extracting a cash bribe with the threat of deportation - this one could become common too. Edited October 6, 2019 by donnacha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 minute ago, donnacha said: That's a scam, the IOs are getting some small kickback from the currency exchange booth. The actual rules state that the equivalent in foreign currency fulfills the requirement but I would not be at all surprised if this becomes common. Don Mueang? Do you have any proof of this? I understand that the IO is wrong, as 'any negotiable currency' should suffice. But I think it is just ignorance. I just don't see an IO and an exchange shop divvying out their profits of changing Oz$400 at the slightly lower rate at the airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayaout Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 13 hours ago, Elkski said: Are the Chinese required to show 20,000.?. This requirement shows the greed and the fact that thailand only wants people's money. It's an old law and not updated to digital age. Nothing to do with greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgdanson Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 16 hours ago, loong said: Don't Travellers cheques count? Do they still exist? LOL Didn't Thomas Cook used to issue them? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olmate Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, ChipButty said: Im not sure about having the equivalent in foreign currency is accepted, last night I asked a guy who arrived last month about the 20k and he said he had 12k in Thai Baht and the rest was Aussie $$$ they made him change it at the airport How did they manage that? No booth airside,did they escort your friend to exchange cash...I doubt it! Sounds like BS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 minute ago, wgdanson said: Do they still exist? LOL Didn't Thomas Cook used to issue them? Yeah, you will have to get Amex ones now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) 27 minutes ago, jacko45k said: Do you have any proof of this? I understand that the IO is wrong, as 'any negotiable currency' should suffice. But I think it is just ignorance. I just don't see an IO and an exchange shop divvying out their profits of changing Oz$400 at the slightly lower rate at the airport. With an astonishing 14,255 posts under your belt, surely you must be more familiar with Thailand. Surely you know that the IOs stand there, night and day, watching their superiors pulling in outrageous amounts every day, and wracking their brains for viable scams of their own. I mean, this isn't some sort of conspiracy theory, we all know that it is the most energetic and innovative part of the Thai economy. The idea that an IO would not know that the equivalent in other currencies or travelers checks fulfills the requirement is ludricrous. Of course they know. And of course the only nearby airside booth will be giving far worse rates that the landside airport booths. And of course the IOs are doing this for a reason. You think this isn't more work for them than simply working out the exchange rates on their phones and waving the visitors through? A transaction is being forced, more than a hundred dollars of additional profit can be made per transaction, of course the IOs are getting their share. Edited October 6, 2019 by donnacha 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Olmate said: How did they manage that? No booth airside,did they escort your friend to exchange cash...I doubt it! Sounds like BS. What makes you think they don't have booths airside? Have you really never noticed them? Edited October 6, 2019 by donnacha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayaout Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 14 minutes ago, Olmate said: How did they manage that? No booth airside,did they escort your friend to exchange cash...I doubt it! Sounds like BS. There is more than 1 exchange booth but no ATM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olmate Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 10 minutes ago, donnacha said: What makes you think they don't have booths airside? Have you really never noticed them? Re read that, sorry thinking ATM! My bad.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matzzon Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Just tell them to carry the small amount of money, then they will eliminate one possibility of reason for denial. No problem, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 A baiting post and a reply to it have been removed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Matzzon said: Just tell them to carry the small amount of money, then they will eliminate one possibility of reason for denial. No problem, right? Yes, but, if in this situation the IOs are not doing the calculation on their phones, which would base their calculation on the interbank rates, and are instead sending you off to the only nearby airside exchange booth, how do you know what to base your own calculation on? What happens if you bring $700 but, at the mandatory exchange booth, that gets you only 19,165 baht (10% under the current interbank rate)? I could see this tripping up a lot of visitors, especially if the profits from this new tactic incentivizes them to start asking more people to show the 20K - for the record, I have never been asked. Hopefully, this will be the only report we hear of this, and it will never become a problem, but it is definitely a smarter strategy for the IOs than asking for straightforward bribes, something that is reported here with some regularity. Edited October 6, 2019 by donnacha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipButty Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, Olmate said: How did they manage that? No booth airside,did they escort your friend to exchange cash...I doubt it! Sounds like BS. Not BS, They escorted him the the booth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, donnacha said: What makes you think they don't have booths airside? Have you really never noticed them? They don't have them because they don't have them. On occasions at places like Saigon people arrive sometimes no money for the stamping fee. They can walk you past pp control to ATM. They don't like it and make you wait. Last trip I spotted a guy money and he repaid me later. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olmate Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 16 minutes ago, ChipButty said: Not BS, They escorted him the the booth Unique! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 21 minutes ago, DrJack54 said: They don't have them because they don't have them. On occasions at places like Saigon people arrive sometimes no money for the stamping fee. They can walk you past pp control to ATM. They don't like it and make you wait. Last trip I spotted a guy money and he repaid me later. Wait, Saigon? Weren't we talking about Don Mueang? I'm afraid I don't know much about the currency booths in Vietnamese airports, but airside booths are not at all unusual in large Thai airports. Are you thinking of ATMs? That was decent of you to lend money to a stranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 33 minutes ago, DrJack54 said: They don't have them because they don't have them. Okay, I was not 100% certain, and you seemed so sure, so, I searched to confirm I was not imagining it. If you do the same you will find multiple mentions and discussions. The consensus seems to be that their are no ATMs but there are currency exchange booths airside at Don Mueang. This is common in many countries. Banks are reluctant to pay the inflated rent for an airside presence because their ATM fees are fixed, whereas it is worth every penny to a currency exchange booth because they can gouge travelers who are too disorganized, dumb, or blasé to exchange their money somewhere sensible. Keep an eye open for them next time you visit Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgdanson Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 2 hours ago, donnacha said: What makes you think they don't have booths airside? Have you really never noticed them? Can't say that I have, exchange booths BEFORE Immigration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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