100k baht to dong?

[intheheartoftheheart]

Someone smarter than me, please answer ????

 

I have 100k baht in cash. Heading to Vietnam in a week (from Thailand). 

 

Is it smarter to change baht into dong in Thailand? Or do it in Vietnam? 

 

Or just change into dollars in either country?

 

I'll be in Vietnam for a few months. 

 

(please move if this is not the right forum)

[hagai]

I just came back from Da Nang. Tried four banks to change Baht to Dong, all refused. Even changing a good looking 50USD bill made problems, because it was not "new" enough. Better you enter Vietnam with perfect

looking USD bills or use an ATM card.

 

Regards

Hagai

[Caldera]

I'd use SuperRich in Thailand, less hassle than exchanging money in Vietnam and excellent exchange rates for THB to VND.

[intheheartoftheheart]

Ok glad I asked here. I'll convert baht to dong here. Thanks @Caldera

[chrissables]

If you convert your own countries to baht and then to dong you are paying (losing) twice.

 

ATM's are everywhere in Vietnam, they charge by percent, 3-5% usually.

 

Shops and hotels etc that accept credit / debit cards are sometimes cheaper as they don't always add a charge. Hotels i found 50% did not. That is the safest and cheapest way.

 

You can change Thai baht, but you have to look around, gold shops will do it, but you will not get a good rate.

 

I'm just back from a three month tour on my motorbike riding everywhere and ATM's were easy to find.

Edited December 16, 2019 by chrissables

[nickmondo]

change it before you go.

research via You Tube and you will find lots of information from people telling you this

[HHTel]

100,000 baht is more than 76 million dong.  Better with dollars.

[mushroomdave]

You "always" exchange the funds in hand, in that country to whatever you want. (in your case, baht is exchanged "in" Thailand of course).  If not, you will be charged twice.  Actually not hard to figure out.  

[Burma Bill]

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

100,000 baht is more than 76 million dong.  Better with dollars.

Yes indeed, or take a large bag to carry the dong!

[Pappap]

As most have said, change in Thailand, don't bring baht, they don't want them, use this for your own calcs, at the moment will get about 23,000 for the dollar in Vietnam, bit more in some banks, but usually a queue and paperwork, gold shops easy for changing dollars if you go down that route...https://www.superrichthailand.com/#!/en/exchange

[Sumarianson]

Be careful to check the limits on currencies you can take from one country to another, there are limits. You cannot take 100K in Thai Baht out of the country legally. Foreign currencies like the Dollar are ok in most countries.

[Sumarianson]

You are better off and safer using an FX broker to exchange and open an account in Dong in Vietnam to transfer it in to. The other option is ring Superrich who can arrange an exchange at your home or in privacy in their offices as it is a large amount.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Sumarianson

[thecyclist]

I would change a part of it at Superrich into dong, the rest buy dollars at a money changer and change it into Dong at goldshops in Vietnam, which offer a substantial better rate than banks (for dollars buying and selling rates differ only marginally at goldshops :A couple of weeks ago I bought dollars at a goldshop for 23250 VND, when the FX midrate was 23190)

Do not use Thai bank debit cards : bank fees plus hidden charges amount to a 5 to 7 % loss. 

If you headed to Saigon there is one money changer near district 1 that offers excellent rates for the Baht (as good as Superrich). Outside of Saigon (and maybe Hanoi, but never tried to change Baht there myself) it will be very difficult to change Baht :Banks and most goldshops are not interested, and the ones that are will give you a lousy rate :remember one offering me 700 VND for the Baht when the FX midrate was 760. 

[poka513]

If you want to buy something on the plane, VietJet Air accept Dong or Baht, but Air Asia only accept Baht or US Dollars (no Dong). On return to Thailand, any bills smaller than 20k Dong are not accepted for exchange back into Baht at money changer we use in Chiang Mai.

[thecyclist]

1 hour ago, poka513 said:

If you want to buy something on the plane, VietJet Air accept Dong or Baht, but Air Asia only accept Baht or US Dollars (no Dong). On return to Thailand, any bills smaller than 20k Dong are not accepted for exchange back into Baht at money changer we use in Chiang Mai.

Actually AirAsia accepts any major currencies, but change will always be in Thai Baht, at least according to their announcements on flights between Vietnam and Thailand. Personally never purchase anything :too expensive. 

[allanos]

Whatever you do, you are basically making a call on what you think the dong will be doing in a week's time, versus your currency of choice.  It is impossible to predict exchange rates of any kind, and is something of a mug's game when one tries.

 

You can hedge your bet, to a degree, by having a "basket" of hard currencies to exchange: SFR, EUR, USD, GBP, JPY.

[thecyclist]

1 hour ago, allanos said:

Whatever you do, you are basically making a call on what you think the dong will be doing in a week's time, versus your currency of choice.  It is impossible to predict exchange rates of any kind, and is something of a mug's game when one tries.

 

You can hedge your bet, to a degree, by having a "basket" of hard currencies to exchange: SFR, EUR, USD, GBP, JPY.

The dong is basically pegged to the USD, minimal variation from day to day, with a slightly downward trend in the long term :it has been hovering around 23200 for almost a year now. Your currency moves against the dollar, the dong will move too. The Baht was about 690 dong when I arrived here over 2 years ago and is 768 now. 

Edited December 16, 2019 by thecyclist

[intheheartoftheheart]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It's been very helpful.

[mbenson]

The question that comes to mind is, "To dong who?"

[SiSePuede419]

When I clicked on this I thought it was a joke about sex.  Disappointed. ????

[sanemax]

Be careful not to have any Dong left over .

I got offered 500 000 Dong for 1000 Baht on arrival 

Leaving they wanted 800 000 Dong to buy that 1000 Baht back 

[intheheartoftheheart]

Great point, thanks sanemax.

[thecyclist]

9 hours ago, sanemax said:

Be careful not to have any Dong left over .

I got offered 500 000 Dong for 1000 Baht on arrival 

Leaving they wanted 800 000 Dong to buy that 1000 Baht back 

You should have changed it at Superrich in Bangkok. 

[Caldera]

20 hours ago, thecyclist said:

You should have changed it at Superrich in Bangkok. 

Exactly. I changed VND back to THB at SuperRich several times. While the spread is higher than for USD, it's not too bad.