Physical foreign currency exchange ban?

[4evermaat]

I was eat at a restaurant and the foreigners there said all the banks at a local mall in Chumphon would not exchange foreign currency into Thai Baht.  They were instructed to go to ATM. 

 

So my questions are:

 

- Is this nation-wide or just away from tourist area? 

 

- Are the private money exchangers (e.g. SuperRich and "border" exchangers) still operating normally? 

 

- Is there any Bank of Thailand guidance on this? Or are exchangers self-quarantining against touching foreign money and/or not wanting the risk of holding non-Thai national currency. 

 

 

Edit: was also relayed a story about very recent Koh Phayam visitor who cut his trip short for same reason (no one would exchange physical EUR). 

[4MyEgo]

I did read on TVF that Kbank was closing foreign exchange departments within its bank because of the Covid-19. this may have spread to other banks.

 

The above said, think about it for a moment, no exchange, use your card at ATM, we will hit you at our end with a fee, your bank in your country will hit you with a fee at their end and we will make sure you get a low exchange rate.

 

Opportunists are everywhere at the moment, what can I say, Thailand went to the dogs a long time ago in my opinion.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[KhunBENQ]

KBank(Kasikorn) and Krungthai have stopped all foreign cash exchange (as per their announcement).

I can't remember having seen more like this (except maybe SCB?).

If the specialized changers in Pattaya had shutdown it would have been big news here.

Superrich made some headlines with disinfecting cash before storing/distributing.

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[scorecard]

Many Krung Thai bank branches (full branches, not exchange booths) have some stock of foreign currencies, mainly US dollars. And the rate not too bad. 

[EricTh]

I passed a Bangkok Bank foreign currency exchange and there seems to be an announcement the service will be closed.

 

They think that foreign bank notes can be infected and they don't have budget to disinfect the notes.

 

Superrich seems to be opened but they have good disinfection procedures.

Edited March 17, 2020 by EricTh

[worgeordie]

Sakol exchange and Superrich Chiang Mai, have not been listing exchange rates on both

their websites for a week now,dont know if the shops themselves are open or not.

regards worgeordie

[Mulambana]

Guys, guys, guys, alwasy keep at least 200K baht in local currencies in a Thai bank. I keep at least 200K in local currency and import 500USD every week for expenses and have a charles swab ATM card (refundable ATM fees) in case of emergency but cant think of any reason why I would need more money than 200K when a  transferiwise can be done in one week day. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Mulambana

[baansgr]

3 minutes ago, Mulambana said:

Guys, guys, guys, alwasy keep at least 200K baht in local currencies in a Thai bank. I keep at least 200K in local currency and import 500USD every week for expenses and have a charles swab ATM card (refundable ATM fees) in case of emergency but cant think of any reason why I would need more money than 200K when a  transferiwise can be done in one week day. 

For someone on a two week holiday....?

[Nickzp]

Hi everyone.

 

I'm new on here and having just come out of 14 days isolation only to find that there is nowhere to exchange foreign currency.

As cash is my main means of currency this is causing me a lot of problems.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to where you could exchange cash or when the banks are lifting the ban.

I'm staying in the Province of Surin. 

Thanks.

[dabhand]

10 hours ago, Nickzp said:

Hi everyone.

 

I'm new on here and having just come out of 14 days isolation only to find that there is nowhere to exchange foreign currency.

As cash is my main means of currency this is causing me a lot of problems.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to where you could exchange cash or when the banks are lifting the ban.

I'm staying in the Province of Surin. 

Thanks.

Maybe check with a local gold shop.

[phetphet]

5 minutes ago, dabhand said:

Maybe check with a local gold shop.

Or maybe even foreign owned bars. Someone might do you a favour, but I suppose it also depends on what currency you want to change.

 

Here in Samui, banks are no longer dealing with foreign exchange, and many exchange booths are closed. Those that  are open are taking liberties and offering really bad rates.