"ATM scam" - myth or reality ?

[Baron Samedi]

Hi there,

Is it true that withdrawing money in Thailand is charged 200THB on top of all the other typical fees ?

On some websites, they call it the "ATM scam".

Is there a way to avoid this?

I mean withdrawing abroad is already expensive enough as it is.

I'd like to keep some money for myself in the process you know... ????

[Baron Samedi]

12 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

yep.....trick is dress nice and go into the bank and ask nicely for them to use your debit card

Thailand can be such an annoying place sometimes...

Exchange rates already suck and now this BS ????

It's like they're trying to scuttle their own tourism industry with dumb moves like this one...

 

Ok. Thanks for your help Stick Rice Balls !

[FritsSikkink]

19 minutes ago, Baron Samedi said:

Thailand can be such an annoying place sometimes...

Exchange rates already suck and now this BS ????

It's like they're trying to scuttle their own tourism industry with dumb moves like this one...

 

Ok. Thanks for your help Stick Rice Balls !

The rate has been in place for a very long time and advertised, so how is it a scam? They want rich tourists who don't moan about a couple of hundred THB.

[Chris.B]

Sorry, it is 220 THB.  ☹️

 

[JeffersLos]

15 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

Ive done the bank trick they point me to the atm--I say i need more than atm will give aand that im buying a mbike for my thai gf(lie)

This time and effort to simply save 220thb or whatever?

 

My God ????

[OneMoreFarang]

Is it a scam if banks want a little money for the service they provide?

Imagine there would be no ATMs or similar services in Thailand, how much would you be willing to pay to get your money without flying back home?

 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

that 220 goes to a nice sangsom set......Im sure the bargirls LOVE u long time!

Sure they do that, for a fee, which is normally a lot more than 220 THB.

[JeffersLos]

4 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

And thailand offers what to lure these rich folks you speak of??

No place you've ever been to, the service staff cannot be non-Thai. ????

[cdemundo]

Is this a new fee?

Or is this one of the refundable fees that has been in place for years?

I haven't used an ATM in Thailand in a while but used to be my bank refunded all ATM fees when I used ATMs in Thailand.

 

[ChrisP24]

The real ATM scam is offering you the option of withdrawing baht but in your local currency, for a 5% fee.  You're almost always much better off withdrawing in baht at and having the withdrawal pst to you account at your bank's exchange rate and foregn transaction fee (if any). 

[Baron Samedi]

32 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

The rate has been in place for a very long time and advertised, so how is it a scam? They want rich tourists who don't moan about a couple of hundred THB.

Well in life there is what you want and what you can get ????

[The Hammer2021]

Its not a scam. Its a service charge  you don't like,  and possibly  can't afford.  There are alternatives such as cash, or travellers cheques or going into a bank to do an over the  counter transaction, opening a Thai bank account or always take  out the maximum amount to minimise ATM charges but please dont scream scam. Its the call cry of the cheapster. A REAL SCAM would be if you received no money or your card was cloned. But nothing like that happened- you were not scammed or cheated or robbed.

[it is what it is]

 

it's not a  scam, it's a bank charge. all banks have charges for some, or all, of their services. details of such fees are often freely available from the relevant bank. if you don't like the charge don;t use the service.

 

there are alternatives to ATMs, i haven't used my home country bank card in a thai ATM for years, in fact since such high charges were implemented.

 

i've kept my bank account in credit since i was 18 years old and so have never paid any bank charges. i always pay off my credit card fully every month, so never get hit with the extortionate, IMHO, interest charges.

 

moral of the story; understand the system and play it to your benefit.

[The Hammer2021]

35 minutes ago, Baron Samedi said:

Well in life there is what you want and what you can get ????

Just because you can't get what you want  doesn't mean  you are being cheated. You need to manage your  expectations, travel more and develop a more balanced view.

[Baron Samedi]

11 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Its not a scam. Its a service charge  you don't like,  and possibly  can't afford.  There are alternatives such as cash, or travellers cheques or going into a bank to do an over the  counter transaction, opening a Thai bank account or always take  out the maximum amount to minimise ATM charges but please dont scream scam. Its the call cry of the cheapster. A REAL SCAM would be if you received no money or your card was cloned. But nothing like that happened- you were not scammed or cheated or robbed.

Scam is how it's being called on many websites out there.

It is a dubious practice to say the least.

200 THB is like 5 euros/dollars for one single ATM withdrawal.

It has nothing to do with whether I can afford it or not.

I just don't see why I should pay them to have the privilege to access my money so I can spend it in their country.

[redsongthaew]

1 hour ago, Baron Samedi said:

I just don't see why I should pay them to have the privilege to access my money so I can spend it in their country.

 

Banks have to buy ATMs. Pay rent to locate the ATMs in non-bank venues.  Repair, replace and service their ATMs. Replenish them with cash.

 

While the cash sits in the ATMs the bank cannot earn any interest from the money. For most large banks they have to provide hundreds of millions of baht of cash on a continuous basis to cover their ATM cash requirements.

 

None of this is free. It all costs the bank money. But as a non-bank customer you expect to use this service fee free.

 

Pre-covid Thailand had one of the highest numbers of tourists in the world, a great number of whom would also be non-bank customers who would prefer to withdraw their cash fee free.

 

The banks are not stupid, and when they calculated how much this type of parasitic behaviour cost them they added a fee to cover their costs and to make a bit of profit.

 

After all,  nothing is really free in this world. 

[Baron Samedi]

38 minutes ago, redsongthaew said:

 

Banks have to buy ATMs. Pay rent to locate the ATMs in non-bank venues.  Repair, replace and service their ATMs. Replenish them with cash.

 

While the cash sits in the ATMs the bank cannot earn any interest from the money. For most large banks they have to provide hundreds of millions of baht of cash on a continuous basis to cover their ATM cash requirements.

 

None of this is free. It all costs the bank money. But as a non-bank customer you expect to use this service fee free.

 

Pre-covid Thailand had one of the highest numbers of tourists in the world, a great number of whom would also be non-bank customers who would prefer to withdraw their cash fee free.

 

The banks are not stupid, and when they calculated how much this type of parasitic behaviour cost them they added a fee to cover their costs and to make a bit of profit.

 

After all,  nothing is really free in this world. 

Yeah right, cry me a river ????

 

Card processing systems aren't cheap either you know. Yet nobody is charged 200THB to be able to use them in shops and restaurants.

 

That ATM fee is BS. Can't wait for day fintech is gonna disrupted all this. It's coming and those lazy idiots won't be prepared for it.

 

I'm wondering if the same amount would be charged if the card is chinese... ????

[scubascuba3]

Try and find a friendly Krungsri and withdraw inside, if you say have no pin cannot use ATM it helps, because you sign and show passport

[FritsSikkink]

6 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

And thailand offers what to lure these rich folks you speak of??

 

So ur just here to crash the party on those of us who dont throw our money on BS fees?

No, i am correcting people who think everything is a scam just because they don't like the excising rules.

[RandiRona]

To show some Thai apologists some perspective, Minimum wage of Thailand is 300Baht per day,  charging 220 baht is around 75% of daily minimum wage. So would that be justified to charge usd $105 for an ATM withdrawl in Los Angeles considering usd $15 per hour ($120 daily wage)? Would you call it scam them? 

Also others who were justifying cost of ATM locations cant understand simple economics as it saves banks from opening hundreds of branches and thousands of tellers.

To OP.... you got that right,  fleecing foreigners is institutionalized in Thailand, figure out a way to beat it. Couple folks provided some good options.

[flexomike]

7 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

my hand works just as well without the bar chatter and the money goes to the sangsom set

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[Ralf001]

8 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

 

Exchange rates already suck and now this BS ????

It's like they're trying to scuttle their own tourism industry with dumb moves like this one...

 

 

Withdraw a fat stack before you come and exchange at booth when needed.

[phetphet]

7 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Is it a scam if banks want a little money for the service they provide?

Imagine there would be no ATMs or similar services in Thailand, how much would you be willing to pay to get your money without flying back home?

 

It's not  a scam to charge an ATM fee, but THB220? That's taking the p***.

[gamb00ler]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Try and find a friendly Krungsri and withdraw inside, if you say have no pin cannot use ATM it helps, because you sign and show passport

Bangkok Bank also.  I regularly use Bangkok bank for counter withdrawals with no fee.  I only asked at one Kasikorn branch, and was told none of their branches offer such withdrawals.

 

4 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

Card processing systems aren't cheap either you know. Yet nobody is charged 200THB to be able to use them in shops and restaurants.

Somewhat inaccurate, because the merchant is charged a percentage of each transaction done using credit/debit cards.  On a largish transaction that fee could exceed 220฿.

 

I agree with those who feel that 220฿ is much too high for the "privilege" of accessing your funds.

[FritsSikkink]

7 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

I just don't see why I should pay them to have the privilege to access my money so I can spend it in their country.

Because they need to buy an ATM, arrange a network to let the ATM talk to your local bank, get money transferred and hand over that money. Why should they do that for free? If you are to stingy, take cash from your own bank account and go to a money changer. Stop the scam BS, it isn't true because some idiots on a website say so.

[dingdongrb]

2 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

I agree with those who feel that 220฿ is much too high for the "privilege" of accessing your funds.

...and yet my USA bank charges an additional $5 USD for each ATM transaction I do here in Thailand because the ATM machine is not one of theirs.

[dingdongrb]

The real scam is when your Thai bank (Bangkok Bank) charges you a fee when you deposit funds into your account outside the providence you opened your account in.

 

Yes, charges you money to deposit money!

 

10 THB for every 10k THB deposited but yet charged 60 THB when you deposit 50k THB.....Go figure that one out.

[JayClay]

52 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

The real scam is when your Thai bank (Bangkok Bank) charges you a fee when you deposit funds into your account outside the providence you opened your account in.

Nope, that is also not a scam.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, dingdongrb said:

The real scam is when your Thai bank (Bangkok Bank) charges you a fee when you deposit funds into your account outside the providence you opened your account in.

 

Yes, charges you money to deposit money!

 

10 THB for every 10k THB deposited but yet charged 60 THB when you deposit 50k THB.....Go figure that one out.

Thats all covered in the terms and conditions that you agreed to.

How is it a scam ?

[chuang]

Carry cash,,,no so-called scam