Best way to buy GBP cash?

[MRToMRT]

I ned to get some GBP as ready cash (i.e bank notes) next month for a trip to UK. Whats the best way to get cash? I don't have a GBP/UK bank account.

 

a) take baht baht cash and change at airport (UK aiprort)

b) get GBP cash here in Bangkok (how?)

c) any other recommendations.

 

Cheers

[scubascuba3]

Bangkok Airport, basement currency exchanges such as Super Rich

[marin]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Bangkok Airport, basement currency exchanges such as Super Rich

Google Super Rich and go exchange. One on Silom rd. The main branch is opposite the WTC at Rajprasong. You can use the one in the airport but the rates are not quite as good. 

[anchadian]

b) get GBP cash here in Bangkok (how?)

I'm surprised you didn't know that there are money exchanges in BKK.

As pointed out, Superrich is your answer.

[Regyai]

Judging by the amount of Rate Watching threads on all Thai forums and the numbers that closely follow them I would imagine if you offered a smidgen over the current rate and advertised the deal you'd end up fighting off slavering Brits with a stick

 

????

[OJAS]

Is there any specific reason why you need cash? Contactless is now the way to go in making even small payments in Blighty these days (which I can vouch for on the basis of very recent personal experience). So if you already have a card with the symbol illustrated below that should be sufficient, I would have thought.

 

However if you really do need cash then I have a £10 note which I'd be prepared to swap for a 1,000 THB one!????

 

[emeraldruby]

9 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Is there any specific reason why you need cash? Contactless is now the way to go in making even small payments in Blighty these days (which I can vouch for on the basis of very recent personal experience). So if you already have a card with the symbol illustrated below that should be sufficient, I would have thought.

 

However if you really do need cash then I have a £10 note which I'd be prepared to swap for a 1,000 THB one!????

 

ih doesn't have a bank account  how will he  have a card?

[emeraldruby]

The OP should go to Burea de Change before  he goes to the airport.  Superrich downtown  Bangkok in Siam Square or Sukhumvit 

[treetops]

7 minutes ago, emeraldruby said:

ih doesn't have a bank account  how will he  have a card?

I suspect he means to use a Thai bank account using contactless payments but the charges for this would far exceed any charges for changing money so probably not a good idea.

 

There are also still places insist on cash.

[Mac Mickmanus]

The rates for Thai Baht in UK are not too good .

Often about 5 Baht below the Thailand Pound/Baht exchange rate 

[emeraldruby]

12 minutes ago, treetops said:

I suspect he means to use a Thai bank account using contactless payments but the charges for this would far exceed any charges for changing money so probably not a good idea.

 

There are also still places insist on cash.

I see. Contact less?  I use my UK card in UK but not my Thai  card here. They've only just stopped asking for  signatures.  So if the OP has a bank card just use it buy currency  anywhere. Even from ATM machine at airport  or he could buy traveller's cheques

[treetops]

11 minutes ago, emeraldruby said:

I see. Contact less?  I use my UK card in UK but not my Thai  card here. They've only just stopped asking for  signatures.  So if the OP has a bank card just use it buy currency  anywhere. Even from ATM machine at airport  or he could buy traveller's cheques

Contact less = Tap and Go.  No PIN needed.  With his Thaai card, charges for buying currency or using it in an overseas ATM will likely be usurious.  He is better to buy cash as he suggested in "B" in the OP.

[blackcab]

Exchange Thai Baht for Pounds Sterling. The two commonly recommended branches are SuperRich (Orange) Head Office and Vasu.

 

If you do not need large quantities of currency then if the rates are close it might be more convenient to visit Vasu as it is at BTS Nana, SuperRich Orange Head Office is near Central World and not so easy to access.

 

Remember to take your passport. It is essential.

 

 

[emeraldruby]

30 minutes ago, treetops said:

Contact less = Tap and Go.  No PIN needed.  With his Thaai card, charges for buying currency or using it in an overseas ATM will likely be usurious.  He is better to buy cash as he suggested in "B" in the OP.

yeah I know tap and go but i never thought of it as contactless. I thought the card had to contact a device..

[JayClay]

1 hour ago, treetops said:

There are also still places insist on cash.

In the UK? Last time I was there I found I found places that accepted card or cash, I found places that only accepted card, but I never came across anywhere that only accepted cash

[treetops]

1 minute ago, emeraldruby said:

yeah I know tap and go but i never thought of it as contactless. I thought the card had to contact a device..

It is referred to (in the UK at least) as contactless and relies on near field or proximity, not actual contact between the card and the reader.  Hence the security aspect of cards being read by a scammer with a scanner while still in your pocket.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contactless_payment

 

[treetops]

2 minutes ago, JayClay said:

In the UK? Last time I was there I found I found places that accepted card or cash, I found places that only accepted card, but I never came across anywhere that only accepted cash

Yup, I was there last month and came across a few.

[MRToMRT]

11 hours ago, OJAS said:

Is there any specific reason why you need cash? 

 

 

It makes me feel snug and safe and I like the smell :+)

[MRToMRT]

Thanks everyone, I will go to the money changers reccommened

 

Not knowing anything about this (hence why I asked the question) I was surprised no one said use a Thai bank?

[Henryford]

12 hours ago, OJAS said:

Is there any specific reason why you need cash? Contactless is now the way to go in making even small payments in Blighty these days (which I can vouch for on the basis of very recent personal experience). So if you already have a card with the symbol illustrated below that should be sufficient, I would have thought.

 

However if you really do need cash then I have a £10 note which I'd be prepared to swap for a 1,000 THB one!????

 

So how do foreign tourists manage in the UK with no cards?

[MRToMRT]

Thanks all! Much appreciated.

 

For anyone like me who has never done this.

 

I phoned the SR phone number, told them what I needed. They then verbally confirmed in the note denominations I needed and arranged me a pickup and pay time at their nearest outlet to me. Then they sent me an TXT confirmation. 

[topt]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:12 AM, MRToMRT said:

Not knowing anything about this (hence why I asked the question) I was surprised no one said use a Thai bank?

Because the rates are usually never as good as the independent money changers mentioned.

[Skallywag]

On 6/29/2022 at 4:47 PM, MRToMRT said:

need to get some GBP as ready cash (i.e bank notes) next month for a trip to UK. Whats the best way to get cash? I don't have a GBP/UK bank account.

Really?  Believe cell phone apps and cards are all the Gen Z people need. 

21st century is virtually cashless. 555

Airport works for me every time BTW

[Upnotover]

On 6/29/2022 at 3:10 PM, JayClay said:

In the UK? Last time I was there I found I found places that accepted card or cash, I found places that only accepted card, but I never came across anywhere that only accepted cash

Try catching a bus in London.  I was there with my wife and we couldn't buy tickets with cash or even with a non-contactless card.  Not only that but needed one card each, not 2 tickets on 1 card.

[MRToMRT]

1 hour ago, Skallywag said:

Really?  Believe cell phone apps and cards are all the Gen Z people need. 

I am 76

[sometimewoodworker]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:07 PM, emeraldruby said:

yeah I know tap and go but i never thought of it as contactless. I thought the card had to contact a device..

No it doesn’t, near enough is good enough.

[Denim]

On 7/3/2022 at 1:38 PM, Upnotover said:

Try catching a bus in London.  I was there with my wife and we couldn't buy tickets with cash or even with a non-contactless card.  Not only that but needed one card each, not 2 tickets on 1 card.

Oh yes. What a brilliant rip off scam that is. Fell into that trap myself at Heathrow Airport. It was 9.00 pm but to get on a bus to our hotel we each had to buy an Oyster card for 7.50 pounds each to make a bus journey the fare of which was only 1.50 each.

 

 

 

 

[The Fat Controller]

As for the smell of cash, don't forget that the old paper 20's and 50's are being phased out and if you bring any back to Thailand after your trip you may not be able to change them.

 

TT Exchange in Pattaya stop taking both of them next week.

 

 

 

 

[Chelseafan]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:20 PM, emeraldruby said:

I see. Contact less?  I use my UK card in UK but not my Thai  card here. They've only just stopped asking for  signatures.  So if the OP has a bank card just use it buy currency  anywhere. Even from ATM machine at airport  or he could buy traveller's cheques

ATMs at the airport are the worst places to change money. 

[champers]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:12 AM, MRToMRT said:

Thanks everyone, I will go to the money changers reccommened

 

Not knowing anything about this (hence why I asked the question) I was surprised no one said use a Thai bank?

I bought pounds from Kasikorn bank currency exchange last time I went to the UK in 2019.

That was in Pattaya; exchange booths were telling me they did not have Sterling. Bangkok may be better served.