Using dollars in Cambodia is stupid

[bignok]

1 minute ago, JimTripper said:

 

it's worse in cambodia.

 

in thailand you drink your boredom away, in cambodia you drink your life away.

I find drinking boring these days.

[NextG]

38 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

 

I'm listening.

Maybe if you're an expat and you settle somewhere in Thailand let's say.

But when you're a long-term traveler like me, Wise is the best I could find.

As a traveller I have a range of fee free plastic. WISE, as you have stated, charge you for ATM withdrawals. 

[MrPancake]

1 minute ago, NextG said:

As a traveller I have a range of fee free plastic. WISE, as you have stated, charge you for ATM withdrawals. 

 

You might not pay a fee to your bank but you don't benefit from the interbank rate either.

So in the end you're losing compared to Wise.

The good thing with Wise is that it offers interbank rate.

Best play is to pay as much as possible with your card.

The combo Wise + Grab Unlimited or Wise + Lazada is great to optimize your spending on a lot of different products and services.

[NextG]

Just now, MrPancake said:

 

You might not pay a fee to your bank but you don't benefit from the interbank rate either.

So in the end you're losing compared to Wise.

The good thing with Wise is that it offers interbank rate.

Best play is to pay as much as possible with your card.

The combo Wise + Grab Unlimited or Wise + Lazada is great to optimize your spending on a lot of different products and services.

I don’t pay any fees and I get the MasterCard/VISA rate, which is ‘none too shabby’. 

[NextG]

9 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

 

You might not pay a fee to your bank but you don't benefit from the interbank rate either.

So in the end you're losing compared to Wise.

The good thing with Wise is that it offers interbank rate.

Best play is to pay as much as possible with your card.

The combo Wise + Grab Unlimited or Wise + Lazada is great to optimize your spending on a lot of different products and services.

For example; ‘Interbank rate’ on the 8th; 35.53

Mastercard rate on the 8th; 35.42

 

Obtaining cash the equivalent of US$100 in Thai will get you US$98.25 x 35.53 baht, equalling 3,491 baht. 
 

I would get 3542 baht. 
 

 

[Moneyhonour]

15 minutes ago, NextG said:

For example; ‘Interbank rate’ on the 8th; 35.53

Mastercard rate on the 8th; 35.42

 

Obtaining cash the equivalent of US$100 in Thai will get you US$98.25 x 35.53 baht, equalling 3,491 baht. 
 

I would get 3542 baht. 
 

 

If you don't pay the 220thb ATM fee this will be absolute the best deal. Are you using Thai cards? As I stated in an earlier post I use Wise to send money to my Thai bank account at lowest fee and the best possible rate. That also give me the opportunity avoiding the ATM fee. Another good alternative is Revolut.

[Homburg]

1 hour ago, bignok said:

Dont a lot in Pattaya do the same? I know a guy who lived in Thailand 12 years. He never visit Krabi, Koh Chang or Chiang Mai.

 

Maybe all the money goes on drinking and women.

Probably 99.99% on that, the rest is just wasted.😉

 

[MrPancake]

1 hour ago, NextG said:

I don’t pay any fees and I get the MasterCard/VISA rate, which is ‘none too shabby’. 

 

Yeah I know. My bank is offering me the same deal and I compared with Wise. Even with the Wise rate above 200€, Wise is more attractive. Can't remember how much difference there was but something like 10€.

 

1 hour ago, NextG said:

For example; ‘Interbank rate’ on the 8th; 35.53

Mastercard rate on the 8th; 35.42

 

Obtaining cash the equivalent of US$100 in Thai will get you US$98.25 x 35.53 baht, equalling 3,491 baht. 
 

I would get 3542 baht. 
 

 

 

The interbank rate can't be higher than the Mastercard rate. Mastercard is exchanging money on your behalf at the interbank rate + their fee.

[MrPancake]

1 hour ago, Moneyhonour said:

If you don't pay the 220thb ATM fee this will be absolute the best deal. Are you using Thai cards? As I stated in an earlier post I use Wise to send money to my Thai bank account at lowest fee and the best possible rate. That also give me the opportunity avoiding the ATM fee. Another good alternative is Revolut.

 

Yeah but we're talking Cambodia here. Would you get the same deal with your Thai card in Cambodia ?

[JimTripper]

another problem with cambodia is that i had to keep taking out $90 each time and paying the atm fee. any withdraw over $100 and you get a $100 bill which hardly anybody can break and your risking getting one with a tear or ink mark and nobody will accept it. if you break a $100 they dit there examining the bill for the slightest inperfection.

Edited November 11, 2023 by JimTripper

[Moneyhonour]

54 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

 

Yeah but we're talking Cambodia here. Would you get the same deal with your Thai card in Cambodia ?

 

You're right, I was only reacting on the post by @NextG who mentioned ATM fee less exchange of Thai Baht.

As stated earlier in Cambodia I only use Cash Dollars.

My Wise card and iPhone Wallet app I use in shops around SE Asia. It's not possible to add Cambodia Riel to your Wise account so you must use Dollars.

When obtaining cheap cash dollars at the lowest rate and without fee's This is still the best way.

Trick: try to find in your homecountry shops and exchange offices who accept cash dollars.

They accept them at the most horrible rate for tourists visiting your country.

Robbing/scamming Tourists is not only in SE Asia, for instance look at airport shops worldwide.

You can buy those dollars for less than the rate system banks states.

The shops will be happy because they don't have to pay transfer fee to their currency and still make some profit and you buy cheaper dollars than the interbank rate. I agree that Wise is in the rest of SE Asia a very good way to get not robbed by the system banks.

I have debit credit on my Wise card in various currency like Malayan Ringgit, Vietnamese Dong and Singapore Dollars and works like a charm, only the ATM fee is <deleted> but can accept that.

Paying cardless in shops around Asia works very good and without fee. The only fee you pay is the exchange fee Wise get when adding to your card which is very low.

[MrPancake]

13 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

another problem with cambodia is that i had to keep taking out $90 each time and paying the atm fee. any withdraw over $100 and you get a $100 bill which hardly anybody can break and your risking getting one with a tear or ink mark and nobody will accept it. if you break a $100 they dit there examining the bill for the slightest inperfection.

 

It's even worse now. My plan was to take out $380 in order to avoid the $100 note thing.

ATM rejected my request. Now you are forced to take the $100 notes.

Had to go to a 7/11 where they agreed to break it IF I bought at least for $5.

So to the $20 fee f%ckery you can add $20 of forced spending at 7/11.

From 400 dollars, we just went down to 360 dollars I'm still not spending on what I want.

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by MrPancake

[MrPancake]

9 minutes ago, Moneyhonour said:

I was only reacting on the post by @NextG

 

Sorry my bad.

[Doctor Tom]

On 11/10/2023 at 8:41 PM, Moneyhonour said:

Then I don't understand your joke. Cambodia is a beautiful country with lots to do.

Siem Reap nightlife, Ankor Wat and surroundings 

PP nightlife in street 51 with two famous nightclubs and the RLD in street 136 up, also very good restaurants trough out the city.

Kep/Kampot for deliciousness Black Pepper Crab and of course their famous pepper plantations. The former French/Indochina Riviera with very good resorts.

Sihanoukville and the Islands.

What's not to like? 

The country is going with the flow of quality tourists, Backpackers on a budget can better go to Laos.

 

Cambodia is a corrupt, Chinese inundated, sleazy, peado ridden,  sxxt hole,  that's my bit said. 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Doctor Tom

[JimTripper]

46 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

 

It's even worse now. My plan was to take out $380 in order to avoid the $100 note thing.

ATM rejected my request. Now you are forced to take the $100 notes.

Had to go to a 7/11 where they agreed to break it IF I bought at least for $5.

So to the $20 fee f%ckery you can add $20 of forced spending at 7/11.

From 400 dollars, we just went down to 360 dollars I'm still not spending on what I want.

 

 

 

i tried to take out rent all at once at a cambodian atm. the $100 bills were ok since it was for rent. the atm did not dispense the money, gave the card back and a message said 'out of order'. i checked and the money was deducted from my bank account. i talked to the bank manager, saying maybe the money was stuck in the atm slot 🤣. they did a bank to bank investigation with my bank in the usa, even called them on the phone, but my money was never refunded.

 

i think what happened is the atm ran out of money and shut down but had already sent the message that the bills were dispensed 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edited November 11, 2023 by JimTripper

[cardinalblue]

If one bitches so much about Cambodia, why is one even there?

 

someone sure has an active brownie yet seems to enjoy it….

 

move on…

[Chris Daley]

Not as bad as Laos.  Those guys are determined to dig deeper into a their sh*thole of a country.  They straight up refuse to take dollars and ask for baht instead.

[bignok]

12 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

Not as bad as Laos.  Those guys are determined to dig deeper into a their sh*thole of a country.  They straight up refuse to take dollars and ask for baht instead.

What? They love dollars. Get better rates.

[MrPancake]

39 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

i tried to take out rent all at once at a cambodian atm. the $100 bills were ok since it was for rent. the atm did not dispense the money, gave the card back and a message said 'out of order'. i checked and the money was deducted from my bank account. i talked to the bank manager, saying maybe the money was stuck in the atm slot 🤣. they did a bank to bank investigation with my bank in the usa, even called them on the phone, but my money was never refunded.

 

i think what happened is the atm ran out of money and shut down but had already sent the message that the bills were dispensed 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

I would flip if something like that ever happens to me... :))

[Yagoda]

I get beat up on dollar to dollar transfers via wise to cambodia. $1,000 cost me 20 bucks. But it goes right into my ABA account which automatically does real conversions and all I ever have to do is carry small bills in my pocket. I usually bring a few thousand dollars over. Because it's so cheap for me to live there, I don't usually have to bring more than six or $7,000 every couple of months. I bring a lot of dollar bills too.

 

I live in Siem reap, and it's easy to travel back to Bangkok for for some action

[JimTripper]

4 hours ago, Yagoda said:

I get beat up on dollar to dollar transfers via wise to cambodia. $1,000 cost me 20 bucks. But it goes right into my ABA account which automatically does real conversions and all I ever have to do is carry small bills in my pocket. I usually bring a few thousand dollars over. Because it's so cheap for me to live there, I don't usually have to bring more than six or $7,000 every couple of months. I bring a lot of dollar bills too.

 

I live in Siem reap, and it's easy to travel back to Bangkok for for some action

if you're spending 3k a month in cambodia you're doing something wrong

[chris carre]

If you can,t afford it don,t go🤣🤣🤣

[Sigmund]

The foolish will pay up and say all is fine. The smart will rant, and spend elsewhere. Same in Thailand.

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, JimTripper said:

if you're spending 3k a month in cambodia you're doing something wrong

Where does it say that? And what an I doing wrong?

[daveAustin]

All told, unless you’re just drinking Angkor dishwater all day, found Cam to be as or more expensive than Thailand. 

[Scouse123]

Dont sweat the small stuff.

 

Cambodia, cheap food, cheap beers, cheap spirits, cheap hotels.

 

What's the big deal?

[Scouse123]

10 hours ago, MrPancake said:

 

Sorry my bad.

 

I hate that expression.

 

"My bad", what the hell is that supposed to mean?

[MrPancake]

28 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

Dont sweat the small stuff.

 

Cambodia, cheap food, cheap beers, cheap spirits, cheap hotels.

 

What's the big deal?

 

PP is poor value for money.

That much I can tell you.

[JimTripper]

5 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Where does it say that? And what an I doing wrong?

" I don't usually have to bring more than six or $7,000 every couple of months."

 

what are you doing with the money?

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, MrPancake said:

 

PP is poor value for money.

That much I can tell you.

 

 

You  must be going to the wrong places.....I have never had an issue