I post this once more for those who missed my first posting.

 

 

I went to an ATM today with the GF to withdraw 60K THB.       I gave a thought to the strength of the  Thai baht and wondered if I might have an issue with the 30K X 2  going over 2,000 USD which may exceed my self chosen daily limit.  I used the yellow bank ATM and did the first 30K withdrawal.  All went well.       I then looked at the amount they’d charge  for the “convenience” of making the THB/USD conversation for me.     That amount came to $1002 per 30K   so that’d be  $2004  for the 60K total      Upon getting home I checked and

 saw that my home country only charged me $1880 for the 60K withdrawal..      Again, the bank would have taken $2004.

 

The yellow bank as I suppose most banks do in Thailand would have been happy to charge me  a total of 124 USD to simply withdraw 60K from their ATM.      Keep in mind they already charge 250 THB as an access fee for each pull so that's a total of 500 baht.

 

 

In simple terms, my withdrawal  for the 60K would have  totaled 4000 + 500 THB   (4500).   That just doesn’t seem OK to me.       And I’ve never understood what convenience I get from the ATM doing the conversion.    Woe be  to the uninformed tourist using the ATM.

 

It’s all legal of course as the bank can charge whatever its wants for   using its facilities and services  but morally I have to question it.

 

 

 

3% currency conversion fee

1% network fee

500 baht fee

 

Seems normal

Were you given the choice of being charged in your home currency?

 

You should choose

Thai Baht (฿) when withdrawing money from an ATM in Thailand to get a much better exchange rate. If the ATM asks if you want to be charged in your home currency (USD), always select the option that says "Without Conversion" or "No Conversion". 

Dynamic Currency Conversion - look it up.

 

I thought in this day and age anyone who uses an ATM or makes a purchase using their home bank card in any country other than their home one knows about it and how to avoid it.

Was this an American bank card? sounds like they charge too much for using it abroad

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Was this an American bank card? sounds like they charge too much for using it abroad

  

 

These were all charges by the yellow ATM.        My bank charges me nothing.

 

 

6 hours ago, treetops said:

Dynamic Currency Conversion - look it up.

 

I thought in this day and age anyone who uses an ATM or makes a purchase using their home bank card in any country other than their home one knows about it and how to avoid it.

 

 

I don't know if your statement is accurate or not.      All I can say is an accountant acquaintance asked me a few years ago about the extra charge on the Thai ATM he used as he's make the mistake of giving the local conversion his OK.

 

 

8 hours ago, Celsius said:

3% currency conversion fee

1% network fee

500 baht fee

 

Seems normal

 

 

So you have no issue with being charged over 4,000 baht to withdraw 60,000 baht from an ATM?     Good for you.

 

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

So you have no issue with being charged over 4,000 baht to withdraw 60,000 baht from an ATM?     Good for you.

 

 

 

I do. That's why I use Wise.

 

Also, your bank charged you fees. 

 

Which again it's pretty normal.

18 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

So you have no issue with being charged over 4,000 baht to withdraw 60,000 baht from an ATM?     Good for you.

 

 

 

 

Its the cost of doing business. 

Next time plan a little better.

22 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

So you have no issue with being charged over 4,000 baht to withdraw 60,000 baht from an ATM?     Good for you.

 

 

 

 

The ATM gives you the choice of accepting or not the DCC rate.  Totally up to you if you accept it or not.

The pitfall of DCC has been warned of so often.

Withdraw THB and the fee will be 240 per withdrawal added to the 30k.

Your card will be charged with 30240 THB.

You are lucky if there is no fee from your home country bank for foreign currency use.

But even if it's mostly better than DCC.

4 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

  

 

These were all charges by the yellow ATM.        My bank charges me nothing.

 

 

Then you must have accepted the dynamic currency conversion aka rip off, newbie error

At least they let you choose. And of course, you should always say NO to a Thai bank's DCC offer. If you say YES, it could be argued that you are defrauding yourself. 

19 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

The yellow bank as I suppose most banks do in Thailand would have been happy to charge me  a total of 124 USD to simply withdraw 60K from their ATM.      Keep in mind they already charge 250 THB as an access fee for each pull so that's a total of 500 baht.

So you did good by not letting the Thai bank do the conversion. I always select NO, CONTINUE WITHOUT CONVERSION to get the best exchange rate. If one selects YES, the Thai bank will do the conversion, and they will charge a hefty fee usually around 5.5% plus the 250B fee. My US bank doesn't charge any fees, and they refund me the 250 baht ATM fee. My bank uses the Visa rate below which is usually very close to the spot rate. Have a good day!

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

On 11/28/2025 at 12:20 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Then you must have accepted the dynamic currency conversion aka rip off, newbie error

 

 

Please reread the OP again.     I did not accept the exchange offer from the ATM.      Kindly quote where you think it says I did.

 

 

 

On 11/28/2025 at 7:47 AM, Slowhand225 said:

Its the cost of doing business. 

Next time plan a little better.

 

 

I posted this information for the benefit of those who are unaware of the Thai banks  activity.    Fortunately I never ws a victim to this scheme by the banks.     I'm just warning other who are not aware of it.

 

Thee is no "next time plan a little better"     Perhaps you should plan some time trying to improve your reading comprehension.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

Please reread the OP again.     I did not accept the exchange offer from the ATM.      Kindly quote where you think it says I did.

 

 

 

I don't know why you are moaning you've used a foreign card that has charges added on and a poor exchange rate, most of us check these things prior to using, my card charges 0% commission 

6 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

I posted this information for the benefit of those who are unaware of the Thai banks  activity.    Fortunately I never ws a victim to this scheme by the banks.     I'm just warning other who are not aware of it.

 

Thee is no "next time plan a little better"     Perhaps you should plan some time trying to improve your reading comprehension.

 

 

 

Why are your panties in a bunch, is it because reading comprehension escapes you ? 
Clearly it does or you're lying, read what I quoted. You asked a question and I replied, so try again slick.

 

On 11/27/2025 at 10:19 AM, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

I post this once more for those who missed my first posting.

 

 

I went to an ATM today with the GF to withdraw 60K THB.       I gave a thought to the strength of the  Thai baht and wondered if I might have an issue with the 30K X 2  going over 2,000 USD which may exceed my self chosen daily limit.  I used the yellow bank ATM and did the first 30K withdrawal.  All went well.       I then looked at the amount they’d charge  for the “convenience” of making the THB/USD conversation for me.     That amount came to $1002 per 30K   so that’d be  $2004  for the 60K total      Upon getting home I checked and

 saw that my home country only charged me $1880 for the 60K withdrawal..      Again, the bank would have taken $2004.

 

The yellow bank as I suppose most banks do in Thailand would have been happy to charge me  a total of 124 USD to simply withdraw 60K from their ATM.      Keep in mind they already charge 250 THB as an access fee for each pull so that's a total of 500 baht.

 

 

In simple terms, my withdrawal  for the 60K would have  totaled 4000 + 500 THB   (4500).   That just doesn’t seem OK to me.       And I’ve never understood what convenience I get from the ATM doing the conversion.    Woe be  to the uninformed tourist using the ATM.

 

It’s all legal of course as the bank can charge whatever its wants for   using its facilities and services  but morally I have to question it.

 

 

 

Your being charged for the currency  conversion fee which is normal for all banks. They set the rate if conversion is done by them. 

 US currency conversion rate is always much higher rate than converting here in Thailand. 

On 11/27/2025 at 10:19 PM, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

I post this once more for those who missed my first posting.

 

 

I went to an ATM today with the GF to withdraw 60K THB.       I gave a thought to the strength of the  Thai baht and wondered if I might have an issue with the 30K X 2  going over 2,000 USD which may exceed my self chosen daily limit.  I used the yellow bank ATM and did the first 30K withdrawal.  All went well.       I then looked at the amount they’d charge  for the “convenience” of making the THB/USD conversation for me.     That amount came to $1002 per 30K   so that’d be  $2004  for the 60K total      Upon getting home I checked and

 saw that my home country only charged me $1880 for the 60K withdrawal..      Again, the bank would have taken $2004.

 

The yellow bank as I suppose most banks do in Thailand would have been happy to charge me  a total of 124 USD to simply withdraw 60K from their ATM.      Keep in mind they already charge 250 THB as an access fee for each pull so that's a total of 500 baht.

 

 

In simple terms, my withdrawal  for the 60K would have  totaled 4000 + 500 THB   (4500).   That just doesn’t seem OK to me.       And I’ve never understood what convenience I get from the ATM doing the conversion.    Woe be  to the uninformed tourist using the ATM.

 

It’s all legal of course as the bank can charge whatever its wants for   using its facilities and services  but morally I have to question it.

 

 

 

Always refuse dynamic conversion. You're right  it's tantamount to fraud and banks try hard to confuse you about it 

32 minutes ago, Dan O said:

 

 US currency conversion rate is always much higher rate than converting here in Thailand. 

 

 

Dan I clearly posted that my USA bank does not charge a conversion fee.

 

Maybe you should edit your post so as not to mislead others.

 

 

You could visit the bank and ask them...

If like me you had no idea what "dynamic currency conversion" was:

 

Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) is an upsell tactic used by foreign ATMs and card terminals. When you use a foreign card (e.g., a UK, EU, US card) in Thailand, the ATM often pops up a “helpful” screen offering to charge you in your home currency instead of Thai baht.

It sounds benign, but here’s what’s really happening:

1. The ATM chooses a terrible exchange rate.
They add a huge hidden markup—often 5–12% worse than what your bank would normally give you.

2. If you accept DCC, you get locked into that bad rate.
Your own bank can’t correct it, because the ATM has already converted it to your home currency.

3. If you refuse DCC, your bank does the currency conversion instead.
Your bank’s rate is almost always much better, even if your bank charges a small foreign transaction fee.

Because of this, DCC has a reputation for being a total rip-off.

---

Can you refuse the conversion?

Yes — you almost always can.
ATMs try to trick you with weird wording like:

“Guaranteed rate!”

“Are you sure? You may lose money!”

“Proceed WITHOUT conversion?”

“Continue with THB?”

Refuse anything that mentions:

“conversion”

“exchange rate offered”

“charged in [your home currency]”

You want the option that says something like:

“Proceed in Thai baht”

“Continue without conversion”

“Decline conversion”

If you pick the right one, the ATM charges you in THB, and your bank handles the rate.

---

Important note

Thailand also has fixed ATM withdrawal fees (≈220–250 THB per withdrawal). Those are separate from DCC and unavoidable with most foreign cards. Avoiding DCC just stops the extra hidden scam, not the official fee.

In the opposite way, if I'm in the UK and use my Thai card, should I therefore say to charge in pounds? 

On 11/27/2025 at 10:19 PM, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

I post this once more for those who missed my first posting.

 

 

I went to an ATM today with the GF to withdraw 60K THB.       I gave a thought to the strength of the  Thai baht and wondered if I might have an issue with the 30K X 2  going over 2,000 USD which may exceed my self chosen daily limit.  I used the yellow bank ATM and did the first 30K withdrawal.  All went well.       I then looked at the amount they’d charge  for the “convenience” of making the THB/USD conversation for me.     That amount came to $1002 per 30K   so that’d be  $2004  for the 60K total      Upon getting home I checked and

 saw that my home country only charged me $1880 for the 60K withdrawal..      Again, the bank would have taken $2004.

 

The yellow bank as I suppose most banks do in Thailand would have been happy to charge me  a total of 124 USD to simply withdraw 60K from their ATM.      Keep in mind they already charge 250 THB as an access fee for each pull so that's a total of 500 baht.

 

 

In simple terms, my withdrawal  for the 60K would have  totaled 4000 + 500 THB   (4500).   That just doesn’t seem OK to me.       And I’ve never understood what convenience I get from the ATM doing the conversion.    Woe be  to the uninformed tourist using the ATM.

 

It’s all legal of course as the bank can charge whatever its wants for   using its facilities and services  but morally I have to question it.

 

 

 

Banks don't have morals...

57 minutes ago, alien365 said:

In the opposite way, if I'm in the UK and use my Thai card, should I therefore say to charge in pounds? 

Yes.

On 11/27/2025 at 10:41 PM, Celsius said:

3% currency conversion fee

1% network fee

500 baht fee

 

Seems normal

 

The additional cost imposed by DCC in this case is actually about 6%, which is typical in Thailand. It's a scam in the sense that it's clearly bad for the customer, but they do tell you that you'll be charged 6% extra (in small print), and give you the chance to decline. 

 

On 11/28/2025 at 4:10 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Was this an American bank card? sounds like they charge too much for using it abroad

 

On 11/28/2025 at 7:40 AM, Celsius said:

Also, your bank charged you fees. 

 

Which again it's pretty normal.

 

On 11/30/2025 at 3:41 AM, scubascuba3 said:

I don't know why you are moaning you've used a foreign card that has charges added on and a poor exchange rate

 

On 11/30/2025 at 5:36 AM, Dan O said:

US currency conversion rate is always much higher rate than converting here in Thailand. 

 

These charges were all from the Thai bank - the OP's US bank has nothing whatsoever to do with this issue.

On 11/28/2025 at 8:25 AM, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

I don't know if your statement is accurate or not.      All I can say is an accountant acquaintance asked me a few years ago about the extra charge on the Thai ATM he used as he's make the mistake of giving the local conversion his OK.

 

 

Yes. It's accurate. Never allow them to do the conversion to your home currency. The credit card rates are always the best of the two by a long shot.

20 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

 

The additional cost imposed by DCC in this case is actually about 6%, which is typical in Thailand. It's a scam in the sense that it's clearly bad for the customer, but they do tell you that you'll be charged 6% extra (in small print), and give you the chance to decline. 

 

 

 

 

 

These charges were all from the Thai bank - the OP's US bank has nothing whatsoever to do with this issue.

He's convinced he didn't accept the dynamic currency conversion, if so at least some of the costs are from his own US bank, that's how it works