Best Exchange Rates?

[malamala]

We will have some US dollars which we will need to exchange to Bahts, Can you, please, point me to the place (Bank, Forex) with

best exchange rates in Chiang Mai?

thank you

[Soulwy]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

[RichT]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep - can't argue with that. Their contact details are:

Sakol Shop S.K. Limited Partnership

73/8 Charoen Prathet Road

Chiang Mai 50100

Tel: 053 818118

Of the banks, Bangkok Bank (the blue one) gives the best rate, and they're everywhere, but I always take the trouble to go to S.K. now when I have large amounts to change.

You can find S.K. not too far from the night bazaar. It's on Charoen Prathet Road a stones throw away from the Guitar Man pub, pretty much opposite the Rasta(?) Bar. Basically coming from the night bazaar along Loi Khro Road, past Guitar Man on the left, where Loi Khro crosses Charoen Prathet Road turn left onto Charoen Prathet Road and it's immediately on your right.

S.K. say you get a (slightly) better rate in the morning, so it's worth going then.

[DavidMavec]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep - can't argue with that. Their contact details are:

Sakol Shop S.K. Limited Partnership

73/8 Charoen Prathet Road

Chiang Mai 50100

Tel: 053 818118

Of the banks, Bangkok Bank (the blue one) gives the best rate, and they're everywhere, but I always take the trouble to go to S.K. now when I have large amounts to change.

You can find S.K. not too far from the night bazaar. It's on Charoen Prathet Road a stones throw away from the Guitar Man pub, pretty much opposite the Rasta(?) Bar. Basically coming from the night bazaar along Loi Khro Road, past Guitar Man on the left, where Loi Khro crosses Charoen Prathet Road turn left onto Charoen Prathet Road and it's immediately on your right.

S.K. say you get a (slightly) better rate in the morning, so it's worth going then.

Does Sakol Shop S.K. Limited Partnership also give the best rate for Euros?

Thanks...

[gotlost]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep - can't argue with that. Their contact details are:

Sakol Shop S.K. Limited Partnership

73/8 Charoen Prathet Road

Chiang Mai 50100

Tel: 053 818118

Of the banks, Bangkok Bank (the blue one) gives the best rate, and they're everywhere, but I always take the trouble to go to S.K. now when I have large amounts to change.

You can find S.K. not too far from the night bazaar. It's on Charoen Prathet Road a stones throw away from the Guitar Man pub, pretty much opposite the Rasta(?) Bar. Basically coming from the night bazaar along Loi Khro Road, past Guitar Man on the left, where Loi Khro crosses Charoen Prathet Road turn left onto Charoen Prathet Road and it's immediately on your right.

S.K. say you get a (slightly) better rate in the morning, so it's worth going then.

No not oppsite, next door to the Rasta.

[malamala]

Thank you so very much!

Do you know their business hours , we arrive on Saturday.

[RichT]

Thank you so very much!

Do you know their business hours , we arrive on Saturday.

I'm afraid I don't have that to hand but I'm reliably informed that they're open Saturdays but not Sundays.

If worse comes to worst Bangkok Bank are open 7 days a week so even if SK are closed you needn't be without baht.

[jayinoz]

Yes I was shocked by the SK money changer price difference compared to the Banks... wish I bothered many years ago. I have always been changing any reasonable sum in BKK at Super Rich... Now SK even JUST beat BKK Super Rich price. SO saves me the trip every few months.

SK Money Changer cannot beat it in CMAI. They seem to make only 1-2% between the buys and sells....banks in CMai make up to 5%. In your homeland it is a joke of probably 20% between buys and sells on many currencies. Independant money changers are the best....SK in CMai----Super Rich in BKK.

Cheers Jay :jap:

[lukeskywalker]

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

[Loaded]

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

certainly not in my wallet anyway

[Soulwy]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep - can't argue with that. Their contact details are:

Sakol Shop S.K. Limited Partnership

73/8 Charoen Prathet Road

Chiang Mai 50100

Tel: 053 818118

Of the banks, Bangkok Bank (the blue one) gives the best rate, and they're everywhere, but I always take the trouble to go to S.K. now when I have large amounts to change.

You can find S.K. not too far from the night bazaar. It's on Charoen Prathet Road a stones throw away from the Guitar Man pub, pretty much opposite the Rasta(?) Bar. Basically coming from the night bazaar along Loi Khro Road, past Guitar Man on the left, where Loi Khro crosses Charoen Prathet Road turn left onto Charoen Prathet Road and it's immediately on your right.

S.K. say you get a (slightly) better rate in the morning, so it's worth going then.

How come...? (I am not a morning person...)

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

certainly not in my wallet anyway

***

[AndersSN]

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

certainly not in my wallet anyway

What about baths, see many of them?

[moetownblues]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep definately they are the ones I use.

[KhunVee]

S.K. Moneychanger has the best rates in CM. I don't have the address right now, but it is googable.

Yep definately they are the ones I use.

Do they have best rates for EURO also?

Thank you.

[ThaiPauly]

Very informative thread, thanks to those that have participated, I had never heard of the company mentioned and I have been getting lousy rates from SCB down the years and so have all my visitors, thanks to the OP for starting it

[OldeBellPedr]

If you want to change a reasonable amount of money, usually over 1,000 USD or the equivalent in other currencies. Its always worth asking the girl at SK to ask the manager for a rate even better than the one advertised - they'll often give you 50 satangs extra - which is 500 baht on a 1,000 transaction.

[HansBlinkers]

How much does SK charge for traveler's cheque, do they have an ATM there?

[Genericnic]

Very helpful bit of information.

Thanks

David

[Beetlejuice]

Very interesting thread and appreciated.

Just a couple of questions, that is if anyone knows:

Is it possible to send money over directly from a bank account abroad by TT to SK, just like a regular bank or do they only exchange currancies already brought over to Thailand, travellers checks, cash and so on?

Edited November 23, 2010 by Beetlejuice

[thaimiller]

How much does SK charge for traveler's cheque, do they have an ATM there?

They don't exchange travelers cheques and I don't think they have an ATM. Its usually a cash for cash transaction.

[el jefe]

If you want to change a reasonable amount of money, usually over 1,000 USD or the equivalent in other currencies. Its always worth asking the girl at SK to ask the manager for a rate even better than the one advertised - they'll often give you 50 satangs extra - which is 500 baht on a 1,000 transaction.

That's just crazy talk, Pedr!!

If the "special" rate is 50 satang better than the "regular" rate, then the regular rate sucks.

This is the rate most people can get on an ATM withdrawal:

http://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/financialmarkets/exchangerate/_layouts/Application/ExchangeRate/ExchangeRate.aspx

And, as has been posted many times already, there's an easy way around the 150 baht fee for most Americans.

If you can find me someplace that will give me 15 satang above the rate quoted on the above link, I'll have more dollars with me than he can exchange.

[thaimiller]

If you want to change a reasonable amount of money, usually over 1,000 USD or the equivalent in other currencies. Its always worth asking the girl at SK to ask the manager for a rate even better than the one advertised - they'll often give you 50 satangs extra - which is 500 baht on a 1,000 transaction.

That's just crazy talk, Pedr!!

If the "special" rate is 50 satang better than the "regular" rate, then the regular rate sucks.

This is the rate most people can get on an ATM withdrawal:

http://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/financialmarkets/exchangerate/_layouts/Application/ExchangeRate/ExchangeRate.aspx

And, as has been posted many times already, there's an easy way around the 150 baht fee for most Americans.

If you can find me someplace that will give me 15 satang above the rate quoted on the above link, I'll have more dollars with me than he can exchange.

I asked if I could have a better rate than the one shown after Pedr's post last week, I was changing $2000 but I was told the rate is the rate, there is no better rates if you exchange more. It does state that the best rates each day are before 3pm though.

[Soulwy]

Do they have best rates for EURO also?

Thank you.

Yes.

If you want to change a reasonable amount of money, usually over 1,000 USD or the equivalent in other currencies. Its always worth asking the girl at SK to ask the manager for a rate even better than the one advertised - they'll often give you 50 satangs extra - which is 500 baht on a 1,000 transaction.

I don't understand why the rate would be 50 satang more when exchanging 1,000+ USD. But next time I'll ask for a special rate, see if I can get 500 baht more...

[iSabai]

Concerning bank exchange rates, I've always gotten better rates from TMB (Thai Military Bank?) than any of the others including Bkk Bank. SCB is always the worst by as much as 9 - 12 satang less. I'm located in Phuket, but I assume the banks' rates are the same all over the country.

[afarang]

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

Um, there ARE no Bahts. Sorry.But point taken .I get very distressed by people who cannot spell Baht, keep writing Bath. I wonder sometimes how you would get on , say, in India asking for Rupiah, or in Indonesia asking for Rupees.Surely, if you are a guest in a country, you should make the effort to learn how to spell the currency. Correctly.

[jsflynn603]

Just a bump and a thanks to Soulwy.

Indeed, today SK beat the nearby Kbank by quite a lot.

The range between buy and sell was a mere 0.4% meaning that trading in US$100's got me 99.8% of the interbank rate. It was well worth traveling the extra few kilometers to find them. I'm not sure what Kbank was charging but I believe that it was about 1.8% or almost one percent below (when selling US$100) and almost +1% when selling Baht.

Very useful post. Thanks

[THAIPHUKET]

Dont have cash , get everything by intern. money transfer to SCB. Advantage they often credit same day value as account abroad debited. What about value dating at BKK Bk?

Are their rates also more competitive on foreign transfers?

[jsflynn603]

Looking on my counter... one baht coin, another, and another...oh my, there are Bahts everywhere....

SK offers the best rates in the morning between 8:30 and 3:30, the rates drop a bit between 3:30 and 4:30 and then drop a bit more after that. Incremental drops might be 40-80 baht per US$1000 or 750 Euros. The rates that I have seen at the airport is such that it's worth going to SK if you have more than several hundred dollars or Euros.

To find SK (it can be difficult due to one-way streets) start at the SE corner of the Old City, you must be heading south, alongside the moat (with Thapae Gate a kilometer behind you). When you see the Corner of the moat (what I call the old corner type fortresses) you take a L onto Sridonchai Road. Proceed straight about 1 kilometer (there will be one "major intersection) just at the S end of the Night Market when you cross Chang Klan Road) and eventually you MUST turn left at the Chedi (it's the only way you can go). The Chedi is the big building that appears like a "wall." You are now proceeding N on Charoen Prathet Road, parallel to the Ping River. Proceed up the road about 2/10 of a kilometer. You are looking for the Loi Khor Road intersection, but it is hard to see. What is easier to see will (most likely) be many motorbikes and cars that will be turning R into what appears to be "nothing." The nothing is the Loi Khor bridge--a very narrow bridge (sort of one-lane) that crosses the Ping River. SK is immediately North of the turn-off to that small steel bridge, right on the corner (right hand side).

[true blue]

easier still turn left at mcdonalds,night bazar, past red lion past downtown inn, go to end of soi and shop across the road on your left.

[SwaziBird]

FYI: "baht" is both singular and plural. There is no "bahts".

Um, there ARE no Bahts. Sorry.But point taken .I get very distressed by people who cannot spell Baht, keep writing Bath. I wonder sometimes how you would get on , say, in India asking for Rupiah, or in Indonesia asking for Rupees.Surely, if you are a guest in a country, you should make the effort to learn how to spell the currency. Correctly.

Interesting point.

In my experience it is usually the Thai who is advertising something for farang consumption who uses the spelling "Bath". Very seldom do I see a farang use this.

I too, hate to see it being mis-used but I suppose there is some slack that might be granted in that , after all, Thailand is spelled and pronounced with a hard "T" sound although written as "Th".

Interesting - but then TIT. Only yesterday a Thai person wrote out the name and gave me directions to SAKON money-changers.

Cheers.