What Kind Of Currency Should I Bring To Thailand?

[ahappycamper]

Hi everyone,

I've been doing some research on other topics related to this and found a lot of great information but I feel my case is a bit different and I would like some advice that is highly specific to my situation. Basically, I'm not going to Thailand to vacation, but rather, I am going for an operation that would require me to pay one large sum of money at once. Of course I will be paying some hotel, food, taxi and bus fees but outside of that, I am not going to spend money on anything except my operation. I am trying to make my trip as financially abstinent as possible and am a bit confused as to what type of currency I should bring with me to save money. I saw a lot of answers in other threads but it seemed those were general and tailored towards a tourist type of spending while in my case, it's basically cheap necessities and one large sum of money for an operation I'm getting.

If it helps at all I have about 1,800USD sitting in my checking account and my bank is San Diego County Credit Union and according to this

http://www.sdccu.com...saLoanRates.pdf

the international transaction rate is 2% if I'm not mistaken. I'm not quite sure if there are other strings attached.

Overall I will be spending about 1800 max. About 300USD will be used on necessities, and the other 1500USD will be used on my one big operation.

I am thinking about possibly even signing up for a Capitol One Check card, then transferring all my money over from the Credit Union checking account to the Capitol One checking account, then pulling it out when I am in Hatyai but the only issue is I am leaving very very soon, in about two weeks and I don't know if this would be sufficient time to get my card. Please advise, thank you so much for any responses.

Edited February 21, 2011 by ahappycamper

[gotlost]

Bring cash, what you fill comfortable with I would say one thousand. Bring your major funds in travelers checks as you will get the best exchange rates for them at any exchange or bank. Make sure that these checks are the largest denomination you can get as you will be charged per check not amount to cash.

Edited February 21, 2011 by gotlost

[Beechboy]

I take as much cash as I dare risk.

The card fees are now crippling, even a debit card. Add on the 150 baht surcharge and the lousy exchange rate and the high street exchange kiosk with your cash to hand over is massively advantageous in every way.

You need a safe in your room though. Otherwise don't risk it.

[ahappycamper]

Thank you for the responses.

gotlost you say that Traveler's checks get the best exchange rate. Given the inferior change rate, is there a reason that you would not suggest taking all of my money in 1800USD worth of travel checks in the highest increments possible?

Beechboy, what are your thoughts on travel checks? WHen you mention the high street exchange kiosk, does this only apply to cash, meaning that cash gets a better exchange rate than travel checks and is that why you suggest cash over travel check?

Thank you once again for your responses. I sincerely appreciate it.

[Beechboy]

I've never used traveller's cheques, but will look into them to top-up my cash.

I should imagine that exchange booths would not deal in TCs however, but it is no more trouble going into a bank.

[CharlieH]

We have no way of knowing what your operation entails, but assuming all goes well one would assume there is going to be some period of imobilisation or confinement. For this reason I would advise DO NOT carry or hold cash, secuirty under those circumstances could be difficult for you. Stay with travellers checks and minimal cash. This would be even more relevant if you are on your own.

Take care, hope all goes well for you.

[BarnicaleBob]

I would put $1,500.00 in travelers checks to pay to the hospital and bring $200.00 in cash to live on. This will leave you $100.00 in your account in case you need it later, in which case you can use your ATM card at any bank. The Bank will charge you 150 baht (about $5.00) per transaction plus whatever your credit union charges you for overseas transaction (2% most of the time). You can save the 150 baht charge if you find an Aoen Bank with a ATM for withdraws as they (they are the only ones) don't charge a fee.

The surgical work here is very good but as anywhere else in the World their is always a small chance for complications. Keep that in mind and budget a little extra money for it just in case.

Good luck on the surgery.

[thrilled]

when I visit Thailand I bring cash.I don't bring over 10,000.I also have an account with kasikorn bank.Once you open A bank account with thailand you can transfer money into it and use your atm card for the operation.But ya need to come to thailand to open A bank account.

[Beechboy]

Private hospitals in Thailand have a safe in the room.

[CharlieH]

Private hospitals in Thailand have a safe in the room.

in Thailand that dont me mean squat ! ...sadly.....the world and his wife that works in that building will know how to open them.

[4evermaat]

I've never used traveller's cheques, but will look into them to top-up my cash.

I should imagine that exchange booths would not deal in TCs however, but it is no more trouble going into a bank.

No problem at the local bank exchange booths. The non-bank exchange booths do not typically cash TCs.

Depending on how you aquire your traveler's checks, you will pay 1-2% transaction fee for the checks WHEN THEY ARE ISSUED. I paid 1.5% of the total amount from a hawaiian bank. Then you will also pay about 1% when you go to an exchange booth. So the "safety" of not walking around with all cash comes at a price. So make sure you use the highest denomination possible. Some banks will only issue bigger denominations in a book/set of traveler's checks. In other words, if a book of $100 checks come in $500 set, then you must buy in $500 incriments. Check the bank you will buy travelers cheques from what their policies are.

I would put $1,500.00 in travelers checks to pay to the hospital and bring $200.00 in cash to live on. This will leave you $100.00 in your account in case you need it later, in which case you can use your ATM card at any bank. The Bank will charge you 150 baht (about $5.00) per transaction plus whatever your credit union charges you for overseas transaction (2% most of the time). You can save the 150 baht charge if you find an Aoen Bank with a ATM for withdraws as they (they are the only ones) don't charge a fee.

The surgical work here is very good but as anywhere else in the World their is always a small chance for complications. Keep that in mind and budget a little extra money for it just in case.

Good luck on the surgery.

Look at what the cash advance fees are on your debit card. If they are zero, consider walking into a bangkok bank and doing a counter cash advance transaction.

Consider opening an account with USAA or other military-friendly bank/credit union. They usually very friendly towards overseas transactions (no atm fees, no or low foreign transaction fees, overseas branches)

Honestly though, as much as we can bi**h about the atm fees, it's the simplest, most straightforward way to get your hands on your money. Do your best to increase your limit at your home bank as high as you can (you can usually phone in a temporary limit increase or fax/hand to teller a request for permanent increase--verify BEFORE you leave these things are possible). The more times you have to re-insert your ATM card into the machine, the more fees. And the ATM exchange rate (TT rate) is usually the best rate anyway. Use this site to compare daily and intraday rates http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

when I visit Thailand I bring cash.I don't bring over 10,000.I also have an account with kasikorn bank.Once you open A bank account with thailand you can transfer money into it and use your atm card for the operation.But ya need to come to thailand to open A bank account.

+1. Same with bangkok bank. Then in the future, you could just wire your funds over. Or to save additional money, use ACH and just send your funds electronically to your thailand bank account. That is the cheapest, and most economical way. It would take about 2-5 business days.

Or you could just bring, say, $500 with you, and then wire over the other $1300. An international wire would cost you $40 usd? + thailand incoming bank fees? Might be worth it.

You could western union or moneygram the money to yourself. But I think their fees are like 5-10%; tiered to be cheaper the more you send.

Paypal is another option. Once you are here, open a paypal account and then pay yourself from your paypal account in the states or elsewhere. Then transfer to local (thailand) bank account.

But bringing cash, TCs, ATM, doing a counter cash advance at bangkok bank, or western unioning the money to yourself are going to be the most straightforward approaches without requiring any additional effort on your part when you get to thailand.

The cheapest? You'd have to do the math. Bringing all the cash with you would be cheapest (bring 100-50 bills only, NO COINS).

The atm charging 2% may not be that bad, if you can increase your ATM limit to 1000 a day or more. Then find an atm that allows 25000 baht or 30000 baht or even higher. Then do your best to pull out 2 x 25000 baht typical atm max limit + 2 x 150 baht per transactions would be appx $825 USD per transaction or $1649 for the two. 2% of that would be appx $33. 33 + 5 + 5 = $43 which is 2.6% of the total $1649 transaction. If you used a military/overseas friendly bank atm card, even cheaper.

TCs you will pay 1-3% for them to be issued from your home bank. Then once in thailand, 33 baht ($1.10) PER check. So using at least $100 denominations is a must for maximum savings. so 1% when you come. The "better" exchange rate is more than wiped out by these fees, but again, you must do the math for yourself. And balance perceived safety of funds vs cost of carry.

A psychological savings may come with using TCs is that by having to physically cash each check, it may prevent you from spending all your funds on the first girl you see or the first day you are here. A built-in money management type of thing.

I hope all this helps.

Edited February 22, 2011 by 4evermaat

[Daveroc]

Will the hospital not accept a credit card for payment? Reduces your risk.