Exchanging £50 Notes

[bubbles]

hi all

i will be in thailand again shortly, my girlfriend's brother in law has been working over here for the past 6 months and has asked me to take some money back to his wife, yes i tried every other method, he doesn't want to try them, he would rather his wife exchange it back in BKK, crazy? yep. anyway, i suspect he is going to give me £50 notes to give to his wife, i would rather him give me £20 notes but sods law says he won't.

so are £50 notes easily exchange-able in BKK? or should i just convert them into a party hat i know even in england they are difficult to shift

sorry if this is a daft question

jt

[endure]

Just tell him that unless he gives you £20 notes you won't take them.

[bubbles]

Yeh I've told him already, whether he understands it is a different matter...

[endure]

What's not to understand? If he gives you £50 notes just give them back to him. Say no. Mai chai. Mai dee. How difficult is it?

[mogoso]

Change them into 20's before you go if you think it'd be a problem exchanging them.

[beano2274]

At Superrich you get a better exchange rate on 50GBP notes.

[theoldgit]

Super Rich in Ratchadamri actually give a marginally better rate for £50 notes over £20 notes, very small difference 49.50 against 49.40 at the time of posting, but at least they are well used to changing the bigger notes.

Any time I have changed Baht back to Stirling they always give me £50's. They work in high volumes and small margins so don't £50's.

Edit - must learn to type faster than Beano

Edited June 15, 2011 by theoldgit

[beano2274]

Tks OG.

better to get Scottish Pounds you get a better deal with them.

[Richb2004v2]

I've been changing quite a lot of 50 pound notes over the last month and had no problem other than with notes with slight rips. I never changed any of them in Bangkok, but I would have thought there would be even less of a chance of rejection there.

[bubbles]

Really? I would of thought £50's were no go's like some $100 bills with certain production dates. Fair enough, I guess i'll take the £50's then, thanks for the advice!

[theoldgit]

Really? I would of thought £50's were no go's like some $100 bills with certain production dates. Fair enough, I guess i'll take the £50's then, thanks for the advice!

Don't know how much cash you will be carrying, but just a gentle reminder that anything in excess of 10,000 Euros, about £9,000, needs to be declared to HMRC, or you risk having it seized.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Foreigntravel/BringinggoodsorcashintotheUK/DG_173289

[Penkoprod]

Really? I would of thought £50's were no go's like some $100 bills with certain production dates. Fair enough, I guess i'll take the £50's then, thanks for the advice!

I dont know why you are worried, as all you are doing is being the courier of the cash, NOT the exchanger or anything.

Just take over whatever your girlfriend's brother in law gives you, hand it to the wife and let THEM sort it out should there be any problems.

As a failsafe, remember the 3 words "Super Rich Ratchadamri" and be prepared to use them should there be any problems relayed to you if the wife is having problems changing the £50 notes. Another good trio of words to use is are "som nam nah"

Penkoprod

[Thongkorn]

I always take them , get them checked first before you go , there are many fakes among them , I take them to money changers in Bangkok , I always get a bigger rate of exchange because they are £50 pound notes , they want bigger denominations , usually Chinese money changers are best,

[Cobalt60]

I have had problems if they are in poor condition or torn.

[rak sa_ngop]

Really? I would of thought £50's were no go's like some $100 bills with certain production dates. Fair enough, I guess i'll take the £50's then, thanks for the advice!

Don't know how much cash you will be carrying, but just a gentle reminder that anything in excess of 10,000 Euros, about £9,000, needs to be declared to HMRC, or you risk having it seized.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Foreigntravel/BringinggoodsorcashintotheUK/DG_173289

Just flew back from London Heathrow this afternoon and witnessed for the first time sniffer dogs at the entrance to the flight departure lounge at LHR. The woman behind me got 'sniffed out' and admitted to carrying 6,000 pounds worth of I think foreign curency. She was allowed to proceed through into the lounge but then stopped and 'talked' to.

I wonder if the dogs are trained to sniff out banknotes themselves, or is it the fact that most banknotes these days carry traces of narcotics?

[theoldgit]

I wonder if the dogs are trained to sniff out banknotes themselves, or is it the fact that most banknotes these days carry traces of narcotics?

They are trained to sniff the ink used in the printing of the banknotes.

[sotsira]

Not much difference in exchange in Thailand but much easier to carry a load of 50's than 20's.

I always bring over 50's or £100 Travellers Cheques for the best ex rates.

[coolhandjoe]

I've knew a person to have problems exchanging £50's and resorted to selling them to english bar owners for £40.

[faggyjing]

yes dont bring any money to change as most thais will think its fake as falangs are all very very very bad people

[citizen33]

The short answer is that 50s are better for exchanging in Thailand. I always change any UK currency I bring into the larger notes for that reason. As stated you will get a better rate at SuperRich and some other specialist money changers. Banks will take 50s with no problem but generally at the normal rate. The only difficulty is that a ripped note is likely to be rejected, so make sure they are all in good condition. Some of the comments on this thread suggest to me that the posters have very little experience.

[SantiSuk]

The short answer is that 50s are better for exchanging in Thailand. I always change any UK currency I bring into the larger notes for that reason. As stated you will get a better rate at SuperRich and some other specialist money changers. Banks will take 50s with no problem but generally at the normal rate. The only difficulty is that a ripped note is likely to be rejected, so make sure they are all in good condition. Some of the comments on this thread suggest to me that the posters have very little experience.

+1. £50 notes, never a problem at banks (so long as the bank does foreign exchange in the first place - many banks in the sticks do not) or tourist town exchange booths. Much more difficult to get £50 notes in any reasonable quantity out of a UK bank branch than it is to exchange them in Thailand!!

[Thongkorn]

Thats me finished Then, if they have sniffer dogs at all the airports , My wife thinks I am made of money, So if i go and they do not sniff me then it will shatter her beliefs ,

[jobsworth]

Just flew back from London Heathrow this afternoon and witnessed for the first time sniffer dogs at the entrance to the flight departure lounge at LHR. The woman behind me got 'sniffed out' and admitted to carrying 6,000 pounds worth of I think foreign curency. She was allowed to proceed through into the lounge but then stopped and 'talked' to.

I wonder if the dogs are trained to sniff out banknotes themselves, or is it the fact that most banknotes these days carry traces of narcotics?

I thought they were sniffing for drugs.

"Put your bag on the floor."

Sweet little spaniel goes sniff sniff sniff and then looks up at master.

Fortunately the dog did not sit down.

"Pick up your bag."

Before that "UK BORDER AGENCY" interrogated a Japanese student.

"How much money do you have?"

"4,000 pounds."

"Please walk on", she said to the queue that formed behind the student.

Just another layer of misery to add to the already overcrowded overpriced constricted departure area.

Heathrow Airport is arguably the worst airport on the planet.

Edited June 17, 2011 by jobsworth

[Thongkorn]

Better Ques than bombs or drug importers.

[kjhbigv]

I agree with others, I would definitely bring over 20's, I few years ago (when I had a bit of cash ) I bought over abourt GBP8K or so in 20's...must have taken Bangkok bank about 35-40 mins for the girl to check them, then check them again, then get someone else to check them, then get them checked under the light thing and then get another person to feel and check them again......if it was 50's!?

[kjhbigv]

I agree with others, I would definitely bring over 20's, I few years ago (when I had a bit of cash ) I bought over about GBP10K or so in 20's...must have taken Bangkok Bank about 35-40 mins for a girl to check them, then check and count again, then get someone else to check them, then get them checked under the light thing and then get another person to feel and check them again......if it was 50's!? Maybe I just look dodgy!

[operator]

The one problem i had was that the street money changers wouldn't touch any note that had writing on the queens head.

[Thongkorn]

The one problem i had was that the street money changers wouldn't touch any note that had writing on the queens head.

Yes ,I have had this problem before , but i learned to cheak my money before i go to Thailand.What i do is go through the money they give me, baht notes , and i give back all the ones with writing on , and say ,cannot except them and show them the picture of the King. it works.

[sotsira]

I agree with others, I would definitely bring over 20's, I few years ago (when I had a bit of cash ) I bought over about GBP10K or so in 20's...must have taken Bangkok Bank about 35-40 mins for a girl to check them, then check and count again, then get someone else to check them, then get them checked under the light thing and then get another person to feel and check them again......if it was 50's!? Maybe I just look dodgy!

If they were 50's it would have taken a lot less time to check them

and a lot easier to carry too.

[crazygreg44]

I don't know what kind of problems you guys have ! I always take 500 Euro (!) banknotes to Thailand, and every exchange booth, bank or chinese money exchange take it. Sometimes they ask for the passport, sometimes they don't ! Al i make sure is that I do not take more than the allowed 10,000 Euros out of my port of origin in Europe.

As to the posters who are afraid of sniffer dogs : In the US, they already got scanners that can scan the little metal stripes inside each banknote. when you pass through the scanner, the machine knows exactly how much you are carrying on you. So beginners, beware ! These machines are on the wish-list of airport duty officers !