I Have One Question About Thailand....

[TAHISA]

My question is, what is the best way to carry currency in South East Asia. Should I just take a bunch of American travellers cheques with me when I leave or use a Visa to take out local currency during my travels, or is there any better way to carry currency in Thailand??

If I use a Visa is there anyway to tell what exchange rates I will get when I take out currency??

Any advice that would help me manage my money would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[Benayahu]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

[Spoonman]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

<deleted> kind of answer is that and where was a wife mentioned ?

Tahisa, TC's are fine to use as well as your plastic cards and if you want to avoid possible ATM scams just go into a bank with your passport and withdraw cash over the counter.

[longstebe]

In your other thread you mention the Pound, where are you coming from?

[beano2274]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

<deleted> kind of answer is that and where was a wife mentioned ?

Tahisa, TC's are fine to use as well as your plastic cards and if you want to avoid possible ATM scams just go into a bank with your passport and withdraw cash over the counter.

Read his other post he mentions talking with his wife, also he is on about pounds, now dollars, bit of a troll thing

[dick turpin]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

Just your two shekels worth - better maybe you stay in Israel.

Tahisa - Would go the traveller cheque route, you get a better rate of exchange, you avoid

those ATM charges by your bank, you avoid going near an ATM in Thailand notorious

for scams(not just by Thais, but also foreign gangs), a fact noted by you bank so you can

expect your card to be rejected or chewed-up at any time, ATMs are also thinner on the ground

outside Thailand. plus you gets your money back if your cheques are stolen. Make some of the

cheques small denomination so you are not left with a bunch of local currency just as

you are about to leave town. Have I missed anything guys?

[KhunBENQ]

VISA Plus (Debit) cards are perfect to use at ATM.

Exchange rate can be checked beforehand here:

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp

The "bank fee" is the uncertainty here (determined by the issuing bank).

Mine is 0%

Do not use remote ATMs but prefer the ones in the shopping mall bank branches e.g.

[Spoonman]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

<deleted> kind of answer is that and where was a wife mentioned ?

Tahisa, TC's are fine to use as well as your plastic cards and if you want to avoid possible ATM scams just go into a bank with your passport and withdraw cash over the counter.

Read his other post he mentions talking with his wife, also he is on about pounds, now dollars, bit of a troll thing

Ahhh ok gotcha, the wife reference threw me.

[Benayahu]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

<deleted> kind of answer is that and where was a wife mentioned ?

Tahisa, TC's are fine to use as well as your plastic cards and if you want to avoid possible ATM scams just go into a bank with your passport and withdraw cash over the counter.

Read his other post he mentions talking with his wife, also he is on about pounds, now dollars, bit of a troll thing

Ahhh ok gotcha, the wife reference threw me.

Its ok Spoonman ,no apologies needed. I just thought the original poster/question seem a bit odd. Surely he don't need to come onto an internet forum to ask about how to carry his money when traveling?! This is a grown man I am assuming. Not rocket science surely.

Maven (Ben)

[wamberal]

Take cash. I always do. I only use my credit card in reputable hotels and occasionally restaurants and department stores.

[Semper]

As it's only for 2 weeks. Why not try a charter with everything included, and change your spending money at home to local currency.

[nocturn]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

Perhaps the op would be better off had you heeded your own advice before heading overseas. Were that the case, it is highly unlikely you would have been reading this thread at all.

I would personalty use an ATM or a loaded debit card.

Edited September 16, 2011 by nocturn

[rayongtoffee]

I agree with nocturn,prepaid debit card,and not too large amount of wonga.

[kevkev1888]

Tahisa, have you even travel outside of your own nation before, cos it sound like you have not!

Are you sure you wana be doing this and have you put in enough thoughts about going overseas?? I think you should sit down with your wife and weigh up the options. May be you can go to a nice locations not so far from home.

The question you ask here seem kinda newbie and inexperience.

Just my 2 cent worth and good luck with it.

Maven (Ben)

<deleted> kind of answer is that and where was a wife mentioned ?

Tahisa, TC's are fine to use as well as your plastic cards and if you want to avoid possible ATM scams just go into a bank with your passport and withdraw cash over the counter.

Read his other post he mentions talking with his wife, also he is on about pounds, now dollars, bit of a troll thing

Troll thing?????

I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this but.

You are a :jerk:

[phuturatica]

It's a shame that when people ask for information and help that everyone must jump up and flame them just because they don't know something.

Carrying currency varies from each country and he might have never ventured to a place like South East Asia before. To be fair when I first went to Thailand, I wasn't too sure what the best option was until I asked someone who had been before.

In my opinion the best option is to use travellers cheques as they're safer. If you lose them or get them stolen you can get the money replaced no problem. You can use visa debit but you will get charged every time you want to withdraw money. I never had any problems using travellers cheques or my visa debit card but I only used ATM's that part of a bank rather than little machine on its own on the street.

[crazygreg44]

VISA Plus (Debit) cards are perfect to use at ATM.

Exchange rate can be checked beforehand here:

http://corporate.vis...er_ex_rates.jsp

The "bank fee" is the uncertainty here (determined by the issuing bank).

Mine is 0%

Do not use remote ATMs but prefer the ones in the shopping mall bank branches e.g.

That's what I got, a VISA CARD from my foreign ( german) bank. If I need cash, I use the nearest

ATM. I do not inform myself about the exchange rates before, because I know they are within the

normal range I would also be getting over a Thai banks counter, so I don t give it any thought, and I

am not pulling large amounts.

My german bank takes ZERO % interest for the ATM withdrawal, the

Thai ATM will keep 150 Baht transaction fee each time. I collect the receipts, and my german bank

will PAY BACK THE FEES to my account ! I did 28 ATM withdrawals during my recent holiday, thus

collecting 4200 BAHT in fees. My bank returned all of it - 104 Euros.

If I pay the hotel or a shop bill with the VISA CARD, it is 2.5% interest, so I always avoid this and pick

up the amount I need for the bills in cash from an ATM !

You just must take some care in some areas , check the ATM's if they have been pampered with

( normally not the case out of the tourist areas and in shopping mals ) , don t reveal your PIN's

to anyone watching, if somebody steps up to close, I suggest frowning at them and wave them away,

if this does not help, let them step ahead of you ( and open your middle finger wide inside your pocket)

I have not come onto a better method, yet ! Plus all this at a possible withdrawal of up to 60,000 BAHT

at any Thai ATM every 24 hours, if anyone here knows a better option, please let me know.

My issueing bank is the DKB Berlin. I bet there are similar offerings from other European banks, it is

worth checking the internet for this.

A VISA CARD is 100 Euros of yearly fee, it is worth all of it !

[edthesock]

S.E. Asia is easy peasy when it comes to travel. A mix of T.C.'s, plastic and dollars will do just fine.

[daveh]

S.E. Asia is easy peasy when it comes to travel. A mix of T.C.'s, plastic and dollars will do just fine.

Yes, this is my strategy as well. I usually have some baht from previous trips to get me from the airport to hotel. Then I use an ATM to get some more cash for walking around. If I have problems, I use TCs. Towards the end of the trip, in order to minimize baht I bring home, I exchange $50 or $20 USD notes. TC's usually get better rates, but many exchange places charge a transaction fee per TC.

Not sure how it is with other banks, but I've used a "Debit" card from my bank in Thailand before and have had fees associated with a cash advance charged (Visa takes something between 1-3% off the top). In the states, when I use this debit card at my bank, my bank's ATM recognizes it as also an ATM card and doesn't go through the Visa network. However, in Thailand at least at some ATMs, you don't have the option of telling it to NOT make the transaction a Visa cash advance, so get these hidden charges deducted from your account.

So now, I'm sure to bring a strictly ATM card (no Visa logo on it). One that works on the CIrrus or Plus networks is fine. As mentioned before, Thai banks charge 150 THB per transaction on top of whatever transaction fee your bank charges.

I would never consider using a credit card at anything other than a hotel and even then, I prefer not.

[migrant]

We use cash, $100 denominations. No fees and the best exchange rate. Just make sure the notes are clean and in good shape.