Where To Put Passport, Trav. Cheques During Visit

[badger2006]

Hi,

I'm heading to Thailand soon and was wondering what you do with your passport, trav. cheques, plane tickets while there. I've heard all kinds of bad things about hotel safes...not trustworthy. If I'm going to be out and about(doing things like snorkelling, boat trips,etc), I want to obviously leave my valuables in a safe place. Is it safe to leave in your room? Any tips??? Thanks.

[chippie]

Sign all your travelers checks at the same time and leave in your bedside draw with your pasport, change a huge sum of money and when you go out you can safely leave your wallet with one of the experienced female tour guides in soi 8, keep your watch by the bed if you decide to let said tour guide spend the night.

Or prehaps best to bring your mum.

[lovethailandlongtime]

Sign all your travelers checks at the same time and leave in your bedside draw with your pasport, change a huge sum of money and when you go out you can safely leave your wallet with one of the experienced female tour guides in soi 8, keep your watch by the bed if you decide to let said tour guide spend the night.

Or prehaps best to bring your mum.

LMAO

[Jai Dee]

C'mon folks... give the guy a break... can we please have some genuine suggestions?

[lovethailandlongtime]

the first thing i usually do is look for a hiding place in the hotel room BEFORE i go trawling the bars The ceilings in most thai buildings are a good place to start.ie. the sort covered over by polystyrene/insulated panels...If you can reach up to one of these panels,try pushing up and turning, so as to expose the gap between ceiling and panel..Hey presto a hiding place..

Am i paranoid about being robbed by s/t b/gs??? YES

Heres one i tried at home-

I used hide a couple of thousand quid (purely for soi 6 visits)behind the toilet at home...This was all well and good until the mrs decided she'd clean the thing with an unusually high powered hose (the sort that hang next to the bowl)..She thought all her birthdays had come at once when it started raining fifties ...That took some explainin,i can tell you..

Edited March 3, 2006 by lovethailandlongtime

[Thaising]

Rent a safe deposit box from a bank, if you trust them.

[gburns57au]

Safety deposit boxes in the hotels are usually fine....and normally free....

take only enough money in your pockets for what you think you will need for that day...you can always top up later....

if you are worried about a BG ripping you off a few thousand baht....send her for a shower first....put your wallet in a spot that is not easily detectable....under the mattress is out.

use your imagination.....

But you will find in most cases you dont need to worry that much....

Avoid street girls and the beach girls....stick to girls from bars as you have some comeback.

just use common sense and you will be fine....

[bino]

I've got a fairly durable and big Samsonite suitcase - always locked my passport and valuables in it when staying in a hotel and having questionable guests, thinking that a BG or housekeeper dragging out a suitcase would get the attention of the front desk / hotel staff.

Another trick I learned from a friend is to leave the TV and lights on when you go out. That way a thief will think the room is occupied, and move on to a dark / quiet room. If the room has an electric cutoff system such as a special key fob, take the key off the fob, and leave the fob in the slot. If it is a slot that holds your key card, any card like a video shop member card will work.

I've never carried traveller's checks in large amounts, use a credit card or ATM card for money, which stays with me in my wallet. If you're the type who prefers large amounts of travellers checks- it might be worthwhile to seek out a place that has safes in the room.

Edited March 3, 2006 by bino

[bkkmadness]

I've never carried traveller's checks in large amounts, use a credit card or ATM card for money, which stays with me in my wallet. If you're the type who prefers large amounts of travellers checks- it might be worthwhile to seek out a place that has safes in the room.

That's an interesting point. Why bring travellers cheques? Depending on where you're going there are ATM machines all over Thailand and on the main islands too, certainly a safer option.

Unless your bringing 'guests' home that's gonna heighten the risk of theft I don't think you have a great deal of worries just leaving your passport in the room, I've never had one stolen before.

[britmaveric]

Safe deposit box at the hotel for passport/tickets/travelers cheques and anything you deem valuable. You need two keys to open if you lose your key they will have to drill out the box.

Reasons for traveler cheques, quite obvious what if atm card is eaten then what? (least if stolen or lost you can easily run to BKK Amex office for replacement, granted need a copy of serial numbers so make sure you keep those separate to the travelers cheques)

Edited March 3, 2006 by britmaveric

[kayo]

Hi,

I'm heading to Thailand soon and was wondering what you do with your passport, trav. cheques, plane tickets while there. I've heard all kinds of bad things about hotel safes...not trustworthy. If I'm going to be out and about(doing things like snorkelling, boat trips,etc), I want to obviously leave my valuables in a safe place. Is it safe to leave in your room? Any tips??? Thanks.

One place I often consider, and have often used, is to hide flat docs (like your trav cheque envelope, passport, etc...) behind a picture hanging on the wall of your hotel room. Pictures are almost never touched by anyone. Just make sure it's well tucked in behind, balanced...and that it is not likely to fall out, if your banging away in bed and the headboard is making the wall vibrate.

Alternatively... Give it all to me..

[bino]

Safe deposit box at the hotel for passport/tickets/travelers cheques and anything you deem valuable. You need two keys to open if you lose your key they will have to drill out the box.

Reasons for traveler cheques, quite obvious what if atm card is eaten then what? (least if stolen or lost you can easily run to BKK Amex office for replacement, granted need a copy of serial numbers so make sure you keep those separate to the travelers cheques)

I agree- I've always been confident enough to use the safe deposit box at the front desk of every hotel I've stayed in. Usually only my passport and plane tickets.

What if the ATM eats my card? (This has happened to me once- I was pissed and failed to correctly enter my pin 3 times. Fortunately it was a Bangkok Bank ATM card, and got a new card a couple of days later when the hangover subsided with a visit to my branch.)

If I was somewhere foreign, I would simply fall back on my credit cards and pay the bills from my account when I got home. If I lost the lot- ATM and credit cards, a trip to the local AMEX office would get me a new AMEX card.

Naturally, many people do use travellers cheques. Not everyone has AMEX card, or any credit card for that matter. Lots of people don't trust credit cards. I used to see it all the time when I worked in the hotel business. Mostly europeans- the Swiss stand out in my mind- would check in and drop a couple of inches of travellers checks in their safety deposit box.

[h90]

kayo for people like me this idea is very bad, there is a 90 % chance I leave and let everything behind the picture and when I enter the airplaine I remember...

Hi,

I'm heading to Thailand soon and was wondering what you do with your passport, trav. cheques, plane tickets while there. I've heard all kinds of bad things about hotel safes...not trustworthy. If I'm going to be out and about(doing things like snorkelling, boat trips,etc), I want to obviously leave my valuables in a safe place. Is it safe to leave in your room? Any tips??? Thanks.

One place I often consider, and have often used, is to hide flat docs (like your trav cheque envelope, passport, etc...) behind a picture hanging on the wall of your hotel room. Pictures are almost never touched by anyone. Just make sure it's well tucked in behind, balanced...and that it is not likely to fall out, if your banging away in bed and the headboard is making the wall vibrate.

Alternatively... Give it all to me..

[bkkmadness]

Reasons for traveler cheques, quite obvious what if atm card is eaten then what? (least if stolen or lost you can easily run to BKK Amex office for replacement, granted need a copy of serial numbers so make sure you keep those separate to the travelers cheques)

Ah, fair point, good idea Brit. Maybe just a small amount to back you up in case of a loss ATM card would do it, few hundred quids worth or something?

I was offering that advice since it looks like the first guys time out here and maybe he thinks the islands are a bit more backward than he thinks and don't have ATMs.

It can be all a bit much for some people if its the first time they have travelled and easy to get misinformed, I know it was for me when I first come to S.E.Asia.

Lucky he found TV really!

[britmaveric]

BKK - understood I'm just a bit paranoid since lost my gear in the hotel first trip over many years ago. Anything I deem valuable goes into the safe deposit box - haven't had anything nicked since.

[bkkmadness]

Yep, seem to have been really lucky so far, never had a thing pinched out here. Touch wood!

[daveh]

Reasons for traveler cheques, quite obvious what if atm card is eaten then what? (least if stolen or lost you can easily run to BKK Amex office for replacement, granted need a copy of serial numbers so make sure you keep those separate to the travelers cheques)

Not just eaten, but simply not work. Wells Fargo, a popular bank in the States, simply disabled the use of ATMs in Thailand with their cards. This just happened very recently and without notice. I know people that were in Thailand on vacation when this happened. Unless you have a backup plan, you could very well be screwed.

By the way, they claim that fraud is on the rise in Thailand and that is the reason for the action. I've since heard some other banks did the same thing. So you should always check with your bank before heading overseas.

[skylar]

I'm going to be out and about(doing things like snorkelling, boat trips,etc), I want to obviously leave my valuables in a safe place. Is it safe to leave in your room?

How did a 'hide my funds while I am out of my room' turn into 'hide my funds while I am having a bonk with randoms'? Or is snorkelling an euphemism for this?

[Carmine6]

kayo for people like me this idea is very bad, there is a 90 % chance I leave and let everything behind the picture and when I enter the airplaine I remember...

Hi,

I'm heading to Thailand soon and was wondering what you do with your passport, trav. cheques, plane tickets while there. I've heard all kinds of bad things about hotel safes...not trustworthy. If I'm going to be out and about(doing things like snorkelling, boat trips,etc), I want to obviously leave my valuables in a safe place. Is it safe to leave in your room? Any tips??? Thanks.

One place I often consider, and have often used, is to hide flat docs (like your trav cheque envelope, passport, etc...) behind a picture hanging on the wall of your hotel room. Pictures are almost never touched by anyone. Just make sure it's well tucked in behind, balanced...and that it is not likely to fall out, if your banging away in bed and the headboard is making the wall vibrate.

Alternatively... Give it all to me..

I'm with you on this. Unless it's something you routinely do, chances are you're going to forget to check it at some point. A friend once found a stash of cash and traveler's checks behind something in Las Vegas.

I put things into hotel safes all the time, but I travel with a cable bike lock. If needed, things go in the suitcase and that gets locked to something in the closet. I've also put the case on top of the closet sometimes, since it limits the people who can actuallly get it down, especially if it's heavy.

With a suitcase, it's also unclear what is in there. A safe is clearly something small and probably valueable, but a locked up suitcase can just have a bunch of souvenirs and used clothes. So its not only risky for someone to try to get it free, but they might just end up with worthless crap if they do.

[kayo]

It´s just that I was to poor at the time to affor dthe nice hotels with safes....

[Kerryd]

Some hotels have those little electronic safes in the rooms. You set the code yourself, making it very difficult for anyone else to do anything other than try and rip the the whole thing out.

Some hotels have lock boxes in the lobby, but I would avoid any that use the double key system. Who knows how many duplicate keys are already out there ?

The DayNight 2 hotel has lock boxes, but you have to provide your own padlock. The only way anyone is getting into your box then is by bypassing the "security" guy in the lobby, the desk clerk, the staff at the cafe and then taking bolt cutters to your lock.

If all else fails, as another poster suggested, wrap your valuables in a pair of (clean) underwear and leave them in your suitcase. If you are here for more than a day or two, you will probably have unpacked most of your clothes. Stick the (almost) empty suitcase at the bottom of the closet, leave your dirty laundry on top. Almost as good as a safe !

And if you decide to rummage through your suitcase to grab an extra travellers cheque or two, make sure you do it when you are alone ! Don't even do it if you have a guest in the bathroom ! If you find yourself a little short of cash the morning after, leave the room (with your "guest"), when you get to the lobby, tell her/him that you forgot something in the room. Go back alone and get your money.

I've never been ripped off (fingers crossed), but a friend of mine was staying in a "serviced" apartment and lost his digital camera last month. Not sure if it was the cleaning staff of the people that came in to fix the air-conditioner.

Always keep your valuables out of sight. 1,000 baht may only be a couple of quid (or dollars) to you, but to a lot of Thais, that is a small fortune !

(look at the way the girls at some go-go bars go nuts when they throw the ping-pong balls on the stage, each one the girl gets is worth (20 or 50 ?) baht.)

[The Coder]

People still consider using those antiquated stacks of paper? Welcome to the 21st century. Reasons why I only use ATM and will never use travelers cheques (tc's) again:

1. don't have to manage stashing a stack of tc's (this thread topic)

2. My bank charges 2.5% to issue tc's. i am charged nothing extra to use an ATM in thailand.

3. atm gets a better exchange rate than tc's

4. atm are on every street corner, train station, everywhere. tc's only at select exchange booths and take longer to do.

5. atm's operate 24/7, tc's booths only certain hours. You can't underestimate the importance of this one. If you ever run out of baht at night and all you have is a mountain of tc's, that's when you will understand how worthless they are and you have to cut your night of fun short and wait till the next day when exchange booths open to get money.

6. with atm's there's no over/under game. tc's you need to calculate how many you need. If you didn't calculate right or want to stay longer you have problems to work out. If you bought too many, you need to change them back and paid the 2.5% for nothing. atm's have access to your entire bank account; as much or as little as you need.

Losing your ATM card? Never happened. Should it happen, I can get a cash advance at any bank. No big deal there. ATM's hold EVERY single advantage by my reckoning. I have lived in Thailand for years. I do not have a Thai bank account. I live off my ATM card from a US bank and it is absolutely perfect. If I need over $500 at once I can just pull out the card at the shop for the purchase (debit card).

[papaya9]

You guys should be careful giving a 2-post newbie privy information on where you hide your valuables.

[toptuan]

3. atm gets a better exchange rate than tc's

...and almost ALWAYS a better rate than bank tellers or official exchange counters (such as at the airport).

Another problem with Traveler's Checks, is that if you decide to do any travel in nearby countries (Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar) they're nearly useless. Only SOME banks will exchange them at terrible rates or added fees, and almost no businesses will take them. Another addtional problem about traveling in these countries, is a dearth of ATM's--they have a long way to go.

Another security idea regarding money--I read this on-line 3 or 4 years ago. Use a fake wallet. When I travel, I carry with me an old wallet in my back pocket. Contents: An expired driver's license, 2 expired credit cards, a worthless picture of anyone, and about $10-$20 USD (or whatever you think your security is worth!). If you should get robbed, THIS is the one that you give your friendly neighborhood thug. Meanwhile, the bulk of your funds are back at the safe deposit box, and your REAL money for the evening or for shopping is in your money belt, under the cushion in your shoe, inside the front of your underwear, etc.--wherever you HOPE he won't want to put his hands. Caution about in the front of your underwear: Don't put too much there; unless you're going somewhere where you need to attract that kind of attention. Putting it first in a little baggy or thin silk cloth is just a bit more comfortable. And, remember, you have to retrieve your funds also at a later time in public. Please, find a rest room first.

My biggest problem is also at a beachside resort when you want to go snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, etc. At some of the little bungalow-type establishments, I would surmise there's not much in the way of safety lock boxes in the bungalow nor at the "lobby" (which doubles as the restaurant cashier's corner). In that case, I concur about the clever hiding places in your room. Good ideas!

Edited March 4, 2006 by toptuan

[Phil Conners]

Safe deposit box at the hotel for passport/tickets/travelers cheques and anything you deem valuable. You need two keys to open if you lose your key they will have to drill out the box.

Reasons for traveler cheques, quite obvious what if atm card is eaten then what? (least if stolen or lost you can easily run to BKK Amex office for replacement, granted need a copy of serial numbers so make sure you keep those separate to the travelers cheques)

Use your ATM card with caution as you would your travellers cheques. Would you try to cash a CC in the middle of the night? Right, same thing with your ATM card: Use it only in ATM's in bank branches and during their opening hours so IF there is a problem you can just walk in with your passport in hand and sort it out. Or if this is too much just walk into the bank and ask for a cash advance. It takes a few minutes longer but no way of your card getting eaten that way.

Regarding using hotel safe deposit boxes: Depends A LOT on the "hotel". Most of the flophouses in Pattaya have very dinghy safe deposit boxes and there are lots of examples of content missing our outright burgled. The better hotels should be ok though.

Immigration used to rent out safe deposit boxes in soi 9, don't know if they still do in Jomtien. Banks probably do too.

Forget about hiding valuables in your room, there are not that many hiding places and the thiefs know them all.