Best Currency To Take To Indonesia And Malaysia

[UKJASE]

Hey guys

the mrs and I are going to malaysia on friday for a few days, and then onto bali for a couple of weeks, flying from thailand

i am a brit, and the UK currency is poor at the moment

i have Baht here in thailand, and i have Pounds in my UK account

what is the best way to obtain local currency for our trip?

would i be best off buying dollars in bangkok, and changing these downtown when i get to our destination, or should i take Baht, or even Australian dollar (again purchased in Bangkok)

or am i better off using the ATM when i get to either country and drawing from my UK bank, or even drawing from my Thai Kasikorn bank??

any advice please my friends??

[simple1]

From my experience US$ for Malaysia & Indonesia

[stevenl]

Simply use the local ATM's and withdraw local currency. By far the cheapest and best option, makes no difference if you use your Thai or UK bank, depending on their charges of course.

[davejones]

If you change to USD first and then another currency later, you will be losing twice on exchanging your money. It's always best to change once. Changing Thai baht to Malaysia currency is surely better than Thai baht to USD to Malaysia currency.

[simple1]

If you change to USD first and then another currency later, you will be losing twice on exchanging your money. It's always best to change once. Changing Thai baht to Malaysia currency is surely better than Thai baht to USD to Malaysia currency.

For the amount of cash for travel needs the potential loss on fees is minimal. I found US$ more accepted and better local rate than Thai baht - each to their own...

[aarn]

ATMs all the way. If you are overlanding to Malaysia, can change ThB at Sadao for reasonable rate (ie. lose ~ 1% on exchange).

Beware in Indo if using ATM, many have a limit of 1M rupiah (which is chicken-shit). You can do multiple ATM withdrawals everyday,

but of course you get hit up for exchange fee every time.. AA

[FritsSikkink]

ATM

[sas_cars]

Kasikorn ATM charges 2.5 percent on top of visa/master card exchange rate + 100 THB fee per withdrawal. Don't take baht there, you will lose around 2 percent or more on exchange rate. If you buy USD here and exchange them in ringgit there, by doing these double conversions, you lose around 1.5 percent overall on exchange rate.

Your best bet would be whether you can get hold of cash pounds from your UK account, by exchanging them in ringgit, U lose around 1 percent. So it will be cheapest for you.

[richard_smith237]

Withdraw some US$ emergency cash from the ATM inside the Suvarnabumi airport as backup.

Use your ATM card in Malaysia and Indonesia..

[KED]

I travel often to Indonesia, less so to Malaysia - but have to agree that using the ATM has always worked out to be the best deal for me.

In Inodnesia, some ATMs issue 50,000 RP notes (U$ 5-6) while others will issue 100,000 RP notes (U$ 10-11) - the advantae with the 100,000 is you can withdraw more per transaction. In Bali, there are many dodgy moneychangers - so beware of good rates but quick hands and scams abound - the rates may be a bit less - but if you are exchanging money in Bali - best to use a bank, I think.

[worgeordie]

Indonesia is very fussy about condition of any notes,must be as new as possible,

with no writing, folds or other marks.

regards Worgeordie

[Tomtomtom69]

simple1, on 17 Mar 2013 - 16:23, said:

davejones, on 17 Mar 2013 - 15:58, said:

If you change to USD first and then another currency later, you will be losing twice on exchanging your money. It's always best to change once. Changing Thai baht to Malaysia currency is surely better than Thai baht to USD to Malaysia currency.

For the amount of cash for travel needs the potential loss on fees is minimal. I found US$ more accepted and better local rate than Thai baht - each to their own...

This claim is doubtful. In nearly all countries in the region, most major currencies get very good exchange rates, there is no preferential exchange rate gain for exchanging US dollars, other than if you have big notes but this is usually the case with other major currencies such as Euros too. It is ludicrous to exchange local currency for US first, only to exchange them to another currency - you will always lose on the exchange rate differences if you do this, not to mention the time and money spent on going to the moneychangers twice. Most banks and moneychangers in Malaysia will change Thai Baht and practically all will change British Pounds. Only a travelling newbie would bring US dollars with them to exchange everywhere they go. The OP asked about AUD. I would say, for both Malaysia and Indonesia (particularly Bali and even Jakarta) it might not be a bad idea to bring along some Australian Dollars, given the huge number of Australians visiting these places they can easily be exchanged at great rates.

The only problem with Baht compared to more popular major currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD etc. is that there may be a small number of places that don't exchange Baht in these countries more likely in Indonesia, but if one moneychanger doesn't exchange Baht, the one next door probably will. For example, despite it's proximity to Thailand, I was surprised to find that a hotel moneychanger in Penang didn't take Baht, yet they would happily take Singapore Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollars, US Dollars and a number of other currencies but not Baht so in summary my advice would be, for major cities bring Baht and perhaps a small amount of any other major currency but otherwise just withdraw local currency using your ATM card. These days there is less and less need to change money when you can just make a cash withdrawal from a local ATM. However, it's always good to have a little local currency with you just in case when you first arrive.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[UKJASE]

hey guys - thanks for the great advice

i think ATM use, and carry some thai baht, with a few dollars for visa, are going to be the most cost effective and convenient way for me.....

but i am a little worried about what Aarn said above...... are all the ATM's limited to 1,000,000 rupiah per day?? is there a limit on the number of times one can use the machine per day??

[richard_smith237]

hey guys - thanks for the great advice

i think ATM use, and carry some thai baht, with a few dollars for visa, are going to be the most cost effective and convenient way for me.....

but i am a little worried about what Aarn said above...... are all the ATM's limited to 1,000,000 rupiah per day?? is there a limit on the number of times one can use the machine per day??

ATM's in Indonesia dispense either 50,000 Rp notes or 100,000 Rp notes. There will be a label on the machine (usually a sticker !).

Some ATM's have a transaction limit of 1,000,000 Rp (about 90 US$) per time, others are 2,000,000 Rp (most common). The most I've found is an HSBC ATM which dispenses 3,000,000 Rp per transaction, I'm sure there are others too.

Finding out the AMT limitation is often down to trial and error. The same bank will have different limits at ATMs in different locations !

The Limit is of the machines are per transaction, so you can with draw additional amounts if you require to do so. This depends on the limitation / daily withdrawal limit stipulated by your own bank.

[Tomtomtom69]

hey guys - thanks for the great advice

i think ATM use, and carry some thai baht, with a few dollars for visa, are going to be the most cost effective and convenient way for me.....

but i am a little worried about what Aarn said above...... are all the ATM's limited to 1,000,000 rupiah per day?? is there a limit on the number of times one can use the machine per day??

Yes - US dollars for Indonesian visa are a must - this is one expense that should be settled in US dollars even if other currencies are accepted. Although it's been a few years since I've been to Indonesia, my experience crossing overland to Myanmar and Cambodia (this also applies to Laos, but not for me since I don't need a Lao visa on my passport) is that payment in US dollars always ends up with you paying less than payment in another currency (i.e. Baht in these 3 neighboring countries or other major currencies in Indonesia).

Not sure where you going in Indonesia, OP, but if you head for an ATM operated by an international bank, such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, HSBC or Citibank in Jakarta, I'm sure the ATM withdrawal limits would be higher than those offered by local banks. Not sure about the availability of these banks in other cities as the only city I've been to in Indonesia was Jakarta. You could make multiple ATM withdrawals provided you don't exceed your own banks withdrawal limits.

[HullyGully]

Indonesia is USD and the notes should ne new...no folding writing or tears

Malaysia is not at bad USD or pounds

The Indonesian may not take notes in poor codition, if they did the rate would be very poor