Is this a scam at Phuket arrivals?

[jersey]

The banks in Thailand charge 150 baht per transaction with a 20,000 baht limit per transaction.

The was the maximum fee authorized by the BOT. Despite that this as an outrageous charge

They are now upped the fee to 180 Baht. Has this increase been approved or has greed totally

Consumed these banks? Even AEON now charges this fee ...why? And can anyone explain why

A ATM fee is so high? I can call the USA for two and a half hours and an ATM transaction takes 10

To do.....

[Pib]

The general foreign card fee charged and amount issued per transaction varies by Thai bank...Bt150 for Visa cards...Bt180 for Mastercard cards. And some banks do charge a lower fee for certain American Express card and China Union Pay cards. But reports do indicate the banks seem to be moving towards standardizing the foreign card fee at the higher Bt180 fee regardless of Visa or Mastercard logo (higher fee means more bank profits). Even AEON ATMs started charging a Bt150 foreign card fee (Visa or Mastercard) a few months ago...time will tell if they change to the Bt180 fee. And the max amount dispensed per transaction will range from 10,000 to 30,000 (a few reports of 40,000) depending on the bank owning the ATM. AEON ATM max is 20,000 baht per transaction (use to be 30,000 or maybe even 40,000 up until a few months ago).

Over the last month Thai banks have also increased the cashing fee for traveler cheques...it use to be 30 baht plus a 3 baht stamp duty per cheque for a total of 33 baht per cheque; now it's 150 baht plus a 3 baht stamp duty for a total of 153 baht per cheque. Note: only the banks increased their portion of the cashing fee by five fold; the govt stamp duty did not change.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Pib

[Langsuan Man]

BOT had absolutely nothing to do with the foreign ATM fee ( which is 150 THB at some banks and 180 THB at others). This fee was proposed and adopted by the members of the Thai Bankers Association a non governmental organization three years ago. AEON just recently jumped on the bandwagon to increase the revenues from their ATM network

The 20,000 per pull limit is up to the individual banks. SCB is 20K, Bangkok Bank is 25K, TMB is 30K (others may lower the amount based upon the amount of cash in the machine)

Can't see the relationship between banking fees and telephone charges but if that is what you want to use as a gauge for the cost it is up to you