Currency Vietnam

[timber]

Which is better Thai Baht or US dollars in Vietnam? Is it worth to make an effort to get Vietnamese money.

Thanking you for your assistance.

[SwanF]

You can only get Vietnamese Dong once in Vietnam, its impossible to purchase it outside the country as its non convertible. Just make sure you have an ATM card with low fees, that's the best way to travel. Otherwise USD or THB are easy to exchange in Vietnam, just be careful you don't get short changed!

[NanLaew]

As stated you have to wait to get your Dong in Vietnam. In the meantime, take about US$200 in small bills. That will get you by with taxis, meals and even a first night of accommodation or room deposit until you get situated, locate an ATM, etc.. Check what the official exchange rate in Vietnam is before you arrive and then you know if/when you are getting a bad deal.

[Aussieroaming]

You can get dong at the ATM in the airport

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

You can buy dong in Thailand, sorry (and Cambodia too where rates are indeed better). But you don't want to do this, as others have said. Take your ATM card. However, most bank ATMs in VN do not issue more than 2 million dong ($100) at a transaction. That makes it expensive if you have multiple transactions on expensive ATM transaction fees back home. If you have a Thai bank account, you can pull from that in VN. I don't know what that cost me, but I've done it before. I think it was AgriBank that I could pull 4 million dong but that could have changed. There are many banks there: Sacombank, AgriBank, Vietin (the biggest retail consumer bank), Vietcom, ACB, Exim Bank, Ocean, on and on. This link goes to VN bank association, which has links to every banking member. http://vnba.org.vn/en/ You can check for ATMs and their policies.

I've used travellers' cheques before, in US dollars. But you have to go to a headquarters bank to get it cashed. And you have to be very careful about replicating your signature when cashing.

Edit: forgot to mention the exchange rates at SGN airport are a little pricier than downtown.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[IMA_FARANG]

If you are going to Vietnam as a tourist you should always convert your Baht to one of the "holy trinity" before you depart Thailand.
The "holy trinity" is Dollars, Pounds, or Euro.

They are convertible in Vietnam anywhere if you need Dong. including Vietnamese banks.

Thai debit cards for Bangkok Bank (probably other Thai banks to, but I have no personal experience with other than Bangkok Bank cards) are readily used in ATM machines at least in Ho Chi Minh City. Of course there is a small fee.

You will get Dong from any ATM machines in Ho Chi Minh city.

Even though they may not be supposed to, I know from personal experience that a new U.S. $10 dollar bill can work wonders at times in Vietnam.

One thing you need to know about using Thai bank cards in Vietnamese ATM machines is that you balance will always show zero after you do a transaction.

DO NOT be alarmed, you still have funds in you Thai bank account. This is due to the fact that the Thai and the Vietnamese banks do not tie their bank computers together to show the balance remaining in your Thai account.

Therefore the balance remaining in your Thai bank account always shows 0000.00 irregardless of how much is actually in your account after a transaction is completed.

The first time I saw this happen in Ho Chi Minh after withdrawing about 1000 Baht I nearly had a heart attack.

But your funds are still there.

[IMA_FARANG]

You can only get Vietnamese Dong once in Vietnam, its impossible to purchase it outside the country as its non convertible. Just make sure you have an ATM card with low fees, that's the best way to travel. Otherwise USD or THB are easy to exchange in Vietnam, just be careful you don't get short changed!

--------------------

When I was in Ho Chi minh city Thai Baht was virtually impossible to exchange.

Always get Dollars, Pounds, or Euro before you leave.

And change any Dong left over for the same before you leave Vietnam.

No bank in Bangkok will want to change Vietnamese Dong at a reasonable rate.

[jacksam]

One problem to mention is that majority of ATM,s only allow small withdrawals. Some only 2 million dong $100.

You can find a few that allow 8 million but they are scattered. I always use dong. One Saigon green in cafe, for example cost maybe 10000 dong. That's only 50 cents. Your better off with dong IMO.

I always take some USD to Vietnam say 100.

[jacksam]

Oh by the way... The ATM before customs often does not work. In Saigon esp. Take some USD for your visa. There is ATM,s once through customs. Grab min 2 mil.

[jacksam]

IMA farang is correct. Don't take baht with intention to exchange. They have all sorts of reasons to not accept.

Sometimes even USD etc. They want the notes almost perfect.

[meltingpot2015]

Vietnamese bank ATM's can be tourist traps. I've read reports of a BIDV Bank ATM (at airport) charging 99,000 dong. Some ATM's do not display fee clearly. e.g. VietinBank ATM says "Customers should check Vietinbank fee table before doing transaction". Maritime bank just says "the transaction can be charged by acquire bank. do you want to continue".

Vietcom Bank only allowed 1Million dong and told me fee was 50,000 Dong. When I pressed 'cancel', it dispensed the cash anyway, and stung us with the fee on top.

Opening a bank account can be the most frustrating task ever. At the moment, every bank is directing foreigners to Vietcom bank. However, service at that bank is horrible. When I opened account the cashier took ages to enter all the details on to the system, insisted that I sign my middlename on a form, but then she misspelled it when entering it in to the system. The time she spent gawping at the screen I figured she would have at least ensured the details were correct. Not a chance.

Only open bank account if it's essential, otherwise bringing USD and exchanging is the best way. You can use banks for exchanging USD to VND, or most gold (jewelry) shops exchange USD to VND, and VND to USD. (banks don't exchange VND to USD)

[Wrong Turn]

IMA farang is correct. Don't take baht with intention to exchange. They have all sorts of reasons to not accept.

Sometimes even USD etc. They want the notes almost perfect.

You can change Baht, but USD is easier and more places will exchange it.

Hotels, for example.

There are gold shops that offer the best rates. The bills do not have to be perfect.

I think he going rate is around 22,300 VND per $1, if you're buying Dong.

[TheSiemReaper]

ANZ bank ATMs in ANZ branches allow withdrawals of 10 million Dong. Everywhere else offers much less.