Cash Withdrawals - ATM's

[deano1103]

Hello everyone!

Me and my good friend will be venturing to Chiang Mai this coming Monday, for 2 weeks. We are dead excited!

I just wondered if there are any ATM's dotted around CM that do not charge to withdraw. I am aware there is a 100-200 Baht charge for using most ATM's.

Coming from abroad, the last thing I want to do is have a wad of cash ready for the 2 weeks!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[anto]

They all charge .I think Anom Bank (sp ?) charge B180 which is the least for foreign bank card withdrawl..Try and open a Thai Bank a/c while you are here ,and then next time you come you can transfer money over first .

Edited October 28, 2015 by anto

[NancyL]

If you use Google with the words "ATM fee Thailand" you'll find some interesting reading. Basically now, the answer is no, so you might as well withdraw the maximum when you're doing an ATM withdrawal. The fee now is 180 baht.

In the past the Aeon machines didn't charge a fee, but I don't know if that's changed. I think it has.

You can charge major expenses, like hotel stays, on credit cards.

[lovelomsak]

ATM's give you a very poor rate. Often less than cash. It is expense money using ATM's here. I am Canadian and every time i use the ATM I pay 180 baht here about $6 and $5 for using another banks atm,plus they give me a rate less than cash value. I think it costs me about $60 Canadian to get around $900 canadian when you take the poor rate into itmore than 6 % costs. Bring cash change at Super Rich get great rate.

Edited October 28, 2015 by lovelomsak

[MaeJoMTB]

bring travelers cheques.

[NancyL]

That's right -- I didn't understand why the OP said he didn't want to bring over a "wad of cash". Hotels have safes. And what about Traveler's Checks? I've seen people cashing them at Bangkok Bank. Their rate is very close to that of exchanging cash.

[deano1103]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Sad to hear of the charges I would be faced with, along with the poor %rate.

Opening a Thai bank account while I am there is a cool idea. Would be useful if/when I come again.

Any other suggestions on how to access my cash without massive fees?

[deano1103]

That's right -- I didn't understand why the OP said he didn't want to bring over a "wad of cash". Hotels have safes. And what about Traveler's Checks? I've seen people cashing them at Bangkok Bank. Their rate is very close to that of exchanging cash.

I never travel with big sums of cash, no matter where I am. That's a personal thing.

I think travellers cheques may well be the best source for someone like me.

Edited October 28, 2015 by deano1103

[heybruce]

Aeon charges 150 baht per withdrawal, which is the smallest fee I know of.

I haven't compared Aeon's exchange rates with the money exchanges, but I don't believe the money exchanges will be better than the big bank international exchange rates the ATM's charge. However if you use an ATM and get a screen asking if you want to use bank's private exchange rate, always decline. That exchange rate is a rip-off.

[dabhand]

That's right -- I didn't understand why the OP said he didn't want to bring over a "wad of cash". Hotels have safes. And what about Traveler's Checks? I've seen people cashing them at Bangkok Bank. Their rate is very close to that of exchanging cash.

I never travel with big sums of cash, no matter where I am. That's a personal thing.

I think travellers cheques may well be the best source for someone like me.

There is a Bt153 charge for cashing each travellers cheque.

So, best to have high value cheques if you decide to go down this route otherwise the charges will be quite high.

[thai006]

the rate is fix by visa or mastercard not by thai bank

Edited October 28, 2015 by thai006

[lovelomsak]

bring travelers cheques.

travellers cheques now have huge fees to cash also.Not to long ago I cashed $20,00 canadian it cost me more than 9000 baht. thats more than $300 canadian

[Seligne2]

Every bank charges 180 baht per withdrawal. Thus, withdraw as much as possible. With a foreign card you will be limited to 20-25k baht per withdrawal. Be sure to tell your home bank that you are travelling and ask what your limits are and how often. Also consider getting a cash advance from a credit card at a bank. I did that once when my account was empty and was stunned at how cheap it was (assuming you pay off the credit card debt in a timely manner). I have forgotten the details, sorry, but it was a Canadian Visa at Bangkok Bank.

[Ozziepat]

Investigate banks at home (wherever that is for you) that reimburse ATM fees including those from foreign ATMs. They exist in the US. Europe I don't know because I never had a need to check.

[thrilled]

I bring A fair amount of cash when I go to Thailand.And if I want to get any baht I use schwab.They reimburse all ATM fees.

[puukao]

first double pricing for farang, now $5-6USD every time you use the ATM???

when will we stand up to the Man???!?!?!?

[trainman34014]

Aeon are the cheapest at 150 Baht but they only have machines in big Malls normally. Your exchange rate is fixed by Visa/Mastercard and not by your bank. The rate changes every midnight European time.

[scottiejohn]

As I have said on many occasions, on this forum, regarding debit/credit cards, the rules for USA/UK/Europe and the rest of the world are all different about charges! Please be careful when giving general advice as each customer, bank & country are different!

I am only commenting about the UK.

If the OP is UK based (assuming no form of privilege Debit/Credit card/bank account) most UK banks will charge, over and above the 180 Baht Thai fee, also a typical 2.% (min £1.75 max £5.00) per ATM transaction and also a Non Sterling Transaction Fee of 2.75% on top of the rest!

ATMs are expensive for most UK Debit cards and horrendous for UK Credit cards! (UK rules for most cash withdrawals on Credit cards are compound interest from the moment of the cash transaction not the statement date!) A cash transaction on a UK Credit card, by definition, includes all forms of gambling, money exchange or cash withdrawal!

Of course there are some UK Bank/card exceptions (Halifax for example) but the above applies to most UK cards/banks.

[Lampang2]

Aeon charges 150 baht per withdrawal, which is the smallest fee I know of.

I haven't compared Aeon's exchange rates with the money exchanges, but I don't believe the money exchanges will be better than the big bank international exchange rates the ATM's charge. However if you use an ATM and get a screen asking if you want to use bank's private exchange rate, always decline. That exchange rate is a rip-off.

Rate is not done by Aeon.

Rate is done by card issuer.

Unless you push wrong button at the ATM.

A good card give you current rate.

No loss on rate.

[elektrified]

Every bank charges 180 baht per withdrawal. Thus, withdraw as much as possible. With a foreign card you will be limited to 20-25k baht per withdrawal. Be sure to tell your home bank that you are travelling and ask what your limits are and how often. Also consider getting a cash advance from a credit card at a bank. I did that once when my account was empty and was stunned at how cheap it was (assuming you pay off the credit card debt in a timely manner). I have forgotten the details, sorry, but it was a Canadian Visa at Bangkok Bank.

No that is not true. You are not limited to 20-25K THB per withdrawal with a foreign card. I used to get 55K THB per withdrawal from Aeon with my Maestro Card (2 X 55K THB withdrawals in a 24 hour period) even though my limit was 5K CHF per day.

[northernjohn]

That's right -- I didn't understand why the OP said he didn't want to bring over a "wad of cash". Hotels have safes. And what about Traveler's Checks? I've seen people cashing them at Bangkok Bank. Their rate is very close to that of exchanging cash.

I never travel with big sums of cash, no matter where I am. That's a personal thing.

I think travellers cheques may well be the best source for someone like me.

If you use a Visa card you will get the Visa rate. Doesn't make much difference how you do it. Your bank will be charging you 3% just to do the exchange. Travelers checks can be your best bet. Not sure about them in smaller towns. Chiang Mai no problem.

[northernjohn]

Every bank charges 180 baht per withdrawal. Thus, withdraw as much as possible. With a foreign card you will be limited to 20-25k baht per withdrawal. Be sure to tell your home bank that you are travelling and ask what your limits are and how often. Also consider getting a cash advance from a credit card at a bank. I did that once when my account was empty and was stunned at how cheap it was (assuming you pay off the credit card debt in a timely manner). I have forgotten the details, sorry, but it was a Canadian Visa at Bangkok Bank.

Yes go to the bank and go inside to get your cash with your Visa. No ATM charge and you get the Visa rate.

I go every month and get enough money with my Visa card for the month.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Sad to hear of the charges I would be faced with, along with the poor %rate.

Opening a Thai bank account while I am there is a cool idea. Would be useful if/when I come again.

Any other suggestions on how to access my cash without massive fees?

As aforementioned, over the counter at a bank together with your passport. But you need suitable plastic. Otherwise your institution in the UK will charge you anyway.

Prepaid cards: Revolut, Kalixa Pay.

Credit Cards: Halifax Clarity, Creation Everyday

Debit Card: N&P Gold Classic, Cumberland Plus

Edited October 28, 2015 by Jiu-Jitsu

[scorecard]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Sad to hear of the charges I would be faced with, along with the poor %rate.

Opening a Thai bank account while I am there is a cool idea. Would be useful if/when I come again.

Any other suggestions on how to access my cash without massive fees?

Keep in mind that opening a savings account for tourists is not always that easy. Thailand has some restrictive banking laws about this, and from time to time you need to show a work permit or a certain type of visa (not tourist visa) before you can open an account.

On the other hand it seems that from time to time banks are very open to start new accounts for any foreigner.

But also check if there are fees for no transactions. Some banks charge a monthly fee to maintain (continue to keep records) for accounts which have had no transactions at all for say 3 months.

Also remember that most (maybe all) Thai banks have a charge (from my memory 150 to 300Baht) to start an ATM card and a yearly fee to renew the ATM card. Plus one by one transaction fees every time you use an ATM (even same bank in some cases), often around 30Baht per transaction.

Perhaps other TV members have knowledge of what banks are better than others on all these points.

Edited October 29, 2015 by scorecard

[true blue]

just bring high dominations cash and change at super rich or simlar best rates in town no charges,your allowed to bring 10k from uk.

[thai006]

check the rate here if you got visa europe

http://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/exchange-rates

me i got an option with my french bank , every month i pay 9 euro and i got unlimited atm and payment free just pay the 180 at atm and nothing from tesco, hotel ...

today from kasikorn

EUR Euro 38.25795

and visa 1 EURO = 39.0022996458 THAI BAHT so not too bad

Edited October 29, 2015 by thai006

[chuang]

That's right -- I didn't understand why the OP said he didn't want to bring over a "wad of cash". Hotels have safes. And what about Traveler's Checks? I've seen people cashing them at Bangkok Bank. Their rate is very close to that of exchanging cash.

First time traveller......

[eaglesflight]

As I have said on many occasions, on this forum, regarding debit/credit cards, the rules for USA/UK/Europe and the rest of the world are all different about charges! Please be careful when giving general advice as each customer, bank & country are different!

I am only commenting about the UK.

If the OP is UK based (assuming no form of privilege Debit/Credit card/bank account) most UK banks will charge, over and above the 180 Baht Thai fee, also a typical 2.% (min £1.75 max £5.00) per ATM transaction and also a Non Sterling Transaction Fee of 2.75% on top of the rest!

ATMs are expensive for most UK Debit cards and horrendous for UK Credit cards! (UK rules for most cash withdrawals on Credit cards are compound interest from the moment of the cash transaction not the statement date!) A cash transaction on a UK Credit card, by definition, includes all forms of gambling, money exchange or cash withdrawal!

Of course there are some UK Bank/card exceptions (Halifax for example) but the above applies to most UK cards/banks.

If you're talking from personal experience, you should change banks. I pay a flat fee of £1 per withdrawal to my UK bank, and 2% foreign exchange commission. Not exactly deal of the century but much better than the figures you quoted. I actually withdraw very little cash nowadays and just use my card to pay for things in shops. That way I only pay the 2% foreign exchange commission and avoid the £1 UK bank fee + the ฿180 Thai bank fee most of the time. Not much help if you're out drinking every night but makes buying the groceries a little cheaper.

[true blue]

i have been living in thailand,for over 15 years and ive never once used a atm machine here,not really interested, being a ex banker,i like the personal touch of branch visits,and only use paper transactions,safer as well. some time ago there was fraud being commited on big scale with banking cards in los.

[bangmai]

Every bank charges 180 baht per withdrawal. Thus, withdraw as much as possible. With a foreign card you will be limited to 20-25k baht per withdrawal. Be sure to tell your home bank that you are travelling and ask what your limits are and how often. Also consider getting a cash advance from a credit card at a bank. I did that once when my account was empty and was stunned at how cheap it was (assuming you pay off the credit card debt in a timely manner). I have forgotten the details, sorry, but it was a Canadian Visa at Bangkok Bank.

Yes go to the bank and go inside to get your cash with your Visa. No ATM charge and you get the Visa rate.

I go every month and get enough money with my Visa card for the month.

They build in a 50 THB fee into the exchange rate, but it still saves you at least 100 thb.