Thai Baht

leonidas83

Hey guys,

Im travelling to Thailand soon, just wondering would it be better to get the thai currency in a bank in Ireland or over there? And how much time should I expect to wait for the bank to order the currency in over here? Thanks

catbear

No harm in having a few baht on you going but I won't get much. Now it's five years since I was there and I think I brought about €100 worth and then used cash machines after that. I used my Visa credit card which when in credit didn't cost me any charges. I also brought a wad of single USD bills, very handy for the surrounding countries.

I don't know where you're heading in thailand but in a few tourist areas there are bank machines that issue different currencies, I loaded up on USDs on the Koi San road before leaving thailand.

If you're ordering Thai baht here you might want to give it a week as it's not a currency banks hold here.

leonidas83

Thanks for that, going to Bang kok first for 1-2 days then Phuket for 3 weeks

Have a visa debit card so should be able to use that over there. So you would recommend ordering in about 100 euros worth of it over here first ya

catbear

Well it was five years since I was there so maybe €150-€200. We didn't have anything booked when we a arrived so we headed straight for the Koi San road area and got a place for about €10 for the first night.

If you're only going to be in Bangkok for a few nights you're probably better off not having the hassle of trying to find a place. Just get a good deal on a hotel. It's hard to spend a lot in thailand, accommodation is fairly cheap on the backpacker circuit but for short stays i'd be heading for quality resorts.

Have fun, hope the floods don't affect your travels.

Chris P. Bacon

leonidas83 wrote: »

Have a visa debit card so should be able to use that over there. So you would recommend ordering in about 100 euros worth of it over here first ya

€100 is just over 4000bht so there would be no point in getting it in a bank here,when you land you can change it in Suvarnabhumi if you want or just wait till you get into the city and change it there as you will get a lot better rates.

Also you will have no problem using the visa debit card.

Stinicker

You can use your credit card to get Baht from the ATM at Bangkok airport, there are charges and these all vary so best to check with your bank. Taxi's from the Airport or the Skytrain will probably be your first expense and these are quite cheap.

However do queue up to get an official taxi at the stands, when I went to Bangkok this year a friend of mine suggested I get a taxi from the upstairs departures section as it was supposedly cheaper as otherwise the taxi drivers have to go back down to arrivals to get a fare)! This totally backfired and I was seriously ripped off being charged 1,000bt (€25) for what is a pretty long drive from Suvarnabhumi (soo-wanna-poom) to Sukhumvit anyway I thought OK, Bangkok is a bit more pricey than the guide books suggest, a week later I flew back into Bangkok from Chiang Mai after taking the train up there and stayed at the same hotel in Bangkok again, I queued up properly this time and my taxi cost me 350bt (€8.50). So watch out for this and alway insist the meter is turned on.

Also have some small baht notes 20's, 50's and 100's as on the freeway into the city centre the taxi will pass through toll roads and they ask you for the money to pay the toll there and then in the car, which is unusual by western standards. My smallest note was a 1,000bt note having got them from the BOI and I gave it to him on that first night but he calculated it out when we got to the hotel and refunded me change from the toll, which is around 70bt if I remember correctly.

Don't carry too much cash either and Thailand ain't as a cheap as it was five years ago either so budget wisely.

Do a search for "Stinicker" and "Thailand" as I have written dozens of posts about my time there over the last 8 months.