Thai Baht exchange rates

JayC5

Hi,

What is the best option in terms of exchange rates regarding €1500 worth of Thai Baht:

Bring € cash with me and change in a bank on arrival

or

Change in an Irish bank before I go?

Cheers!

mooseknunkle

bring the cash with you and change there but dont do it in the airport if your going to bkk change it there

and the rates the banks give you here is a joke tbh

Four of a kind

Carrying a lot of cash isn't good either though. Leaving cash behind in hotel rooms isn't as safe as people think.

Personally, I'd just withdraw enough from ATM each week to last you a week. If your just going for a week and spending all the €1500 then just be careful where you hide it.

JayC5

Cheers,

Yeah, ideally I don't want to carry a large sum of cash around like that. However, I had issues last time I was there with many banks not accepting my Visa-debit card; the one that did limited the amount I could take out - think it was around 6000 baht.

I also used my credit card but that was capped at 10,000 baht and had excessive fees charged every time I withdrew cash. So, this time I think I'll take the cash and keep my wallet safe. I think all the places I've booked provide room safes so hopefully I'll have no issues.

What are those money booths like for exchange rates, the ones you see on the roadside near Khao San Road. Are they similar to the bank rates or rip-off merchants?

J

mooseknunkle

JayC5 wrote: »

Cheers,

Yeah, ideally I don't want to carry a large sum of cash around like that. However, I had issues last time I was there with many banks not accepting my Visa-debit card; the one that did limited the amount I could take out - think it was around 6000 baht.

I also used my credit card but that was capped at 10,000 baht and had excessive fees charged every time I withdrew cash. So, this time I think I'll take the cash and keep my wallet safe. I think all the places I've booked provide room safes so hopefully I'll have no issues.

What are those money booths like for exchange rates, the ones you see on the roadside near Khao San Road. Are they similar to the bank rates or rip-off merchants?

J

Here is a good site to compare rates with different banks,not much in the difference really only 1bht between them.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

antodeco

Without hijacking the thread, is this the same as in Ko Samui. Im not going to BKK so dont have the option of the "major city".

Tipperary animal lover

Just change €50/€100 at the airport on arrival till you get on your feet ..... Exchange rate here will be s**te

Four of a kind

JayC5 wrote: »

Cheers,

Yeah, ideally I don't want to carry a large sum of cash around like that. However, I had issues last time I was there with many banks not accepting my Visa-debit card; the one that did limited the amount I could take out - think it was around 6000 baht.

I also used my credit card but that was capped at 10,000 baht and had excessive fees charged every time I withdrew cash. So, this time I think I'll take the cash and keep my wallet safe. I think all the places I've booked provide room safes so hopefully I'll have no issues.

What are those money booths like for exchange rates, the ones you see on the roadside near Khao San Road. Are they similar to the bank rates or rip-off merchants?

J

What I did last year while travelling in Asia was have all my money online with banking365(Bank of Ireland I'm with). Then transfer over x amount over onto my credit card at the start of every week and just withdraw it as needed. That way, I never incurred any cash advance fee's and also I limited the damage if my credit card account was ever cleaned out!

murpho999

Four of a kind wrote: »

What I did last year while travelling in Asia was have all my money online with banking365(Bank of Ireland I'm with). Then transfer over x amount over onto my credit card at the start of every week and just withdraw it as needed. That way, I never incurred any cash advance fee's and also I limited the damage if my credit card account was ever cleaned out!

Way use a credit card when you can just you normal bank card in this age of Visa Debit. Maestro & Cirrus.

Either way, carrying €1500 cash is just crazy in this day and age and don't understand why people would do that.

It's pretty simple.. Pick which currency is more in demand globally and then exchange in the other.

Four of a kind

murpho999 wrote: »

Way use a credit card when you can just you normal bank card in this age of Visa Debit. Maestro & Cirrus.

Either way, carrying €1500 cash is just crazy in this day and age and don't understand why people would do that.

Because the rates are higher using your atm card I was informed by BOI.

Plus what happens if you have 5k loaded onto your atm card and it gets wiped? Your not cover by the bank. Whereas if you use your credit card and only push over what you need each week then you can only lose that amount and the bank covers the rest.

killbillvol2

murpho999 wrote: »

Way use a credit card when you can just you normal bank card in this age of Visa Debit. Maestro & Cirrus.

Either way, carrying €1500 cash is just crazy in this day and age and don't understand why people would do that.

Four of a kind wrote: »

Because the rates are higher using your atm card I was informed by BOI.

A withdrawal of €400-500 will cost about €15 on a Visa Debit/Maestro/Cirrus in Thailand.

antodeco

killbillvol2 wrote: »

A withdrawal of €400-500 will cost about €15 on a Visa Debit/Maestro/Cirrus in Thailand.

You're kidding? Sure the max you can withdraw is €100 on a visa debit in Thailand isint it?

killbillvol2

antodeco wrote: »

You're kidding? Sure the max you can withdraw is €100 on a visa debit in Thailand isint it?

No. Unless your bank here limits you.

Most ATMs in Thailand will limit you to 20,000 Baht per withdrawal (about €500). There are a few which allow 30,000 but they're few and far between.
Your Irish bank will charge about €11 in exchange fees on the transaction and then there's a charge of 150 Baht locally (also avoidable on a small number of ATMs).

dingding

Also watch out if you have an AIB debit card and withdrawing money from an ATM.

The daily limit is about 100 euro and you are hit for transaction charges each time.

Four of a kind

As I said, the cheapest way I've found is to use your credit card to withdraw from atm (once you've money lodged on it)

gustafo

Four of a kind wrote: »

As I said, the cheapest way I've found is to use your credit card to withdraw from atm (once you've money lodged on it)

that used to work for me before until AIB put a charge of 2.5% even though i would have a few grand stacked on the card,

up till about 2 years ago it used to be fine

Four of a kind

gustafo wrote: »

that used to work for me before until AIB put a charge of 2.5% even though i would have a few grand stacked on the card,

up till about 2 years ago it used to be fine

BOI don't have that charge on their credit cards if that's an option? It's a complete balls really while doing any long term travelling having that extra fee on top of everything else to pay.

I rang them up about it a few months ago again just to make sure and I was told as long as I've money on the card then I won't be charged for atm withdrawals.

I think there is some Point of sale charge though if for instance you use the credit card to pay for stuff in a shop etc. The shop charges you a fee as well.

But for straight out of the atm - its a great job.

gustafo

Four of a kind wrote: »

BOI don't have that charge on their credit cards if that's an option? It's a complete balls really while doing any long term travelling having that extra fee on top of everything else to pay.

I rang them up about it a few months ago again just to make sure and I was told as long as I've money on the card then I won't be charged for atm withdrawals.

I think there is some Point of sale charge though if for instance you use the credit card to pay for stuff in a shop etc. The shop charges you a fee as well.

But for straight out of the atm - its a great job.

thats handy AIB are screwing me so i need to get onto them to find out is there any way around this or else i got to think of moving to BOI before my trip in the new year.