Holiday in Thailand

stilltheone

greeneyes68 wrote: »

Sorry my mistake. I ment the fact there are no additional atm charges apart from the fees charged by Thai banks for foreign cards.
The pre-paid cards are ok to a point but if used correctly Sterling travellers cheques will get a better exchange rate and have the added bonus of being insured if lost or stolen.
It seems that t/c's are not promoted much now due to the numerous travel pre-paid cards.
Overall, the most important thing to remember when travelling to Thailand (and pretty much all other countries) is not to limit yourself to one means of funding. Spread your money around between cash, t/c's and cards etc... We use t/c's more due to our circumstances but we always have the backup of a UK debit and credit card as mentioned in my previous post.
We never buy Thai baht (or any other currency) here or at the airport when in Thailand due to the terrible exchange rates (especially here in the UK). If you take cash in sterling to exchange in Thailand? Make sure the notes are in good condition with no rips or writing on them as they will probably not be accepted.

You calculation depends on whether you pay for your TCs in the first place.
If you pay 1% to 1.5%, you are already at the same level as a withdrawal with FairFx Anywhere from an AEON machine or a purchase.
The TC will have an inferior exchange rate compared to Mastercard and that is not including the 33 baht charge for cashing the cheque.

So TCs are more flexible, but not necessarily the best option for all.

Johnnyy_Boy

Was there last month. Its is THB150 each transaction. I used to use the Nationwide Card but this year the FX Anywhere. Very convenient and not refused anywhere but it is quite expensive. FAO on my statement, withdrawing the equivalent of £428 cost £6.37. They are a bit old fashioned but travellers cheques get a slightly better rate than cash. I am not a fan of walking around with alot of cash hence this year I used the card.

stilltheone

Johnnyy_Boy wrote: »

Was there last month. Its is THB150 each transaction. I used to use the Nationwide Card but this year the FX Anywhere. Very convenient and not refused anywhere but it is quite expensive. FAO on my statement, withdrawing the equivalent of £428 cost £6.37. They are a bit old fashioned but travellers cheques get a slightly better rate than cash. I am not a fan of walking around with alot of cash hence this year I used the card.

How is that expensive??

They charge 1.5%. Until recently Nationwide charged 1% and now they charge 2% plus £1. So how now can you suggest that 1.5% is expensive??

Loco

greeneyes68 wrote: »

We never buy Thai baht (or any other currency) here or at the airport when in Thailand due to the terrible exchange rates (especially here in the UK). If you take cash in sterling to exchange in Thailand? Make sure the notes are in good condition with no rips or writing on them as they will probably not be accepted.

Have you tried Superrich before? I have used them numerous times in the past and their rates have been quite good (better than exchanging in the UK in my previous experiences) though I haven`t been back for quite a while now.

Quite a few Thai friends of mine use/used them too....and that`s how I found out about that place years ago. There is a branch not too far from Siam Paragon I think but they have quite a few branches I believe. Popular amongst Thais. There is another similar place that they use too (slightly better rates) but the name escapes me.....

http://www.superrich1965.com/app/our_rates.aspx