best way to pay for holiday to Thailand

mick121212

Hi, I am hoping that you lot can help me with query, which is:-

I am flying to Phuket in May and I am wanting to know which option is best for me to pay for the holiday. I have already booked and paid for my flights but the hotel (Kelly's hotel, 2nd best hotel in Patong (according to Trip advisor)) only wants paying when I arrive. The hotel books a taxi for me from the airport (600 baht) which will also need paying when I get there. Can you please advise me if it's best to take over a decent amount of cash with me or stop off at a cash machine on the way from the airport or take travellors cheques, etc.

All help would be appreciated, thanks

stilltheone

A mix of UK cash and large denomination American Express Sterling TCs. Change only at bank exchange booths .

qcyshh

I managed with Santandar Zero Debit card. The Thai Bank charges me 150 THB for each withdral, but it is still cheaper than exchange at the best exchange burea in London (I think it chargeed 3%ish vs 2%ish adding all the fees together, so withdraw at least 50k THB each time).

We spent 25k THB in Thailand excluding hotel and air ticket for a week in Feb (1 day in Bangkok, 1 day in Chiang Mai, 4 day in Phuket).

Doshwaster

Cash machines are plentiful (there's one right at the exit of Phuket airport) so as long as you have a card that has good overseas rates (or a pre-paid one) then that's all I would use. Thailand is still very much a cash society.

It's good that your hotel is arranging the taxi as Phuket airport is notorious for taxi scams. I have been caught myself and I'm usually quite a savvy traveller.

Have fun in Pantong. It's a place you either love or hate but if it does get a little too much for you then there some excellent day/overnight trips you can do in the area (http://www.phuket.com/tours/10mustdo.htm). I'd especially recommend taking a boat trip to Phi Phi island. Just barter hard before paying for the trips.

stilltheone

qcyshh wrote: »

I managed with Santandar Zero Debit card. The Thai Bank charges me 150 THB for each withdral, but it is still cheaper than exchange at the best exchange burea in London (I think it chargeed 3%ish vs 2%ish adding all the fees together, so withdraw at least 50k THB each time).

We spent 25k THB in Thailand excluding hotel and air ticket for a week in Feb (1 day in Bangkok, 1 day in Chiang Mai, 4 day in Phuket).

???? :eek: Don't know of any cash machines in Thailand that will let you withdraw £1000 at a time.

Sorry, but your post barely makes sense. "3%is v 2%ish???"


There is one non charging ATM on Phuket, AEON. It's in the town, in the Central Shopping Centre on the second floor..

Boozer

Not sure where you are from, but take only English high value notes, i turned up with 1000 pound of Scottish notes and everyone i tried to change them with just looked at me as if i was stupid, as above i do not know any machine that i could take 50K from, and i am pretty sure that the machine has a maximum amount of notes that it can distribute in one time, which from looking would be between 20 and 25, i have only ever managed 20 on my visa card.

Check your maximum daily amount in the UK also, i used to regulary take out 10K on my no problems, then the exchange rate went to crap and i am below 9K on it now, which can be crap if you have a big bill to pay.

So in summary, some high value English notes, plus bank cards and visa, but keep these in your safe and only take them out when you need money, not on a night out as Patong can get pretty messy.

Enjoy your trip

stilltheone

I will reiterate, unless you have a fee free debit and/or credit card, take a mix of UK cash and large denomination American Express Sterling TCs. Use the cards as an emergency back up.
With a standard debit card, it will cost up to 3% plus 150 baht per withdrawal. On £300, that is £12 in charges. TCs a max of half that even if you have to pay for them.

So take note of the cards that you have now.

AMG762

Hi,

I have looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor for Kellys Hotel, Patong Beach as am also considering a stay there and am interested in the comments on this thread.

I would just like to mention though that I found 95% of the reviews on Trip Advisor for this hotel are from new members who have just signed up to Trip Advisor and only ever reviewed this one hotel.

It does sound like a very nice place, and good value for money but I cant understand what happens to everyone once they leave? And why there are so many people who dont review anywhere else after there stay.

I know the owner would never consider using internet sites/forums for advertising reasons, but just wanted to point this out to the O.P.

Doshwaster

Racer123 wrote: »

Hi,

I have looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor for Kellys Hotel, Patong Beach as am also considering a stay there and am interested in the comments on this thread.

I don't know this hotel personally but looking on their website it is in a fairly quiet part of town away from most of the noise and craziness but still within walking distance of it all. The prices are fairly mid-market for Patong. It depends on if you want somewhere to relax in luxury or just want somewhere to crash at night.

I would also suggest looking at Karon which is the next resort along the coast from Patong. It is quieter, cheaper and more relaxed but only a short taxi ride away.

qcyshh

stilltheone wrote: »

???? Don't know of any cash machines in Thailand that will let you withdraw £1000 at a time.

stilltheone wrote: »

Sorry, but your post barely makes sense. "3%is v 2%ish???"


There is one non charging ATM on Phuket, AEON. It's in the town, in the Central Shopping Centre on the second floor..

Sorry typo, I meant 5K. As you can see I only spent 25k in total for the week

I compared the exchange bureau rate and my bank statement rate with the wholesale market mid rate. For example, now GBPTHB wholesale mid rate 49.5951. Best Foreign Exchange 47.72. They therefore take 47.72/49.5951-1=3.78%. Withdrawing 10k THB on a loading free card gives appr 2% (adding 150 THB fee + slippage on exchange rate). Hope that clarifies.

We stayed at Karon. Visited Patong only once and hated it (over crowded and more expensive than Karon). So I wouldn't have withdrawn money at AEON. But tx for the info.

Y, do shop around. We asked 4 tourist agencies for similar quotes on day tours. We booked the cheapest (the tours were offered by a small number of tourist organisers, so not much difference in quality I would say)
-- 1 day Raya Island speed boat. Brochure price 1800(??) per person, we got 900
-- 1 day James Bond canoe trip. Brochure 2200 (??) per person, we got 1100. (Don't take the speedboat or longtail boat trip. They are too big to get into the caves)
-- 1 day Phi-phi Island trip big boat (we did 2 half day, as we stayed on phi-phi island for 1 night). Brochure 2400 (??). we got 1200

**my number might be slightly wrong. but you got the idea, the actual price is about half of the brochure price. The only thing we couldn't get a significant discount on is Phuket Thai Cookery School (only 100-200THB cheaper than brochure price of 3700(??))

Doshwaster

qcyshh wrote: »

I compared the exchange bureau rate and my bank statement rate with the wholesale market mid rate. For example, now GBPTHB wholesale mid rate 49.5951. Best Foreign Exchange 47.72. They therefore take 47.72/49.5951-1=3.78%. Withdrawing 10k THB on a loading free card gives appr 2% (adding 150 THB fee + slippage on exchange rate). Hope that clarifies.

Yikes. An to think a few years ago the exchange rate was 75 BHT to the pound.

qcyshh wrote: »

We stayed at Karon. Visited Patong only once and hated it (over crowded and more expensive than Karon). So I wouldn't have withdrawn money at AEON. But tx for the info.

Yes, as I said above Karon is a lot more peaceful though in off-season it can be a little too quiet.

qcyshh wrote: »

Y, do shop around. We asked 4 tourist agencies for similar quotes on day tours. We booked the cheapest (the tours were offered by a small number of tourist organisers, so not much difference in quality I would say)
-- 1 day Raya Island speed boat. Brochure price 1800(??) per person, we got 900
-- 1 day James Bond canoe trip. Brochure 2200 (??) per person, we got 1100. (Don't take the speedboat or longtail boat trip. They are too big to get into the caves)
-- 1 day Phi-phi Island trip big boat (we did 2 half day, as we stayed on phi-phi island for 1 night). Brochure 2400 (??). we got 1200

Yes, there is a huge variation in the prices people are charged on tours. Don't whatever you do book it through your hotel as they will charge you the full brochure price. There are loads of tour agents in town. Barter hard especially in the quietseasons. I was on tours with people who had paid more than twice what I had.

The James Bond island tour, longboat and the sea caves are excellent. You cannot really argue with a full day out for about £20 including meals. Phi Phi and Monkey Island were good but I wish I had stopped on Phi Phi overnight.