Unsurprisingly, there is a not a huge demand for currency exchange when foreigners are not allowed into a country. While Thailand is gradually re-opening, most currency exchanges have not. Beware of this if you need to exchange money in Bangkok.
Currency Exchange in Bangkok
I made the mistake of leaving my ATM card at home on my trip to Bangkok last month. While I can usually get by fine with just my credit card, several of the coffee shops I visited required cash or debit card for payment and would not accept a credit card.
Faced with the prospect of drinking bad coffee, I promptly elected to exchange some USD for THB.
Small problem though: as I walked through the city every single currency exchange bureau I came to was out-of-business or closed.
I spent over an hour walking around before I finally found one inside a tailor shop. After exchanging my money, I let the guy know he could probably charge a bit of a premium because he was the only currency exchange shop that was open…
Granted, this was on a Saturday, but it was in the middle of the day.
Later, I found one other place near the Grand Hyatt Erawan that was open..but most places were closed.
I usually avoid exchanging money altogether but when I do I certainly avoid exchanging it at the airport, where the rate is rarely as good. Here, it would have been easier to exchange money at the airport and you should consider doing so.
Bangkok is a bit behind other East Asian cities in being able to tap everywhere for credit card payment. Expect to pay cash at many places, particularly if not a chain.
CONCLUSION
I was surprised at how few currency exchange bureaus were open in Bangkok. Most were closed, many permanently. While they will likely return when tourists return, be sure to bring your ATM card or exchange in advance before journeying to Thailand.
Don’t hotels offer currency exchange services in Bangkok?
Yeah the rates are crazy but for $20-30 I couldn’t care about the rate.
Hyatt Place did not.
I always use banks,
I am amazed that you only take a couple of cards with you when travelling. I typically travel with two wallets and at least half a dozen cards- including a credit card that allows free cash withdrawals all over the world (they charge interest on the ‘cash advance’, but that can be instantly fixed with an electronic transfer) that I specifically use as a back up in case I need cash and something goes wrong with my debit card. While the likelihood of an overly vigilant algorithm blocking a card at the same time as another gets munched by an ATM is relatively low, the consequences of not having ready access to funds can be highly disruptive if not catastrophic.
It’s true. But I’m in the midst of a difficult chapter and I don’t have a copious number of cards to take along…
How much would the Hyatt charge to supply you with cash with a Chase Sapphire?
Good question – didn’t ask. But remember, this was when I was technically not allowed back to the hotel…was after I got out of quarantine but before my room was ready at the Grand Hyatt.
A little tip about currency exchange at BKK, there is a Superrich on the left side of the airport train station, and it has the literal best rates in the city, they also buy everything, so it’s not a bad place to dump other Southeast Asian currencies you may have. This is different than the ones sprinkled throughout the airport. I honestly don’t know how they make money on their margins.
I understand you wouldn’t personally know, but one would assume the people selling kids for sex to Americans on sex tours prefer American cash. So this story doesn’t matter the majority of Americans finding ways to travel to Thailand at this time.
The Super Rich across the boulevard from Central World is still open from my reporters on the ground. They vale’s us have had very good rates. They must be connected because I have seen huge, thick bricks of cash just laying on the counters. It looked like the final table of the World Series of Poker.
I always use SuperRich and I used that particular one last month when staying at the Grand Hyatt. It’s well known they have the best rates.
Never exchange at the hotel and when checking out always pay in their currency. Never accept their offer to conveniently convert to your currency. Big scam there as they rape you on the currency exchange there too.
Why you did not try a bank? They are open during Saturday. I would be surprised if you could not find one in MBK.
I went to several banks and none had currency exchange. Most banks were closed as well.
I carry a Schwab Investor Checking card with me everywhere I go, 100% of ATM fees are refunded from anywhere in the world. While there are still places you can’t use a card in Bangkok, you can’t throw a stone without hitting an ATM.
Remember to exchange your remaining Baht at the airport before you leave. I sometimes forget or don’t leave enough time.
When I leave I always have less than $100 in baht. I give it out on the street to the beggars on my last day saving enough for taxi and tolls.
Superrich in many bts stations are open, and usually easy to find.
Also, i don’t know where you were, but most banks are open, but it’s true , a lot of the, don’t have currency exchange booths.
Yes, thailand isn’t that covered with credit card payments because local banks implemented promptpay which is free, and just requires a local bank account .
Behind? Most all places, even the street food vendors use K+ or another form of cashless transactions. Similar to CashApp back in the US, they are miles ahead of us in that respect.
May be cashless, but not helpful for foreigners.
Is it not possible to get cash from any ATM with your credit card? At least with Amex, Visa, MC from Swiss, Austrian or German banks (and pretty sure true also for other EU countries), I was always able to get cash at ATMs in SE Asia, including Thailand. There are some fees of course, but at least you get the official exchange rate. Or do US credit cards not come with a PIN to use ATMs?
You can, but they come with immediate interest rate charges that make it a very unattractive proposition.
Firstly, the premise is wrong. Use of credit card in an ATM will produce cash. Easy. Very easy
Secondly, the discount currency exchanges are also at the airport.
Thirdly, credit cards are accepted everywhere except for street vendors.
And fourthly, weekends these local currency exchange places have historically been closed.
And lastly, the banks are all open, and their rates are not much different.
So the conclusion, after apparently attempts to find the cheapest rate on a weekend in your immediate vicinity, was simply to prove a point.
First, the use of credit cards in ATMs is very expensive because high APR interest rates kick in immediately.
Second, I didn’t change at the airpot because I didn’t know places would be closed in town.
Third, credit cards were not accepted at several of the coffee shops I visited.
Fourth, currency exchanges were indeed closed.
Fifth, banks were closed.
So the conclusion is your comment was worthless.
Superrich on Soi Radjamri.
It’s actually cheaper to exchange cash (or traveler’s checks) in Thailand than to use an ATM card.
“Faced with the prospect of drinking bad coffee, I promptly elected to exchange some USD for THB.”
Astounding the problems that plague the privileged.