OK folks ... today I got my monthly statement from my Credit Union (City Coast Credit Union). While in BKK I only used it once to do an ATM withdrawal, I took out 10,000bt which is about $348AUD. I was quite pleased that the only fee to do this was a $4.00 o/s withdrawal fee from my credit union.

So ... if a card is only going to be used as a backup for if you run out of cash, then I see this option as an extremely viable one.

A) It is a safer option to do a withdrawal at a bank and not using it for an actual purchase, as it has been reported that credit card fraud (via purchases) is quite high in Thailand

B) It is fairly low in fees - I recon only $4.00 is worth it for the convenience. Some atm withdrawal fees can be as high as $20AUD once you add in a conversion fee as well.

C) It saves you the hassle of having to go out and set up/apply for an additional account with, for example, Wizard - as Karin has mentioned. Also, this option is much much lower in fees, than using either travellers cheques or the travelex card.

Anyway ... hope this helps anyone contemplating whether or not to use their credit card o/s

Kitty