As this is my first trip to Thailand could someone please give me advice on changing money, should I just take cash in my own currency($A) and change it to Bhat over there?, also is it wise to use my Amex card and is it generally accepted? , any advice would be appreciated

Don't buy any baht in Oz because the rates are lousy and you'll get much higher in Thailand. Some people swear by TCs but I always bring cash + my Oz ATM card. You can withdraw from Thai ATMs using your Oz card, but the fees were recently increased. I currently pay about $AUD18 in fees when I draw 20,000THB from my account (20,000THB is the max) Previously the fees were about $5. Sorry, can't comment on the Amex card.

Hi Shadow,
have a look at the 2 posts I have put on about a fee free mastercard in Oz. We are going next Thursday and I will try and do a post and let eveyone now how it goes.

Have had feedback from 2 people who have actually used it in Thailand and say it is indeed fee free!

You need to really think about how you take money as the different fees add up.

We just take TC's. I just don't feel comfortable carrying a load of cash around and you get a better exchange rate for TC's than notes.

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!

Hi shadow, Ive just come back from Thailand, took $3100AUD over, which consisted of $100 changed into baht here, $1500 in cash and $1500 in t/cs. While the exchange rate to change money into baht here is indeed always much lower than you'll get in Thailand, it does come in handy for little things you may need, before you get a chance to change money there. For example, when we were in transit at BKK airport, it bought food and drinks, and you may need it for a taxi or transfer to get to your hotel. I think I changed $100 and only got about 25bt here. In Phuket and Bangkok the rate will be much higher, and as Alison says, the change rate for t/cs is always higher by about 1bt. The dollar keeps going up and up, and you'll prob get about 29bt or more now which is great! If you feel safe enough about carrying cash and where you are staying has a reliable room safe or reception safe, then take cash. I did find t/cs were the cheapest alternative to not taking cash, bought them at the PO and no fee to buy them, but about 30bt fee each to cash them in Thailand, plus you will need to take your passport with when you go to change them. Also, if you are with a credit union, another cheap alternative to accessing cash is doing an atm withdrawl on your credit card, I did only one in Bangkok and it only cost me a $4.00 fee, which I thought was OK.

Anyway, there are lots of ways to take money over, there's also the wizard card Karin talks about, and there's a travelex card, and also you can use your atm card over there too, although I think using an atm card does have higher fees than doing a credit card withdrawal.

Kitty

I always take cash and use my ATM card if I run short.

Take what you feel comfortable with! If this is your first trip to Thailand you may not be comfortable with cash but you don't have to carry it around for long!

Most hotels have a safe at the front desk as well as one in the room.

The front desk safe is like a safty deposit box system that needs both you and a staff member to open it and every visit must be signed off by both.This way you only need to take a daily amount with you.

Fee's and charges don't seem much at first until you realize what you could have bought with the fee's if they were baht in your pocket.



Den