ATM's
 

When using the ATM machines in Thailand, how is the money displayed, and what value are the bills. What is the max withdrawl at any one time?

Your money comes out in BAHT, the local currency. Don't remember the max withdrawal. Must be approx. a few hundred like her in hte States.<BR><BR>Remeber you are charged a service fee by the bank per withdrawal.

The maximum withdrawal at any one time is not as important as the maximum withdrawal per day. I have sometimes made two consecutive withdrawals from the same machine in order to get the amount of cash necessary. I believe your maximum withdrawal per day is set by YOUR bank, just as it is at home. (This is negotiable, by the way.)

I understand from my Bank Manager here in Thailand that the maximum withdrawal at one time is determined by the number of notes withdrawn. In Bangkok machines are generally stacked with 1,000 Baht notes, but in the provinces 500 Baht notes are more common. Hence you can generally get twice as much in Bangkok as elsewhere. There may well be exceptions to this, such as airports where large numbers of tourists are expected.

I have also been thinking about using my ATM instead of carrying those god-awful travellers checks. What denomination of bills are available in the ATM's in Thailand. Thanks for any information.

All I use are ATMs and credit cards in Thailand, I've found traveler's checks unnecessary there. <BR><BR>Your withdrawal limit is set by your own bank. So try to have it high enough that you have to make few withdrawals. Each time you withdraw you get charged by your own bank (mine is reasonable at US $1.50, I've heard of some charging as much as $5), and some bank machines also charge you. In Thailand, if a machine charges you, it's usually about $1 or $2. Some machines do not have a charge. I used an ATM in the Bangkok Airport last trip and had no charge from the Thai bank. I received 1000 baht notes from that machine.