Best currency exchange in BKK and Chiang Mai
 

Aloha and thanks to all who have advised on upcoming trip. Will be in Thailand, LP and Vietnam.

Does anyone know what current exchange rate is in BKK and good place to exchange.

How about Chang Mai a good place to exchange there and is rate usually same in both Bkk and Chiang Mai?

How about LP?

Thanks Much appreciated,

There is no one set exchange rate, and it will vary from place to place. I like to go (in BKK) to a place called Siam Exchange. It is located close to Siam Discovery mall. I always get the best rate there. I did get a competitive rate at the small exchange booth on the second floor of the Siam Paragon Mall. Their rate was better than the one on first floor at MBK mall.

Can't say for Chiang Mai. I've exchanged at a regular bank there, not at any small exchange counters.

No experience with Vietnam at all.

All of the exchange windows will have very close to the same exchange rate (we're talking differences of several hundreths of a baht) in Bangkok and in CM. The rates will vary from day to day. Because I have an ATM card that has no charge to use a foreign ATM and it does not have a percentage charge for foreign exchange, I got the best rate via ATM, but only slightly better than US$100 bills. Travelers checks are often listed as having a slightly better exchange rate, but there is a charge for exchanging travelers checks, so ultimately you get a bit less money for travelers checks than you do for US$100 bills. Even the bank and exchange windows at the Bangkok airport give good exchange rates.

In LP the exchanges are all similar in rates. When I was there a few years ago, there were no banks and you exchanged money at the post office!

In VN, I used cash machines. I found that the banks had similar rates.

This is not at all like Europe, where one exchange window will differ markedly from another.

When I was just in BKK a few weeks ago, the best exch rate I got was 33.2 baht per US $1. I used $100 bills. On that same day, I saw 31.98 at another walk-up window. Or it could have been in Gaysorn Plaza. Anyway, do shop around.

Carol

That's about a 3.7% difference in exchange rates. I have to admit that I've never seen that large a difference in Bangkok. Except at hotels - which always much worse than elsewhere. (By the way, mello, I believe Carol, she's a reliable reporter.)

Kathie

I've consistently gotten the best rate at Siam exchange. It is always better than every other place I check. It's a bit out of the way, so most folks don't go there I guess.

i usually go to super rich, next to the big c.
i thought siam exchange is everywhere, like in big c, and even on suk soi 11.

unless you are changing large dollar sums, i rec. you use the atm, safer.

presently, the b is strong, but still, bangkok is a bargin.

a friend just came back from italy, and his cab fare from the airport to his hotel in rome was 80 e. an average dinner was 30e per person. i paid 65e from paris to cdg.