Best place to get Thai Baht
 

So am heading into Phuket with US dollars, Aussie dollars and trusty Visa Debit, was planning on getting enought Baht at the airport to get me to Patong, but once there where would be the best place to get some $$$ changed? Hotels? Money exchanges? straight from ATM? any help appreciated.

i always use atm's which are all over town...

i'm sure there are cash exchanges but none come to mind...

ATMs are the most convenient but check with your own bank fir specimen forex rates and charges. Exchange booths at teh airports usually offer competitive rates for cash but steer clear of the hotels which are ibvariably a total rip off!

If you want to exchange currency I would choose a bank vs a money exchanger. The rate will not be that much different but the Baht you're getting will be real.

If you just want Baht then use the ATM as recommended by the wise ones above.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for not saying Thai "bath"

No worrie's Magno7 :P lol

Sorry couldn't help myself

There are bank exchange booths everywhere - just check one to the next as the rates are usually better at one for cash and another if you use TCs These are proper "Bank" booths but not necessarily actually in a main bank building. Check with ATM's re your card for charges. ATMs in Thailand now all seem to charge an extra fee for withdrawals no matter how much you take out - from memory I think 150 bt each time. Thats on top of anything yout card may charge for using it overseas. So if you only take out a little it cancels out the better rate quickly. Generally I take cash with card for backup. The hotels will have the worse rate of the lot.

Thanks, my bank charges 5$ if using an ATM plus 2.5% exchange rate otherwise using card for purchases is only 2.5%

For the most part Thailand uses real banks for changing money. There are lots of banks and mini banks around. Usually hotels and stores have the worse rates compared to the banks. Yes, there is a 150 baht surcharge for all ATM withdrawals with foreign debit or credit cards. Because the fee is so high take out the most you can at one time to cut down on fees.

If you can get travelers checks without paying any commission from your bank or credit union the fee to cash one of them is only 33 baht! If you take travelers checks only bring the largest denominations you can get. You will have a chance to change any left over Thai money back to your currency before you fly out.

Oh yeah, the rates change every working day. So the rate you get one day for changing money over will probably be a little different a few days later, either up or down - this is normal. Just about the worse rate you can get is when you change your money over to Thai baht in a different country.

Good luck.

The best places to exchange US Dollars in Bangkok are: Super Rich (close to Big C between Chit Lom & Phetburi Roads on Ratchademri) and Vasu (under the Nana BTS Station, on the north side of Sukhumvit.)

Both have real Baht, and better rates than banks.

Are there ATMs at the Phuket airport?

We were just in Phuket the last week of October. We carried a pre-paid Visa card that allows us to take cash out of a Visa-compatible ATM almost anywhere in the world in the local currency. There are oodles of ATM's around the streets and tourist areas of Phuket.

The exchange rate you pay is the same as what your local bank would charge if you were to "order" the money in that currency before you departed. The money is safe, the card guaranteed against loss, and you can recharge it while on the road by going online and transferring money from your own deposit account to the card account. We've used the card in Europe as well as Hong Kong, Thailand and Macau. You can even use the card when you are back home.

There is a service fee each time you use it but it's a great way to pre-pay your trip. Don't expect to use it as a "credit card" in all countries though...although some retailers may have that capacity. It is intended as an ATM withdrawal service.

Check out http://www.cashpassport.com for other info.

BKMK

Assume that you are from Australia, why would you have Aussie Dollars otherwise? In the USA there are banks that don't charge ATM fees or reimburse you for other bank's charges. My bank reimbursed every penny that the Thai ATM's charged me.
You may want to check with your bank's debit card.

The cash passport turns out to be a rather expensive way to get local currency, given the service charges.