Money on Arrival to BKK

Old Feb 25th, 2007, 07:05 PM
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Money on Arrival to BKK

I was reading the visa requirements on the Thailand Ministry of foreign affairs website.

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2490

It says that if you don't need visa (like from the US) you must have funds for your stay in Thailand (min 10,000 baht per person or 20,000 baht per family). Do they require you to have this in cash? Is this even enforced? We usually don't travel with a huge amount of cash, so just want to make sure we have enough.
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 07:31 PM
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I have never been asked a question like this anywhere.
Have been asked when I was leaving the country. Have been asked where I was staying. Have never been asked for proof of funds, health insurance or return ticket. Never had problems even as a young traveling student. No problems in Thailand as of December 2006.
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 07:40 PM
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I have also never been asked on my many trips to Thailand. I expect this is something that might be asked if they thought you did not have enough money to support yourself for a stay in Thailand, though I've never heard of anyone being asked.

Note that this is not a lot of money - and if you needed to, you could withdraw it from the ATM in the arrivals area.
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 07:59 PM
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i think this is the typical type of question that is asked of people who appear to be undesirable for entry into a country....ones who might become a burden on the host country....ones who might get stuck there without funds...

many countries require you also to have a forward ticket...
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 08:00 PM
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no proof will be required of you i am sure....unless you are rif raf or an attorney....
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 08:16 PM
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=D>
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Old Feb 25th, 2007, 08:25 PM
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Even attorney's don't get asked this question, I travel there frequently (including twice in the last month) and always list my profession on the landing card and manage to make it through unscathed....I agree with the above posters that it is a way of keeping out people who they believe might become a burden on the state. I would not have any concerns.
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 06:34 AM
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Thanks everyone! Makes sense that it is something that they have in place just in case. We leave tomorrow, so just making sure that I have things sorted out.
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 01:19 PM
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They never even ask Pandas to show them the money. I defer to Bob's expertise on undesireables.
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 01:44 PM
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Hi,
Just returned from a Thailand vacation. We were not asked to provide any proof of funds on arrival. However, we had to pay a departure tax of 700 Baht per person upon departure. Some people have this built into the price of their ticket, but we did not since ours were frequent flyer tickets. Hope this helps>
Kirsten
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 04:41 PM
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I've never experienced the above situation and I've been traveling there almost annually since the 90s. I was just there for three weeks in Dec/Jan and had no money requirement problem. Happy Travels!
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 04:45 AM
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I've never been asked how much money I have ever, I go to Bangkok at least once a year. I come from the Philippines and I dont need a visa to get in Thailand as well. Enjoy your vacation.
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 06:39 PM
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We will be in Thailand next week traveling about the the country and up to Chiang Mai. We are not concerned about the info to have 10,000 baht per person; it seems that may not be entirely accurate. Our question is: do the majority of vendors etc. accept US currency? We were told that small bills would be accepted by most smaller establishment; shopping centers would accept credit cards. What about restaurants? Please help us with the money issue. We will be coming into the country without any baht.
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 06:47 PM
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You can get Baht at an ATM in the airport as well as ATM's around BKK and Chiang Mai.
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 06:50 PM
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The currency of Thailand is the Thai baht. While you may run across the odd vendor who will accept dollars, it is not the norm. You will need to exchange your dollars to baht. You can do this at any of the foreign exchange counters and banks in the airport, shopping centers, banks...you won't have trouble finding an exchange. You can also use your ATM card to get money...check your bank's fee schedule to see what it will cost you.

Credit cards are accepted in many places. Some lower end hotels and shops charge a fee to process a credit card. Your bank may also charge you a foreign transaction fee...check your T & Cs. Street stalls, both for goods and for food, accept cash only, and baht only.
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 06:56 PM
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You won't need baht until you get to Thailand. As others have said, you can get baht from an ATM or an exchange window at the airport so you have cash to pay your taxi or limo. In all of my travels to Thailand I have never had a vendor ask for US$. Frankly, the baht is a btter investment than the dollar these days. The baht is up 10% against the dollar since the beginning of 2007.
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 07:57 PM
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Thanks so much for the info! From some source we were told that US$ were easily spent as they were in China. We will be prepared to purchase Baht. We are traveling with Smartours; are the hotels conviently located to action areas as they advertise? Is the tour to River Kwai worth a full day; I might miss some shopping for this and want to be sure I'm not disappointed!
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Old Oct 1st, 2007, 08:43 PM
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Smartours list the Century Park as the Bangkok hotel. Not a particularly bad location, but a bit of a walk to BTS. http://www.centuryparkhotel.com/pic/map/Walking_map.jpg In Chiang Mai, the Chiang Mai Plaza is listed...good location about 10 minutes walk to the night market area and an easy tuk tuk to the walled part of the city and Sunday market area.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2007, 03:55 AM
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Will it be a problem to exchange currency at the airport when we arrive after mid-night?
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Old Oct 2nd, 2007, 06:36 AM
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Not a problem. Many flights arrive around midnight. There are both exchange booths and ATMs available in the airport.
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