I always take travellers cheques from the post office (here in UK - no commission).
I never take cash - other than enough to spend at Heathrow. (Poor exchange rate for cash)
Once I took travellers cheques with Arabic script on them (I was working in the middle east at the time) - showed them to a guy in an exchange booth halfway down Bangla - and he 'waved his hand' (arrogant tw*t) for me to sign them.....
When he saw the Arabic script, he said 'no good' and threw them back at me.
I spoke very politely and explained that I had signed them - he just f*cked me off with a very impolite "Bai!"
I'd already signed the damned cheque so now I was buggered!. It was (I think) the only public shouting match I've had in Thailand in all the years I've been travelling there.
I didn't get anywhere (of course) so I desperately went to another exchange booth and tried to explain things. The guy was a real gent and said it would be ok for me to re-sign them!!!! Thing is - I was so wound up from my 'shouting match' that my hands were shaking and I had to sign the reverse of the cheque around four times.
I still can't believe that guy was so trusting as to believe me. (Perhaps I was shaking from trying to 'forge' a signature after all?)
Hmmm - what was the point of that? Dunno - just wanted to tell y'all :o
d.
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