Quote:
Originally Posted by barneyman
Dawsey, advice duly taken on board and appreciated 
My personal preference would be to not take lots of £GBP as I am just about retarded enough to lose something like that on my first night, but I understand that there are likely to be charges etc for using ATM's.
In your experience, are most of the currency exchange places happy enough to take sterling notes and do they have to be Bank of England? Do you stick to the main banks in Patong to do the exchange, like in Jungceylon, or are you more likely to use the ones on the street?
Thx for the help! |
Hi Barneyman
OK, if you prefer not to take too much cash, just stick with £100 -£200 and change it at any booth around town. Plenty of them, and the rates are very close. I have no experience of changing anything other than GBP, so if you are hinting at Bank of Scotland notes I can't advise. GBP is no problem at all at the booths. Any booth is OK, just look closely for fake keypads, cameras etc, like you would at home.
I would then use a debit card, but
make absolutely sure your bank knows you will be using it in Thailand I forgot my own advise just recently, and after withdrawing 18k baht, next day all the ATM's rejected my card.
HSBC had blocked it due to unusual useage (for me) but I got a call from them about an hour later asking where I was, did I try to use the card etc.
When they were satisfied it was me trying to withdraw my own money, my card was unblocked within minutes, and I had no further problems.
The Nationwide account that has been suggested is a good idea if you have time to set things up before you leave, and I'd also take a C/C for backup in case of any problems.