IMPORTANT - BEER & BG funds at stake!

[barneyman]

Hi guys!
Apologies if I am missing a trick here, but every thread I looked at do with money seemed to be maybe out of date or was contradicted elsewhere and I don't want to get stung and lose invaluable (ie limited) beer and bg money.
Arriving next week to LOS and heading straight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket (excitement is borderline uncontrollable).
Contemplating getting £20 GBP or so worth of Thai Baht changed at Heathrow, but then acquiring the remainder whilst in LOS.
We have a few hours to spend in Suvarnabhumi, so is it worthwhile bringing a good bit of £GBP with us to change in the airport currency exchange, or should we just withdraw the money from ATM's (what are the rates like and do uk banks ususally charge for withdrawing the money? - I have contacted the bank to tell them where I am going, as well as visa people).
Hopefully some of the UK BM's can throw me some useful tips about the money situation in LOS.
Looking forward to meeting some of you folks in MTB next week!

Thx

[dawsey]

£20 in baht should see you through to Phuket (Thats about 1200 baht) Your taxi from the airport, if not a hotel pickup will be around 550-600 baht

A couple of beers and some food at the airport will only be 200/300baht or so.

You will get conflicting advise here, and its a personal thing really, but I would take sterling, and keep it in the room safe. Change your money as and when required at the moneychangers all around Patong.

Some will say use the ATM, but then you have charges, use travellers cheques, then you have to take passport everytime you want to change money.

Up to you in the end I guess.


Just reread your post. Change your money at BKK Airport. Best you'll get in UK is around 56baht -£1 in LOS it will be 61+ Doesn't sound much but it makes a difference.

[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!

[MrDK]

Can't help you with the specifics on UK bank charges, but seem to have read that most of them charge it.
You are much better doing your exchange in LOS, whether from £GBP cash or ATM. If you withdraw 10000 baht or more from ATM at a time the fee (overall) should be small.
Personally I wouldn't even exchange 20£GBP in advance, but wait to the airport, especially if you have some extra time. I always bring a fair stash of (hard) cash, but rarely use much of it. I bring it just in case.

[benben]

Hi Barneyman,
If you get a Nationwide Account you do not pay any charges when you use the ATM and is easy to set up with your local branch. What i tend to do is take some travellers cheques as super safety (but you do get a small charge when you buy and then change) and use my Nationwide card (transferring money into it from my main account online when it is running low).
You can change Sterling cash (it has to be Bank of England) easily. I've never had a problem changing cash, queques etc. at the booths on the street, but always check for card scanners at the ATMs(not found one yet). I would not change any money into Baht here as the exchange rate is pants, wait till you get there.
Hope this helps

[dizbuster]

Not sure if you are flying straight through to Phuket, i.e. transfer at Suvarnabhumi (SVB), so I will comment on yes and no.

If you transfer from international to domestic at SVB, then there are 2 exchange booths where the small collection of shops are.

If you exit through immigration and then check in again for your domestic flight to Phuket, then there are many exchange booths located around the airport, both on the level after you exit through customs and on the check-in level.

As you state that you have a few hours between flights, I recommend that you do not change any money in the UK and that you do it at SVB airport, even if it is only a small amount. I would also suggest a little more than 20 pounds, perhaps 50 or 100 as when you hit Phuket you will need money for a taxi and also you might wish to buy a few personal items at the nearest 7/11 etc before you get chance to get out and find the nearest bank/ATM/exchange booth.

Taxi "limos" from Phuket airport to Patong are 550baht from inside the airport however I am led to believe that the taxis with meters are a little cheaper. Plenty of threads on here for more info about those.

Have a good trip.

[Datsun]

If you exchange money at the small "exchange booths" around Patong, I think these have the best rates. Then it can be good to walk around a bit first and check the exchange rates, coz they are not the same from place to place.

It has been a few months since I were in Patong but if I recall correct the booth with the best rate is on Bangla road, near Soi Lion or Soi Tiger, don't recall the name but think the color was red.

[steve w]

i usually have a mixture of TC'S and a couple of cards,bank card and credit.charges with TC'S are 1% either end BUT you get a better rate which somewhat negates this.
Some cards charge some don't,check.
As for bringing large piles of cash,you loose it ,its gone for good,TC'S can be replaced and so can cards,innit. meter taxi from airport(go out the doors ,turn right and walk 25 m to the taxi shed on the corner,get a ticket(pay driver) to patong about 430 bht.

[sishow]

Originally Posted by steve w

i usually have a mixture of TC'S and a couple of cards,bank card and credit.charges with TC'S are 1% either end BUT you get a better rate which somewhat negates this.
Some cards charge some don't,check.
As for bringing large piles of cash,you loose it ,its gone for good,TC'S can be replaced and so can cards,innit. meter taxi from airport(go out the doors ,turn right and walk 25 m to the taxi shed on the corner,get a ticket(pay driver) to patong about 430 bht.

Agree with Steve! I do the same thing to the letter.

Not the best feeling having to stay in los on a very limited budget due to your only available money going missing or being nicked. As it happened to me a few years back now.

Keep safe, don't do drugs and stay at school kids!

[Jack23]

yeah good advice but cash is king in the LOS......for me it's cash, ATM card and credit card and then if all else fails it's a quick call to daddy to help me out.

be safe and dont lose your head

[xxmikexx]

Personally I bring about £100-200 in sterling for emergencies but always use UK debit card to draw Thai cash from ATM. I have a Halifax card and last November they charged £1.50 every time I withdrew money (whether 2000 or 10000 baht. So if you make a few large withdrawals it's not a huge amount of money. I understand that it's probably a good way to get a decent exchange rate but I have no experience with the money changers mentioned by previous posters. I have thought about opening a Nationwide account just for holiday money as they do not charge. Another tip if you use an ATM card, try and use an ATM that is outside or inside a bank so there is some comeback if the ATM swallows your card or does not pay out. There's a few banks / ATM's inside Jungceylon and I feel safer there than on the street. Don't use a credit card to withdraw cash as that is expensive for charges.

[dawsey]

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.

[Mai Chob]

Didnt read all the above. T chqes are the best arte but NOT after they extract the fees. So UK cash is the best here. At Bkk open 24hrs. Its honestly a safe place, put your cash in the safe!

[swiftdave]

Just a word of advice, im not sure about UK Pounds but i did find I had trouble exchanging USD if the note was older than 1996. TCheques were never a problem

[hagler]

Cash is king for me. Best way I know to get rid of the "black" money from the cash jobs back home.

[dbaron]

Originally Posted by barneyman

Hi guys!
Apologies if I am missing a trick here, but every thread I looked at do with money seemed to be maybe out of date or was contradicted elsewhere and I don't want to get stung and lose invaluable (ie limited) beer and bg money.
Arriving next week to LOS and heading straight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket (excitement is borderline uncontrollable).
Contemplating getting £20 GBP or so worth of Thai Baht changed at Heathrow, but then acquiring the remainder whilst in LOS.
We have a few hours to spend in Suvarnabhumi, so is it worthwhile bringing a good bit of £GBP with us to change in the airport currency exchange, or should we just withdraw the money from ATM's (what are the rates like and do uk banks ususally charge for withdrawing the money? - I have contacted the bank to tell them where I am going, as well as visa people).
Hopefully some of the UK BM's can throw me some useful tips about the money situation in LOS.
Looking forward to meeting some of you folks in MTB next week!

Thx

Hi Barneyman,
Just came back from LOS and I took cash with me because the last time in Phuket in May/June I could not use my Commonwealth bank of Australia card in the machines over there. Lucky credit cards of mine and my wifes could be used.
This the 3rd time overseas that my cards won't work even though my bank say's they will. Fcuk the bank I am changing as they have no idea what its like to have no access to your money out of your account while overseas.
This also happened to me in New Zealand and the bank had no explanation why.
This trip a couple of weeks ago I took $4000 cash Australian with me and used the changers on the street with no problem. Left money in the hotel safe also no problem. In fact my wife put all the money inside a passport and whem we arrived in Pattaya and the hotel wanted to photocopy them and she had forgotten to take the money out the reception desk opened the passport only for the money to go everywhere behind the counter. They where completely shocked and insisted that we counted the money to make sure it was all there. ( Silly Girl ). But no problem.
I have travelled to Indonesia several times as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand with cash and have never had a problem with losing it or being able to change money in the street or Airport including changing excess cash back to your own money when returning home.
Take cash, thats my 2 baht worth.

Regards

DB

[mars]

Originally Posted by barneyman

are most of the currency exchange places happy enough to take sterling notes and do they have to be Bank of England?

Not 100% on this but I would take Bank of England notes, I have read that Irish & Scottish notes have been refused in some countries.

[Talon]

when you leave the airport ask for a minibus to patong. It will be 150baht and you'll probably have to wait a few minutes for it to fill up but it's a good enough trip. Just tell them the name/address of your guesthouse, easy. ATMs are everywhere but some cash is good and I always carry at least 20quid in my wallet just in case I'm caught short.

[dawsey]

Originally Posted by Talon

when you leave the airport ask for a minibus to patong. It will be 150baht and you'll probably have to wait a few minutes for it to fill up but it's a good enough trip. Just tell them the name/address of your guesthouse, easy. ATMs are everywhere but some cash is good and I always carry at least 20quid in my wallet just in case I'm caught short.

The minibus is OK if you don't mind touring around the hotels in Patong dropping people off until it reaches your hotel

I'd rather part with an extra 250/400baht and get straight there in a metered taxi/limo myself. To each his own though.

[barneyman]

Wowzer! Been away with work for a couple of days and didn't check the forum for replies. Thanks to everyone for the responses, hopefully most will be taken onboard. I think I will go with the cash option (don't have Nationwide, yet, maybe for next time) as it looks as though constant withdrawals from the ATM would deny me some much needed (limited) funds.
Simply CANNOT wait til I arrive, anyone know any good cryogenics facilities to make the time pass easier between now and then?

Must say a big thanks to all BM's again for the help and advice! Really appreciated.

[ThaiLearner]

Originally Posted by benben

Hi Barneyman,
If you get a Nationwide Account you do not pay any charges when you use the ATM and is easy to set up with your local branch. What i tend to do is take some travellers cheques as super safety (but you do get a small charge when you buy and then change) and use my Nationwide card (transferring money into it from my main account online when it is running low).
You can change Sterling cash (it has to be Bank of England) easily. I've never had a problem changing cash, queques etc. at the booths on the street, but always check for card scanners at the ATMs(not found one yet). I would not change any money into Baht here as the exchange rate is pants, wait till you get there.
Hope this helps

Even with the natiowide account the ATM provided may charge you a fee. I tend to take £ in cash and change when I get to airport in Thailand, if I spend more then i have my card as back up.

[ThaiLearner]

Originally Posted by dawsey

The minibus is OK if you don't mind touring around the hotels in Patong dropping people off until it reaches your hotel

I'd rather part with an extra 250/400baht and get straight there in a metered taxi/limo myself. To each his own though.

me too I once got a mini bus from bangkok to Pattaya and it too ****ing ages.

[ThaiLearner]