200 Baht ATM transaction fee...

[rxpharm]

That's it Bam, let's get Brocklanders to do up a class action lawsuit against the Canadian and Thai banks!

Brockie! Where are you?

[TTChang]

I noticed last trip to LOS that Siam Commercial were charging 20 baht fee, or something like that, on my UK ATM withdrawals. But the other banks weren't.  In fact all banks in Thailand charge a (small) ATM fee on other Thai banks' customers (and even on other branches of your own bank!)

Another   is that my UK bank (Nationwide) have announced the introduction of fees on overseas transactions, from June this year.

So if you are a regular, see if you can get an account in Thailand.  There's a good thread somewhere on this.  I will be using my Kasikorn account much more.  And if you are in Pattaya, I can thoroughly recommend the Kasikorn sub branch at the Avenue Mall (great staff, and not too busy)

[Snick]

Another great idea to promote Tourism !!!
What next, free colonoscopies at Immigration ?

Its hit or miss getting a bank account in Thailand.
I would suggest just trying every bank, one at a time, ask to open an account, argue for a little bit if they say no, try and talk to someone older/in authority, then go to the next bank.
Usually you can get an account by the 5th or 6th Bank. TIT.

[guydesavoy]

I usually get charged 20thb for the transaction, then 1% from my home bank. I usually withdraw at least 10k at a time, never had a problem carrying that amount or stashing it...

Just another tax. At least smokes are still cheap

[molk]

The banks are getting greedier and greedier. If coming from Europe to LOS and using my VISA-card, the fees involved (at least for me) would consist of:

(annual fee to bank for card) + exchange fee (normally in the 1-2% range on each withdrawal most banks I know charge 1.6 or 1.7 %) + your bank's standard withdrawal fee when using the card in LOS (say anywhere from 100 - 200 THB) + the 150 THB imposed by the LOS bank.

PLUS you normally get a pretty bad exchange rate as mentioned earlier.

This all adds up, do the math. Normally I bring a few traveller cheques to LOS as a fallback option to the VISA card but next time it will be the other way around

and btw....

[jadeite]

(rxpharm @ Apr. 15 2009,08:20) If using travelers cheques, getting the biggest denomination is the best thing to do. There is a 33 Baht "stamp" fee for cashing each travelers cheque, so using a $500.00 USD cheque minimizes the cost.

My understanding is with a $500 TC note they hit you 5 times with the stamp fee. My bank charges to issue TC's, Thailand charges to cash them,, and the exchange rate for TC's is lower than the ATM. So I don't see how you can come out ahead not to mention the huge inconveniences of getting TC's, finding a place that is open to cash them, and dealing with not having enough or too much at the end.

[rxpharm]

Is this a new policy? I used travelers cheques last year and the sign on the booths stated stamp fee per cheque was 33 baht. Never had a problem with a stamp fee charge more than that per $500.00 cheque.

[thaibound]

in search of the truth...
i just contacted my bank (which happens to be the humongous BofA) to see if they had either branches or 'relationships' with any banks in thailand whereby i could avoid fees, have a little more monetary security during my stay, etc -- and they said no.
the 'advisors' there then suggested i go with travelers checks.

but i had always thought the exchange rate on travelers checks to be not as good as cash, thus making any 1-2% atm fee still the lesser of two evils, with or without multiple stamp charges on big t-cheques. not to mention the inconvenience of having to go *inside* the bank to cash the t-cheques. now reading here that i can avoid the new 150thb charge by making that same trip inside the bank , it makes the use of travelers checks even less attractive an option.

so i'll stick with the atm's, make larger withdrawals and get back to the good life.
although i do think i'll try snick's suggestion and just wander into a bunch of banks and see what they say.
or maybe i'll wander into one bank, take a look at the line and decide to pay myself 150thb *not* to wait -- and go get a massage.

[rxpharm]

Thaibound, travelers cheques get better exchange rates than cash - here is April 15/09 Bangkok Bank FX rate table - you can see for USD the buying rate for 50 - 100 bills is 35.12, and the travelers cheque rate is 35.22.

As for the multiple stamp charge per travelers cheque - I don't think that is the policy - perhaps one of the local bms can visit an exchange booth to let us know as the policy is posted for the charges.

[kliome]

I will probably sound dumb here, but what is 'slight bill'?

Obviosuly the buying rate is for cash, and TT is travellers cheque.

[thaibound]

thanks rxpharm,
that's a *very* interesting chart. and you say that's pretty typical for t-cheques to pay a better exchange than cash?
and if i walk into a bank (or use their atm) on the day that chart is current, does my withdrawal go at that exchange rate for cash? or is there a third rate?

i know there's an in-country rate better than the international rate to turn usd/gbp/eur/etc into thb, but not sure how to know if that's what i'm getting. maybe that's another reason to exchange travelers cheques and thereby know on-the-spot exactly what you're getting, whereas with the atm withdrawal they just give you baht and you have to wait for a statement to see how much they pulled from your account.
or am i, again, missing something?
or are these nickels and dimes not worth all this bother?

[rxpharm]

The table is for the exchange rates in Thailand from Bangkok Bank as of April 15/09. Yes, it is typical to get a better rate for travelers cheques than for cash - at least in LOS. I have only found the Vasu exchange to give better rates for cash - and they accept cash only.

When you use an ATM card your bank is probably charging you some sort of service charge for the foreign exchage - you can ask them directly to find out what it is. The one card that did not do this was the UK Nationwide Flex card - however they have changed their policy to be the same as all other banks.

Kliome, I am not 100% sure, but I think sight bill means actual cash - which is strange considering the first column.

If you happen to have a bank account where buying travelers cheques have zero or minimal fees, that actually may be the best way to avoid excess charges, unless you carry a lot of cash in with you.

[kliome]

I'm certain the first column is actual cash (which also goes to highlight the better rate you get with Travellers Cheques).

Whenever I exchange cash (UKP) at the Thai exchange booths I get the 'buying' rate (first column) never 'Slight Bill', I'm intruiged to know what Slight Bill refers to as it's always higher than the cash exchange rate.. I've never had the patience to ask at the booths (one of the few places in thailand where a smile isn't guaranteed).

[BlueBallz]

What a bunch of fucking pirates!! I have NEVER had an ATM card even here in America. I understand it is for the convienience and there should be a small(ish) fee. Having said that, I refuse to pay to get hold of my own fucking money. Its absurd. I make many trup to Thailand per year and always bring ca$h....

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!

[PigDogg]

Sight bill rate is when you present a bill of exchange. It's mostly used by import/export businesses.

T/T stands for Telex Transfer. That's the rate used for a wire transfer. But there are generally fixed fees involving the original bank, the intermediary bank, and the final bank so it's not the way to bring only a thousand dollars into Thailand.

I'm told that there's a cheap way to do ACH transfers to the Bnagkok Bank branch in New York or London.