Airport to hotel

[Snick]

No need for Baht coming into Thailand, you can change money or use an ATM in the airport (BTW I prefer to use an ATM, better rate than money changer; and avoid travellers checks).

You do need 500 Baht to fly out of the country (airport tax). Make sure you have it, the tax is collected right before passport control.

[PigDogg]

Snick somehow has an unusualy good deal with his bank. With many ATM cards their can be as much as a 3% service charge. You get hit with service charges from both your bank and Mastercard (or Visa) in many cases.

And if you ever call up asking about service charges it's tough to get straight answers.

If you use TC, try to get them in 500 dollar denominations as the Thai moneychangers tack on a 30 baht fee per check so cashing five100's is 120 baht more expensive than cashing one 500.

Traveler's checks seem to get a better exchange rate than cash though.

If bringing cash, and only for your first transaction at the airport bring 100's (better rate) and make sure they are as new as possible, absolutely no 1996 series.

I bring about 700 cash to change at airport, a whole mess of TC, and an ATM card. It's good to have some TC since AMEX will get you the cash fast if lost or stolen.

[Snick]

My ATM was great, no fees on either end. Then they started charging me 1%. I have another ATM that charges me a flat $1.00, I use that one now.

Only thing you can do is try out your card and see what happens.

If you do bring cash in dollars, make sure your $100 notes are new. Due to counterfeiting there are some years that are not accepted (like 1993 or somesuch).

[Road Runner]

(goingtosugarland @ May 22 2006,02:16) Is there any need to have bhat ready before taking off from your home country? If so, how much?

Hello Goingtosugarland,

So far I have always found that the rate at Bangkok airport is about 2 Baht/£ better than the rate in the UK. So I never change any money before I get there.

The money change booths in Sukumwit give about another 0.7 Baht above the airport rate. Not worth worrying about if you only change $100-200 at the airport.
If you go to the small bank at On Nut BTS station you get about 0.9 Baht more. Luckily On Nut is the most handy BTS station for me   .

I also have a card from a UK building society which does not charge for foreign ATM withdrawls. Most UK banks charge either £2 or 1.5-2%.  Sounds like the US banks are not so greedy  

If I did not have that I'd use mostly travellers cheques. But as PigDogg says there is a 30 Baht charge on them so get fairly large denominations.
My local TC issuer says they should not charge like this - but TIT (This Is Thailand!)

As Snick says dont forget the 500 Baht airport tax to leave the country - you pay after you check in as you go back through to passport control.

RR.

[Guest]

(Road Runner @ May 21 2006,20:40) Hello David123au,

When you come out of customs (layout is the same in both terminals) turn Left and head towards the crowd waiting at the barrier.
(Change your money for the taxi at any bank on your left - the rate is better than outside Thailand and only slightly worse than downtown Bangkok).

When you get to the crowd at the end lots of taxi touts will offer you taxis to the city. I just steamroller through them! (Smiling politely of course    )
A few yards further - on your right is the exit door - as you walk out the door turn right.  About 15 yards (metres) away you will see a small orange booth.  This is the official taxi stand.

If you are lucky there will be only a few people waiting. Sometimes there can be 50-70! Join the queue.
At the booth just say the hotel name - their English is not good but they seem to know the name of everything in Bangkok!
They write you out a ticket and one of the wating taxi drivers will take part of it and hustle you to his cab. As Stogie says it all seems a bit chaotic but it works very well.

Metered taxi fare to the top of Sukumwit (Nana) is about 120-140 Baht depending on the traffic.

Taking the expressway is the best option takes about 20-25 minutes as opposed to 30-45-60 minutes.  When you get in the taxi say to the driver  -  'expressway khrap' (pronunced  crap!).
This will cost 60 or 70 Baht depending on which way he goes.  You have to pay this on top of the fare.

There is an airport taxi charge of 50 Baht.  It is clearly shown on the signs but you may well miss it as the signs are not good.  It is also mentioned on the ticket slip that you get from the booth.
You have to pay this to the driver when you pay the fare

Total to Nana comes to about 240-260 Baht (AU$9.0).  The touts will charge 500 but they will normally pay the expressway tolls.
I would normally give about a 30 Baht tip.

These are the cheapest taxi fares I know.   The Thai's don't tip taxi drivers by the way  

RR.

Thanks road runner

[Guest]

Does anyone know how the aussie cards work at the atm eg visa mc and amex.

I be in singapore before i come so money changers are good there.

In sydney at present the conversion rate
AUDTHB=X 550 May 22 15,850.782

any id what the current offer is in thailand

[Guest]

(david123au @ May 22 2006,21:44) Does anyone know how the aussie cards work at the atm eg visa mc and amex.

I be in singapore before i come so money changers are good there.

In sydney at present the conversion rate
AUDTHB=X 550 May 22 15,850.782

any id what the current offer is in thailand

The cards will work just fine if they are either Cirrus or Plus.

I personally just withdraw money out of the ATM as I need it, what fees you get charged will depend on your bank but for me this works out the be the cheapest and most convenient option.

Current exchange rates

[Guest]

(ozzie @ May 22 2006,19:58)

(david123au @ May 22 2006,21:44) Does anyone know how the aussie cards work at the atm eg visa mc and amex.

I be in singapore before i come so money changers are good there.

In sydney at present the conversion rate
AUDTHB=X 550 May 22 15,850.782

any id what the current offer is in thailand

The cards will work just fine if they are either Cirrus or Plus.

I personally just withdraw money out of the ATM as I need it, what fees you get charged will depend on your bank but for me this works out the be the cheapest and most convenient option.

Current exchange rates

I like the amex echange rate better i know would not get that mine is the lowest and yours in the middle

Prob go with the cards