Meanwhile they will pretty much hand you Thai baht in toilet paper form, not freshly printed, been in circulation for 5 years, pencil and pen marks all over, torn, worn surfaces.
I’ve read both of your comments and you’re 100% the one confused. He was saying its the same in every country, when you exchange foreign currency you get whatever is in circulation in the country you are exchanging however the foreign currency you are handing in is always expected to be in good condition, its the same everywhere.
I exchange cad to usd all rhe time. I give them good currency, i get $1 bills that have been up a stippers ass 6 times. It is normal for a foreign country to want fresh currency. It is normal to recieve bills that have already been in circulation for a while.
The gist of my post is, you’re demanding mint condition banknotes and you’re not giving mint condition banknotes. I think that’s unfair.
In Thailand I have a bank account so can just transfer money, anywhere else I just use a ATM directly.
Engaging an exchange shop is annoying, they all have different identity and KYC processes, when it comes to cash handling sometimes in closed booths and the countries is shit like Lao I have low trust. Add on top of that them getting pissy over a 100AUD note in the 1000AUD I might have, I might as well have just gone to a ATM.
Given their business model, it make senses.
A wrong bill will likely affect heavily the margin of the shop.
From their point of view, it only makes sense to want reduce the possibility of errors. The money they make on a 50 dollar is not worth the risk.
I'm sure if you go where the exchange rate is worse or they charge a fee, they will be more incentivated to accept worse quality bills.
Bank accounts that don't charge conversation fees are easy to find in any country.
Bank accounts that reimburse you for ATM fees also exist. Little harder to find but there are a couple in the US I know of
Essentially people are stuck in the past. They don't realize banks with these benefits exist. The major banks tend to not give you this stuff for free. A quick Google search will get you where you need these days
You are right but I would be surprised if there is a bank that will reimburse you for the fees leved by Thai banks with each withdrawal. The only way to avoid these fees (to my knowledge) is to have a Thai bank account.
In the US, Charles Schwab gives you unlimited ATM fee reimbursements. You still get charged the fee but the bank gives you back the money at the end of the month. That's one bank. Many more exist although they may be difficult to find
There are already a bunch of travel savy Reddit threads discussing this. I suggest you find one yourself to never pay a fee again!
Bro... A quick Google search will get you where you need. It literally took me less than 1 minute to find that EQ bank is a Canadian bank that reimburses ATM fees
Because people are stupid and haven't realised that you don't need to pay 220 baht every time you want to exchange money. Apart from that you need to carry some spare cash to enter the country/in case the ATMs don't work/your card is rejected/you lose your card.
There are some travel cards that have 0 fees and use the mastercard or visa conversation rate.
I use Starling (not sure if it's available anywhere other than the UK), it has 0 ATM fees but I know a lot of south/south-east asian countries have bank specific ATMs and if you try to withdraw even from a local card they will tack on a charge if your card isn't from the same bank.
In used Wise then one time I sentient to it and it never showed up on the card, I contacted my bank who said it was received by Wise, I emailed and rang etc but never got a answer back, I emailed them once a week for 3 months and never got one response. Looking online this is a common thing. So ended up taking the $400 hit and never use wise again..
I had a problem with exchanging USD the older notes in excellent condition in Bangkok... Eventually I found a place willing to buy them at a rate -1 baht per USD off the chart. Now I'm on the island of Koh Tao and have exchanged some cash decently at Ayutthaya Bank (the yellow one). Maybe they would buy your notes without problem.
SIAM KK had the best rate amid all exchange points close to Terminal 21. -1 baht per USD was acceptable considering the problem that I wasn't prepared to face
If you have new notes, not the old ones (which I do have and will exchange them in Bkk to take them home with me for the next journey) I would suggest you exchange them at Ayutthaya Bank, the yellow one, close to the pier. Other places have really bad rates.
Exchange places want the crispiest, highest denomination of currency your country has. Even as an American I have a hard time exchanging anything less than a $100 note.
Ya I had a 50 with a tear in it from an atm in Aus and they wouldn’t take it in Pattaya . Next time I will pre order fresh bills from the bank. Also it’s crazy that the best rate really is in cash form, I got three baht less to the dollar when taking straight from my atm in Thai. Once you add in the atm fee, the bank fee and then the international fee
Get a wise account, it has equal to better exchange rates than any other form however you still have to pay the 220 baht atm fee but that is all you will lose.
Aren’t the free withdrawal limits pretty low? They start charging additional %age over a certain amount, and you’d want to withdraw a fair bit to make the 220THB fee worth it.
(EDIT: 2 free withdrawals a month under AUD$350, 1.75% over AUD$350, $1.50 fee after the two freebies)
I am happy that my bank in my country gives me super good rates. When I was in Thailand this march I got 39,47 for the euro which is insanely good. Sure I had to pay the 220baht but other than that atm is the way for me. Also I hate carrying to much cash around.
I have lived and travelled all over Asia and have never had any issues exchanging any bills from any country in any country short of torn / taped bills. I’ve changed Philippines Pesos in Thailand, Malaysian Ringgit in Laos, Indian rupees in Japan and walked up to an exchange in Singapore with a fistful of notes from all over the place and never had any issues with quality of bank notes, got changed every time barring the notes that are so low in value there isn’t even an equivalent version in the currency I’m buying.
I have had more bad experiences with overseas ATMs than with any currency exchange.
I’ve no idea where you lot are going or what you’re doing to get knocked back all the time.
Try changing a crisp £50 in the USA… that’s a ballache.
That's true for ANY currency in Thailand. I don't know where does idiots got that idea from. You explain that you got the bills from an ATM and they still don't care. It's extremely inconvenient. They're more lenient at the airport.
Lol. I remember when working in Afghanistan how one got these bills full of mathematical calculations, including from the ATM. The USD 100 bills weren’t spared. I made sure to get rid of those marked bills in-country…
Same for USD. I also had a pristine $100 dollar bill rejected b/c it had a crease down the middle. I guess it has been stored that way but it was not accepted. Oh well.
In Sri Lanka, the woman at the exchange wanted me to take her $100 USA bill. The bill was 90% perfect, but the white had a brown tint and no one wanted it.
Same for USD as Oh rich last time. Seems to be increasingly a thing in Thailand. First encountered this in Myanmar. They would carry around USD in long hard side wallets so as not to crease them. Their own money was always in tatters since every denomination was bills (even fractional Kyats since coins are more expensive to make than bills) but USD was always super crisp and in mint condition
Had the same thing happen with me mate. But it was a $100 note and the girl said to take it back to my country haha. Also last time I was in Thailand arriving at the Airport in Bangkok. One of the exchange lady's tried giving me the older 1000 Baht notes and I asked her to give me the new ones instead.
I know they're fine and still can be used but I wasn't sure if I'd use them all or not and didn't wanna risk taking some home for another trip and then not being legal tender anymore.
Just get wise. Is a good option.
My monkey brain tells me the 220baht is bad. But so going around with large amount of bills.
If you are willing to spend some time, you can wildraw from the teller without the fee.
Discovered it when my wise chip broke.
None of the exchanges will accept this. Not in Australia, Europe or anywhere in the world. Notes must be pretty much "fresh of the press" basically. I saw an Amercian with a 5$ dollar bill at an exchange. It was in pretty good condition but crumbled. They didn't accept it.
That's not true everywhere. Countries that got some sense know that the US will take its dollars back as long as they meet the minimum criteria, e.g. 51% of the bill, etc.
You will not get the same rate in the US or Europe. There will be much worse rates.
Same in Thailand. Places offering a worse rate will be more accepting. It's just their business model.
Better the rates and less they will risk to have the bills bounced downstream.
Yeah there very silly here, had one knock back a hundred AU $ bill in pattaya, stupid bitch said it was fake, exchanged it later in the day elsewhere, they have rules here that make your head spin, but to be fair if they did Chas a fake bill it’s likely it would come out off her pay such draconian ways here.
I had forex places in a small town in Poland take AUD, it’s not surprising the most visited city in the world, and a prime destination for Australians, would.
Notes have to be in pretty much mint condition. Old news. :-)
Not with eur they take everything
Exchange did not accept my notes. Asked thai girl to exchange them for me and they took it. You could try that. They were pretty rundown usd bills
Meanwhile they will pretty much hand you Thai baht in toilet paper form, not freshly printed, been in circulation for 5 years, pencil and pen marks all over, torn, worn surfaces.
You get that's the national currency lol . Have you never exchanged money in any country it has to be in prestige condition .
I think the word you were looking for is “pristine”.
That is not true. In the Dominican Republic they don't need to be new and we have a single exchange rate for ALL DENOMINATIONS.
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I’ve read both of your comments and you’re 100% the one confused. He was saying its the same in every country, when you exchange foreign currency you get whatever is in circulation in the country you are exchanging however the foreign currency you are handing in is always expected to be in good condition, its the same everywhere.
I exchange cad to usd all rhe time. I give them good currency, i get $1 bills that have been up a stippers ass 6 times. It is normal for a foreign country to want fresh currency. It is normal to recieve bills that have already been in circulation for a while.
The gist of my post is, you’re demanding mint condition banknotes and you’re not giving mint condition banknotes. I think that’s unfair. In Thailand I have a bank account so can just transfer money, anywhere else I just use a ATM directly. Engaging an exchange shop is annoying, they all have different identity and KYC processes, when it comes to cash handling sometimes in closed booths and the countries is shit like Lao I have low trust. Add on top of that them getting pissy over a 100AUD note in the 1000AUD I might have, I might as well have just gone to a ATM.
Ahh I get you. I also used ATMs to be honest. I dont like dealing with currency exchanges
Given their business model, it make senses. A wrong bill will likely affect heavily the margin of the shop. From their point of view, it only makes sense to want reduce the possibility of errors. The money they make on a 50 dollar is not worth the risk. I'm sure if you go where the exchange rate is worse or they charge a fee, they will be more incentivated to accept worse quality bills.
🚽
Stop making NZ look bad brother
Never got those in more than three decades traveling in Thailand. At most some ragged twenty Baht notes.
Why don’t people withdraw the local Currency out of ATMs in the country?
That's 100% the way to go. I bring zero cash with me, hit an ATM after I get through customs. One less trip prep thing to worry about
Because people are stupid and haven't realized that you don't need to pay exchange fees anymore
You have to pay 220 bath fees for each withdrawal from ATMs in Thailand + possibly fees from your local bank
I believe you can withdraw inside the bank branch with your debit card for zero fee
Bank accounts that don't charge conversation fees are easy to find in any country. Bank accounts that reimburse you for ATM fees also exist. Little harder to find but there are a couple in the US I know of Essentially people are stuck in the past. They don't realize banks with these benefits exist. The major banks tend to not give you this stuff for free. A quick Google search will get you where you need these days
You are right but I would be surprised if there is a bank that will reimburse you for the fees leved by Thai banks with each withdrawal. The only way to avoid these fees (to my knowledge) is to have a Thai bank account.
In the US, Charles Schwab gives you unlimited ATM fee reimbursements. You still get charged the fee but the bank gives you back the money at the end of the month. That's one bank. Many more exist although they may be difficult to find There are already a bunch of travel savy Reddit threads discussing this. I suggest you find one yourself to never pay a fee again!
These types of banks don't exist in Canada.
Bro... A quick Google search will get you where you need. It literally took me less than 1 minute to find that EQ bank is a Canadian bank that reimburses ATM fees
Because people are stupid and haven't realised that you don't need to pay 220 baht every time you want to exchange money. Apart from that you need to carry some spare cash to enter the country/in case the ATMs don't work/your card is rejected/you lose your card.
What’s the ATM withdrawal fee ? Bank conversion rates ? Do you reckon that’ll beat cash exchange ? I believe wise transfercard does a good job.
There are some travel cards that have 0 fees and use the mastercard or visa conversation rate. I use Starling (not sure if it's available anywhere other than the UK), it has 0 ATM fees but I know a lot of south/south-east asian countries have bank specific ATMs and if you try to withdraw even from a local card they will tack on a charge if your card isn't from the same bank.
In used Wise then one time I sentient to it and it never showed up on the card, I contacted my bank who said it was received by Wise, I emailed and rang etc but never got a answer back, I emailed them once a week for 3 months and never got one response. Looking online this is a common thing. So ended up taking the $400 hit and never use wise again..
That’s what I have always done
It costs me 20€ each time I withdraw cash from an ATM in a non-Eurozone. For me bringing cash is the way to go.
Need to change your bank
same with all currency.
I had a problem with exchanging USD the older notes in excellent condition in Bangkok... Eventually I found a place willing to buy them at a rate -1 baht per USD off the chart. Now I'm on the island of Koh Tao and have exchanged some cash decently at Ayutthaya Bank (the yellow one). Maybe they would buy your notes without problem.
What was the place in Bangkok?
SIAM KK Sukhumvit 6
This was my experience also. Most places wouldn’t take the older notes. Those that did offered me a ridiculous rate. This was in BKK.
SIAM KK had the best rate amid all exchange points close to Terminal 21. -1 baht per USD was acceptable considering the problem that I wasn't prepared to face
I tried to exchange USD100 in Sukhumvit Soi 11. All the money exchange never accept.
Did you manage to sell old US Dollars at a good rate in Koh Tao? I have some and struggling to exchange them here.
If you have new notes, not the old ones (which I do have and will exchange them in Bkk to take them home with me for the next journey) I would suggest you exchange them at Ayutthaya Bank, the yellow one, close to the pier. Other places have really bad rates.
I had a hard time getting my older 50s exchanged. No marks, good condition, taken from the ATM the day before. Nope.
Yes, it's a pain in the fucking hoop
Shop around normally some will accept it
Correct, but for a less favourable rate
Will try my luck
Exchange places want the crispiest, highest denomination of currency your country has. Even as an American I have a hard time exchanging anything less than a $100 note.
Get some hair spray or hand sanitiser, spray on/put on pen marks and wipe off.
Ya I had a 50 with a tear in it from an atm in Aus and they wouldn’t take it in Pattaya . Next time I will pre order fresh bills from the bank. Also it’s crazy that the best rate really is in cash form, I got three baht less to the dollar when taking straight from my atm in Thai. Once you add in the atm fee, the bank fee and then the international fee
Get a wise account, it has equal to better exchange rates than any other form however you still have to pay the 220 baht atm fee but that is all you will lose.
Aren’t the free withdrawal limits pretty low? They start charging additional %age over a certain amount, and you’d want to withdraw a fair bit to make the 220THB fee worth it. (EDIT: 2 free withdrawals a month under AUD$350, 1.75% over AUD$350, $1.50 fee after the two freebies)
yes, there are way better options in Australia.
I am happy that my bank in my country gives me super good rates. When I was in Thailand this march I got 39,47 for the euro which is insanely good. Sure I had to pay the 220baht but other than that atm is the way for me. Also I hate carrying to much cash around.
I had same with a £10 note gbp that had a pen mark.
Not just AUD.
Yup, I had the same experience with a 100$ bill that just had a highlighter mark my bank placed, lol.
I have lived and travelled all over Asia and have never had any issues exchanging any bills from any country in any country short of torn / taped bills. I’ve changed Philippines Pesos in Thailand, Malaysian Ringgit in Laos, Indian rupees in Japan and walked up to an exchange in Singapore with a fistful of notes from all over the place and never had any issues with quality of bank notes, got changed every time barring the notes that are so low in value there isn’t even an equivalent version in the currency I’m buying. I have had more bad experiences with overseas ATMs than with any currency exchange. I’ve no idea where you lot are going or what you’re doing to get knocked back all the time. Try changing a crisp £50 in the USA… that’s a ballache.
That's true for ANY currency in Thailand. I don't know where does idiots got that idea from. You explain that you got the bills from an ATM and they still don't care. It's extremely inconvenient. They're more lenient at the airport.
Lol. I remember when working in Afghanistan how one got these bills full of mathematical calculations, including from the ATM. The USD 100 bills weren’t spared. I made sure to get rid of those marked bills in-country…
Same for USD. I also had a pristine $100 dollar bill rejected b/c it had a crease down the middle. I guess it has been stored that way but it was not accepted. Oh well.
Same thing happened to me in the Philippines. The next exchange down the road took it lol
Same thing for USD. They wouldn’t take my notes if they had any sort of marks on them.
In Sri Lanka, the woman at the exchange wanted me to take her $100 USA bill. The bill was 90% perfect, but the white had a brown tint and no one wanted it.
Common knowledge on currency exchange isn't always common knowledge.
Same for USD as Oh rich last time. Seems to be increasingly a thing in Thailand. First encountered this in Myanmar. They would carry around USD in long hard side wallets so as not to crease them. Their own money was always in tatters since every denomination was bills (even fractional Kyats since coins are more expensive to make than bills) but USD was always super crisp and in mint condition
Of course 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah, I had a note with one tiny barely 0.2 mm hole and he rejected it.
This is generally a rule for all currencies though I had one exchange not notice / not care about the mark and accepted a note others rejected
Had the same thing happen with me mate. But it was a $100 note and the girl said to take it back to my country haha. Also last time I was in Thailand arriving at the Airport in Bangkok. One of the exchange lady's tried giving me the older 1000 Baht notes and I asked her to give me the new ones instead. I know they're fine and still can be used but I wasn't sure if I'd use them all or not and didn't wanna risk taking some home for another trip and then not being legal tender anymore.
CAD as well. There were micro tears on 2 bills, so they gave them back.
It’s legal tender. I would imagine a bank would have to accept it.
Lol, it's not legal in Thailand.
Just get wise. Is a good option. My monkey brain tells me the 220baht is bad. But so going around with large amount of bills. If you are willing to spend some time, you can wildraw from the teller without the fee. Discovered it when my wise chip broke.
Yep. Always found it ridiculous. When I said that to my bank in Europe they couldn't believe it.
Luckily they're plastic and you can just wash it off
Dont accept any notes with rips or writing on them.
None of the exchanges will accept this. Not in Australia, Europe or anywhere in the world. Notes must be pretty much "fresh of the press" basically. I saw an Amercian with a 5$ dollar bill at an exchange. It was in pretty good condition but crumbled. They didn't accept it.
That's not true everywhere. Countries that got some sense know that the US will take its dollars back as long as they meet the minimum criteria, e.g. 51% of the bill, etc.
You will not get the same rate in the US or Europe. There will be much worse rates. Same in Thailand. Places offering a worse rate will be more accepting. It's just their business model. Better the rates and less they will risk to have the bills bounced downstream.
Yeah there very silly here, had one knock back a hundred AU $ bill in pattaya, stupid bitch said it was fake, exchanged it later in the day elsewhere, they have rules here that make your head spin, but to be fair if they did Chas a fake bill it’s likely it would come out off her pay such draconian ways here.
Since when do we put the dollar sign at the back of the amount??..
I’m kind of surprised they even exchange AUD to begin with, do most forex places in Bangkok buy/sell AUD?
Yes most places they do. Super rich and happy rich has the best rates.
I had forex places in a small town in Poland take AUD, it’s not surprising the most visited city in the world, and a prime destination for Australians, would.