Hello. I just wanted to know how to carry money in Thailand. I live in the States and i use Wells Fargo debit card. Can i use my debit card in Thailand? For ATM? Or should i just carry cash? Of course, here in the States, i dont pay any money to withdraw cash from Wells Fargo ATM. But if i use ATM in thailand, whats the withdrawal fee? What is the daily limit that i can withdraw cash from Thai ATM? I've been googling bout this but most people are saying Wells Fargo doesn't work in Thailand. ughh. what a bummer. Oh and one more thing, whats the limit on how much cash i can bring thru Thai airport?
Thanks.

Hi,
Every withdrawal in LOS with a non Thai card will cost you 150B plus what your own bank will charge. Also the exchange rate will be made by your own bank, this is normally lower than the Thai exchange rate.
I found the best way to go was to open a Thai bank account. I did this while still living in a hotel, Then i transfer funds every month to my account in a Thai bank. It also depends how long you are saying in LOS. as to the best way to go. Myself i would not carry a lot of cash with you when coming to LOS. Have your money in Travellers C. safest way IMO. I used A.E. when i first came here.
You can withdraw a max of 200.000B at a bank, in LOS, using your debit card. Everything over this amount you will have to tell your bank what it is for, nosey beggers, and can take 4 or 5 days to get,
Cheers Doug.

Erica much of what you need to know depends more on your Wells Fargo account than Thailand.

How much can you draw at a time from an ATM?? That is set by the card provider - so could be $100, $300,$500 or even more.
Most banks like you to inform them when you are going abroad & some will automatically 'stop' cards where the owner has not said that they are.

As long as the card contains a Visa logo you can use just about any ATM. The cards accepted (for things like Master Card, Amex etc.) are always shown clearly on the ATMs where they are accepted.

There is a 150 baht Thailand ATM surcharge if you use most ATMs. AEON is the exception & they charge nothing. There are a few of their ATMs around Udon, mostly in the big Supermarkets, but also in the Complex.

I believe that the 'magic number' for cash for Americans is $10,000 (I think it is 10,000 euros for Europeans). Anything above that figure has to be declared on entry to most countries.

Personally I would not entertain bring large amounts of cash with you, although a few thousand Thai baht is always handy to have as airports are not always the best place to exchange money. Traveler Cheques are a far more secure way of bringing money with you & are fairly easy to exchange in any large town.

Erica,

I have a M/C debt card from a state side credit union which I use to make cash advances to access my funds. There are no bank transaction fees except for a 1% foreign exchange fee (as opposed to using a credit card FEX fee at 3%). You may want to check with Wells Fargo for fees & limits using this type of transaction.

Using a regular bank ATM you'll get a 150bt fee and possibly a 1% FEX fee (plus whatever Wells Fargo hits you up for). As Bob stated, you can also withdraw from AEON ATM's and not incur the 150bt fee.

AEON is not a bank , more a of credit/lending co. I use it frequently as another option to cash advance. AEON ATM's are limited.

AEON atm's located...

1. Tesco Lotus (UD plaza) Main office
2. Tesco Lotus (ring road/Nong Khai intersection) at entrance past food court.
3. Old Big C, top of escalator leading to food court.
4. New Big C (2nd flr)
5. Central Mall (not sure what floor)



Your safest bet is using travelers checks and rely on all of the above as needed.

You may also want to check with ATM withdrawal limits and notify Wells Fargo that you're traveling to Thailand so they don't freeze your account because of suspicious activity.

I use cash, and only use a card as desparate backup..I wouldnt let my card out of sight, as I just told how to get the pin number off a card in afew seconds flat. Indeed, I didnt know a person's pin number was on the card, but thats whats on the black /brown strip on the back of the card, its just you cant see it...the things I learn from the Bro's, or in this case a Broette, who just did afew months inside..so much for rehabiliation.

Hi Erica,

On second thought...

You may want to seriously consider using Travelers Checks and using your ATM & Cash Advance ("debt card-over-the counter cash disbursement") as a back up. Wells Fargo ATM transaction fees are ridiculously high. 3% on Cash Advance and $5.00 for ATM (not incl the 150bt by Thai banks & a possible 1% on the amount withdrawn).

ATM fees...



Cash Advance...



Travelers Check...



https://www.wellsfargo.com/downloads/pd ... -CA-EN.pdf

Another thing you may want consider is opening an account with a Credit Union (if you qualify for one), they usually offer lower transaction fees or shop around for a financial institutional that offers better rates, such as Schwab

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/ban ... count_faqs

I tried to get a Bank of Bangkok account once ( but needed a thai as sponsor cause I did not own my own house as it were, and so got knocked back . Dont know if they have BoBk in USA where you could open an account) because I believe and do not quote me on this, that they have internet banking, international internet banking. So I was going to merely internet transfer monies myself from my home bank, to Bank of Bangkok account, when I needed it..yes it costs in tranfer fees, but better than worrying about lugging cash, or traveller cheques around, and loosing them, or worse..

someone might be able to elaborate on this internet banking thingy..

They have a few Thai banks in the US, but mostly for commercial banking. Two that I know of, one in California allows outgoing money transfers to the general public, same as Bangkok bank in New York.

BTW, some banks will allow you to open an account on a tourist visa, Siam Commercial and Kasikorn do.

Before I moved here I used travelers checks. At least you are covered if they are lost or stolen. Now, living here I opened a bank account and write a check from my US credit union. I keep sufficient money in the local bank to cover the check and avoid delays in waiting for the check to clear. The fee here is 200 TB regardless of the amount I write. Some banks have a $2,000.00 limit (American or I suppose equivilant in other currency) tho my bank manager has arranged for my limit to be somewhat higher, again, maintaining the funds locally to cover the check.

maaka wrote:I use cash, and only use a card as desparate backup..I wouldnt let my card out of sight, as I just told how to get the pin number off a card in afew seconds flat. Indeed, I didnt know a person's pin number was on the card, but thats whats on the black /brown strip on the back of the card, its just you cant see it...the things I learn from the Bro's, or in this case a Broette, who just did afew months inside..so much for rehabiliation.

maaka I would be interested in where you got the information re a PIN being stored on a card, as my understanding is this is not the case.

I have a Wells Fargo account and occasionally use the ATM card here without a problem. I have in formed Wells that I am in Thailand and requested and increase in my daily limits for withdrawal from the attached bank account . Most of the local ATM limit you to about 25,000 baht per transaction, but you can make multiple withdrawals on the same day. Note: It is not worthwhile to make small withdrawals as Wells Fargo does charge me $2.50 in addition to the 150 baht ($5.00) fee imposed by the Thai bank.

wfoster wrote:I have a Wells Fargo account and occasionally use the ATM card here without a problem. I have in formed Wells that I am in Thailand and requested and increase in my daily limits for withdrawal from the attached bank account . Most of the local ATM limit you to about 25,000 baht per transaction, but you can make multiple withdrawals on the same day. Note: It is not worthwhile to make small withdrawals as Wells Fargo does charge me $2.50 in addition to the 150 baht ($5.00) fee imposed by the Thai bank.

$2.50 or is it $5.00 for international...

I've got a PMA account with Wells Fargo. I get two international withdrawals a month "free". It used to be unlimited but that changed a few years back.

Re opening a Bangkok Bank account . I,ve opened 2 in the past last one was just last year.Without a sponsor or owning property etc. But only a few branches do it. The 2 I know of are 1/ it,s either egamai or tong lot (can,t remember which,
2/ The one I used last year Pattaya beach rd just up from royal garden plaza towards walking street.

Jacko, my daugther's flatmate just did afew months in prison, and when she came out, she showed my daughter her new found skills. I was under the assumption that what is contained on the black strip is the Pin number. maybe I am wrong, or it got lost in translation somwheres, but there is something vital on the black strip that the swipe machine reads..maybe its just your account number, but then again why is a Pin number so important that you have to it onto the swipe machine..I guess I will have to test it out on an old card, and see what happens, or have a word to the old flatmate when I see her next..

maaka my understanding is that there is a code on the strip, but it is not your PIN. When you enter your PIN, it triggers the code to electronically handshake at your bank, thereby confirming if correct or not.

My layman's understanding, expressed in layman's terms - I am sure we will have someone more knowledgeable on the Forum who can give us the good oil.

According to Wikipedia the answer is that it may include the PIN number..

Discretionary data — may include Pin Verification Key Indicator (PVKI, 1 character), PIN Verification Value (PVV, 4 characters), Card Verification Value or Card Verification Code (CVV or CVC, 3 characters)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card

There was an interesting piece on ATM card security in the New York Times a few days ago...... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/techn ... .html?_r=1
An extract "In fact, though, the four-digit numbers required to use cash machines are one element of an extremely strong security model that most of today’s Web sites fall well short of matching."

It would appear that the PIN is stored on the chip for some cards but it is encrypted in such a way that to decipher it you'd have to have the decryption algorithm. And if someone has that then you're buggered.

Safest way to carry money in Thailand? The same you would in any other Country use a bit of common sence!! For example , keep out of dark seedy Sois , travel in daylight hours , keep withdraws to a min , keep off the alch when you have a load of dosh with you , In general try not to stick out like a sore thumb in and you will be fine


Urban Legend (The Thai Guru)