Udon Thani Thailand Forum - Udon Thani, Thailand

Haven't used my UK debit card in an ATM in a while but did today and noticed the Kasikorn Bank now charge 220 bht for a withdrawal.. Does this apply to all Bank ATM's?

I have found that the norm in Thailand is 150Bht.
Even that is triple what they charge in Australia.

220Bht is pretty steep.
Mick

Aeon are 150, I thought everybody else was 200 - but I only use Aeon so have no idea if everyone else has increased theirs.
200 was a rip off!!

Which banks charge 150 bht Mickojak? I thought they'd all gone up to 200 bht..

I withdrew 10,000 baht yesterday from a BKK bank ATM for a Coop Bank in the UK with a Coop card. At the end of the day (inc a 200 baht charge).. I got the money at 40.15 baht per UK pound. Ok.. well.. not really.. but.. it gives a bench mark for Brit Pounds that others can compare to this week. Brit pound sucks of course at this time. But its the LOWEST in REAL money I have seen/received for 2 years.

Unfortunately you will always get a bad rate using overseas ATM card as you will get the offshore baht rate plus the expensive charge. I find it bad enough paying the fee for withdrawing cash from my Kasikorn account when I am out of the province of my branch

It was announced that most banks (Thai banking cartel) were rising prices to 220 baht, beginning of February. Actual date depends on when the ATM's get updated. AEON are only 150 baht, but only have Atm's at about 4 locations ....

For UK people, you need to get an ATM card that offers cash free foreign withdrawals (doesn't include the Thai ATM fee). Some fee paying bank accounts provide this. Also better still, some credit cards will allow free cash withdrawals AND you get the going VISA/Mastercard international exchange rate (which would give you about 43.4 baht to the pound on the 15th). Just remember to pay your bill within a few days to cut the interest you are charged. I find it is a better rate than the tt rate at thai banks that you get when you do a transfer. Compared to my UK debit cards, i reckon i save between 6-9% by using my credit card. Compared to a bank transfer (which takes a few days), i need to transfer over 1500 GBP to be better off.

rick wrote:It was announced that most banks (Thai banking cartel) were rising prices to 220 baht, beginning of February. Actual date depends on when the ATM's get updated. AEON are only 150 baht, but only have Atm's at about 4 locations ....

For UK people, you need to get an ATM card that offers cash free foreign withdrawals (doesn't include the Thai ATM fee). Some fee paying bank accounts provide this. Also better still, some credit cards will allow free cash withdrawals AND you get the going VISA/Mastercard international exchange rate (which would give you about 43.4 baht to the pound on the 15th). Just remember to pay your bill within a few days to cut the interest you are charged. I find it is a better rate than the tt rate at thai banks that you get when you do a transfer. Compared to my UK debit cards, i reckon i save between 6-9% by using my credit card. Compared to a bank transfer (which takes a few days), i need to transfer over 1500 GBP to be better off.

A question in regards to using a UK Credit card.
I have a thai bank and debit card however if I use my Uk Credit card to purchase diesel food etc would I get a good rate if I paid it off with my UK online banking thanks rather than transferring from uk

valiant wrote: A question in regards to using a UK Credit card.
I have a thai bank and debit card however if I use my Uk Credit card to purchase diesel food etc would I get a good rate if I paid it off with my UK online banking thanks rather than transferring from uk

It depends on the Credit Card provider, but that's exactly what I do. Halifax Clarity does not levy any charges for purchases, just don't use it to draw cash & pay off in full or you get horrendous interest charges. Pay in Thai Baht & you get the advertised MasterCard rate of the day which is always somewhere better than the banks, today it was 43.7 THB/GBP

Nigglyb wrote:Pay in Thai Baht & you get the advertised MasterCard rate of the day which is always somewhere better than the banks, today it was 43.7 THB/GBP

True, but most bank levy a fee on top of the prevailing foreign exchange rate determined by Visa/MasterCard which annihilates the rate advantage.

Got a debit card from Chase Bank in the US. Exchange rate on a withdrawal made this week was 34.96. Far better than being offered locally.

In addition, the type of account I have allows up to 4 ATM withdrawals a month for free. The ATM charges me 200 Baht and the bank refunds it.

Pretty good deal, I think

Balthasar G. wrote:

Nigglyb wrote:Pay in Thai Baht & you get the advertised MasterCard rate of the day which is always somewhere better than the banks, today it was 43.7 THB/GBP

True, but most bank levy a fee on top of the prevailing foreign exchange rate determined by Visa/MasterCard which annihilates the rate advantage.

I know, that's why I said depending on Credit a Card provider. Halifax Clarity does not levy a charge

Think it was voted best c/c to use abroad,ive been using 1 for years,i go into the bank once a month and show passport sign a few papers then punch pin number into desk top machine,receive cash,then pay it off online

WizzWanger67 wrote:Think it was voted best c/c to use abroad,ive been using 1 for years,i go into the bank once a month and show passport sign a few papers then punch pin number into desk top machine,receive cash,then pay it off online

Thats the one, although I've never drawn cash as I heard the interest charges were bad or equivalent to other CCs
I refuse to give banks any more cash than is absolutely necessary as they're all lying, thieving, cheating barstewards