Exchange booths in Thailand

[Londoner]

I counted four that have closed recently in the Silom/Surawong area. Any explanation?

[fedssocr]

atms everywhere? credit cards

[TMax]

Better rates elsewhere

[Guest]

1 ATMs cost more than the best exchange rate booths. Or they do if I add the 3% charged by the typical UK bank to the 150 baht ATM fee (or whatever it is).

 

2 In recent years they added about 10 booths at the airport rail terminal & rates there are soo good I don't use the ones in Silom.

 

3 Some closures are simply replaced with other outlets nearby.

[fedssocr]

in my case, my US bank rebates ATM fees (including the 150 baht fee) charged by the ATM owner. I'm not sure the rate difference is all that big, but the interbank rate is better than what you pay at an exchange booth however on the relatively small amounts I am dealing with it probably doesn't amount to much.

[paborn]

Frankly, I never worry about those fees. It's just a cost of travel. Sure I can use the exchange booths but you have to have something in hand to exchange. That means carrying cash. I bring some but use my atm and cards and adjust everything into my travel budget.

[TMax]

On my last 2 trips I found the money exchange at Sala Daeng BTS consistently had the best rate around the Silom - Surawong area and as I either took the BTS nearly every day or I was near by I just changed there.

[faranglaw]

The best rates are at Superrich, according to Dear Husband. The green ones, not the orange ones.

[vinapu]

Frankly, I never worry about those fees. It's just a cost of travel. Sure I can use the exchange booths but you have to have something in hand to exchange. That means carrying cash. I bring some but use my atm and cards and adjust everything into my travel budget.

I rather spend my money on boys than ATM fees , actually 220 I believe, cash is the king as far as I can see.

 

220 makes two bar boys tipped 100 each happy, and I still have 20 for waiter's tip

[anddy]

Rates at green and orange Superrich are virtually identical:

 

as of this post they have these rates (buy/sell):

 

                green              orange

USD   32.78 / 32.82     32.78 / 32.83

GBP   42.55 / 42.80     42.55 / 42.80

EUR   37.60 / 37.70     37.60 / 37.75

 

 

green: https://www.superrichthailand.com/#!/en

 

orange: http://www.superrich1965.com/en_index.html

 

Orange Superrich has the advantage of having plenty of branches whereas I rarely ever see green.

 

Also, there is a relatively new booth called Twelve Victory on the ground floor of the DTAC office Building at Chamchuri Square (MRT Sam Yan) which also has almost identical rates. 

[Jasper]

The best rates are at Superrich, according to Dear Husband. The green ones, not the orange ones.

That’s correct.

I always check both green & orange’s rate at their headquarters in Ratchadamri opposite Central World and green is sometimes better. Also their headquarters give you a better rate than their booth in shopping malls.

[Guest]

                green              orange

USD   32.78 / 32.82     32.78 / 32.83

GBP   42.55 / 42.80     42.55 / 42.80

EUR   37.60 / 37.70     37.60 / 37.75

 

It's nice to see people here discussing the losses on a transaction (controllable & knowable), rather than speculating on where the exchange rates will move to (uncontrollable & for most of us, unknowable)

 

These are good spreads, although it has to be noted the values are (Green):

USD 0.12%

GBP 0.59%

EUR 0.27%

 

The GBP has a considerably worse spread.  

Although if you lose just 0.3% on a transaction, it's way better than losing 3.5% at some random exchange booth or over 10% with some crappy UK airport rate.

 

Incidentally, for the people who don't care about losing the 3.5%:

(i) It takes almost no effort to avoid the 3.5%

(ii) Losing 3.5% of your money is equivalent to burning the salary from approximately 1 year of your working life.

 

I always like to reference against an XE mid-market rate, however the Pound has been strengthening today & I don't know exactly when you took your values, or how much lag Superrich companies have in setting their rates.

 

Graph attached for reference.

 

 

Checking against mid-market was much easier on my recent trips, since I was flying over the weekend when the forex trading centres are shut & hence the mid market XE graph was almost flat for the whole time.

[ChristianPFC]

1 ATMs cost more than the best exchange rate booths. Or they do if I add the 3% charged by the typical UK bank to the 150 baht ATM fee (or whatever it is).

 

When I withdraw money at an ATM, I get less THB per EUR than at an exchange booth. However operating costs for an ATM are probably much lower than for an exchange booth.

 

There is no lack of exchange booths in Silom road, I estimate you can find one every 50 meter. Which is a huge waste of resources. There is an overkill of exchange booths in Silom and Sukhumvit and Pattaya, and up to 7 different ATMs in places like Hua Lampong railway station, just for lack of cooperation between banks.

 

I pass Ratchadamri about once per week anyway, so I do all my money exchange there. But instead of going to Superrich (draw a queue number and deal with three different people before getting to the counter), I compare rates and then go to a lesser known money exchange, where there are no queues; often I'm the only customer, and the rates are the same.

[Guest]

When I withdraw money at an ATM, I get less THB per EUR than at an exchange booth. However operating costs for an ATM are probably much lower than for an exchange booth.

 

There is no lack of exchange booths in Silom road, I estimate you can find one every 50 meter. Which is a huge waste of resources. There is an overkill of exchange booths in Silom and Sukhumvit and Pattaya, and up to 7 different ATMs in places like Hua Lampong railway station, just for lack of cooperation between banks..

 

The operating costs for ATMs are lower, but there is more competition between exchange rate booth operators.

 

ATMs are run by the banks, who appear to informally cooperate in screwing foreign tourists with a 150 baht withdrawal fee (or whatever it is now).   Co-operation, not competition.

 

Thankfully, in addition to the greedy banks, there are lots of smaller independent exchange rate booths who offer excellent exchange rates.   It's a very simple  matter of finding one and using them.

 

Then, in the UK at least, almost all of the banks charge 2.75~3% on top of the almost perfect Mastercard/Visa exchange rates.  Almost like another cartel.   [There are RARE exceptions, like the Halifax Clarity Credit Card]. 

 

 

There might just be a business opportunity to set up ATMs catering to tourists.   Reduce the charge from 150 baht to 50 baht.   Offer "Dynamic Currency Conversion" so the withdrawal is in the "home currency" and take about 1.5%.    I would think that could still be profitable.

[vinapu]

I had an opportunity to compare rates between airport railway station and Silom yesterday.

 

Railway station won as best rate there on $ beat best on in Silom by 10

 

 baht on 100$, that's 100 baht savings on exchanging 1000 $ to put things in perspective, better  but hardly worth hair splitting over .

[Guest]

Absolutely. 

 

Anyone who takes zero care over exchange rates could lose an extra 1200 baht or more for every $1000 changed.   Since almost no effort is required to do better, it makes sense to do so.

Once you are somewhere near the best rates, it is rarely worth a detour to get the last 100 baht.

 

For those of us who travel light & use the airport rail link, it's exceptionally easy to change our money there & get treat value.

[paborn]

Anyone who takes zero care over exchange rates could lose an extra 1200 baht or more for every $1000 changed.  

 

 

Seriously, $36 on $1,000?  I'm not arguing but I find that amount hard to believe.

[witty]

3.6% is not too bad.

I've seen worse rates than that offered at airport exchanges for less popular currencies. We're talking about 10-20% loss.

[paborn]

I see that 3.6% on $1,000 is $36. What I don't see is the difference in rates being 3.6% Help me here, what am I missing? There might be a 3.6$ difference but that is between the rates - not an extra 3.6%. I have to pay some exchange rate so I don't see that as a fair way to look at it.

[Guest]

Anyone who takes zero care over exchange rates could lose an extra 1200 baht or more for every $1000 changed.  

 

 

Seriously, $36 on $1,000?  I'm not arguing but I find that amount hard to believe.

 

The site I use currently shows a 3.77% difference between the rate at the top of the list and the bottom, but I have seen larger differences than this on that site AND it doesn't include the some of the worst available rates.  

I have also seem more than 3.6% difference between upstairs in the airport and downstairs at the rail terminal.

 

Of course if you're not in the habit of watching these things, 3.6% would surprise you.

 

If you want to buy THB in the US, Travelex will currently give you 28820 baht for $1000 at some of their airport booths.  In Superrich Rachadamri, you would get 32750.    That is a 12% difference.

 

 

If you think that's bad, I arrived in Romania a few years ago and the booths in the airport were offering about 4 Leu to the £.   I was expecting over 5, so walked outside the terminal and found an ATM.    That gave me just over 5, so the booths in the airport were trying to take about 20%.  

[paborn]

OK. I'm habitually unable to do math in my head - totally math adverse. I see the difference and will have to check the booths more often. But, isn't an actual 3.6% difference in rates highly unusual with legitimate vendors?  by that, I'm not including airport booths which are thieves the world over. I would expect such a difference in a line of Silom booths. 

 

More to the point how the hell was Romania. Did you post???????

[paulsf]

My cards cover all bank fees. Up until Sept my bank allowed me 5 transactions per month which was never a problem. But starting a month ago it’s now unlimited atm use with no bank fees. Works out good as I don’t have to take out large amounts of cash at any one time. Don’t have to worry about any exchange booth issues.

[Wheelz]

If you walk from National Stadium BTS towards the Canal Saen Saeb, on the left just after you descend the steps from the raised walkway, just around the corner from the Exhibition place, there’s a money exchange. Forget the name, but its always been the best rate place for me. I usually change a fair amount, though. Its not a place for a few dollars for the night!

 

Siam Exchange, Phayathai Road. Just checked.5

[Guest Atto2nd]

My cards cover all bank fees. Up until Sept my bank allowed me 5 transactions per month which was never a problem. But starting a month ago it’s now unlimited atm use with no bank fees. Works out good as I don’t have to take out large amounts of cash at any one time. Don’t have to worry about any exchange booth issues.

Curious as to which bank card offers this unlimited atm use with no bank fees. My bank card (BofA) would refund the international exchange charges (3%) but not the ATM fees from Thai bank.

[paulsf]

I use Chase. They cover all charges.