Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Which is better to take to Thailand - Amex Sterling or Amex US $ travellers cheques? And at the risk of getting up the nostrils of any "LT" members here I did do a search first before posting this! Taipan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Go for the $$$, widespread in SEA, whereas your £ will not get you too far.... If you run out of Baht, you could even pay with your $$. Have a good trip, and make sure to file a newbee report, ok ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man at Work Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Taipan: Which is better to take to Thailand - Amex Sterling or Amex US $ travellers cheques? And at the risk of getting up the nostrils of any "LT" members here I did do a search first before posting this! Taipan I always use 20$ TS. They usually get a slightly better rate and forinstance in Samui, some do not tak 50$ 0r 100$ TS. $ definitely better than Sterling. But of course € is the best (just joking) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 I see from your profile that you are from Scotland. I would take the Sterling traveller's cheques because here you only do one exchange: UK Pounds to Baht. If you buy US dollars cheques you are making two exchanges - Pounds to Dollars and then Dollars to Baht. Each time you change money from one currency to another you lose money. Sterling traveller's cheques are widely accepted, even in out of the way places such as Issan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Boo Radley is correct. If you are travelling from the UK then the best deal is £ cos you get ripped off in the UK when you buy travellers cheques in dollars. (They give you a poor exchange rate from sterling to dollars). [ January 24, 2002: Message edited by: ozbod ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Not having any credit cards I have to rely on Travellers Cheques (and also I use a Thai Bank account for longer stays). Being from the UK I always take sterling travellers cheques (I think always AMEX) and have never had any problem cashing them - although admittedly I have never gone way way off the beaten path. Basically anywhere that will cash AMEX US Dollar travellers cheques will also cash sterling T/c's (and other "normal" hard currencies AMEX T/c's). As already said their is no need to buy USD T/c's just for Thailand as you will get caned doing two foreign exchanges - this will amount to a fair few nights "entertainment" on a fortnights holiday money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaus Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Boo radley and ozbod are correct. You lose every time you change money. Unless you feel that your own currency is about to take a dive. It's the US economy that's looking a little shaky atm, with the big corporate collapses there and 911 related problems, so I'd stick to Sterling - the banks love it. One tip, don't bring any Scottish pound notes. A couple of times I've seen Scots trying to change them unsuccessfully in banks in Pattaya.The tellers have never seen the notes before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 And of course, don't overlook that if you have credit cards and ATM cards why bother with traveller's checks at all. On my first trip I had TC's (back when they actually got a better exchange rate than cash), but it was often a pain to exchange (waiting in line anywhere for 5 minutes is a pain to me). It's far easier to stop at an ATM and one stop will last you a long time in Thailand (get up to your limit to minimize transaction fees). Now I just use the credit card for hotels and expensive restaurants (i.e. bill over 1000 baht) and the ATM for small expenses and cash-only transactions. I still bring a few $100 bills with me just in case, but I haven't had to use them the last two trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 quote: Originally posted by FarangDang: On my first trip I had TC's (back when they actually got a better exchange rate than cash) They still do get a better rate than cash - at least up to mid Dec 2001 - not a fortune, but anything is better than nothing. (I appreciate you still have the commission to buy the things - but to cash them is only approx 30B per cheque (irrespective of value) BTW Farangdang I only replied to you just to put some more info on the thread, to help TAIPAN decide what route to take. As I said before I use T/c's cos' I have no credit cards - but out of choice I would take a mix - TAIPAN remember their is nothing quite like the feeling of seeing your only (or last!) credit card get "eaten" by an ATM when you are a long way from home - I got that T-shirt a long time ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2002 Report Share Posted January 24, 2002 Hmm, it seemed to me that TC's didn't get a better rate anymore, but I wasn't looking that closely. I've never had one of my cards eaten anywhere in the world, but maybe I've been lucky. But I also never stick my Visa card in a machine (except to get gas, and it never leaves my hands), so I think I'm pretty safe. If my ATM card gets eaten I can always get cash from my Visa (although not as conveniently or cheaply) and I always have those $100 bills as a last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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