Money: Currency exchange / Thai currency

Money:
The Thai currency is the Thai Baht (THB). At present (January 2018) 1 Euro equals between 38 - 39 THB, 1 US-$ equals between 30 - 31 THB and 1 Pound equals between 42 - 44 THB.  The current exchange rate can be found below on the page or on the Internet on various pages (for example, the Bank of Thailand).

Tokens are issued in the value of 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 Baht, coins are circulating as 1, 2, 5 and 10 Baht.

Currency Exchange:
It is asked again and again, where you should change your money best: In your homecountry or only in Thailand.

In Germany (and the rest of Europe) lush exchange fees are due and you get a worse exchange rate than in Thailand, because the bank must first order the currency. The same is in US or Canada. That's why we suggest changing the money on the spot. The exchange rate for cash is usually better than to draw money at the machine!

Currency exchange in Thailand:
The first change option is at the major airports in Bangkok, Phuket or Chiang Mai. There are both licensed bureaux de change and ATM ATMs in the airport building.

When changing cash, you can only exchange currency at the bureaux de change (and in banks and hotels). In the exchange offices and banks you get the best exchange rate!

As a rule, the exchange rate at the airport is a bit worse (about 1-2 THB less) than the one you get later in banks and exchange bureaus. Also, the exchange rate in hotels is in most cases slightly worse than the actual exchange rate. (But we have also had the case once that the exchange rate was the best course of the whole vacation!)

We therefore recommend swapping at the airport only a small amount (up to 50 € or 50 US-$), to have enough money for a taxi or public transport, and to be able to tip the hotel when the bags are brought to the room.

The banks and exchange offices exchange the money without charging extra fees or fees. But also here one must note the respective courses, since these are different. It is sometimes a bit difficult to exchange a 200 Euro note. But all other notes are easily exchanged.


Draw money at the machine

EC card
In Thailand, there is a dense network of banks and ATMs (ATMs), so picking them up in most places is not a problem. With the debit card with Maestro sign can be withdrawn virtually any ATM machine money. For each withdrawal, the Thai bank charges a fee of 220 THB. (On this fee, foreign banks have no influence, the fee can not be refunded.) Note also the conditions of the own (German) bank, because here are some fees between 5, - € and 10, - € due, no matter what amount should be paid. The ATMs usually have a reserve limit of 20,000, - THB (around 500, - €).

V-Pay system

Giro cards or cards that work with the V-Pay system (for example, from Sparkassen, Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken and Postbank) can not withdraw money from the ATMs because these cards work with only one chip and not a magnetic tape.

credit cards:
With some credit cards, there are free pick-up options in Thailand, as well as upgrades for car hire, hotel bookings or discounts. VISA and Mastercard are accepted almost everywhere. The DKB-Cash account offers a free Visacard (without annual basic fee and free payment, withdrawing money is free at over 1 million machines). The fee of 1.75% of the turnover will be debited to the credit card bill, but later / at the beginning of the following month reimbursed to the billing account of the DKB-VISA-Card.

Loss / theft of credit cards
To keep the damage as low as possible, you should call the blocked number immediately after losing the card. The institutions are only liable for further damage after receipt of the blocking.