What form of money should I carry (travellers cheques or cash) and how much should I carry on me plus any trekking advice.
Hey everyone.
I am currently in Singapore but will soon be heading to Thailand (Bangkok to Chiang Mai) like next week! Yikes😊 Anyway. I was wondering what would be the best way to do the money thing (e.g., travellers cheques, cash-Baht, etc)? I figure 10000B should do me for maybe 2 weeks, I hope. Let me know if this too little or too much. So how should I carry all this money or only exchange half and take out more when needed? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Oh ya and should I continue whatever method u suggest as I continue to travel through Cambodia, Vietnam, and China? Also anybody know of decent, reputable trekking companies in Chiang Mai?
Reply to this The amount depends on how you travel. Thailand is generally cheap. I never use travelers cheques. The exchange rate is always bad, they are difficult to change etc... As to money Thailand is full of cash machines. You only need to carry enough money to last you for any trek. Otherwise, get money out in Thai Baht from the banks. I live on my Visa and Maestro cards. So, I would say take out money when you need it to last a few days or for the period of any activity when you are away from major towns. In fact you don't need to get any money before you arrive in Bangkok, as there are cash machines and cash exchange counters in Bangkok airport. I always carry as little money as I can.
Reply to this I normally rely on ATMs which is usually hassle free, although from time to time the connection will fail somewhere in between. Money will be deducted from your account and a receipt spit out of the machine -it is just that the money was lost somewhere in between. Glitches like these are automatically reversed, but it may take a few days and your funds are earmarked and will be unavailable lest you contact your bank and ask for their assistance. Also remember to check the service charge for withdrawing money in foreign ATMs. My bank tacks on an equivalent of 5 USD for the service, so it pays to plan ahead to minimize running out of cash.
Reply to this I loathe travellers cheques perhaps because I'm cheap and you get slammed with service charges to convert, and then more service charges when you convert afterwards (plus crappy exchange rates). To avoid these service charges, you have to get thomas cook or american express and hope that you're in a major city that has a branch of that office and seek it out (fun times there).
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