Are immigration officers still checking for 20,000 THB cash upon entry in Thailand?

That's spending money excluding accommodation. But they are just calculating from Numbeo, I doubt the average tourist spends 20,000 over six weeks even excluding the accomodation.

No chance!

Have they factored in money raised by selling postcards?

Thanks

@T**

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the posted rule is 10K entering on a visa exempt stamp but when the officials at Suvarnabhumi & Don Mueang ask they want to see 20K baht or the equivalent

Richard it's Vietnam, they don't use USD there as the currency. You can get USD pretty much anywhere, but you will have to pay for it. The bank will convert it USD to VND (charging him a fee) and then will convert it back to USD (charging him another fee). That's how it works in countries that are not the United States.

Cambodia he could probably get it without the conversion step as they actually use USD there, but there would still be a fee involved. But he's not in Cambodia.

Can you not withdraw US Dollars inside the bank on your CC ??

I'm quite sure other currencies are ok.

@Ryan *****

Wow your good. That's like only 500 baht a day.

@Ry**

you need to crush it a bit more I think

Ivan McAvinchey I dont actually bring 600 USD to Thailand anymore, probably because I havent actually left here for the last 4 years.

Richard and none of them are Thailand, which is where we are talking about bringing $600, so the relevant question would be have you "seen people" having "major problems" using ATMs here in Thailand (other than before immigration)?

Personally I have been to around 40 countries (not admittedly including the ones you listed) and I have not had issues with ATMs outside of Iran and Myanmar, which I knew in advance and prepared for. I did bring cash to Syria as well just in case but turned out I was able to use the ATM there to get more.

There is no issue anywhere in this general region, excepting in previous years Myanmar, and possibly remote regions of places like Laos, and I think even that has changed as well. Certainly not anywhere you can fly into.

I cycled a bike all the way from Ireland to Indonesia and happily used ATMs all the way.

But this is all irrelevant anyway as we are talking about bringing cash to Thailand. Good on you if you bring >$600 everywhere, most people don't and don't need to.

@Ivan ***********

Not sure you are aware of this , but Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa and Panama are also relatively modern and functioning countries (well maybe not Venezuela for the last 5 years) and I have had or seen people have major problems using ATM's in those countries.

@Ric****

this isn't Angola, it is Thailand, it's a relatively modern and functioning country. I don't think I'd accidentally end up in Luanda Angola without making a conscious decision to do there (I've heard it's expensive for foreigners all right).

"If all you have is cards and they are stolen" - have you ever considered that cash can be stolen as well? What if your cash is stolen, what do you do then?

If you carry around >$600 every single time you go anywhere, good for you, but I can guarantee you, MOST normal people do not do that, in 2017. And there is no need to.

Regarding the fees, they are dependent on the specific bank, yes, so lucky you if you have a bank that gives you free international SWIFT transfers. But you can get similar deals with ATM cards if you go to the right bank as well (Charles Schwab for example).

@Ivan ***********

I have seen guys arrive in Rio de Janeiro airport and use the ATMs inside the airport, all of them got hacked. I arrived in Luanda Angola and the agent was not around to get me a hotel. One night was 450 USD and they did not take cards. I stopped using ATM's here when they started charging foreign cards. I alos stopped using Bangkok bank after almost 20 years because of fraud issues. perhaps you should try Krung Sri Bank. Also once again, I have unlimited free overseas Swift transfers from my bank as long as I maintain a certain balance. Prior to moving to IOM bank I used Citibank NY, and they also provided free Swift transfers. If all you have is cards and they are stolen, good luck getting a hotel room or a decent meal if you dont have cash.

Richard I would bet you a substantial amount of money that well under 50% of incoming travellers to Thailand carry $600 in cash on them. Honestly, this may be something your generation did but that just isn't the way the world works these days.

Specific countries that are cut off from the world financial system, like Iran or North Korea or Myanmar up to a few years ago, yes, you have to bring cash. So you research that in advance and bring it for those. Most you do not. Thailand you certainly do not, there are ATMs here and they work.

Having a few bucks for emergencies on arrival is advisable, for sure, but $600 is simply not necessary (other than to satisfy immigration rules). And if you are travelling long-term, not directly from your home country, getting that $600 is going to cost you, as it is far more expensive to get either dollars or Thai baht OUTSIDE Thailand.

As for "never saw anyone have a problem when they had cash", well I have personally had large amounts (>$1,000) of cash stolen, (not here, but ironically, it actually included 20,000B I specifically took out from here to have coming back) so I'm one person you can add to your checklist of "people who have had problems carrying cash". Large amounts of cash can be stolen. Your card gets stolen or lost and you can replace it (and if you are sensible you have more than one, and keep them in different places). I've had to do that more than once. Pain in the neck, but much less so than losing $1,000 in cash I can assure you.

I'm also sceptical that your SWIFT transfers are "free". I know Bangkok Bank charges 200-500B Thai-side for incoming international transfers and that's excluding whatever you have to pay on the other side (I pay $10 or so to Bangkok Bank in New York). That's cheap, IMO, but it's not "free".

@Ivan ***********

My swift transfers are free. I have travelled for work for the last 35 years to countries all over the world. While using an ATM is fine for people on a once a year holiday. Over all the time I have travelled i have seen people in dire straits because they thought that an ATM card was fine for everything. I never saw anyone have a problem when they had cash. Why do you think banks prefer you to use ATM's ??. Also I never said I travel with all my money in cash, i simply stated that 600 dollars is not a large amount of money for an international traveller these days (or indeed for the last 30 years).

Richard I have a bank account here, thanks. I don't tend to open one in a country I'm visiting for a week though like OP here is.

The exchange rate is actually quite good with ATMs, the issue is the additional fees, and depending on the card you have, using an ATM can actually even work out cheaper than SWIFT transfers to a local bank account.

The fact is, most people in 2017 do not travel about with all their holiday money in cash. I don't think people have done that for literally decades.

@Ivan ***********

By all means go ahead and use ATM's and pay through the nose in poor exchange rates, bank fees and international transfer fees. Oh and dont forget the local fee for using a foreign card in the ATM. I will continue to use my overseas banks free swift transfers and pull cash out of my local account to use it. Lets also not forget the huge amount of fraud associated with ATM machines.

Richard these days people use things like ATMs, it's the 21st century. You can even use ATMs places like Myanmar these days, which is a relatively recent change (I had to take cash there only a few years ago), but I believe Thailand introduced ATMs in 1983, so it hasn't been necessary to carry bundles of cash here in quite some time.

Iran and Myanmar are the only two countries I have been to where you have to bring cash, and Myanmar you don't even need to any more... even Syria I was able to just use an ATM.

@Steve ******

Not at all, but 600 dollars is not exactly a large amount of money when you are travelling internationally.

Meet Mr Hi So

Latest case is confirmed as friends personally know who it has happened to and they have been in communication via social media from the detention room at the airport. Second case is third hand comments on forum saying the same thing happened to another person earlier this week.

There is no ATM before immigration, that is why they can't use one.

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