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What are the best travel money cards for use in Thailand?

Travel Money Cards Expat Finance Thailand Travel Visa and Banking Money Transfer Currency Exchange

Nov 18, 2021

3 years ago

Neville *******

ORIGINAL POSTER

Hi any advice on travel money cards

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TLDR : Answer Summary

The discussion revolves around the various travel money cards suitable for use in Thailand, with users recommending options such as Starling Bank, Monzo, Revolut, and Wise. Key points include the lack of conversion fees, ease of use for ATM withdrawals, and favorable exchange rates. Some users suggest carrying US currency and converting it locally for better rates, while others highlight the importance of low fees and ease of topping up cards via mobile apps. Overall, there are multiple options available, and users share personal experiences on the pros and cons of each.

Neville *******

ORIGINAL POSTER

Still dont know which to get I want something I can top up at anytime with mobile app can draw from atm

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Terry ********

Halifax Clarity

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Jack *********

Caxton fx. Used for 10 years never had any problems and its free.

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Mma *******

I tend to think just bring cash and change it here at small booths to get best rate. I personally have never had a bad experience here or lost money so what's the point of getting a money card... If you 'take care' you don't really need those money cards. Rinse 2k in cash then use ATM if you run out.

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Jeannette ***********

Monzo is good

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Hans *********

Bangkok Bank Travel Card !

Very easy.

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Sheen ************

Use Starling and Revolut

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Drew *******

I use Revolut, good exchange rate. Load with sterling, if overloaded you can use it as a debit card on your return.

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Nick *******

Once loaded with Sterling, fo you then have to convert to baht or can you keep £’s on the card and the baht conversion is done for you when spending?

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Drew *******

never used wise for transfer, as yet. Revolut take about 2 working days and cheaper than my uk bank and far better exchange rate. UK bank was 5 banking days.

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Nick *******

Ok cheers for all the info. 👍

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Drew *******

👍

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Drew *******

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Drew *******

I normally transfer funds from my UK bank account and have varying rates upon either withdrawal or purchase.

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Drew *******

you keep in £'s and it converts as you spend.

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Nick *******

Thanks, so to clarify and to make sure I’ve got my head around this. You can either load the card in baht guaranteeing a single fixed rate or you can load in sterling and pay varying exchange rates upon each purchase?

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Drew *******

The rate you get is the current rate I also use my revolut acct to transfer money to my Thai bank account.

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Nick *******

So you transfer UK bank to Revolut to Thai bank? Have you found that’s a better route than going via Wise?

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Nick *******

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Martin ********

Wise has a debit card that you can load with baht. You convert your home currency to baht at the time you transfer to your card balance. You load it up when the rate gets good. Last month I think the rate got up to around 33.7 to USD so I transferred in at around that time. Wise fees are quite low, at least for ACH transfer to the card balance.

The card has a Mastercard logo and chip.

A member of the group has one. He will be in Thaland next week. I asked him to let me know how it worked out for him. I will encourage him to post his experiences.

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Alain ***************

@Martin *******

i use the wise debit card for everything here. Food delivery to pay phone/electricity bill. I have swiss franks on it, convert to thb with a fair exchange rate and almost no fees

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Bob **********

@Martin *******

you will still pay the 120 baht ATM fee at banks in Thailand maybe more depending on the bank a Schwab debit card returns all ATM fees

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Martin ********

Just been looking at that card and it looks good. I was a little concerned about exchange rates, but it says that it offers very fair rates. I'll consider getting one.

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Martin ********

I was thinking more to use it for making purchases rather than pulling cash. I just want to lower the amount of cash that I would be carrying.

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Bob **********

@Martin *******

don't know how that will work a lot of businesses charge and extra 3% to use a card good luck

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Bob **********

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Sodi *********

TransferWise, now called just

. Download the app or use the website.

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Hovvard ******

I carried quite a bit of US currency in my money belt. If I had a a visitor to my room the belt went right into the safe. When that ran out I would take a good amount out of a bank atm.

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Lisa ********************

Starling Bank is a proper bank card but no conversion fee. Other Money cards I use are Monzo & Revolut. What do you want to know ?

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Lisa ********************

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... members · 60% approval rate

The Thai Visa Advice And Everything Else group allows for a broad range of discussions on life in Thailand, beyond just visa inquiries.

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