@Peter *********

I just use my foreign credit card

@Gabriel *******

Schwabb is great for traveling. And if you pull out the maximum 30,000 baht from a Thai ATM occasionally, good for that too.

@Robert *******

NEVER let your American bank do the exchange. They'll ask you if you want to send USD or Thai Baht. Always send USD and let the Thai bank do the exchange when they receive the USD.

@Robert *******

Which Thai bank? I would recommend Kasikorn. For the US you should get a Schwabb account, because they will refund your ATM fees worldwide. Great for pulling money out when you're traveling.

@Mike **********

the best part of Wise is that you'll know the exact dollar amount you're sending and the exact baht amount you'll receive, with the fees and exchange rate broken out separately for you to see.

The problem with wire transfers (and many other services) is that you won't know exactly how much baht you'll receive until they receive the money and do the conversation at whatever rate they decide on and then subtract any fees.

@Oo ****

For the visa or the arrival card? If someone is trying to charge you for the arrival card within 3 days of arrival then it's a scam. The official site is

@Mike **********

There's a breakeven point, especially when talking about large dollar amounts, where it makes sense to do a wire transfer. But for smaller amounts like under $5000 it's generally better to use Wise. Each bank will have different points where it does and does not make sense so it's an individual decision.

Do you have a Thai passport? If not then you are required to submit a TDAC on EVERY entry.

The best way is the ONLY way. Go to your immigration office to apply for an extension. In Phuket you can do it when you have 45 days or less left on your every stamp.

This is a general guideline of documents you'll need but it may vary from office to office.

Just directly send the USD to your Thai bank account and let Wise do the conversion. What some people do is transfer the USD to their Wise account, and then convert it to baht when they like the exchange rate, but I would never do this. Wise is not a real bank and your money is not FDIC insured while there. You should never leave money in Wise or in any technology financial company. Just use the service for transfers.