The only way I’ve figured out to avoid large fees is buy either money transfer to my Thai partners bank…. Yes we don’t all have one of those but this is a great travel trick.
Use western union to transfer money to yourself, then go to a WU, show ID and transfer number, pick up cash…. So easy and costs $1-2 .
I’ve done this heaps of times and Western Unions are everywhere.
The ask:thailand community, consisting of multiple Q/A groups with over 100,000 members, powers this platform. It is not an official government resource. Our members actively contribute to this resource, and while we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee its complete reliability. Assistance to travelers is provided as a community service.