Viviane - Australian Bank are large by any standard - as for others:
CitiBank, HSBC, Ing, BankWest etc etc etc are foreign owned.

The 'others' have their noses well into the trough too.

Banks everywhere in the world charge fees, just as high as the market will
bear. Australian Bank fees are about on a par with the rest of the world.

I always find it strange that people seem to believe Banks are some form of
Public Service organisation (like Red Cross). Banks are 'for profit'
companies. They charge for their services - everywhere.





"Viviane" wrote in message
...
I'm in Australia and the banks are not competitive enough and the market
is too small to attract others. So we pay through the nose at home and
overseas. Even credit unions here charge to use ATMs. That's probably
why I don't baulk at paying to use an overseas ATM.

"Chris Blunt" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 21:52:12 +1000, "Viviane"
wrote:

I've only used ATMs for the last 10 years or so to withdraw money and
bought
things with a credit card. The banks will charge a fee (of course!) for
the
ATM bit I still think that's better than worrying about finding somewhere
to
change travellers cheques.

Not all banks make charges for carrying out ATM withdrawals overseas.
Depending on how competitive the banking environment is in your
country, you can often find banks that make no charge at all.

Nationwide Building Society in the UK is one example. In the US, I
believe some credit unions do the same.

Chris


wrote in message
roups.com...
I will be travelling from Australia to Thailand soon.

I am thinking about the best way to handle the currency conversion of
Australian dollars to Thailand's Baht.

How can I get the best exchange rate?

Should I use an Australian bank to convert the currency?

Should I just use ATMs in Thailand?

Any other general advice from anyone who has experience in this area
would be much appreciated

Thank You