Money Options in Cambodia/Thailand

Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Was just wondering if ATMs are now abundant in these 2 countries, or
whether Travellers Cheques are still your best bet ? Maybe even USD
might be the best option in Cambodia ?

Thailand: ATM
Cambodia: US$ cash, mix of sizes, change some to riel in town to get
better prices.

miguel
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See the world from your web browser: http://travel.u.nu/

Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

They're not at all hard to get (it's not like India or something where you
have to jump through all sorts of hoops) but on the other hand it may be a
bit of work to get a really good rate.

miguel
--
See the world from your web browser: http://travel.u.nu/

Lo All

Was just wondering if ATMs are now abundant in these 2 countries, or
whether Travellers Cheques are still your best bet ? Maybe even USD
might be the best option in Cambodia ?

Interested to hear input from recent visitors.

Cheers
Greg

Miguel Cruz wrote:

Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Was just wondering if ATMs are now abundant in these 2 countries, or
whether Travellers Cheques are still your best bet ? Maybe even USD
might be the best option in Cambodia ?

Thailand: ATM
Cambodia: US$ cash, mix of sizes, change some to riel in town to get
better prices.

Cheers Miguel.

Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

Greg

Miguel Cruz wrote:

Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

They're not at all hard to get (it's not like India or something where you
have to jump through all sorts of hoops) but on the other hand it may be a
bit of work to get a really good rate.

Thanx again Miguel

Greg

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 10:25:16 +1000, Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

Getting USD is easy. Getting the small notes that you will want for
Cambodia is a bit harder. Try to get your USD's on a day when the banks
are open because the money changers do run out.

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Use the From: header. Sending mail to
or will only result in frustration.

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 23:42:43 GMT, (Miguel Cruz) wrote:

Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

They're not at all hard to get (it's not like India or something where you
have to jump through all sorts of hoops) but on the other hand it may be a
bit of work to get a really good rate.

You can certainly buy them in the Bangkok Bank branch inside Bangkok
airport using Thai Baht before you leave. The rate is reasonable
enough (eg. today its 39.49 buying, 40.09 selling)

"Greg Pankhurst" schrieb im
Newsbeitrag
news:1g5qx02.1kc2jt87q191cN%g.pankhurst@spamblock. cfi.unsw.edu.spamblock.au..
..
Was just wondering if ATMs are now abundant in these 2 countries, or
whether Travellers Cheques are still your best bet ? Maybe even USD
might be the best option in Cambodia ?

Cash from ATMs in Bangkok no problem, as said. In Cambodia I haven't found
one working with my cards. I had some travellers checqes in USD with me, you
can change them easily in the bank. It's the best option if you don't want to
take big amounts of cash with you. I also had once withdrawn money with my
visa card at the bank (not by machine), it took a while and had quite high
fees, so I'd prefer travelers cheques, definitely.

You don't need much money in Cambodia, anyway, I spent 15 USD per day
alltogether.

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 10:01:52 +1000,
(Greg Pankhurst)
wrote:

Lo All

Was just wondering if ATMs are now abundant in these 2 countries, or
whether Travellers Cheques are still your best bet ? Maybe even USD
might be the best option in Cambodia ?

Interested to hear input from recent visitors.

I was in Cambodia and Thailand a week ago.

In Cambodia ATM's are nonexistent. US Dollars are the de facto
universal currency and Riel is given for change less than a dollar.
Coins are not used. No mater what the official exchange rate is, it
just goes 4000 Riel to a dollar and the two currency are completely
interchangeable. If a price is $1.25 you hand them $2 and get back
3000 riel. If a price is 5000 Riel you hand then $2 and get back 3000
riel. No need to exchange dollars because you will quickly accumulate
Riel as change. Torn money IS NOT accepted. Your $20 bill with a
tiny corner torn off is worthless and will not be accepted anywhere.
Bring crisp newer bills. I know it sounds funny but they are dead
serious about not accepting currency with tears. Large bills are hard
to break. Bring lots of small bills. The best way to get cash once
you are there is via cash advance on your Visa card from a bank. I
got a $300 cash advance from a Chinese bank in Sihanoukville. There
was no surcharge and in my case my bank does not charge a transaction
fee either so for me it cost nothing. Ask about surcharges though
because some banks do charge them. Visa card is accepted but
MasterCard IS NOT "everywhere you want to be" There may be banks that
accept MasterCard but the ones I saw all took only Visa. A smart move
would be to overpay your card ahead of time with a large positive
balance so when you take cash advances it does not accrue interest.
You could cash travelers checks as well at the banks but I don't know
about surcharges because I did not use travelers checks. In the
border town of Koh Kong there was no apparent banking system and what
ever cash you have is what you have. Also being near the Thai border
Thai Baht was preferred but Dollars or Riel was accepted there too.

In Thailand ATM's are everywhere in the cities and give the best
exchange rate you will find. Use the ones that are owned by banks and
there is usually no surcharge. Ones in convenience stores and such
may have a surcharge but the bank ones are usually free. Look for the
word "bank" in English on the ATM to avoid surcharges. Don't bother
exchanging money because the ATM's are everywhere, free, and give the
best exchange rate in town.

When you get cash USD for Cambodia (or any country in the region,
really) make sure they is absolutely no damage (torn, written
upon,...). I usually inspect the bills one by one and refuse those
that even seem remotely damaged. Saves you a lot of argueing and
head-ache.


Kris


On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 02:16:30 +0000 (UTC), (Eric
Edwards) wrote:

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 10:25:16 +1000, Greg Pankhurst wrote:
Cambodia and Thailand will actually be the last legs of a fairly long
trip, and the preceding countries don't run on the USD, and I'd rather
not carry a wedge for the entire duration of the trip. Any idea how
easily I'll be able to pick up USD in Bangkok ?

Getting USD is easy. Getting the small notes that you will want for
Cambodia is a bit harder. Try to get your USD's on a day when the banks
are open because the money changers do run out.