Travellers cheques to Thailand?

"Alfred Molon" kirjoitti viestissä
...
In article , Markku Grönroos
says...

Bull. Cheques are as safe as money can be. As said before many of us have
cards which are not replaceable decently like TCs.

That's why you should carry a backup card. When I travel with my wife,
we have each an ATM card and each a credit card. With the credit card it
is still possible to get cash, should both ATM cards disappear or stop
working.

This is one decision to survive. However, there are some faults in it. When
you travel solo, you obviously carry all the belongings along. Then two
cards can vanish about as easily one of them. Truly, I am after replaceable
source of money. TCs are a comfortable choice for me (actually I do carry
plastic to tease ATMs and vendors) for that purpose. I sleep my nights
better. When I shall have access to cards which are quickly replaceable
abroad, I will leave TCs for good.

Markku Gr=F6nroos wrote:
"Tchiowa" kirjoitti viestiss=E4
oups.com...


Absolutely true. Particularly in Thailand. ATMs appear all over the
place in malls, banks, store fronts, etc. Difficult to find a place
that *doesn't* have an ATM. Traveler's checks are a thing of the
past.

Traveller's cheques are still used widely and they have by no means
died
out. They are especially suitable for those of us who are not
provided fast
replacement of lost/damaged plastic when travelling abroad. Naturally
once
can use plastic to get cash. However, by far more handy they are for
buying
services.

It is easy to replace an ATM than a lost traveller's check. It's also
cheaper. The card is smaller and easier to keep on you (less chance of
loss or theft).

Time to join the 21st century.

"Alfred Molon" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
TCs can get stolen or lost.

Have you ever heard that TCs are replaced within 24h? At least the
advertisements say so...
I really don't know how fast a debit/credit card can be replaced...

Besides it's a bit dumb to carry thousands of Euro in TCs with you.

Why?

It's better to use an ATM card, which allows
you to withdraw the cash you need when you need it.

ATM cards can be stolen or lost like TCs.
You don't have an ATM handy when you need one, e.g. on islands like Koh
Muk.
TCs don't need electricity, just paper and a pen.

You don't have to plan in advance how much money
you will spend on your journey.

There may be some people who actually *want* to plan how much money they
will spend during their holidays. Not everyone has a gold/platinum card
together with an appropriate bank account.

My base: TC
For unplanned expenses: Maestro

Works fine for me and I feel safe.

cu, tmo

"Tchiowa" kirjoitti viestissä
ups.com...


It is easy to replace an ATM than a lost traveller's check. It's also

Perhaps syphilis is eating your brain away. Tell me where I can get this
card then

Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Tchiowa" kirjoitti:
It is easy to replace an ATM than a lost traveller's check. It's also

Perhaps syphilis is eating your brain away. Tell me where I can get this
card then

I've had to replace travelers checks once, and an ATM card twice. Not a huge
sample set, to be sure.

Replacing the travelers checks involved several international phone calls at
my expense (because it was on a weekend and the in-country office was only
open Monday-Friday) and about a half-day of traveling to get to the nearest
American Express office that had the special power of check replacement, on
Monday when it opened.

Replacing the Citibank ATM card required a reverse-charges (free for me)
phone call to a 24-7-365 number, and it was delivered to my hotel within 48
hours.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...

Replacing the travelers checks involved several international phone calls
at
my expense (because it was on a weekend and the in-country office was only
open Monday-Friday) and about a half-day of traveling to get to the
nearest

I have been involved once and no international calls were required. Actually
I didn't make any calls myself. All decisions were made in Bangkok (I was on
Phuket myself).

American Express office that had the special power of check replacement,
on
Monday when it opened.

American Express office in Bangkok (which is wired to several places around
the kingdom) keeps open all the time.

Replacing the Citibank ATM card required a reverse-charges (free for me)
phone call to a 24-7-365 number, and it was delivered to my hotel within
48
hours.

I don't have such a card myself.

Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti:
Replacing the travelers checks involved several international phone calls
at my expense (because it was on a weekend and the in-country office was
only open Monday-Friday) and about a half-day of traveling to get to the
nearest American Express office that had the special power of check
replacement, on Monday when it opened.

I have been involved once and no international calls were required. Actually
I didn't make any calls myself. All decisions were made in Bangkok (I was on
Phuket myself).

Thanks for that helpful tip. I have made a note in my dayplanner to make
sure that next time I want to lose my travelers checks, I do it on Phuket.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 35 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

"Thomas 'tmo' Endt" reminded me...

There may be some people who actually *want* to plan how much money they
will spend during their holidays. Not everyone has a gold/platinum card
together with an appropriate bank account.

I know that I have a 'Platinum' card (and account), but I sure don't have
the money to back it up . . . .

I usually take enough money in Baht to see me through the first 2 weeks,
because my trip dates normally mean that at that point my salary goes in
again and allows me to draw enough to keep me going for the rest of the
visit. It's amazing how long a 10,000B withdrawal lasts . . . .

I've never used TC - but I learned my lesson about cash on my first visit
having fallen victim to the 'spiked drink' scam - and deposit the majority
somewhere secure. So now I only carry what I reckon I'll need for the day.
Next visit, I'll be opening an account with a Thai bank and set up a regular
funds transfer into it, so when I go the cash'll be available when I need
it.

It won't suit everyone, but if you are a regular visitor and have someone
you trust who can give an address, it probably is the safest way to do it.

_______
Geoff B

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:53:00 -0800, "justme" wrote:


"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
...

"Tchiowa" kirjoitti viestissä
oups.com...


You will pay a small fee to cash traveller's checks in Thailand. And
it's becoming harder and harder to find places that will cash them.

Most banks will buy them alright.


And most banks now say "whats a travelers check"

My mother gave me some travelers checks when she visited me in Manila.
She countersigned each check and wrote my name as the payee, so I
expected to be able to pay them into my bank account without any
problems. To my surprise, the bank refused to accept them, saying they
could not accept travelers checks from anyone other than the person
who originally bought them. Apparently there is now so much travelers
check fraud that many banks just don't want to touch them at all.

I was eventually able to pay the into another account I held
elsewhere.

It certainly doesn't instill much confidence in travelers checks
knowing they have such limited acceptability.

Chris

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 20:13:58 +0200, "Markku Grönroos"
wrote:


"Alfred Molon" kirjoitti viestissä
m...
In article , Markku Grönroos
says...

Bull. Cheques are as safe as money can be. As said before many of us have
cards which are not replaceable decently like TCs.

That's why you should carry a backup card. When I travel with my wife,
we have each an ATM card and each a credit card. With the credit card it
is still possible to get cash, should both ATM cards disappear or stop
working.

This is one decision to survive. However, there are some faults in it. When
you travel solo, you obviously carry all the belongings along. Then two
cards can vanish about as easily one of them. Truly, I am after replaceable
source of money. TCs are a comfortable choice for me (actually I do carry
plastic to tease ATMs and vendors) for that purpose. I sleep my nights
better. When I shall have access to cards which are quickly replaceable
abroad, I will leave TCs for good.

Likewise, if you lose your record of the serial numbers of your TCs
they will also be impossible to replace. You can just as easily get
the TC receipt stolen as you can a backup ATM card.

Chris