🇹🇭 Monzo in Thailand [Discussion]

Do you not have a second card with you? I’m sure Monzo say to have a spare card with the Prepaid in case the transactions fail as they don’t deal with the prepaid transactions.

Remember the prepaid card is a Beta, anything can go wrong.

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When I’ve been in the US with my UK Debit card (few years ago now since I was last there), I had to choose credit card, even so it was a debit card. Some other countries have a way of linking several different types of account to the same card, and for the UK card to work, the atm or terminal needs to process it the same way local credit cards are processed. Confusing. Maybe this explains it?

Not sure where to post this.

I’m currently in Thailand at the moment and used the atm a few times without any difficulty. The only problem I have is the atm limit is only 10k Baht plus the 220 baht fee. I can withdraw 30k baht using my Barclays credit card plus the 220 baht fee. So it’s costing me in total 660 baht in fees to withdraw the same amount.

Why the 10k limit?

I would guess you’re on a £250 daily withdrawal limit for ATMs have a look in your app at “card” - " spending limits" section to see your free daily ATM allowance :slight_smile: Barclay card are obviously more “generous” with their ATM limits and their 2.99% transaction fee :slight_smile: when you do use it abroad

The Monzo card is accepted at Family Mart stores in Thailand, with no minimum purchase amount. Unfortunately, the more popular 7-Eleven stores do not accept any Mastercard cards.

Lawson 108 convenience stores also accept Monzo with no minimum amount.

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Thailand now has a regulatory instrument for cryptos, the Bank of Thailand states the conditions which financial institutions and their subsidiaries can now engage in tokens and cryptocurrencies. The rules are applied to financial institutions and the subsidiaries as well.

All atms charge user.i agree take cash if possible. Another choice is a thai bank acc which I have.they charge up to 20b per transaction outside you bank home branch area.they is a Citi bank near so cowboy to and a few others elsewhere.i will look into this when I go soon

Hi,

I am new to Monzo, just opened my account and added £ to it. How do I see the currency exchange rate for Thai bath for example? I can’t find a field in my app, or the money get converted automatically from my £ account when I make the payment?
Also, how much cash is safe to take with me? I’m going to Thailand next week :sweat_smile:

Thank you,
Rahela

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Hi Rahela & welcome :wave:

Your Monzo account is in Sterling/GBP/£

When you first use your card in an overseas country, Monzo pushes information about the country (exchange rate) to your app. You can then spend in the local currency and the Monzo app will show both the local currency AND the £ equivalent for each transaction. Please note that the £ value fluctuates a little for 2-3 days after the transaction before stabilising.

I can’t answer the question about how much cash to take unfortunately - this would depend on individual circumstances and your ability to keep it safe! I usually have a buffer of the local currency equivalent of £50-£100 in cash with me either prior to arrival or as soon as possible after arriving.

Have a safe & enjoyable trip! :airplane:

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Just returned from Bangkok, and I would recommend using moneychangers rather than fee charging ATMs to obtain THB cash. You can get excellent buy/sell rates on arrival at BKK airport at the moneychangers (e.g. SuperRich Thailand - google it) near the Airport Rail Link station entrance on the first floor.

Yes, please we go to thailand very soon
Any updates will be helpful
Thanking you

Heading to Thailand in a few weeks, just wondering if someone could summarise charges for both card transactions and cash withdrawals? Doesn’t look like this thread has been updated for a while.

Thanks!

There are no charges for card transactions. For cash withdrawals, I got charged by the ATM THB 220 for a THB 5,000 withdrawal (~ £133). I think this fee is fixed regardless of the amount withdrawn. I don’t remember the bank.
When using your card for purchases and withdrawals, remember always to select the local currency, i.e. THB, instead of pounds.

Will have to check this out if I sign up.

I went to Central World where there are lots of different banks on the 4th floor to see if any of them are fee free (or lower). The result as of today (22/02/22) is that the cheapest fee I could find was ฿150 at AEON Thana Sinsap (อิออน ธนสินทรัพย์). I assume you will get this fee at any AEON ATM but I definitely got it at Central World.

The following were the results (in ascending order of fee):

  • AEON Thana Sinsap (อิออน ธนสินทรัพย์) – ฿150 fee
  • Citibank – ฿200 fee
  • UOB – ฿220 fee
  • Government Savings Bank (ธนาคารออมสิน) – ฿220 fee
  • ttb (ธนาคารทหารไทยธนชาต) – ฿220 fee
  • Kasikornbank (ธนาคารกสิกรไทย) – ฿220 fee
  • Krungsri (กรุงศรี) – ฿220 fee
  • Siam Commercial Bank (ธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์) – ฿220 fee
  • Bangkok Bank (ธนาคารกรุงเทพ) – ฿220 fee

I think it’s pretty comprehensive! With any Monzo withdrawal abroad don’t forget to decline any DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) rate offered.

Definitely the better suggestion, suggested above, is to bring foreign money withdrawn without a fee and exchange at an exchanger. Sadly I didn’t bring any foreign currency in so had to settle for the ฿150 fee.

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HI, travelling to Thailand in May and doing the whole Thailand pass thing at the moment. Has anyone done the travel insurance through Monzo and did you manage to get a document with all the insurance details on it for the application? Thanks

Hey :wave:t4: going Thailand for 2 weeks at the beginning of July and I wanted to ask if anyone can break down the fees for using Monzo in Thailand please?

  • Can I pay using my Monzo card and how do I get the best rate?
  • Can I use my Monzo card to withdraw direct at the Bank and is there a fee?

Sawadee k’up!

Nothing has changed from Monzo’s perspective. ATMs will charge you as above in previous comments, Monzo won’t charge you for using your card. To get the best rate always pay in local currency.

What about withdrawing money? Are there fees from
Monzo after a certain amount?

Will it charge if I go into a bank and withdraw from them directly?

Search help for fees. You should be able to find the info there. It depends on what sort of customer you are.

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