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Keepongoing
Joined: 13 Feb 2003
Location: Korea
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 Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:43 pm Post subject: money exchange: advice wanted |
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| OK I will be traveling to Thailand on Sunday. Should I change Won to US Dollars and then change to Baht in Thailand, or should I change Won for Baht here???????? |
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Hopelessly Human
Joined: 03 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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According to the rates on Yahoo, and my calculations:
100,000 Won =~ $106.68
100,000 Won =~ 3653.33 Baht
$106.68 =~ 3653.79 Baht
Rounded off, it looks like you could get 1 Baht more per 100,000 Won if you change to Dollars.
1 Baht =~ $0.03
But of course the more times you change your money the more the banks will take their cut. Plus different banks have different rates.
Do the banks in Korea change Won for Baht? (I'm not there [Korea] yet, I leave tomorrow morning.)
Even better still, if you have an American ATM card (preferably one that doesn't charge ATM fees--mine doesn't), use that when you get to Thailand. You will get a much better rate than if you change cash. If you have to use cash, and decide to change to US Dollars in Korea, then dollars to baht in Thailand, don't do it at the airport. Or at least just exchange the minimum you will need to get to where you are going, because they will gouge you at the airport. |
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Return Jones
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Location: I will see you in far-off places
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: money exchange: advice wanted |
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| Keepongoing wrote: |
| Should I change Won to US Dollars and then change to Baht in Thailand... |
That's called arbitrage. It's very difficult to do and often not worth bothering with small amounts. Professional currency traders attempt this move often to make a profit. They're doing it with big big money, though. More often than not, it's best just to change money once. Also, it is almost always advised to change your won before leaving Korea. Nobody outside Korea really wants won. Korean banks, however do want won and they also want to sell their Thai currency.
http://www.keb.co.kr/IBS/english/fx/rate/rate/index.jsp
Take a look at the KEB website and then try to find some rates from some Thai websites (google it). Compare the two. The airport stands at Incheon airport offer the standard bank rates. They don't charge any more than the banks in town.
Yahoo exchange rates are an average of the buy and sell prices of the interbank rate - not the rate Joe Average gets for his small amount. Interbank rates are what the currency traders get when they buy and sell huge amounts. Again, it's also an average of the spread between buy and sell. Not really accurate for the consumer.
You could always buy US$ and try the black market once you arrive. You might make a few extra bucks. I wouldn't do it that way because the US$ has slowly fallen out of favour globally and for other reasons such as the hassle, safety legality, etc.
Banks are rich because they have all angles covered. It's often best to just play by the rules and change money straight up and the enjoy the rest of the trip. |
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Keepongoing
Joined: 13 Feb 2003
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:36 pm Post subject: wow |
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great, insightful advice
Thank you |
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I-am-me
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Hermit Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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| You could always buy US$ and try the black market once you arrive. |
I agree with the previous post. Get dollars now and then find black market exchanger who will give you better rate than the bank. Just make sure the bills you get are clean with no rips or marks. I had problems changing some bills in the philippines because of that.  |
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seoulsucker
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: The Land of the Hesitant Cutoff
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| No matter what you do, get a couple hundred dollars worth of AMEX cheques. Those things are golden in a pinch. Saved my hide a few times when there wasn't an ATM in sight. |
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Hopelessly Human
Joined: 03 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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You also get a better rate using an ATM. But if your bank charges a fee, obviously that negates the money you make on the better rate. Mine didn't charge a fee, and reimbursed any fee the foreign bank levied. The catch was that my checking account didn't have any interest, and
I had to have at least $2500 in my savings (Or was it $1000 in my checking? I don't remember any more), but it was still well worth it, because I was in SEA for over a year and used the card a lot. And interest rates are crap now anyway. |
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